Wilmington journal., 1874-07-03
From the Raleigh Crescent.
Autebsography Of n Cotton Bale.
IN TWO CHAPTERS.
CHAPTER I.

/
! from a conversation between the farm
| or and q neighbor that L and the Land
on which was raised were mortgaged
| to a Baltimore firm, who had furnished
| fertilizers for the soil, and also to
| Raleigh merchant who had sold sup
| plies of Western bacon and corn for
| the support of the field hands, and
| N orthern 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 fer
tilizers and farm supplies, and that he
had in addition to pay heavy fee Tor
+ drawing and recording the mortgage
securing the commission merchants.
/ noticed that the mules on the farm
we're poorly fed and that as heypassed
the lot gate they eagerly nipped a few
| hunches of luxuriant clover which had
sprung up from seeds dropped out of
| the Northern oats. The farmer said,
as the mules passed on, 81 wonld SOW
ali acre in clover, but / need all nay
| 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 laborer5
frequently came to the field, and [ saw
that the women wore Northern calico
dresses and that the children were
| growing up in ignorance.
After being picked and packed l was
taken to Raleigh. The commission
merchant said to the farmer: "Cotton
is fiat to-day, but we expect it will go
up soon" The farmer sighed and re-
piled: "Well, 1 guess 1 went into a
large new brick store, and accidently
heard the merchant say to the clerk:
'Insure this bale of cotton and charge
Mr.. A. with insurance and storage.
[ remained shut up for some time
when the farmer came in one day and
the merchant said TO him: "Cotton is
no better, but 1 am compelled to have
some money. L 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
the freight and insurance.
l was hurried over the railroads tC
Norfolk and thence by steamer to Bal
time, when [ was sold to an agent of G
Rhode Island manufacture. AS
passed out / heard the merchant cal
culating how much was due him as
storage and commission on my sale
lJ o1o
ont his insurance on me and arrang
ing to pay freight on me to Rhode
Island.
Nothing occurred Oh the route tt
my destination worthy of remark
When / arrived q. the factory, 1 fount
several thousand friends raised il
North Carolina. I noticed the wome1
and children seemed cheerful, bu
none of them wore Southern made
shoes or Southern made clothes, or ate
Southern bacon. The dray horses
were we'll kept, but did not eat South
factory, they said, was very rich, ant
had made his fortune manufacturin.
cotton cloth for the New York market
] vas hurried through the factor
aud came out bolt Of nice, smooth
| CiOtI. L WIS ItlIilGl Iiitc ii Dalt .
cloth for New York wholesale house
and as [ went out over heard aconver
sation Of the owner of the mill. HI
sail he was realizing handsome profit
from his factory, and besides he wa
giving employment to hundred fami
les, and was one of the largest tax
payers in the State
[ then went to New York to the es
j {ol, I1C1oJ Of Of 4Ia a1,a,
princes, and was delighted to hea
Messrs. Tucker, IRaleigh." AS l ha'
passed over the route before, it wa
not new to me and [ arrived safely il
Raleigh in less than a week. b
chance was put on the bottom OF
large pile of cloth, and having nothin
else to do, 1 entered into little calcu
} lation. It was as follows:
, / have changed hands often. Fjrs
the Raleigh merchant realized hi
profit and storage. Then the Insul
ance agent. Then the Railroads go
their freights. Then the steamers 20
3, their freight. The the Baltimor
merchant got his storage and CON
! missions. Then the Northern Insul
ance agent got his per cent. The
the manufacturer got his profits. Th
New York wholesale merchant got Iii
per cent. Then the railroads an
l steamers got their return freight an
the insurance man got another pc
cent. Nessrs. Tucker must have
, per cent. and
Here a clerk reached down an
pulled me out with a jerk, and 10 an
behold! my old master, the man VIII
raised me, said he would take me
"that he wanted some mo1Tdrd home
spun, and l was bundled and am no,
at my Old home in Wake, expectin
shortly to be cut up.
CHAPTER II.
) | believe when Mr.. fuckers cler
5 broke the thread of my discourse,
i; was making q calculation. | had toll
: how the following persons realize
profits on me:
l The Raleigh Cotton Factor.
| 2 The Railroads and Steam lines.
: 3 The Insurance Agents.
4 The Baltimore Merchant.
: The Northern Railroads.
: 6 The Northern Insurance Com
panies.
7 The Manufacturer.
s The Wholesale Merchant.
8. Tie railroads on return freight
10. The insurance men on retur1
risks.
II. The retail dealer.
These parties all show deep inter
est in me, and [ wish to say 1 enter
tain no unkind feelings towards any O
them. The profits they realized from
me were legitimate and proper. But
[ feel very kindly for the man wht
raised me, and when I cosidered tha