New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-08-21
ST. Louis as a Cotton Market.

closing as follows: "The commercial editor
of the Democrat has shown a worthy yea
in his effort but we very much fear that he
has mistaken the situation. st. Louis will
never become a leading cotton market, IN
less the Mississippi river should commence
! running up stream" says:
| In maintaining that st. Louis may be,
| come a large dealer in cotton, the Democrat
never entertained the idea that much cot
ton would ascend the Mississippi to come
here or deviate more than hundred or two
hundred miles from its air line to shipping
points on the seabOard. We meant and
still mean that in the establishment of new
routes to the cotton areas of the South from
this city, and with the consequent enlarge
ment Of that area, this city might attract a
large amount of cotton per annum if we
had buyers for it when it arrived For in
stance. we are rapidly connecting ourselves
BY rail with points IN Arkansas and with
points in Texas, from whence large amounts
Of cotton will come. This cotton will have
no other outlet, and must come here, but
the majority of the shipments will be
through St Louis, instead of to St Louis
unless our dealers pluck up spirit enough
to buy it outright and hold 1t here to trade
on.
So far as the Shreveport cotton is con
to send it by the quickest route to New
York, he would put it on a st. Louis boat
and then let it proceed East by rail from
here: because; from Shreveport to Cincin-
natl is 562 miles further than to St. Louis;
and this entire difference is on the Ohio
river, where low water and plentiful sand
bars delay the progress of a steamer. We
beiive it Will take a steamer three or four
days, upon the average, even when the
Ohio can be navigated at all. to 60 this 5G2
miles Of extra distance; therefore, by the
time the Shreveport shippers cotton
reached Cincinnati that shipped by the
way of st. Louis would have already
reached New York, and we venture the
assertion that through rate from Shreve-
port on compressed cotton can be made to
New York, Boston Baltimore or Philadel-
phia fully as low via st. Louis as via Gin
cinnati.
All that a cotton man wants is the cash
value of his prOducB and he probably does
not care a button where the buyer resides.
He also wants cheap goods, and is equally
indifferent as to the residence of the seller,
therefore St. Louis neither asks nor expects
any favOrs from Shreveport in trade mat
ters. If We can not put our goods into
Shreveport as low as Cincinnati can put
goods of the same quality, then buy of Gin
Ciunati. If St. Louis can not pay as much
for the Shreveport cotton as Cincinnati
can, sell it to Cincinnati. We claim that
St Louis has few natural and artificial
advantages over Cincinnati in the pursuit
of this trade which can never be overcome.
First q steamer from Cincinnati, in making
the round trip to Shreveport and return
must traverse 1921 miles more of river than
a St. Louis steamer is compelled
to. Let us suppose a single steamer
shall make forty trips from either
city. Eleven hundred and twenty -four
miles multiplied by forty, gives 1860
miles more for the Cincinnati than the st.
Louis boat. Now, we ask the editor of the
IcIeqruD whether a steamboat can traverse
this distance for nothing How many days
will it take to run this number of miles in
so troublesome a stream as the Ohio, where
every mile OF this extra travel must be
done Five days per thousand miles would
be a tair estimate. Then 22j days would
be consumed bv the Cincinnati boats in
running, which st. Louis boats escape. Let
us put the boats expenses at $3.50 per day,
which will probably average under rather
than over the mark This sum multiplied
by 225 days gives $j6,2JO as the absolute
cost Cincinnati boat will be put to in max.
ing forty trips to Shreveport more than St
Louis boats will be put to. Added to this is
insurance on the boat and cargo for 20
DAYS, and wear and tear of the boat for the
some length Of time. This much for the
river advantages which st. Louis enjoys.
The next advantage is that we have.
greater number OF railways leading east
ward than Cincinnati has, and the COmpeti-
ton Of eastward through freight is such
that there is very little difference between
the price charged on cotton from ST. Louis
to New York and from Cincinnati to New
York, or any other sPahOard city. Very
often the rate is precisely the same. and
occasionally we have a lower rate made Us
through than is given from Cincinnati
through This may seem singular to the
editor of the Telegram, and it is singular,
but it is a way railways have Of doing We
have been compelled more than once to
complain that hardware was shipped from
Cincinnati direct through this city to Den
yer at less price than was charged for
taking St Louis hardware to Denver;
and the Chicago and Alton railway
daily hauls freight over their line $50
miles to Chicago for SIS per car more than
is charged for hauling it 1873 miles to St.
Louis. The ways of the railway companies
are as dark and their tricks as vain as were
the ways and tricks of Bill Nye's famous
heather Chinee. But we are wandering
somewhat from cur subject We started in
with the intention of proving to the editor
of the Telegram that the claims of st. Louis
to become future cotton market was not
only based upon pluck, but upon natural
and artificial advantages which are sure to
win when vigorously manipulated. New
Orleans smiled derisively when st. LOuis
pushed out her steamers for the Red river
trade. We were shown by any amount Of
figuring that this special trade could never
by any possibility be taken from New Or
leans unless we could make the Mississippi
run up stream. We acquired it, however,
III IL. La