424 MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



THE TRUE COTTON REGION. 



Mr. Editor : To answer fully the last communication of X. Y. Z. would re- 

 quire a very thorough discussion both of the history and principles of the Pro- 

 tective System, which would be manifestly out of place in your journal. 1 will 

 therefore, Avith a few general remarks, abandon liie controversy into which I 

 have been unexpectedly drawn. Immediately aiter the passage of the Compro- 

 mise Act in 1833, which provided for a reduction of duties, the price of cotton 

 rose. The same thing has happened on the repeal of the Tariff of 1S12. I do 

 not mean to attribute the advance in cotton solely to these acts of Congress ; but 

 I do not doubt they have had some agency in it. The coincidences would be 

 very remarkable, if merely accidental. With the price of cotton, the price of 

 everything in this country advances. Should manufactures, therefore, fail to fall 

 at once, it must not be argued that low duties do not produce low prices. Free- 

 Trade is as yet an experiment, founded, indeed, upon the soundest reasoning, 

 and thus far, to the extent it has been fairly tried, fully answering the expecta- 

 tions of its advocates. Let the act of 1846 be allowed to operate for only half 

 the period we have submitted to the Protective System, and if it does not de- 

 monstrate that adding 50 per cent, to the cost of an article enhances its price, 

 and taking off that much lowers it, then its friends will abandon it, surrender 

 their doctrines, agree that 2 added to 4 makes 3, and substracted from it makes 

 5, and admit that the benevolent and sagacious manufacturer seeks a monopoly 

 to enrich himself not by selling his goods higher, but actually by selling tiiem 

 lower, thus practically solving the ancient paradox of " lucus a non lucendo.'^ 



That the prices of nearly all manufactured articles have materially fallen since 

 our Tarifl' of 1816, is unquestionable. So has cotton fallen. Tsot only in Amer- 

 ica, but all over the world, have manufactures of all kinds and the raw mate- 

 rials of them come down. Have our Tariffs produced such wide-spread effects? 

 Has our legislation revolutionized the world in these last 30 years ? Is this 

 what X. Y. Z. and the advocates of the " American System " would have us 

 understand, when they tell us that we get "shirtings, plains, kerseys, plows, 

 hoes, axes, &c. at half what we formerly paid for them ?" Then they expect 

 us to forget that for these 30 years the world has enjoyed almost unbroken peace ; 

 that for all that period the energies, mental and physical, of a very large portioQ 

 (and that the most enlightened and most enterprising) of the human family, have 

 oeen exclusively and ardently devoted to the advancement of all the arts and 

 sciences which promote the prosperity and happiness of man. Monopolies and 

 Tariffs have existed in all nations and all ages from the time of Josei)h to the 

 present day, yet what have they done for mankind in the way of cheaji produc- 

 ture, compared with what steam alone has accomplished since 1SI6? Inveterate 

 habits of thought, large vested interest, and, above all, unwise Bational jealou- 

 sies, have greatly retarded the progress of Free-Trade during this unparalleled 

 era of development; but its day has at length fairly dawned, and thirty years 

 more o{ \)g^cg, under its mispices, w'xWumie the human race in bonds of brother- 

 hood that shall encircle the globe, and make War a mere thing of history — ban- 

 ished from use, like the stylus and papyrus of antiouiiv and the mail armor of 

 the middle ages. 



As to the Cotton region and the actual production of the rich lands of the 

 South-west, if the first and last paragraphs of X. Y. Z.'s last article are taken 

 together and the average made of his own statistics, it Avill be seen I liave not 

 been so far wrong. Good seasons and " well managed plantations" are not to 

 be taken as standards of the production of Agricultural countries. I gave before 

 some examples of what had been done here under fiivorable circumstances. To 

 go into a calculation of what might be done here, would occupy more time than 

 I can spare just now and more space than you would be v.'illing to allow me. — 

 But my opinion grows stronger every day, -that if "let alone" and allowed to 

 enjoy the fruits of their own intelligence and industry, the planters of this region 

 need not go elsewhere to improve their fortunes. 



Allow me to say, that notwithstanding his side thrusts at "Carolina doctrines" 

 and "chivalry," I part from X. Y. Z. in perfect good humor; and that 1 thank 

 you, Mr. Editor, for your courtesy in publishing my articles. S. B. 



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