The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-10-01
Oh Es TON.
FRIDAY MORNING. OCT. 1. 1859.
The New York Herald and Cotton Pro-
duction.


her future supply Of cotton, and the Tonans
Of the London press is emphatic in its de-
claration that tho prostration Of industry
in Lancashire damsuls immediate atten-
tion. The increase Of home manufactures
in the countries Of whose trade Great
Britain had, at one time, monopoly, mly
account, in part, for the falling OH In tne
dsmand for British cotton goods; but the
main cause is the decrease IN the produc'
tim Of the raw material. Our staple now
brings more than double the price. for
which it sold in 1860; cotton goods have ad-
yanoed in the same ratio: and the natural
consequence is diminution in the con-
sumption. Wages have not increased in
proportion to the advance in the cost of the
necessaries Of life, and there cannot be any
general improvement in the demand for
cotton goods until there is diminuion Of
price.
In the face of these facts the English
spinners are looking snxiously to India,
Egypt and South hmerioa for the means
Of swelling the aggregate crop to more
than its old proportions; while the New
York Herald, which has remedy for every
social, political and commercial disorder,
advises the British capitalist to make in
vestments in the cotton lands Of the South,
now for sale in the market at price as
low as when they were first entered as gov
ernment lands, and lower than they ever
will be again. In the Southern States
| there are tens of millions Of acres Of superior
cotton lands, and, with capital aud sufi-
cient labor, the yield Of the staple can be
enormously Increased. Cotton, as rule,
is undoubtedly Q paying crop. The South
has system OF internal communication,
enabling the producer to reach the most fa-
vorable market with oheapness and CELEBRITY.
The Herald, then, may we'll believe that the
English cotton manufacturer will obtain mis-
raw material here, by growing it himself,
more easily and more economically thsn in
any one Of the countries to wsich his atten-
ton has been chiefly turned.
There, is, however, stronger reason
why foreign capital should come to the Cot
ton States for investment. The cotton
spinner makes his profit in spinning cotton,
and does not expect to make money BY
, growing the raw material. It is his aim to
lower the price Of the raw cottoui while the
legitimate producer, on the other hand,
looks for his profit to the difference between
the market price and the actual cost Of the
cotton. The interests Of the cotton spin
ner and the cotton grower are in conflict
with each other; for where the one loses,
the other will usually gain. Our true
course is to show the foreign capitalist the
profit that may be made by growing aud
spinning cotton in the South. Money,
which in Eogand produces three and four
per cent. year, will bring, in the sOuIb'
fifteen and twenty per cent. Nor is The
high rate of interest another name for bad
security, as the high rates can be had by q
cautious application of capital to the devel-
opmsnt of Southern manufactures.
We presume that we need not 60 to work
now to show that cotton is paying crop at
anything like the present prices. The
timid capitalist will at once cry caterpillar
drought! freedmen aud admit that there
is money ia it if you first make your CO..
ton. We waive. then, for the tim, being
tho question Of cotton growing, and 'urn TO
. cotton spinning, which ia the South brings
the m ,xlmum Of profit with the minimum
of risk.
A paper read before thShAgricultural
Convc ntiou of South Carolina in April last,
contains all the facts necessary to prove
the impregnsbility Of QUE position. The
cost of msnufae uring No. 20 yarn in
Columbia, south Carolina, the figures being
given in detail, is $3.50 cents q pound, de.
livered in New York. The cost Of the
same yarns, manufactured in the North, is
S6 81 cents. The Southern spinner, there
fore, can sell his yarns at what they cost
the Northern manufacturer, and still make
9 profit Of z OF cents Q pound. This is con-
elusive, and it may be remarked that the
records Of the Granteville and Augusta
factories, aud indeed Of every we'll mansg
ed factory in the South, show the large
profits that may be made by spinning yarns
at the very time that the Northeru spin
ners are barely paying expenses. The or
4 guments in favor Of spinning apply with
. equal ferc. in favnr Of weaving A cotton
mill with capacity OF 1880 spindles, viii b
first class mac ninery complete, is estimated
to cost $5O,U00. This mill will consume
1897 bales Of cotton, The amouat Of yarns
manufactured being 35i. $50 pouads. Onu-
. ting the cost of ,ne water po yer or site
the profits Of ths first year, the yarns SELL
ing at the cost, Of Northern production
I would be $l7,748, or about S5 PER GENT
on the capital invested. These are the
! facts and the figures, and we ask the Her
aid whether the European capitalist will
} net gain more BY putting his money in cot