The enquirer southerner., 1874-07-17
THE
gnqnirer~ ~Soutberner.
JULY II, 1874
Autobiography of a Cotton
Bale.
CHAPTER |.

AtI III Val oliild, ny ldi iutE u
moderate means. At an e2rIy age
[ learned from a conversation be-
tween the farmer and a neighbor
that | and the land on which | was
raised was mortgagcd to a Balti~
more firm, who had furnished fer
tiliaera for the soil, and also to a
RaIeigh merchant who had sod sup
plies Of Western bacon and corn
for the support Of the field hands,
and Northern hay and oats for the
mules. The farmer complained
that necessity had forced him to
pay very high rate Of interest for
the use of the capital invested in
the above mentioned fertilizers and
farm supplies, and that he had in
addition to pay a heavy fee for
drawing and recording the mort~
gage securing the commission mer-
chants.
| noticed that the mules on the
farm were poorly fed and that as
they passed the lot gate they eager
ly nipped q few lunches of luxurant
clover which had sprung up from
seed dropped out Of the Northern
oats. The farmer said, as the mules
passed on, 81 would SOW an acre
in clover, but | need all my best
land for cotton. "
| have nothing very remarkable
to tell you concerning my youthful
days. I observed that the hands
employed in the field were poorly
clad. Most of them wore coarse,
cheap Northern made clothes, shoes
and hats, and from their rude talk
| found that they had very little
education. The wives and children
of these farm laborers frequently
came to the field, and [ saw that
the women wore Northern calico
dresses and that the children were
growing up in ignorance.
After oeing picked and packed |
was taken to Raleigh. The cons
mission merchant said to the farms
er; Cotton is fat to-day, but we
expect it will go up soon The
farmer sighed and replied: " we'll,
I guess | went into a large new
brick etoro, and accidently heard
the merchant say to the clerk Gin
sure this bale of CO o,ion and charge
Mr.. A. with insurance and storage"
I remaining shut up for some time
when the farmer came in one day
ard the merchant said to him,
" Cotton is no better, but | am com
PEELED to have some money. | will
ship your bale to Baltimore and do
the best [ can with it. -
A dray soon came up, and as [
was hoisted into it, the merchant
said, 'have this bale insured and
directed to ". & H., Baltimore
They will pay the freight and in,
Surance.
J hurried over the Railroads to
Norfolk and thence by steamer to
Baltimore. 1 was then stored for
some time, when l was sold to an
agent of a Rhode Island Manufac.,
turer. As I passed out I heard the
merchant calculating how much was
due him as storage and commissions
on my sale. My purchaser was
also busy in getting out his insur>
ance on me and arranging to pay
freight on me to Rhode Island.
Nothing occurred on the route to
my destination worthy of remark.
When I arrived at the factory, [
found several thousand friends rais>
ed in North Carolina. [ noticed
the women and children seemed
cheerful, but none of them wore
Southern made shoes or Southern
clothes, or ate Southern bacon
The dray horses were we'll kept,
but did not eat Southern hay or
oats. The owner Of the factory,
they said, was very rich, and had
made his fortune manufacturing
cotton cloth for the New York mar>
ket.
| was hurried through the factory
and came out a bolt of nice, smooth
cloth. | was hurried into bale of
cloth Tor New York wholesale
house, and as [ went ouo [ overs
heard conversation of the owner
of the mill. He said that he was
realizing handsome profits from his
factory, and besides he was giving
employment to a hundred families,
and was one Of the largest tax-pay>
ers in the State.
I then went to New York to the
establishment Of one of the mcrch>
ant princes, and was delighted to
hear him say to the clerk, 'send
this bale to Messrs. Tucker, Raj
eigh.' AS l had passed over the
route before, it was not new to me
and I arrived safelysin Raleigh in
less than week. By chance I was
put on the bottom of a large pile O.
cloth, and having nothing else tt
do, I entered into a little calcula'
ton. 1t was as follows:
l have changed hands often
First the Raleigh Merchant real
lied his profit and storage. Thel
the Railroads got their freights
Then the steamers got their freights
Then the Baltimore merchant 60
his storage and commissions
Then the Northern Insurance Agen
got his per cent. Then the manu-
facturer got his profits. Then tn