Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-11-22
1t Is tIiI King.
The Productive Capacity Of the
South.

79S bales in 1s4s, 10 5 1876 94 bales ii
l65S-sn Increase OF ITO per cent. Tn
steady Increase In production wa
always exceeded by the demand for con
sumption; and, to-day, cotton eiothe
mere people than all other fabrics 10 thl
world. The eros of 1859 go, was III,
largest Dos evef made. Putting It g
5,OU0,G00 bales, in round numbers, and a
$50 per bale, it was worth the enormu
SUM Of $3.50. 900 900. Less than one mill
ion bales were consumed in the ULiteG
States, while four millions sought foreign
markets. This gave life and activity K
the largest commerce on the ocean tn,
export trade being the basis of q still
greater import trade. Its demand fol-
the looms of England had become 81
great in 1857, that, according to ths
London Economist, t~hree-fOurths of the
com meroA Of that Kingdom were based
upon Ii, in its raw or It's manufactured
forms. More than anything else,
it affected mining, manufacturing
and commercial interests; for
the constant conversion of it into
different forms, sunk mines, built ma
chinery, erected manufactures, built
ships, and created marvels of wealth.
AS enormous as was the value Of the
cotton crop of $3.50, much Of 1t was
unnecessarily lost to the producers. The
South spent much Of it in buying f1od
which could have been raised 81 home.
Then, again, the planter had to feed not
only his Laboring hands, but also the
children. He had to clotbe men, women
and children, pay taxes on them, as
property, pay DOCTORS bills, and lose all
heir time if they were sick. All these
coneomitsnts Of slavery drew heavily on
his Cotton crop.
This year We may estimate the cotton
crop st 200 coo bales, and the price 500
per bale. TITS will brig into the cotton
States $500 600. 600, or within one
hfth IS much money as when We pro-
duced 5000, COO bales. Now let Us look
at the charges against these 1000 coo
balea, IS compared with those against
the 5000, colour largest crop. The
planter 10 longer Gums the negro; but
the LABOR is still here, though lamenta-
bly inefficient. He hires the negro now,
snd feeds him. There his charges end.
He does not clothe him does not pay
his taxes or DOCTORS bill, and does not
lcse his time in sickness. He does not
feed or clothe his wife and children, or
pay their taxes and doctors bills, as for
meTly. But the difference does not end
here. The Suuth buys but little food
from the North now. She can pro-
duoe, and this year she has produced
all she will need of food for man or beast.
l have just returned from a trip Of sev-
ersl hundred miles, on horseback, in
some of the counties in Mississippi, and
| have never known corn, peas, pots
toes, etc., so abui dant. Better still,
there has never existed in that State
such 8 determination to husband all it.
-o-n--.c NHo-1F,-1 -,
present cotton crop of 000 coo bales WiA
bring Gs much money TO the south as DID
the crop Of our most abundant
year, $3.50 l. is thus apparent that,
except IN its efficiency, the labor of thu
South has but little changed since 1850.
We then had 70 hire our slzves-thst
is, their labor was charged with ali
the expenses just now enumerated. We
RoIO hire a portion Of that same labor,
but t5ithout these items OF cost. For
these and other reasons, l conclude taat
the SJuth is not s 70 bsdly fused Gp.U
Indeed, I am satisfied that, ia one year
more, with quiet and justice, she will
enter upon a career OF prosperity such as
she never knew before. The bankrupt
law has lifted a load Of debt from the
shoulders of her people; and they are
nOW free for all new enterprises. We
have all been too poor during the past
years to get much in deot, for no.
body would trust rs. This has been the
salvation Of all for it has caused our
people to do what they never did be-
Within Themselves. In past
rimes, every cotton planter who made
or 100 bales of cotton belonged
to 3 commission merchant IN Menu
phis, New 0rlesDs, Mobile, Savannah
or Charleston. He was = regular a" buli,n
and would toss up his credit when and
he pleased. He "dreE billsu on
coming ciop,n to buy more negroes
to make more cotton, ETC., etc. 1t was q
round OF Indebtedness that had no yisi-
BILE ending; and the commission mer- /
chant generally had q "morigags" on his
land and negroes. This has greatly
changed. The war aud its exigencies
have been.the shear; ~ and Southern
credit has bean "pulled down." In
1ne yesF from this date, the South
lgiH be Tess In debt than she has been in
hiry gears; ard her resources, just de-
Veloping, will yield more wealth, annu-
ally, tina q has aver resped before
lust think et c country with less than
ailiicn OF whites and four million
,f blacks, producing net only al she re-
Iuires for her " consumption, but also
single crop from which she may an
lually expect $3.50, 600 600. In eighteen
years the gold mines OF California have
Produced but $40, 00,00Q yet here is 3
: ruined" country which will fprever
hereafter yield the vRs sum Of $500 co.,
100 every yesr, from cotton alone, TO say
OF her tobacco, rice and sugar.
Al this rate her cotton crop would pas
II the national debt Ia fifteen years.
Surely a country so favored BY heaven
las a brighter future,
10 q iets lgEaDeFSf year paperI saw an
'stimsEe taken from the New York Her
I'd, as to the cotton crop of Mississippi
This estimate gives Georgia $4,000 and
Mississippi SEQ, 900 bales in 1865. In
$4,000 Mississippi produced upward of
ZOO 600 bales-neAFly one-fOurth of
he largest crop ever raised. Why may
he not produce the same relative pro-
this year? Her lands are newer, {
Ier soil richer, aud her labor is SIS eff l
lent az that OF Georgia. Is may be rea-
enable TO conclude that If che produced !
early 0ne-fourth of the entire crop in !
$50, she Will do so this year. Esti- {
hating this crop st 2,G00,e00 bales, ,
place her proportion of is q !
ne-ffIh-ssy 100000 bales. At 500 I
er bale, the crop Will be worth $
40, 600. coo! at least t~hree-fourths of
SEQ, 900 bales-wu be raised g
stveen the Tennessee line aud the line q
an Yieksourg to Meridian, yielding Il
1000, GOO TO her citizens living In the =.
haif Of the Safe. All can see .
hat an interest Memphis has in tails, n
say nothing of the crop raised Ia West
ana Arkansas,
Can it be dC1ntsd that, in q year or 4
NO, tbs South Will have abundant re !,
What will she do with her :
Of dollars yieldes by her cotton, :
'baocc, rice and sugar7 She can no .
niger buy negroes, and she will
DC expend One-haif she has thrown
way in years past. What will
lie do with her surplus wealth? she 2
i'll devote much of 1t 10 developing :
III more her boIndless resources. FIrsE, Z
sill the modes to do this, and as a
.e basis of progress and improvement, /,
le Will spend much Of 1t in railroads, SO n
to mute population. EmIgranls do
)t csre to go to n wilderness. They a
ek the haunts Of men, not of beasts ; s
Id they are naturally attracted to those r
etions Of cur country where are found n
aiding lines of travel and eommunica.
On with the world. The s 1u,h will n,
what she so well began be Il
re the war. She will construct q,