19 



famishes an instructive lesson to our present inquiry, and will be found in the 

 following table of the prices during the decade between 1840 and 1850 : 



Prices of tohacco leaf in New York. 

 cents. 



1841 5^011 



1842 3 07 



1843 3 ffCi 



1844 2 06 



1845. 



.2^0 61 



1846 2i0 7 cents. 



1847 3^0 63 " 



1848 3.i07i " 



1849 4408 



1850 6 10^ " 



We see that under these low prices the producer could not profitably grow 

 this crop. In the south, where the decrease was about thirty-two millions of 

 pounds, the planter could more profitably direct his labor in other channels. 

 We will presently see that even such low prices could not induce a correspond- 

 ing increased export demand. But between 1850 and 1860 the increase in 

 tobacco production was great, being 229,628,425 pounds, or over 115 per cent. 

 An examination of the market prices during these years will show that this 

 prosperity is in consequence of better prices. 



Prices of tohacco leaf in New York. 



1856 7^ 14§ cents 



1857 9.^0 18| " 



1858 6 15 



1859 4f0l3 " 



1860 3^0 12J " 



1851 5a 011^ cents 



1852 4 09 



1853 5i0Sf " 



1854 6 010 



1855 62-0l2i " 



Adding these columns of prices together and taking the mean of their pro- 

 duct, we have 55^ as the general average of the first of these decades, and 92^ 

 as that of the last. Between these, therefore, lies the point of remunerative 

 prices, when labor and other expenses are moderate as they were in that decade. 

 With present cost of these, it is easy to see that this point, if at all represented 

 by any of these prices, is by those of the highest, the year 1857. 



H. — THE HOME CONSUMPTION AND THE EXPORTS OF TOBACCO. 



To determine the effect of the proposed excise, we must know the strength of 

 the elements which produce the demand for this crop. These elements are the 

 home consumption and the export trade. The only Avay of determining the 

 former is by deducting the hitter from the entire production. This, we have 

 seen, was 429,364,751 pounds in 1859, as returned by the census of 1860. The 

 export of that year was 198 846 hhds., 19,651 bales, and 7,188 cases. The 

 weight of a hogshead of tobacco varies much, from 800 to 1,600 pounds, and it 

 is safe to regard the entire export at 200,000,000 pounds. This would leave for 

 home consumption, 229,304,751 pounds. In these figures we see the elements 

 which have made the tobacco crop so great as it was prior to the rebellion, but 

 their strength also must be considered, that their respective power to endure the 

 proposed excise may be determined. 



The export trade in tobacco, although great, has been slow of growth. It 

 commenced with the earliest settlement of Virginia. But it is not necessary to 

 go back of 1840 for present purposes. From 1840 to 1850 the export was 

 1,340,632 hhds., and from 1850 to 1860, 1,415,270 hhds., a gain in ten years of 

 only 68,638 hhds., or .051 per cent., while the increased production was 115 

 per cent., and the increase ia population was only 35i per cent. These facts 

 exhibit an increase of home consumption, over that of population, of 80 per cent. 

 From 1840 to 1850 the increase in population was also 35 J per cent., Avliilst the 

 home consumption uf tobacco decreased. These extraordmary conditions show 



