The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-11-25
MATTER FOR THE CONSIDERATION
OF THE PEOPLE OF NEW ORLEANS.


That Nsw Orleans no longer occupies her
commanding position in respect to the move
Inent Of the cotton crop Ia O fact but too
pa tent TO ALL She has lost, and lost heavily.
hut the exact measure OF the loss La only
known and appreciated In it's magnitude by
those most directly connected with the hand
ling Of the great staple. We propose to lay
before our readers certain indisputable facts,
which must cause every thinking man In this
community to conclude that unless some
means can be found to check the diversion Of
our trade, and that, too ct once, there can be
no return Of prosperity, even II we do not go
from bad TO worse.
The table on our fifth page headed "The cot
ton movement in the United States from 1s49
to teTT" exhibits the movement of the various
cotton crops from that Of 1849-50 to thai Of
is7e-77. both inclusive. In conformity with
The system adopted by all authorities in
making up crop statements, we have given
the movement by States, except In the case Of
Louisiana but 1t will be readily understood
that reference liz had to the net movement ut
the leading shipping ports In the States
named. entirely independent Of such portions
of the crop as move overland. 1t will be seen
that In ts4p-bo New Orleans handled ISL 1856
bales out of crop of 2,096, 70e or 1928 per
cent of the whole. Alabama handled 1878 per
cent Texas |. 40 per cent, Florida s.64 per cent,
Georgia 1889 per cent, South Carolina
1899 per cent, and Virginia "a per cent.
Year by year the cultivation Of cotton in
creased, and we find that In 1859 90 the
crop had reached tho hitherto unattained fig
are OF 4, e75. ITO bales. This was the last crop
marketed before the war. The movement at
ali the different ports showed an increase, as
compared with the crop of 1s49 80, but a
marked change had taken place In their per
cottages. New Orleans, with q net movement
oil 2,139, a25 bales, had risen to 45.77 per cent,
Alabama to 1903 PEE cent, Texas to 800 per
cent Virginia to 1.2t per cent, while Florida
had fallen off to Ala per cent, Georgia 30 t.56
per cent, and South Carolina to 10. 30 per cent
The first crop since the war Of which we have
q record Is that of 1865 &C. OF this crop,
amounting to 2,154476 bales, New Orleans
handled 3a,os per cent, Alabama 10. 20 per cent,
Texas 512 per cent, Florida 692 per cent,
Georgia 12.22 per cent, South Carolina
k2a per cent, Virginia La per cent,
and North Carolina 900 per cent.
Coming now to the crop of 1867, we find
that Nese Orleans has fallen TO 1894 per cent, |
Alabama to S.04 per cent, Florida to 81 per
cent, Georgia to 1906 per cent, while Texas
has risen to 1t.a9 per cent, South Carolina to
I0.43 per cent, Virginia to 1888 per cent, and
North Carolina to 3.o7 per cent. New Orleans,
which handled t,5so,s75 bales as far back as
In 1852 and 2.l3e,a25 bales in 1860, is credited
with but 1,195,o35 bales out of crop of
a 100 l.n1, To-, t1-r liz,
BA,052 bales in 1852, and Virginia with but
21,S2o bales in the same year, have advanced
to 5o6,634 and 575.941 bales respectively in
1877. The overland movement direct to the
mills, which prior to the war was but an in
appreciable factor in the general result. has
this year reached the handsome total of
312,7s9 bales. Florida, which in 1s49 SO
moved ISL. s44 bales, or s,64 per cent of a crop
of 2,o96,To6 has moved In 1877 but 23os9
bales, or 81 per cent of a crop of 4,4s5 423
bales.
10 what must we attribute this great decline
In the movement at this port? There are
those who lay great stress on the fact that
the levees are not kept up as they were before
the war, and that in consequence thereof
great tracts Of productive land are no longer
In cultivation. But, even admitting this to be
10 /. certain extent true, we hold that there
are now more acres of land in cotton within
radius of five hundred miles of New Orleans
than there were before the war It is esti-
mated that in 1872 there were g. 900 acres
devoted to cotton in the States of North and
South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Tennes-
see, and 5,so0,o0o acres in Alabama Missis-
sippi Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas In
1877 the first five named States are credited
with an increased acreage of $4,000 acres,
making a total of 4,027,000, while the last
named States show an increase of 100000
acres, making total Of 7,794,000. With these
facts before us, a glance at the map leads to
the conclusion that New Orleans is nearer to-
day to the centre of the cotton producing
belt than she was in 1872, and we
have no doubt that the figures of the census of
1850, were they at hand, would show that the
westward movement of the central point of
the cotton belt has been a constantly progress
sive one. We are, therefore, freed from tn e
apprehension, which, were it well grounded |
might indeed cause us to despair, that the cul- |
tivation Of cotton is gradually being trans
ferred to more remote regions. On the con-
trary, we are nearer to-day than we have ever
been to the centre of that vast area which
produces over three-fourths of the entire crop.
Our case is not, then, hopeless one. Want |
Of the proper facilities OF transportation is
the disease, and the supplying of that want
will work the cure. While New Orleans has
sat with folded arms relying on the natural
advantages accruing to her by reason of her
position on the great Mississippi her more
active, though less favored rivals have pushed
their railways into the heart of the cotton
producing section, and are to-day enjoying
the fruits Of their enterprise. Five years ago
st. Louis received but S6.421 bales OF
cotton, while in the season of 1857
she received 212, 651 bales, besides which over
"A 900 bales crossed the Mississippi above st.
I.,a,is. at Hannibal. This trade belongs to
xa.a..-... ,,,l che r,nodc hut the extension