Year: 1865

:
quences which, in that contingency, would en-
sue to the trade and prosperity Of the whole
country; and since our last article was penned
we have learned that there are numbers of en-
lightened and prominent men in the country,
whose views fully coincide with our own. And
so plainly is this becoming apparent, that ii Is
in contemDlation-as we learn-tO hold a
''National Cotton Convention, to take into
consideration the dangers that impcnd of
losing another cotton crop. and to devise ways
and means to prevent so great a calamity be-
falling the country What are the full and
precise views ofthc gentlemen who are moving
in this important matter we have not learned;
but of one feature of the case we are assured,
and that iS-that in the anxiety to supply an
effective force by means of Northern capital
and enterprise, it is proposed to hurry down
to the cotton states, not only Northern labor.
but to bring in European immigration to aid
in the great work. The argument is-that the
loss Of another cotton crop acotld postpone the
return to specie payments iadefnitelW whilst,
on the contrary, the old crop of four millions
Of bales. or thereabouts, would, at present





tions in our favor, saving us the one hundred
millions more or less now against us. but would
additional to that-give us from Europe
like sum, enabling the nation to return to $pe-
Gle payments acith the r0lumc Of paper currency
absolutely undimiajshed


Now, in relation to all this, nothing is more
certain to begin with, than the fact that
Al, L, Ill Il.
TO "swap horses We have no idea that i'm
migration, do all we might, could be possibly
pushed much beyond the numbcrs-under two
hundred thousand-who now enter our ports
in a single year. And besides the fact that it
has taken whole year, hitherto, to parade
that force, the unwelcome truth stares all in
the face, that not more than couple of months
now intervene bctwiXt the present time and
that period in some of the States furthes south,
when active preparations must be made on the
spot for planting. And let it be noted that
cotton crop cannot be improviscd with the same
facility as one of corn. The season in all the
States north of Alabama and Georgia is short
enough to insure a crop uninjurcd by frost, at
the best; and when not put in promptly, and
not actively tended with the requisite force of
men and horses, and so precarious are the
chances that only partial crop could be real
lied And what time is afforded betwixt now
and February to drill, so as to make them eff
fective, those who know nothing of its culture?
Why rely upon contingent force which might
not, and could not be made available in time,
when on the spot, and trained to the culture
of cotton from childhood are those who might
at once be made effective workers?


No. let the Government show itself as capa-
bic and determined, as enlightened and gener
Gus in the arts Of peace, and in the need of
meeting great crisis, as it was in war. If it
saved the Government from destruction by its
boldness and constancy in the late conflict, let
it crown the glorious work by saving the Trea-
sury from bankruptcy, the people from dis
tress, and possible ruin. The craftsmanship
demanded for the occasion is, we repeat, of
the highest ORDER and might stir the ambition
of the nobest and most enlightened in the
land.


And what is the method-the plan to be
observed? An eminently practical friend of
ours suggests the mode Of procedure, and it
is as simple in its method as it might be eff
fective in its execution. The Freedmen
Bureau is already a gigantic organization, and
its action pervades the whole South. Let it
be directed to extend ats operations, and with
special reference to the culture of cotton.
Already its agents are everywhere are un
firing, Jealous, under the eye Of their distin-
guished and practical chief And if any man


IL A.
score of patriotism kindness or capacity,
General Howard is the man. Let him be
furnished additional force, and let his agents
provide FARMS either by leasing them, or by
simple occupation for the coming year of
abandoned places; and providing rations,
horses mules, ploughs, and what else is needful
to the culture, with rope and baling, finally,
to secure the crop when made, and then COM
pei every dler found prowling in forest or on
highway to take his place in the ranks.


Let it be noted, further, that the culture of
cotton is a very simple matter, the plough and
the hoe being the principal implements used.
But, although easily produced, there arc periods
in Its growth when a long wet spell, smother
ing it with weeds in the rank soils which har
Dor it, call for the most prompt attention to
save it from ruin-wholly or partial. And
he is where stringent regulations, such as
+bo Gov, ,,arnment might adopt could come in
4o sove #. and in so doing, save the unfortu
mates who are made essential IN this wise to
the nrosneritv of the natlHn at large. And,
we insist again and again, that |. the mayor
of a city can, through his police force, PICK
up and convey to the aims-house, vagrants,
peonle found begging or With ''no visible
means of subsistence" if he can employ them
for their own and the good of the community,
in the cultivation of the land attached to the
institution, it is within the range Of the Presi-
dents duties to do on larger scale essentially
the same thing, when an extraordinary crisis
like the present impends over the nation, COM
pelling the supply of ''rations'' by the million
to the ''Nation's Poor


And in one view of the case, what we pro-
pose, has already been done; and what is bet
ter. has been demonstrated TO r0rk to ddran-
taqe All will remember that like many other
undertakings made needful by the exisencies
of the war, the Government entered upon these
very projects early in the struggle, compare
tirelv, when it took up the abandoned cotton
plantations near Hilton Head, brought together
the fugtives of the neighborhood, and worked
these places at handsome profit. And here
in Maryland, too, the same policy has beer
put in requisition, when, on the Patuxent, some
thousands of acres of tobacco lands have beer
cultivated, and admirably, too, by many hun
dreds of the colored people, who, in the contin
gencies of the times, found themselves withou
homes and support. Then we insist that there
is nothing impracticable, nothing Utopian il
the plan whatever. And if it should be deemed
somewhat extraordinary, Or out of the line o
ancient precedents, why, let it be remembered
.lIat the past five years has been fruitful o


.. eordinary undertakings carried to a sue


81, conclusion. We want bold, origina
e.ntasn,ons, ~ Up; as bold in its way to illustrate
s .ta of ~ e nation to save itself in an
cor oontipgency which Involves the arts of politica
economy, as we have ha u wnen 1t became need '