The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1869-05-05


vived, with its constitution and by
laws, and that the officers just elected
be the offers of this Society.
On motion of Gov. Bonham, the
Convention adjourned to meet Thurs
day, at i q. m.
------.---os - -------
Our Great Staple.
COTTON IN THE FUTURE-ITs pRoDUc-
TIoN AND CONSUMPTION.
The following letter, which we copy
from the Memphis Avalanche, con-
tains views in regard to the position
and prospects of the South as affected
by the cotton oiop, which will be
found full Of hope and encouragement
for our people, and eminently worthy
the attention of every thoughtful
reader:
MEMPHIS, March 20, 1869.
The chief wants of man are food and
clothing, and that country is most
favored which furnishes them and at
the least cost. Judging by this rule,
the Southern or Cotton States of the
Union possess advantages equalled in
no other part of the world Besides
being able to produce food enough for
a dense population, they produce that
staple which clothes more people than
any other fabric. So universal has
become its use that it is the leading
article Of the worlds commerce, ,and it
builds and frcights more ships, sinks
more mines, and erccts more factories
than any other product of the earth.
Nothing is SO intimately intorwoven
with the prosperity and progress of
our whole Union as cotton. The in
crease in its production has been won
dcrful, growing from about 100000
bales in 1900, to 5,3a7, 900 in 1860.
But there was demand for this
rapidly growing production; for, in
1857, two-thirds of the vas. commerce
of Great Britain we're based upon the
growth Of American cotton; and, in
1860, the Southern States furnished
her with eighty per cent. of all the
cotton she manufactured. An idea
may be formed of the value she places
on our cotton, when it is known that,
during the war, the prices in Liver.
pool ran up to $l 83 per pound.
But if we look at the demand for it
in the United States alone, we shall
conclude that "Cotton is still King"
In 1900, the factories of this country
consumed $4,000 bales of 400 pounds
each in 1860, l.094, 900 bales.
The capital invested in manufac-
lures increased thirty per cent. from
1850 to 1860, and is now estimated at
$l3o,0o0,oo0. During that period,
the consumption Of the raw material
increased fifty-ive per cent. These
facts all prove the constantly growing
demand for Southern cotton,
and hence its production has been
highly stimulated during the past
thirty years. Its consumption seems
to have no limits, for improved ma
chinery and expanding commerce all
tend to introduce it into still more
general use. But its production has a
limit, and that is measured by the
number of hands engaged in its oul-
ture. Bsfore the war, nineteen.
twentieths Of these "hands" were the
negro slaves of the South, and the
crop Of 1860 was the largest ever
raised. Until the war the growth of
our slave population was nearly as
rapid as that Of the whites the latter
boing about three and one third per
cent. and that of the former about
three per cent. per annum and under
the Old system of trained labor tho
increased production ooull be safely
estimated. In few years more the
South would have grown ten million
bales, while the North would have
monopolized the cotton commerce of
tho world.
All this has been changed. It was
proclaimed that the labor of the free
negro would bring the price Of cotton
down to three cents per pound. 1t
has gone up to twenty-five and thirty
cents and four millions of oontonted
laborers have been converted into q
community of idlers, vagrants, politi-
clans and paupers. Sumner, Greeley
and Phillips, In attempting to play
the role of Washington, Jefferson,
Webster and Clay, have mistaken
fsnaticism for statesmanship.
The day will never come again
when five million bales of cotton will
be raised by the negroes Of the South
ern States, though the demand is not
likely to abate. The vast sums in
vested in manufactures will demand
that the looms and spindles shall still
run. Where shall the cotton be
found In India and Egypt the pro.
duction is falling off, though greatly