Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-11-28
TRANCE asn TRADE,
OTTToK OF TIKI DAILY APPEAL,
MnEH~ NV q XII 4
Whs Makes the Cotton Crop Of h
G~.nhR

OTTroK OF TIKI DAILY APPEAL.(
SDAI Noy.H 2, ls7L
Whs Makes the Cotton Crop of the
SOuthS
The Louisville Ledger says It has been a
favorite theory that the cotton growtng States
owed their great wealth TO the labor Of the ne
groes; that they were the sole producers OF
king cotton. and but for their labor these
States would be a poverty-stricken country
soon TO grow up in briar-patches- We intend
10 show that this assumption Is a fallacy, or 8
falsehood. and that the cotton States would be
equally as well. II not better OF, II the "mau
and brot er" were entirely removed nom
their borders. To do this we shall have 70 In
dulgs In figures, which we hope viii be par
doned.
We ind, by examining the statistics that
there are $4,000 negroes in the old slave
States; Of this number, thirty-three per cent
or 100000, reside in Delaware, Maryland, Viz
ginia, North Carolina, Kentucky and Missou-
ri, states which produce no cotton this leaves
2,sS0,O00 negroes in what are known as the cot
ton States. or these States, South Carolina
and Louisiana produce rice Texas and Louis
lana, sugar, and Florida and Tennessee, tobac-
90. Subtracting a proportionate share Of the
negro labor to cultivate these products-fcs
rice we may take fifteen per cent, or l2A.H0, in
SCUM AHTO INA ana LuAl,lauhs lNL sugar We
may take twenty per cent, or 10000, In Louis
lana and Texas, and for tobacco in Florida and
grain and tobacco in Tennessee we may deduct
ten per cent, or 5000 more, a total OF ze,OO.
This would leave US 2y5SOyOO0 negroes nominal
II engaged in the culture Of cotton last year.
Let Us see how many Of them we're actually
engaged in it
An examination Of the census viii show
that fully one-half Of the population Of the
towns, villages and cities Of the South is COM
posed OF negroes, who collect in these places,
and live by little jobs and by other processes
often investigated by the criminal court. In
this city Of Memphis which contained a negro
population OF less than 400 before the war,
there are now l5iyOO negroes. Every town and
village is overcrowded by nomadic swsrms of
negroes. They are gregsriOus to sn extent
never known among any race Of men. The
rich fields Of Eastern Mississippi are aban-
doned, and towns are hlled with multitudes OF
blacks. Their great harvest time recurs with
each election, when money buys votes, and all
Africa dances. Not less than 10000 negroes
dwell In cities and villages Of the South, and
the coIored rural population is thus reduced TO
10000 addicted to the production Of cotton.
Oftbese. II is wei known that the women and
children are no longer field laborers as In the
days Of slavery, snd We can now approximate
the number Of negroes engaged in cotton cnl-
tivation, viz: the men out ola population OF
lIsOOD0 souls. One man 10 six souls is q large
allowance, and by these figures we ind $4,000
of the nations wards as cotton-grOwers.
Before the war six bales OF cotton 10 "the
hands was an extraordinary crop, and there
is no cotton-planter now, no one who Is al all
fam liar with free negro labor, who will not
pronounce Il al least one-third less valuble
than slave labor, which would give but four
- a. .---
but as the regroes - q great extent cultivate
the rich bottom lands, we viii allow them
more than the average, and put their produe-
ton at hve bales TO "the hand" which viii
give them last year l,60,O00 bales Of cotton out
of q crop Of $4,000 bales-littls more than
one-third OF the cotton produced.
WHERE THE COTTON CoMKs FROM.
The APPEAL has oten stated that thsSmall
farmers In the uplands were more prosperous
than ever before. In narrow valleys, In the
poorer districts Of the South, the greater por-
zion Of the crop is produced. Lowland planta-
uOug. on which, in former years, there was an
enormous production, are everywhere offered
for sale. Here and there proprietors have
prosp red, bat proper rewards Of capital and
labor are most uncertain. The South is not
indebted to the negroes for the production OF
cotton, for two-thirds Of the crop last year was
made by white men and not by negroes.
