Year: 1877

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 The Future of Cotton Preaacsion i'm th.

 United ssascs.

 The idea has been very prevalent tha

 the production of American cotton wa, on too large scale, that the market wa glutted to such an extent that pricel which would remunerate the planter were not obtainable, and the southern press have almost unanimously taken uT the cry, "put ill more grain, raise youl own supplies, more food crops and lesi cotton" and this has not been entirely without benefit to those for whose advan. tage the cry was raised, as it has induced thousands to grow their own breadstuff; and raise their own meat, who formerly gave their undivided attention to the cotton crop alone. But it has not had the effect of diminishing the production of the staple; on the other hand it has a tendency to increase it, as the more self. supporting the planter becomes as re- gards the supplies necessary for his daily wants, and the feed required for histeam and stock, the less money he has to pay out to the provision merchant and the more he is able to devote to the im- proved cultivation Of such land as is al- ready under crops, to the breaking up of new ground, and bringing it into state of. cultivation, thus increasing his pro- ductive area.

 That the excess of supply over demand tends to the reduction of prices below 8 profitable figure is undoubtedly true, but that this excess exists or is likely to exist, we very much question, and the problem naturally arises, how much American cot ton is demanded by the wants of the world. How much can the world take before prices fall below the mark at which they yield fair profit to the producer. Our largest crop on record was that of 1S59-60, but there was demand for every bale of it, and it was sold at re- munerative prices.

 Since the war we have averaged large crops, and for the past three years the average production has exceeded 4,O00,- 900 bales, still the planter has been en- abled to realize such prices as have compensated him for his labor. In re- viewing this question, we must of course take into consideration the increased population of the countries using our cotton, also the large consumption in our own country, and if in 1860, it re- quired..a crop of over 4, ,500, 900 to supply | the wants of the world, and the con sumption per capita is estimated as on the same ratio, then we find that some 5000, 900 of bales would not be too much to produce, and realize a profit upon. There seems to be not the slightest oc- casion for us to be frightened that the crops in the future will be too large, as the consumption is yearly increasing, and the time is probably not so far dis tant as may at first sight be supposed, when crop of 5000, ,00O bales of Amer ican cotten will be regarded as compara- tive scarcity.

 We need not be alarmed, then, when we read from day to day of the increased area which is being put under cotton year by year, for we may confidently look for the demand to keep pace with the supply. We must, however, take advantage of all the facilities we pos sess, and find really profitable market for our production, and abolish as soon as possible the present anomalous state of things. Why should our cot ton have to be sent from the gin-house l to the coast, and thence across the At lantic to be manufactured, and the i'm. ported as fabrics for the consumption of the very people who have grown the raw material? All this transportation, of course, entails expense and adds very materially to the price of the manufac-' tured article, and surely there is no ab- solute necessity for continuance of this system. That we can manufacture as we'll as Manchester is satisfactorily proved by the great 'popularity of our fabrics. both in the European and eastern markets; and, in addition to the saving in freight charges, we have very de- cided advantage in our magnificent water power facilities over Manchester, where they have to use steam power at a greatly increased cost, so that we ought also to be able to produce more cheaply. The South American and Brazilian markets are large consumers of Man chester goods, but there exists no valid reason why we should not compete with her on favorable terms. We are nearer and the expense of transportation should be considerably lighter. But to this end it is necessary that we should be able to purchase our iron ships more cheaply, the cost here exceeding by one-third that in England our vessels should also be free from taxation, as on the other side, and another advantage we do not possess is, that abroad, supplies of exciseable

 article, are purchased duty free from

 bonded warehouses, so that foreign ship owners are able to offer lew freight rates, being under much less than

 is the case here. Great Britain exports more than fifty times the quantity of cotton goods that We do, Land

 with our manifold advantages we ought

 certainly to be able to reduce this pro.

 portion very considerably; we have the

 raw material here, and can ship it to ouI mills much more cheaply than she can to hers; there is also plenty of labor ol

 the right kind only waiting for employ

 ment; there is the saving effected by using water power instead of steam

 there is everything in fact in our favol , except legislation, and it behooves. u' , now with this great future dawning up on us, to bring all our forces 10 beal upon this point, and to secure the pass ing of such laws as will be conducive tt ! the interests of this trade. Our nationa ! trade policy is not, as it now exists, ia ] vorable to an extension of our commerce 1 and stands in need of amendment. Tn, unsettled state of our currency is alst r somewhat of drawback to us, but at 3 tention being now aroused and turned

 seriously 10 the brilliant opportunity - which laws before us in taking our fai