The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1868-10-21
TIE lGississippi Steamship Trade.
AoRcuIruRAL CONDITION OF rm SOUTH.
tCorrespOndenes New York fimeal

Correspondents New York fimeal
| NEW ORLEANS. Oct. 2, 1868.
II Is very obvious that the North no longer looks
| with the same interest upon either the social or
agricultural condition of the Southern States. Yet
the productions of gold values worth $250, 900 900
| cannot but be productive of important advantage
| to national and individual credit. The condition
of the sugar and cotton interest b very discour
aging. Sugar estates are not only uncultivated in
| great part, but the very superior buildings and
machinery essential to success are falling to ruin.
| The sugar crop, you remember, declined from
| 500 900 hogsheads nearly to so 600. British off,
| Ger at my side, who is going home from two
| years service In Jamaica, says: "By Jove, sir,
am getting tired of seeing this sort Of thing, you
know, you know" The cotton plantations look,
if anything, still worse. Most of them have not
been cleared and cultivated as long as those on
the lower coast, and they grow up in cottonwood
very quickly. planter shows me his estate on
the river. He has employed many of his former
ceeds Of the crop after deducting all expense Of
cultivation. he has less than one-haf OF his
lands under cultivation, much of the remainder
being without fencing and grown up in wood which
prices Of cotton men cannot hire labor to repair
plantations. Hence, they cultivate less breadth
Of land, restricting the application of labor to the
best lands. The dimnution of the labor applicable
TO cotton culture, from the withdrawal Of many
men to other pursuits. and of almost all the women
and children, must, IN combination with this re-
duoed breadth, reduce the weight of cotton pro.
duced. The subdivision Of lands will make little
difference. More cotton could be produced by
labor combined and organized than by the volun.
tary labor of individuals, just as five men In ma.
chine shop will do more work than i've men IN i've
different blacksmith shops, and do their work
cheaper. The separate, or cotton system, will be
tried, but IL British East India succeedsin opening
that vast country with its cheap labor, we cannot
see how the Southern States return to the pro-
duction of cotton to the same extent as formerly.
Planters seem resigned to the division of their
lands. No longer ambitious of wealth, they only
desire to live.
We do not see that the government or the con.
sumer of cotton can do anything for the planter.
bus interests must sSjus. themsesss cutuRfss aa
might be temporary relief to the planter and
freedman now making cotton in partnership. But
the rice fed labor of the Punjaub and the lands in
free grant must constitute formidable CON-
petitor for the present.
THE STEAMBOAT INTEREST.
This important interest sympathizes actively
with thst Of the Eastern shipping. The cause of
its decline is to great extent the same. You
remember that the cotton crop, before the war,
had reached four and half millions of bales; of
this, two millions, or nearly fifty per cent. were
shipped to New Orleans, while perhaps six
eigbtbs of the whole crop were exported foreign.
Now. this crop has been reduced just one half,
and the proportion consigned to New Orleans is
about six hundred thousand, or twenty five per
cent. You will perceive, therefore, that the ship.
ping of the United States has lost much Of the
freights which it took out from home, and so is
the less able to meet the competition of foreign
shipping: II is true the export grain trade has
increased, but still the export weights have
greatly diminished. 1t may be noted, in the same
connection, that the cotton imported into England
from countries other than the United States, hav-
ing increased to fve.eighths Of the consumption
India and other eastern countries having In.
creased, the shipping interest of England has
secured something like the same proportion of
freights that the shipping of the United States
q nat Tha ak.oN r~sA~ 81.
sissipp has sustained further loss. The planters
of the South formerly took very large share of |
the surplus provisions Of the Northwest. They |
cannot, OF course, require so much upon their re- |
in New Orleans shows great decline of imports |
for domestic consumption, while the export OF 1
bulk grain has increased. This last employs |
bsrges exclusively. From these causes the steam.
boat interest has declined greatly both in ton
mage and in the amount of business done. They
suffer under another disadvantage. The introduce |
ton of tow barges has reduced the cost Of down |
freights greatly. Flour, which has paid steam
boats so and GO cents can be carried by barges
as low as Is cents. On the other hand, the rail-
roads are beginning to make close connections,
and run through from New Orleans to the upper
cities IN from two to three days. This competition,
will see, threatens the passenger trade Of the
steamboats,, and imposes upon them large ex-
pense 1t is not impossible, therefore, that these
splendid palaces will be superseded and cleared
out, or employed as packetboats between the
the upper Ohio.
II is thus that all the interests of Southern in
dustry are adapting themselves to the extraordi-
nary change which has befallen them. There is
very little political remedy for this. The native
Vigor of the Anglo-Ssxon constitution will vindi.
cate itself and dominate over all obstacles TO
and personal independence. Our
people are beginning to realize that the interven-
ion of foreign princes parties is an inadequate
reliance for relief from personal poverty and
'oclal dlsorganiZaton. w. NJ. 3.