The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-10-14
EXPORT DUTY ON COTTON.

HySGlcS, one Ellis b. SChnaDel, who IS just
now engaged in writing q series Of open let
tiers on the tariff to Abram S. Hewitt, chair
man Of the Congressional Labor Com mittoe,
through the New York SIN. Mr.. Schnabel's
"sure way to restore prosperity for this Is
| the headline which, with modest assurance
| he caps his lucubratiOns with-is very sim
| pie indeed. He calls it the development
| Of a differential tariff which, when
sifted, means nothing else than an export
! duty Oh raw cotton. This is the one predomi-
mating and cardinal idea Of this new doctrine
and this one duty he proposes shall take the
place Of the entire tariffsystem of the country
as 1t now exists. Of course Mr.. Schnabel pro-
poses to protect New England shipping, but
he does not suggest any export duty on cot
ton fabrics turned out by New England mills.
| His new and marvellous system, by which he
proposes to "reduce England to third-rate
power" consists merely Of interposing
between the cotton producers of the South
and their best markets q tax that will consti-
tute the principal source Of the public reve-
nue.. A. delightful prospect, forsooth, have
we here presented for the Snnthl With q
heavy tax on the principal industry of our
people-the inevitable consequence of which
will be to discourage and burden the one afti-
Gle of production which constitutes over half
of our expectation, and which has contrib
| uted more than any other commodity to the
preservation of our national prosperity, and
all for the protection, In the end, of the spin
ners of New England and we shall be In q
| fair way to universal bankruptcy and COM
| munism.
Mr.. Schnabeps arguments can be con-
densed In q very few plain propositions l..
Cotton is absolutely Indispensable to the
human race 2. The South is the only coun-
try that can produce the quality required.
| Egypt is the only rival in the quality of
fibre, and her utmost capacity is but a few
| thousand bales. g. India and China must be
withdrawn from competition, because all OF
their arabic lands must be devoted to the
production of food to prevent famine
| From these premises Mr.. Schnabel pro-
ceeds, through couple of columns of arg,l-
ment and figures, all In solid minon, to
prove that England is bound, under whatever
conditions we may impose, to derive her prn-
cipal supply from the South, which is and
must remain without q rival as o producer of
cotton.
We do not accept q single one of the
premises upon which this remarkable propo-
sition Is based; yet we shall not take
them up seriatim, but shall content
ourselves with the statement of q
few plain facts which must occur
to any practical man, not theory mad, which
will show conclusively that an export duty on
cotton would be a crushing blow to The great
est source Of our national wealth, the result
of which would be the immediate financial
ruin of the South and the total destruction of
her great industry. Our first proposition Is
q fiat contradiction of the assumption upon
which Mr.. SchnabeIs whole argument is
based, to wit: that the demand for cotton is
Unsuitable. It is, as he says san indispensa-
bic necessity to our race" but it
is not by any means q necessary
consequence that the demand for it
cannot be supplied On the contrary, the
evidence is that this demand is already sup
piled, and even glutted This evidence con-
sists Of the fact that neither the production
nor the manufacture of cotton, even In this
exceeding blessed region, has been found re-
muneratiye for the past several years. The
only thing that makes cotton indispensable
Is its cheapness, yet the necessities Of those
who produce and manufacture it fix o limit
below which its price cannot fall. If
this primal relation is destroyed, il
these necessities are not supplied
by raising and manufacturing cotton,
those engaged in these ayocations must find
other means of sustaining life Without in
quiring what amount or what quality Of cot
ton other countries can produce we know that
the prices of cotton fabrics have fallen SO low
that the conditions necessary to their produc-
ton are not maintained. The suspension of
mills in the North has thrown thousands out
Of employment, and the production in the
South has been most disastrous. In the face
Of these facts the South to-day finds herself
with tremendous crop on hand, and the
prices of futures lower than they have been
argument than this that whatever de-
mand exists throughout the world is
abundantly supplied. It is very certain
that the South does not meet all this de-
mand, and it is equally certain that the
superior quality Of her staple has failed to
make cotton planting profitable. It is equally
certain that there is no appreciable difference
between the quality Of the fabrics of this
country, which are made entirely of Southern
cotton, and those of England, which are made
of mixed cOttOns. If cotton raising is not
profitable now, when we have unrestricted
access to all the markets of the world,
it certainly will not be when we are
cut off from our best markets. The i'm
position Of this export duty would not
raise the price of cotton one point. We should
have to sell orr cotton for what 1t would
bring, and the result would be merely an adj
vantage to the extent of the duty In favor of
New England mills over those of England
The duty would be paid by the planter for q
year or so, or until he could drop cotton and
raise something more profitable. II the
United States We're competing in foreign mar
kets with England it might be different; but
she is not and will not be under the most
favorable circumstances, for many years.
When the American spinners find 1t profit
able to work up all the cotton the South can
raise, they can get it without Mr.. Schnabel's