Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1875-07-28

I raw cotton compared 10 the NUMBER o
/ pounds which that piece Of cloth con-
/ tains.
New Englander-Why don't yot
/ farmers club together and build cotton
mill il your section?
Farmer-My dear sir, haven't | tOlC
/ you several times that we have entered
| upon the starvation policy Of planting
| and that we will not be enticed away
! from our Tuinous system Of agriculture
! That system mas kept US pOverty-strick'
! Ell ever since the war closed. We could
not build factory if we wished to. The
capitalists about Memphis, who have
become rich off of that system Of plant
| ing by which we have ruined ourselves
| will not subscribe one cent toward the
| building Of factory; first, because they
know that we planters are opposed &c
| having factories, and that we would
| rather have our cotton spun and woven
! in New England than to convert Oul
raw material into cloth at home; sec.
ond, they know very well that if they
were to build factory at Memphis II
would give employment to too many
widows and orphans Of Confederate sol
diers, and that, you know, would be
contrary TO the starvation system which
has been engrsfUed on~our agriculture,
and on almost everything else in the
south, since the war; third, they don't
wish to invest in a cOttOn-factOTy, be-
cause that one at Atlanta, Georgia,
which was built on q capital OF six hun
bred thousand dollars, has been paying
ten per cent. every six months since It's
completion. And that is not all our Sec
ton is doing to render our scientific sys-
tenn Of starvation perfect.
New Englander-By all your Jealousy
of each other, and your determination
to starve yourselves out Of house and
hum, and by all the supplies which our
mill" and the western States furnish
you! What can you tell me to offset
that Georgia news? That hurts!
Farmer-Well, on my table l have
bread, made, no doubt, OF flour ground
from wheat grown upon my farm.
New Englander-Ah, you have a
fiouring-mill hard by, and grind your
own wheat in your own section. But
that don't give US any relief from the
news from Georgia, which is so disas-
trous to our section.
Farmer-No, sir; weshave no flour
mill in our section. l take my wheat to
Memphis and sell it; it is shipped from
there to St. Louis, ground into flour and
shipped back to Memphis. buy my
-four from my merchant there. So you
see l produce the wheat, pay freight to
Memphis from here, then pay freight on
it from Memphis to st. Louis,
pay for the grinding of it, pay
freight back to Memphis, drayage
at st. Louis and Memphis, and then
pay my merchant his profit on the bar
IL 10 akn N1rlNi al, T
have enumerated are added in the price
l pay my merchant for that barrel Of
flour.
New Highlander - Why don't you
farmers build a flouring-mill to grInd
your own wheat?
Farmer-Haven't ] told you five or
six times that we are farming for
the glery of starving ourselves TO
mill. We prefer to send it to St. Louis
and have it ground, paying all expenses
both ways. But that is not all!
New Englander-Ah, by the mills of
New England! Now, guess you'll tell
age to our section!
Farmer-Yes, I'll have to show you
another plank in our starvation plat
form. The railroad over which we ship
our wheat and cotton, and receive our
supplies, is owned by capitalists of your
section. We pay the most exorbitant
rates Of freight for the transportation of
our products and supplies. The cash re-
ceipts of all the stations on this road,
over and above expenses, are sent off, at
stated periods, to the point at which the
president, stockholders and treasurer are
dOmiciled. Away goes thousands of
dollars Of our money, and we are weak
ened, financially, just that much. Be-
fore we had any railroads we could get
our cotton and wheat to Memphis for
almost nothing.
New Englander-By all the locomo-
tives that ever whistled! do tell.
Farmer-WelI, before railroads con-
nected us with Memphis, that city was
one vast depot for goods shipped, by
river and sea, from New Orleans, st.
Louis, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, New
York, Boston, and other cities, to meT-
chants doing business not only in our
section but to merchants much farther
out in the interior. We had wagons in
those days which would bear six or eight
bales of cotton, and whenever we took a
load of cotton to Memphis we always
brought load OF freight out to cur inte-
rior merchants. For hauling this freight
we received very satisfactory rate per
one hundred pounds. / have often re-
ceived fifty cents per hundred pounds
for hauling freight from there to mer-
chants doing business near my farm,
thirty-five miles from Memphis. NV
wagon would bear from three thousand |
to thirty-five hundred pounds of freight. |
This, at fifty cents per one hundred |
pounds, would yield me from fifteen dol !
lars to seventeen dollars and fifty cents, |
which would not only pay the expenses |
or hauling my cotton to Memphis, but |
would pay my expenses back home. |
Therefore the expense Of getting my |
cotton to market was nominal. Farm |
us living far beyond me received as |
much as one, two and even three dol |
ars per one hundred pounds, according |
o distances for hauling freight back to |
merchants in their section.
New Englander-Wsl, railroads are
lamagin' TO you, sure huff, amt they? |
Farmer-Tbey are indeed! And in |
edition to the damage done US by rail-
Dads, we have that great ally OF rail
Dads. the telegraph company, drawing
thousands Of dollars from our Golfers an
Iudlly. Inc merchants muSG Keep
'Osted on all the tricks of the cotton
markets of the world in order to beat
IS poor producers Of the staple; SO they
se the telegraph lines freely, and the
money that pays for those dispatches is
7rung from our toll and sweat. ut is
shame that one little town, Liverpool,
nd it in foreign nation, too, should be
flowed to wrap the cotton portion of
he American continent around itself,
s boy wraps string around his
nger.) The telegraph company, like
ne railroad company, is dOmiciled out
de OF our section, and the cash receipts
every office in the south, over and
bOve expenses, are sent off monthly.
way goes thousands upon thousands
lore of our money to enrich a company
-hich has no interest in our welfare
'hatever, other than the amount of
ash it can take away from us, And
ct there are other grievances!
New Englander-Wal, by all the rail-
,ads, telegraph5, native and foreign
)ttOn markets! what next?
Farmer-Well, we have insurance
IN our section. The capital
is who compose them are domiciled in
10 aaSf north and uzost Tbav lilo tho |