The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1868-11-03
Egypt as a Cotton Producer-the South.

The announcement of a heavy yield of cotton
IN Egypt Is Of great Importance to the people of
the Southern States and to our country generally.
The NY. Herald thinks not, but that sheet il
no better authority on cotton than politics.
when 1t expresses contempt for Egypt as q cot
ton growing rival, it betrays lack of knowledge,
Tor IT Is fact which no one properly informed
| Will dispute-not even Commissioner Wells's
man Atkinson-that, of all the competitors who
have taken the field against us, Egypt is by all
odds the most formidable. And when it states
that the cotton of that country is ga poor, short
staple and dirty article it asserts what is not
correct.
Cotton has long been the most important item
OF commerce among nations. This country held
an uninterrupted monopoly Of the article up to
the commencement of the war. large portion
OF EnSlands commercial greatness grew out of
and depends upon it. To give employment TO
her 5000 mills, 33,O00,0OO spndles and 600.
oOO operatives, she has looked to our Sea-Islaad
and Gult-State plantations. In single year shs
actually paid out S412,000,00O for supply.
These facts sufficiently indicate the importance
OF our possessing the monopoly of supply, and of
DONG all In our power to regain the ground we
lost by the war, That result is certainly not to
De reached by misleading our cotton planters as
to their real situation. To tell them that there
is nothing to fear from Egypt is falacy. There
is much to fear; but it is certain that, under a
stable political government, perseverance and
Weil-drected labor viii eventually place the South
nrst again on the list of suppiers, and make eul-
tiVatloa OF the staple in Egypt too Improbable
TO be continued There is point beyond which
1t becomes more profitable for that country to
send England breadstufs than cotton. 1t is to
that point our planters must force this rival.
w ere it not for the fact that she cannot devote
beyond given acreage to cotton without being
compelled to import the cereals for home con-
SUMPTION, her rivalry would be eminently
The commercial returns of the
worlds markets tell us how prosperously her
cotton interest has thrlven since 1861. There
8 no wisdom in affecting contempt for the staple
she produces; nothing to be gained by assuring
'ur planters that our own staple is so greatly su.
'erlor that no other growth can stand beside il
n the markets. Let us not disguise the fact
hat the Egyptian staple is good one; that it
commands good price that it is all bought;
nd that 1t has been thought worth while to iu-
roduce Egyptian seed on our own plantations
or trial. 1t has been demonstrated that our
'ea- Island variety, the best grown, cannot bs
roduced IN any other quarter of the world ex-
epting along the region Of the Nile. Proof that
be Egyptian staple is held high may be found
the fact that the seeds commonly selected for
xperlmental cultivation in new and favorable
'calltles are the American and Egyptian, and
ne value of the latter has been attested in Peru,
here the plant grows thrifty and Yields in
'ur months, while the native plant only yields
1 eight When the Sultan encouraged culti-
alton in Morocco, in 1868, American and Egyp-
an seeds were imported from England, which
'intly produced article claimed to be equal
} the American in quality. But the actual
'tton operations of Egypt since 1861 are the
est test OF her Importance competitor, and
he results of which she is capable in an emer-
ency. And it must always be remembered that
ngland is dissatisfied with her dependence upon
merica for raw cotton, and will lend all possible
d to that country which offers her the prospect
independence Of US. Egypt furnished that
lmed