Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1874-04-03
Government until that cotton con!d ba
shipped alb and sod.

GOFefnment until that cotton could be
shipped abroad and sod.
II, instead of payment of notes. tl,a
bonds Of the Government had lea,,
used TO pdrchasf the cotton Gro,
those bonds would have. been throw
in the M nr,;nt to III aet the necass;t;ao
Of III" planters, ana HEIR vain, as a
n1eaIs nf iasd.iY t." <l-r'n& c,rren.y
wori!d i.av- J. 81 ! -Strnv,.l Ii. o.,
v!"ils f. ";:y one arc ,ai't".l VI :, f.
nanca, that t,lis w,1u.G !.ivr l,rnl.,
down the Confederate '-nsr-ucy WITHIN
the first year of its existence N~u.r...
as the plan pursued sI1tniur,l il cred
it Of the Confederacy until broken
down by calamitics under which M
credit could survive.
The only remaining mod. IN which
the cotton could have been procured
by the Government was by donation
from the planters. SO far was this do
nation from being possible, that the
Treasury actually had to issue circu-
lar ia response to applications to the
Government for aid to the planters in
making loans to them, and Tot a ba'e
OF the crop Of that year was contributed
/ TO the Government. An effort was
made to get pledges of the next years
crop IL exchange for bonds of the Gov
ernment. To accomplish this it was
! deemed necessary to allow the planters
! to get their own price through their
own factors, without allowing the Gov
eminent to fix its price, and the whole
amount thus pledged did not reach
| fifty millions, or about two months ex-
| penscs of the Government. of which
| perhaps One-third was never received.
Evc~y one conversant with the pol
itics of the day knows that it was the
current expectation that the blockade
could not be continued for year.
Informed when they adopted the in
ternational agreement as to pri-
vateers. The Government of the
United States equally supposed that
tie war would be of short duration, as
is apparent from President Lincoln's
proclamation calling for troops for
ninety days. There could, therefore.
be no motive to induce the Confeder-
ate Government to store up cotton as a
basis of credit. When it became ap-
parent that the blockade and the war
would continue, the Government then
made arrangements for using cotton
as the basis of loan; and the large
foreign cotton loan negotiated in Eu-
rope by Messrs. Erlanger furnished
abundant resources to the Government
for its supplies from abroad But
even to the last its power over the
crop was restricted by the large guam
titles held in private hands which
could lot he purchased at all. At no
| time that l am aware of was it in the
power Of the Government to get pos
session of the cotton crop, unless it
had seized the same by force, and by
the same force compelled payment in
deprecated currency; high-handed
course which could never receive the
sanction Of the statesmen who admin
isteTed our Government The only
approximation to it was in the shape
Of a tax i'll kind when the currency
failed to command supplies, and which
Was made as Just aud equal rs any
other tax.
The truth is, that il Gen. Johnston's
recoliections OF history were as vivid
as his llno Wedge Of military tactics is
great, instead OF cenSuring the finan-
cial administration OF the Confederate
Government, he would have discov-
cred no instance on record where 4
war of such dimensions, i'll a constant
~ decreasing territory, has been sus-
tanned for four years by mere fnan-
cial expedients, without the aid usual
II derived from taxcs-for in the whole
Confederate war but one general war
tax was levied, and great portion OF
that was never collected.
G, G.. ME5IiIr;lTR.