The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1870-06-10
The Southern Staple.

From tho timo when 80 good far
NOR rs George Washington had a
hundred cows in his yards, and yet
bought butter for his table, the South
has been standing illustration of a
system that secms to bring wealth,
but in fact leads to pcnury. Ten
years ago, sho won't to war, trusting
mainly to tho fact that sho could do
one thing to pcrfcctiou-grow clean,
long staple upland cotton at Il cost of
less than ten cents II pound. She had
notthcn learned that national strength
depends on doing many things we'll !;
she is not in Il way to master that
lesson now, though it has been cn-
forced with tho gloomy rhetoric of
tho cannon. She has yet to learn tho
omnipotcnco Of concerted action and
diversified industry. For instance,
tho last decade has proved conclusive
ly that England will put no limit on
the price she is willing to pay for Il
certain amount Of good American
upland. Her spindlcs and looms arc
all. fitted for just such cotton as
America can grow and if Sho must
pay y gold dollar for u pound OF it,
She will pay tho dollar rather than
dispense with the cotton. The scan-
tJ' crops Of 1867 aud 1868 reduced
tho supply in her factories SO she has
been willing TO give twenty-five cents
a pound. But tho 3,00O,O 900 bales of
1869 have gone so far to fill tho void
that the price has declined, and may
descend to point at which the pro
duction Of cotton by free labor be-
comes Improbable. If in January
and February tho planters Of the
South could have met in convention,
talked these matters over, and agreed
to plant less cotton, and moro Of
something else, they would have con
trollcd tho price and held it at TWEEN
1y-five cents and over. AS il is. the
old inl;;tuation Of ono crop, one stylc
Of farming, has crcpt back upon the
Southern mind, and with it., in many
cases, an exaggerated estimate of the
Importance Of the Southern staple to
the welfare Of tho world, Instead Of
this being true, the cotton crop, us an
clement of national and international
strength, ceases at 2,500,U0O bales
When cotton is cheap, En- gland uses
choice American for both warp and
woof; now she mixes it with the
short and kinlly staples Of less favor
cd climates. When cotton is chcap,
it crccps rs dull adultcrant into ali
our fabrics, it hardcns the surface and
chius tho warmth Of our woolcns, it
takes tho gloss from our silks, it
makes our linens limp in texture, it
drives richer and more lasting goods
out of the general market, discourage
ing tho wool grower, tho silk worm
feeder and the flax produccr-delay-
ing tho introduction of ramio and
of mohair as profitable American sta
pies.
All this subtle mischief great crop
OF cotton works in tho world, whilo
tho curse. of one-sidcd and exhausted
tillage rests over all tho cotton fields.
The planter will float corn q thousand
miles down Western rivers, and then
haul it fifty miles over muddy and
narrow roads, that ho may cling with
a closer and moro ruinous devotion to
his single staple. His cattlo are small
and bony. They pick scanty living
in tho cane-brake, ticks worry them,
mosquitoes torment them, and poach-
ers kill thom, 80 ho learns to depend
on kentucky for his beef. His hogs
arc wild and restless all summer, gain
ing no flesh and but littlo bone. His
corn is insufficient for his plow horses,
and he lcarns to depend on Cincinnati
for his pork.
Hc needs artisans of all sorts near
him-wagon-makcrs, tanners, shoe
makers, ropo walks, plow-mal1ers and
cotton-wcavcrs. But these persons
find that, while wages arc a little
higher, food is good deal dcarcr :;
that the roads are narrow, and dusty
when not muddy that tho streams
keep all who arc not we'll mounted
weather-bound for a day after every
rain; that tho undraincd swamps
breed myriads Of mosquitoes and
that where the lands arc rich they
abound in malaria. Arguments like
these must continue to drive the me-
chanic from tho cotton States, GER
tainly; while, in addition, he is mudo
to feel that neither James Watts, nor
George Stephenson, nor Robert Full
ton, if landlcss, would bo as much
honorcd rs the wild owner Of q thou
sand acres.
We arc aware that the South has
suffered from tho struggle and stasv-
alton Of long war. We admit that
the proclamation and tho surrender
destroyed vast amount which, by
the constitution, as it then read, was
property. Far bo it from us, WHO
justly prize tho thrift, the enterprise,
tho invention, and the. progress Of tho
Northern character, to draw ingidious
distinctions, or fan sectional pride.
But we wish to show the South how
she is cheated by that insane loyalty
to old, tyrannous, and now uncrown.
ed, King Cotton. She wants bread
and hc gives her stone; she asks q
fish and gets q scorpion. Cotton gives
her gold, but for oil important ends Of
national power that gold is dross. It
buys nothing Of that which makes
nations great and keeps them SO. 1t
has littlo power to fell forests, to drain
swamps, to bridge streams, fill school
houses, and change villages into cities.
The fundamental mischief in that