150 



FARMERS' REGISTER— NORFOLK AND BEAUFORT. 



KORFOr.K, ITS FACILITIES FOR C03IMERCE 

 CONTRASTED WITH THOSE OF WILMINGTOIV, 



For. the Farmers' Rpgi.stcr. . 



''Statistics of North Carolina.— In I\Ir. Bryan's 

 ppeecli I find a memorial relative to the inlet of 

 Ocracock. It demonstrates that the annual pro- 

 duct of" the district of. which the port in 1ho vent, 

 is, - - - - !J5,()00,000 



That it employs of shipping in tons, 200.000 



Of seamen, not less than - - 10,000 



Tliat the expense direct and 

 ■ indirect inciured by this 



shipping at 1 per cent, on 



imports and exports ia $;75,000 

 On the ships, _ . - 60,000 

 Lighterage and detention at 



the Swash is, - - 200,000 ^365,000 



Or an annual tax of between 7 and 8 per cent, 

 producing a loss in commerce ot an immense 

 amount, when, in fact, all this charge might not 

 only be saved, but the commerce itself increased 

 in an immense ratio. 



Mr. Brjan proves the correctness of the idea, by 

 stating, that staves commanded 840 per thousand 

 at Sutiblk, (Virginia,) the head of the Nanse- 

 mond na\agation, while at Murfreesborough and 

 Winton, on the Chowan (both about 30 miles dis- 

 tant from Suflblk,) they only sell for $25. At 

 Washington, Newbern and Edenton, they are 

 scarcely worth ,^I0, while at Wilmington, they 

 readily sell for ,9 IS and .^20. What is the conclu- 

 sion? That, if the access to the Atlantic was as 

 good by Ocracock as by Wilmington and Norfolk, 

 the above igo,000.000 worth of property would be 

 shipped without the charge of the |i 365,000, and 

 that staves delivered at Norfolk are worth double as. 

 much as at Wilmingtoii* 



When so clear a benefit to be derived from a lit- 

 tle exertion, and compared with the object in view, 

 so trifling an expendhure, it. is no great compli- 

 ment to the collected wisdom of the annually con- 

 gregated councils of North Carolina, that they 

 have so long been blind to a work they might so 

 easily have achieved, and one that would instantly 

 have produced the desired effect. 



Every man that has ever been at sea, cannot 

 but recollect the sailor's distich, 



''If Bermuda let you pass, 

 Have a care of Hatteras." 



Nature, in placing Hatteras where she has, has 

 interdicted almost to every port in North Carolina, 

 the means of becoming the mart of extensive fo- 

 reign trade. The Cape Fear river might be ex- 

 cepted, as offering a tolerable harbor— but, Wil- 

 mington has been so placed, as to preclude the 

 possibility of its ever becoming a port of conse- 

 quence. The difference in value of the same mate- 



* As a practical illustration, I would state what I 

 liave uuderstood to be a llict. A ship (the Homer) 

 trading between Charleston and Bourdeaux wanted 

 staves. At Charleston they were not to be had; nor 

 was she more successful at Wihnina;ton; but, after all 

 her pxpense at Wilmington, was compelled to go to 

 fvor oik. This happened, as I have heard, last year. 

 If ti.s ^1.50,000 spent on the Swash, &c. had been laid 

 out on a rad road across North Carohna, it would have 

 rendered sonie service Its outlay now i.s on a fruit- 

 less work. 



rial in Wilmington and Norfolk cannot' be forgot- 

 ten. It speaks volumes. 



I assume this, and now proceed to prove, that 

 not only might this ,v;365,000/jer «nm/??i have been 

 saved; but. thai the commerce rniglit have doubled^ 

 so, tliat the loss is two fold. 



But, it is only to be done by a sacrifice, and 

 hence I proceed to ask wiiat will be that sacrifice? 



It will be, the "ridiculous notion, that etich state 

 must have a large importing port, wdiile (to say 

 nothing of thejc'to ports of that description in the 

 Middle and Eastern Sections of the United States,) 

 Great Britain has not more than six, Ireland only 

 two, and France not five. These countries with 

 their enonnous and overgrown populations, can do 

 with these few large ports, while North and South 

 Carolina and Georgia, with only about 1,000,000 

 "whites and 700,000 blacks, (the latter consuming 

 but little,) are to have three large importing ports. 

 The ascendency of Charleston, ever since the es- 

 tablishment of North Carolina and Georgia as se- 

 parate governments, fully demonstrates this fact. 

 The charters of the Charles and the Georges, 

 have never altered this decree of circumstances. 

 It is in vain, that the essential interests of these 

 states are sacrificed to the imaginary lines drawn at 

 the time, for the purpose of convenience and tlie 

 increase of royal patronage. It is time they 

 shoukl all pull together, ancl by the estabhshment 

 of two principal ports, uniting Avith Virginia, thus 

 offer the means of erecting ports that may partial- 

 ly rival New York and Baltimore. 



It is in vain that visionary men call on us to see 

 v.'hat may be done by an expenditure on the Ocra- 

 cock Inlet. The whole coast of the Carolinag".ia 

 one dreaded by the seaman, and there are but two 

 ports accessible to ships of war of any moderate 

 descriptions. The patronage of government, roy- 

 al and republican, and the result of circumstances, 

 has, I repeat it, made Charleston what it is; but, 

 the establishment of the inland towns on tlie 

 healthy and purely watered sand ridges, and the 

 increased accessiljility to the Northern Cities, (its 

 convenience and ease hourly augmenting,) has 

 turned the attention of /Ae consuming population o\ 

 the three States to those cities lor their foreign 

 supplies. I maintain, that in a commercial point of 

 view it is their interest to have this source of sup- 

 ply as near to them as possible, and, that in every 

 point of view, it is their business so to sacrifice lo- 

 cal prejudices, as to ofl'er the best military port to 

 the United States for the establishment of^a ma- 

 rine depot. 



This marine depot should be Beaufort in South 

 Carolina. If Georgia had not been setded, the 

 probability is, that it would have been the capital 

 of Carolina. Bowen (1747) says 'Ht is already the 

 station of the British squadron tnthese seas.'''' 



It is thus described by Drayton in his vieAV of 

 South Carolina, (p. 32, Charieston, 1802.) 



"Broad, Coosaw, Port Royal, and other short ri- 

 vers, are more to be considered arms of tlie sea 

 than rivers of the country. By their various me- 

 anderings, they insulate nearly one-fifth of Beau- 

 fort district." 



"Their waters are deep and their navigation 

 suitable to heavy vessels of war; hence Broad and 

 Port Royal Rivers, are supposed to be equal to the 

 safe accommodation of the largest and 7nost formi- 

 dable navy.'''' 



"The bar or entrance of the Broad is almost a 