The Ledger says that the negroes are cult
waiting the best cotton lands; this is undeniR-
bly 50. The bottom lsnds Of the Miss lssippi,
AakAnsas, Red and Ouichita rivers, the rich
lands Of Mississippi and Alabama, are Guilt
waited mainly by negroes, and by them are
made 70 produce nve bales Of cotton 10 the
hand. II these negroes were away, settled
among their dear friends at the North. these
lands would be cultivated by white men, aud
production. II IL useless 70 ask why white men
DO not cultivate them now, because every one !
knows The answer. White men viii Lot labor I
IN the neldS with Tree negroes VIII not come 4
IN competition with them as 10 wages; a d \
This feeling Is not confined 70 southern white
men, but perYades all clesSes. A planter may {
go TO Chicago and engage Scandinavian " s
German labOrers, As they have DONE aud they :
refuse, on their arrival South, 70 work with c
the negroes on any terms. !
ave hold, then, that these wards Of the ma
ton, leaving out all political questions are an
actual incubus on the material prosperity of {
the south, OF which they should endeayOF by [
every legal means 10 rid themselves. AslaboT- {
en- they are worthless as lawmakers, OdiOus. [
Their presence IN the one capacity prevents 1
the Immigration OF better workers, and their
By ali means let US send them north. The :
white men Of the south can well afford 10 sub 4
scribe twenty-five per cent Of Nleir remaining +
properly O caTry out TINS object. /
III this could DO done, the present white
population, who have shown themselves able I
10 produces N arly ~ large a cotton crop as did
ne Old shave Lab 2, Will be largely reinforced
by a Vigorous and industrious white mmigra-
tion, aud the cotton statez viii again bloom as {
the garden Of Hesp erides." :
sugar.
Accounts from New Orleans and vicinity !
agree IN reporting the disastrous failure Of the
sugar crop throughout the Gulf district. This
result does mol seem 10 be attributable TO any
want OF care or good management on the part
Of the planters, but 10 a series of unfortunate J
foresight could have prevailed. The severe 1
and unusual hosts OF last winter did great
rains. which are said 70 nave con
tiuued In the sugar district through
planters nom giving their Fields the culture
which they demanded. Close upon this came 4
the crOuth Of August and september, and The -.
result Of these unPrOpitious circumstance Is ;
that but nttle OF the cane viii yield sugar 5
enough 20 pay The expense OF harvesting and
grinding. Inc failure Of this crop is a very Sc
Tioua matter 10 all classes Of the population in A
ths sugar district Tbs manufacture 2
of suEaE necessitataa the use Of 5
much costly machinery, and as eXtensivei
preparations have been made IN anticipation
Of a more than average crop the planter viii
however that they have enjoyed a steadily e
increasing prosperity since the close OF the 0
wa, and while they will suffer much from the d
los OF The seasons labor, II Is notlkely they c
viii be 30 crippled In their resources as 70 ser1-
Ously interfere with their operations next Z
year. The failure or this crop as We might ;
have expected, has been seized upon by m ny s
leading Journals throughout tbs North as ar ;
fonding a proleAt Tor worrying the people 81 ;
the south with long dissertations upon the L
subject Of diversified Industry. The people are 7
assured that II l. q vast mistake 70 depend 5
upon . single staple which they cannot always I
depend upon making prOntablet and thai they )
should abandon sugar culture In part, ana 60
moTp extensively into the business Of raising U
corn 6pd PORK IN competition with the West L
but In TIE event Of u failure OF the corn crop -
Of The Mesl, no one would think Of K
reproVing HE Illinois farmers for de- K
pending upon one staple, or Of advising Z
them 70 devote a portion OF their time and ;
land 70 growing sugar ana cotton even II X
they could do So The failure OF a crop any K
where Il a misfortune, but IL is the exception I
rather than q rule, wnIea dtyeraincauon ofIn- X
dusuy, enecled at the expense Of a dimin- ,
tEhed production Of those products which, OW- Z
ing 20 condition Of soil and climate, can be
most largely produced with least labor would Z
deprive the people Of that which, wen they (
have it, may be exchanged for everything
they need, with lnnntte advantage 70 them
selves, and 70 every section or country with d
which such exchanges are effected. The cry Is
of diversified Industry which Is now X
has been for yeaIs Al those Of the cotton belt >
comes rom those narr0W-mind6d economists d
who think that each month should devOur y
only what each pair Of HANDS produces, but IL ;
ters understand their own interest too well 10 A
heed H. :
The New Orleans Times does not think there 90
is any possibility ola coffee anime. II says that =
q change has come over the spirit Of the ore N =
OF those vhO thOughttney saw q coffee famine !,
imm1I eut, and prices 30 high that enly Use =
rich could afford 10 indulge IN The use OF the y
berry Liberal purchases abroad, nom less =
Europeans, seems likely 70 consider =,
ably assist in furuis ing our market a. least 4
with All the needful supplies for the present. -
and q famine, or even q scarcely u nov seen Z
70 be among the unlikely occurrences OF the n
day. Whatever temporary deficit there may =