Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-02-27

The advance in the price Of cotton,
which we predicted four months ago, has
cSme, and the fiood-tide has risen even
beyond our expectations; but uDfortun-
stely it Ienefits only few of the plant
ers, and our merchants only to limited
extent,
The Mobile Advertiser and Register
thus discusses the causes Of the rise, and
the prospects for the future:
CoTTON-wHAT is THE MATTER7
The late extraordinary rise in the great
Southern staple has been the cause of
one of the marked sensations of the last
three weeks. Next to the defeat of the
Alabama menagerie Constitution, il has
been the most striking and important
event OF that brief epoch. A rise of fifty
odd dollars a bale in so short a period
offered one of those rare opportunities to
cotton men, who could "see it, }" to smass
large fortunes. These opportunities are
like angels visits, "few and far between"
We are glad 10 know that some Of our
merchants in this trade have struck the
golden streak and run it out 10 their
great profit. The majority, however,
have only had TO grit their teeth as they
saw fortune fit before their eyes when
they had not the daring TO grasp it.
Does any one comprehend the philoso-
ply OF this great and sudden rise ? The
last time Several weeks ago. that we
talked with cotton men, we found the
article had DO friends, and there was but
one note uttered-great supplies and low
| prices certain. And now, when we in
! quire Of them what the late advance
means, we are told that European stocks
] iuh nd
India supplies have fsiled beyond ex-
! pectation. The American estimates of
! production were nearly half million
| too high, and the spinners abroad and at
/ home became alarmed and rushed into
| the market to secure their working
stocks. These are the views Of st. Mi
| chael street buyers and Commerce street
/ factors. We wonder if the causes do not
/ lie deeper? We wonder if king cotton
| has not been basely slandered and be-
I tUaysd by his subjects, and whether,
| after all, he has not kept one foot in his
rightfUi seat Of dominion, while all his
wOrshiPpers believed him hOpelessly de-
throued. We wonder if the prOdlgious
British stories we have been hearing
about cotton culture Development in India |
are not in "web and woof" prOdigious |
canards-if the large dividends OF British |
cotton growing companies are not, at
last, dividends of capital aud not of |
profits-if it has not been discovered that |
the ruling Of low PRICES pricks the bubble |
Of East India cotton supremacy, and If it |
has not been further discovered by spin |
Der and consumer that the fabrics from |
the short staple Of India are fimsy, and |
wear badly. And we wonder what |
means the report we hear from highly |
respectable English sources, that the |
British spinners are changing back their |
machinery for the Use of the long staple, !
having before changed it for adaptation |
to the short. If the true theory Of the |
rise is properly interpreted by the ST. Mi |
Chael street cotton men, 1t follows that !
the trade, the world over, has been short !
sighted and has based its calculations |
upon delusive and fanciful estimates and |
not upOn known facts. But does not so /
great rise show that there are other |
elements at work besides those deyel- !
oped in cotton table statistics? We can
not help thinking 50, and if our surmises |
are correct, it is q great fact for that part |
OF the region OF "Tebeldom " known as |
the cotton belt. ItshOws that the cotton |
sCepter has not departed from a country |
which nature had pronounced by the |
laws Of soil and climate the finest cotton |
growing region on the earth. And that |
being demonstrated, it matters not 1
whether the freedman works it or pre-
fers to ostarve-woTked it will be, as Cal |
ifornia was worked for its gold, as Aus
tralia is worked by tides of labor setting |
in from its remotest hives, even from the
other side of the globe. AS a distiD
guished gentleman lately observed, "if
cotton is not king, recent English events
prOve that it iE at least the Prince Of
Wales"
The present advance has come late for
the rlanter's interests, but still it will
leave, il prUdenuy managed, maBy
millions of dollars in the South, ard we |
believe that in few weeks money mat
ters will be easier in this city, particu-
larly than they have been for a long |
time. It Las come in good time, how
ever, to encourage The planters. What
WITH the cotton tax, (Dow lifted fOf the
next cropl, the disasters Of the past sea-
son and the low prices, planters were
almost paralyzed and il despair. They |
can lift up their heads now and work /
With 2 hoLeful future. But let them not
forget the isssen3 Of the past and con-
tinue TO sacrifice farming TO planting. /
Selecting good and trie hands, discard
inc the idle and the vicious, their true |
policy will be to pitch their crops first,
with a view to certain abundance in |
their barns, cOrn-cribs and smOke-houses. |
AfteT that, eil the cation that can be |
properly clltiveted Eith theif surplus |
force. Make plenty TO eat, and if you |
make less cotton, be sure that it will |
bring the price of more, for, In spite of /
India, Egypt and Brazil, the cotton mar
kets Of the world will hereafter be largely |
dependent upon Southern production.
Undoubtedly the great and sudden ad
vance in the price OF cotton has been in
& large measure owing to the ascertain |
ment of the fact that the crop Of this
country had been eStimated at more than
half a million bales too much.
But we do not doubt that its low price |
for three months and more was also in a
great Blsssnre owing to the combinations
of gamblers in stocks SEd cotton, who |
SO operated as to bring down the price, |
in order to reap fortunes by the rise |
which they knew was certain. It is
matter for congrstuiatioG that it did not
rise soon enough for some Of them, and
that tEey were wrecked by its continued |
decline after their purchases.
Is it worth while for our planters to
engage again in the extensive cultivation
of this most hazardous Of oil crops, the
price of which is always certain, af-
fected by sinister agencies over which
they have no control, and continually
fiuctuating, especially when they may
again 10 compelled to sell at price so
low as to subject them all to loss, in or
der that purchasers may R2sik.e fortunes
almost without an effort? We greatly
doubt it.
From the Cincinnati Commercial, (lad)