New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-07-20
sARATOGA RACEs YEsTERDAY
WASHINGTON.
Summary of the July Cotton RepOrt-The
Confederate Archives Racy Letter
from Pickett.


Confederate Archives = Racy Letter
from Pickett.
WASHINGTON, July I9.-The following is
a summary of the July cotton report Of the
statistician of the Department of Agrieul-
ture:
The past month has been generally favor
able to cotton. Limited areas have been
affected by drouth, but rains were quite
general in the latter part of June on the
Atlantic coast. Showers have been so fire.
quent and heavy since June 90 as to delay
cultivation and promote the growth of
weeds and grass. Before that date sea-
son of comparative drouth of seven or
eight weeks had been suffered in a portion
of this district, while other counties repre-
sent the weather uniformly favorable.
The variations in rainfall during the past
month has been considerable in the Atlantic
States, ranging as follows: At the stations
reported, from 2-I0 inches to 95-l00; in
Virginia, from 7J-l00 to)5 40 100; in North
Carolina, from 4-I0 to 95-l00; in South
Carolina, from 2j-l00 to 4 96.lO0; in GeoF-
gia, from 4-10 to units; in Florida from
l 55-I00 to 4 89-l00. In the States of the
Mississippi, valley the rainfall has been
abundant, the lowest record in the several
States being from 2 to inches, and the
highest from $40 to II. In Tennessee the
range is from 6+l00 inches to 10 63-100;
in Louisiana from 3j4l00 to II; in Texas
from 2 100 10 9-l0; in Arkansas from
9 $40 to.8 2-i0 The States making aver
ages lower than 100, the standard Of good
condition, are Virginia, North Carolina
and South Carolina, in which the average
rain fall in May and June was light, and
Arkansas, where injury has resulted from
heavy and unreasonable rains.
In. all the other States the avefages are
above 100. The figures representing the CON
dition are as follows: Virginia SO, Nerth Caro-
lima "a, South Carolina 81, Georgia l0l;
Florida l02, Alabama l06. Mississippi I0I,
Louisiana l03, Texas luJ, Arkansas %, Ten
nesse 10i. Taking inrn consideration the
relative Importance OF he States in produc-
ton, the general average of the condition
would be about 1O3 As a whole, the July
returns of the present year show a higher
average of condition than Of any previous
reports except those of 1868.
A person signing himself j. s. Pickett,
Confederate States. diploma c agent near
the government of Mexico, publishes long
letter explaining his connection with trans
actions, whereby the United States paid
him $4,000.
Pickett claims to have acted merely as
attorney. He says the documents consist
of the entire archives of the Department of
State of the Confederate States, nothing
more or less, without the abstraction Of a
single piece.
The secret service vouchers, by which
many persons, of little note, however this
side of the lines, might have been cOmprO-
mised did not leave Richmond with those
more public papers, but were faithfully and
honOrably destroyed by Mr.. Benjamin on
the day Of the evacuation.
Had any such papers come into my pos
session, | should have been bound at the
stake sooner than deliver them, even to the
common government. Thus do not per-
ceive that anybody is hurt; and there is but
one paper the perusal of which gave me
any pain-the Hon. Jacob Thompson's re-
| port of operations on the frontier, etc, the
| existence of which was unknown to me, un-
| til the officer with whom lately went to
| Canada found it, as he would testify if
| called upon. 1t was too late then to recede,
nor could have been induced to falsify his
| tory by destroying it, and here follows a
| curious episode. Knowing that the docu.
ments exhibited the fact that Mr. Jhomp-
son had very large amount of Confederate
| States gold in his possession at the time OF
the collapse. which gold has gone where
| the wOodbine twineth,o | went long Jour
ney last summer to see him, and out OF
| abundant kindness told him Of the fact that
| such papers were still extant.
He would not be convinced, saying Mr.
| Benjamin had told him everything Of the
| kind had been destroyed and / dare say
1 NC was 80 lulDEIueu duu DeueVeu bn1s, DeIng
manifestly the cue Of that willy Hebrew, in
| order to share in the plunder aforesaid
Now, inasmuch as the Confederate gov
ernment was indebted to the writer in the
amount Of at least $4,000 of that GOLD, on
! liquid account, he, the writer, felt vir
tuOusly indignant that Messrs. Thomson
and Benjamin should have gobbled it all.
By Mr.. Thompson's permission after
ward addressed him on the subject, in the
| hope that he would make an effort to secure
the entire mass of documents, but be treated
/ my letter with offensive silence. Now, the
publication Of this report will doubtless
| cause him, with Jefferson Davis and J. p
| Benjamin, to feel uncomfortable for little
| while, but as / expect to go to neither Of
! them when / die, my sympathy shall not be
| of a heart-rending character, especially as
| they have all three treated me badly emo ugh
| in my time, and thus / am, albeit, uninten-
| tiOnally the instrument of execution Of a
| sort of poetic justice upon them.
The letter does no credit to the author,
| the federal government or the mysterious
parties who owned the documents, and
there are parties here who question the
truthfl1lness of some of the details.