Year: 1866




The amount Of cotton that has come out of
the South since the war closed has been equal
in value to six or seven years. production of
the precious metals In the whole country. We
do not mean equal in value only in the same
way that the corn, wheat or hay crop is esti-
mated, but In Q much more important and
wider sense. Cotton is not only an article Of
prime necessity for home c0nsumption-not
only employs millions Of hands and hundreds
of millions Of capital among ourselves-but II
takes the same place as gold and silver in the
commerce and exchanges Of the world. In
this sense we say the three to four hundred
millions of dollars worth Of cotton that has
come out Of the South since the war closed
in one years. equal in value to six or seven
years. production of precious metals in Cali
the Pacific side of the continent. We speak in
round numbers, for we have not che data to be
precise as to few millions. But every COM
mercial man or statisg.cian who has thought
upon the subject xhows that our estimate is
about correct. The amount Of cotton has
been varieasly estimated from a million and q
hai.Is bales to two millions and half. Say the
amount was two millions of bales; and this, at
the high price of cotton, would yield over
three hundred millions in gold.


Few, probably, have reflected upon the in
fuence Of this on the country, on our condi-
ton and credit, and on the relative value of
gold and currency. Suppose the South had
been merely grain, coin, or stock producing
country, or producing such other things only
as q people consume within themselves, 1t
would have had little or nothing to spare, or
that the rest of the world would have required,
when the war ended. Or suppose the Southern
ers could have used this valuable production
during the war, what would have been the
resulti Had not our navy blockaded their
harbors and coast and sealed up the cotton,
what immense resources would have been at
their use We know not how long the war
might have been prolonged, or what would
have been the end of it. We ought to give
due credit to the navy for the invaluable ser
vice IL rendered. But let us reflect upon what
our condih,o IN would have been after the war was
over, and wouS,d be for long time to come,
without this cotton Of the South. The republic
had raised upon it's cres,.it within short time
sums of money that no nation had ever raised
before; and more, probably, than fny other
lions had been expended in year. But this
extraordinary financial success must have been
followed by as great revulSion and dcpfcS-
sion if we had not had the cotton of the Soul.
The production Of the precious metals, great
as It is, would have been very inadequate to
meet the necessities Of the country. The credit
of the government abroad would have been low,
the revenue would hsve been much reduced
for our former large commerce would have re-
NAMED suspeuded-goh would have newed
from the country, and instead Of being, as y IL
to-day, at premium Of twenty-slx or twenty-
seven, II would have reached, probably,
two hundred or more. WHIST else but this
cotton has brought down gold from two hum
dred to one hundred and twentyseven In little
over . yearf This has been accomplished,
too, under the pressure Of an essesmous debt,
suddenly contracted, and enormosw cxpondi-
tures What else has set all those steamship
lines in motion to the South, stisnuisted the
most active trade, increased immensely our
foreign comnserce, filled tho Trcssuvy with
money, and pssnoted general prosperity! In
fact, it is difficult 10 realize the evils ~ have
been saved froms or to estimate the vsse bene-
Ats obtained from, the cotton that las been
brought out of the South within one yese.


We may form some idea of what our cgsdi-
ton would have been by referring to- the
history of other nstiess under similar circum-
stances. Take the case Of England, for ezam-
pie,. at the close of The long and exhausting
var against Napoleon in 1914. She had acpss-
nsnlated an enormous debt, and her commeres
with the rest of EzDope had been paralyzsd-
Ths pressure Of thfssdebt and the demands q
the country for supplies from abroad, together
wits.the spirit Of speculation that revived with
tho return of peace. drained the country Or
a large amount of specie Years Of depression, /,
rev1lsion, and intense su Hering among the mass
Of the people followed as a natural conse-
quence. Now, suppose England had possessed
in lBl5 the same amount Of cotton we found, or
that she had suddenly discovered three or four
hundred millions in gold, which would have
been the same thing, how easily, comparatively,
have passed through her troubles.
What is India to England, or what were the
mines Of South America to Spain, compared
with the South to the North Yet we see the
extraordinary spectacle Of a powerful party
trying to ruin this greatest of all FL Dorados.
The crazy revolutionists Of France never did





valuable productions of the South hereafter as
mnch as We needed them during the las. year.
Prosperous as we have been under the Difficult
ties Of our situation, we are not yet out Of
danger. We shall require large amount OF