Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-04-02

portation under a blockade it was i'm
possible, after the commencement of
hostilities, to get the cotton to Europe
in any considerable quantities. All the
currency the Government could provide
at the time was needed to meet the
daily demands on the treasury, and if
the cotton had been purchased for
bonds, s'the bonds would have
been thrown on the market to
meet the necessities Of the planters,
and their value as a means of
funding the surplus currency would
have been destroyed, thus breaking
down the Confederate currency within
the first year of its existence; whereas
the plan pursued sustained the credit
of the C~onfederacy until broken down
10y calamities under which no credit
could survive" Mr.. Memminger adds:
"The truth is, if Gen. Johnston's
recollections of history were as vivid
as his knowledge Of military tactics is
! great, instead of censuring the fnan-
cial administration Of the Confederate
| government, he would have discovered
no instance on record where a war of
such dimensions, In a constantly de-
creasing territory, has been sustained
for four years by mere financial expe-
dents, without the aid usually derived
from taxes-for in the whole Confed-
crate wal but Z general war tax was
levied, and a great portion of that was
never collected"
Another correspondent of the Courier
over the signature IT" supposed to
be Mr.. James L. Trenholm, who was
the successor of Mr.. Memminger In the
Confederate Treasury goes into 4
critical examination Of the facts cited
by Gen. Johnston in support Of his
views Of the cause of the failure of the
South, and shows pretty c~oncluslvely
that the four or five millions of bales
which he speaks of were not in the
Confederacy, and that if they were, the
Government was unable to transport
them. He says:
"Let us examine the facts upon
which this theory rests and without the
support OF which 1t must necessarily
fall to the ground. The crop Of cotton
available for this scheme must necessa-
rily have been that of lS60-6l. 1t could
not have been the crop Of which the
seed was not yet put in the ground
when the government was formed at
Montgomery. What was then the crop
of 1S6O-6l? Was it 100000 to $780,
600 bales, and was 1t accessible for i'm
mediate expectation:
Bales.
The crop Of ls6O-6l was officially stated
OF hi: a1antitv the con:1mption Of the
Southern States took oh...-----..-.- ls3,OVl
Leaving for expectation. .3,656y00O
Let US now see what proportion of
this quantity was available IN the way
| described by Gen. Johnston.
up to the 2Sth of February, the
month that gave birth to the infant
government, 5000, 900 bales had been
received at the seaports, aud the great
bulk of it had been exported to Europe
or been sold to the New England spin
ners. BY the LIST Of May $4,000 bales
more had been received and sold. Eng
land and the Continent took 3,l27,0 900
bales. The New England spinners
$4,000 bales.
1t Will thus be seen that before the
49, G,-,-,,,,,,,- --,z ea,rl-- arr,nsya1
the entire crop was beyond its reach.
Another crop followed, it istrue, but no
part of it was ready for market before
the month Of September ensuing. This
all Will agree in; and they will also
agree that the expectation in any guam
tity was an absolute impOssibility.
There were no vessels In the ports of
the Confederacy; the last had left be-
fore the expiration of the sixty days al.
lowed to foreign tonnage under the
blockade proclamation. The only yes
sells that took out cotton after that time
we're the foreign steamers that ran the
blockade to procure cargoes of cotton
for the owners. They came in small
numbers and one or two at a time.
Had the government seized M OF
them for its own use, orpreventedt then
from leaving with cotton, they would
have ceased to come"
We give these facts and figures as
well calculated to throw Light upon ;
vexed question, and one that is likely
to have able champions on both sides
and to be much discussed.