The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1882-10-26
VOLUME XVIU.---NO X

cause OF our failure Those who ascr;be
II TO superior population and greater re.
sources of the Northern States and those
vino attributed our defeat to "a want of
perseverance, unanim;ty and even Of low.
aity ON our own part, are in my yiew. sava
the General, both far wrong. We are
inclined to believe there is now a third
party wrong The Confederate Govern
ment, The Genera thinks, had the means
OF fllling it's treasury, but the Govern.
ment rejected those means. The necessi
~ oi actual money IN the treasury. and
lhe mode OF raising it, were gen narally
understood in the country. 1t was that
the government should take the cotton
ir"'h the owners and send it to Europe as
h's! ~ possible, To be sold there. This
was easily practicable, for The owners
were ready !" accept any terms the Gov
ernmen: might fix, and sending TO r;r.
rope w.,s easy IN all the i;.st wears ,f The
Confcderacys existence. its Govern.
mcnt went into operation early in Fch.
runry. The blockade Of the Southcrn
ports was proclaimed in, but was not at
All effective until the end Of the follow.
ing winter; so that there was period of
ABOUT twelve months for the operation
OF converting four millions or five mil.
lions bales OF cotton into money. The
sum raised in that way would have epa.
| oieu the war department to procure at
| once arms enough for 5000 men: and
after that the Confederate treasury would
have been much richer than thai of the
United States
| Let us examine the facts upon which
! Lis theory rests, and without the aim.
| port OF which it must necessarily fall To
| the ground. The crop of cotton araila.
ole for this scheme must necessarily have
been that of lSG0-Gl. 1t could not have
been the crop Of which the seed was not
yet put in the ground when the Govern
ment was formed at Montgomery.
| What was the crop Of 1S6O-6l?
| WAS It 100000 or 100000 bales,
and was it accessible for immediate ex.
porta,ion?
The crop of l8GO-6l was officially
stated ut 3, $40 600; of this ouantitv ihs
consumption of the Southern States took
656, 900. ~
Let us now sec what proportion of
lbs quantity was available in the wav
described by Gen. Johnston.
up to February 2S, the month that
gave birth to the infant Government,
3,000.00O bales had been received. at the
scaports, aud the great bulk of il had
been exported to Europe or been sold to
tie New England spinhers. by MAY !,
5oh.0c0 bales more 'at' been received
aud sold. England and the Continent
took ,l27,00O bales and tho New Eng.
land spinners G54 600. 1t will thus be
seen that before tho new Government
was finally organized, the entire crop was
already beyond its reach. Another crop
followed. it is true, but no part nf it was
ready for market before The mnnth of
september ensuing This all will agree.
h'.i they will also agree that the expor-
:a'lon IN any quantity was HI absolute
lmposs'bllily: There were no vessels in
| the ports oi tho Confederacy, the last had
ieit before the expiration of the sixty
days allowed TO foreign tonnage under
| tho blockade proclamation.
The only vessels that took out cotton
alter that time were the foreign steamers
That ran tho blockade to procure carrocs
OF cotton for the owners. They came in
small numbers, and one or two at time.
itau the Government seized one Of them
ior its own use, or prevented them from
leaving with cotton, they would have
ceased to come"
lake most other persons. and from his
official position, probably more than
| others generally, MIR. Davis must have
felt tho necessity for funds in Eoreipn
| countries where purchases were to be
made; but having been for more lhnn 30
years planter, he could hardly have
supposed that the crop of the previous
season was still in the hands of planters
III tho month of February, and ns it is
we'll known that his own cotton was
burned on his plantation because it could
not be sent abroad, ho surely could not
nave entertained any such opinions as
| those ascribed to him. So far from it
being an easy matter to send abroad the
remnant of the cotton crop, which re.
mained after the organization of the Con.
federate Government. tho Governor Of
LOUISIANA, IN 1861, for prudential con-
s'derations. stopped the shipments of
cotton to New Orleans, and there was
not sufficient railroad transportation to
carry what was lef. Of the crops on the
mississippi river to the Atlantic seaboard,
there to be put on the blockade runners.
Surely there has seldom been less sub
stantIai cnarge than that which arraigns
the Confederacy for not sending abroad
cotton which had already been disposed
o., and for not having mercantile ma
rlne such NJ the Southern States had
never possessed.
From the foregoing, and as we'll from
MIR. Davis' unqualified commendation of
Alr. Memminger in his book, it will be
seen that the difference referred to by
Alr. Stephens was not that his "idea" was
objected to by Mr. Davis, or that the
iattar was opposed to the general policy,
out because its execution was impossible.