66 



(EljC iTarmcr's ilTontlils Visitor. 



is more ihiin repaid by llie greater qiiaiitiiy ol' 

 cotton ivliicli cmi lie loaded upon the sliiijs iii- 

 temled for a di.'-lant desliiialioii. 



']"lie f:rcat iniportaiice of the rotton pro(hiriioii 

 in this couiitiy may lie estiiiialed lioiii ibe lact 

 that it is an article uliich is soiiirht and lionj;hl 

 up at its firft point cf cnncenlralion rather than 

 goiny abroad to eeek for a mailset. Tlie con- 

 ^ninptioM of onr eonsiderable coiton factories at 

 the Mortli is siiiVicient to make it an inchiceinent 

 for them to sGinl airents at no inconsi(U>rabh! ex- 

 pense to New Orleans, there to reside five or six 

 months in a year, for the purpose of securing a 

 competent sup[dy (Un-ins,' the year. 'i\vo jjentle- 

 men at the St. Charles Hotel, commi.«;sione(l from 

 Lowell and IManehcster to purchase eighty thou- 

 sand bales for tiie use of a part of the establish- 

 ments at those places, at the time of the rise in^ 

 the price of cotton in ilie latter part of the month* 

 of iMarch, fell short of their supply some twenty 

 thousand bales. These gentlemen had been busi- 

 ly ensinged the previous five months in selecting 

 aiid buying np, as fast as the article arrived, that 

 particular kind of cotton wanted for the New 

 England mannfacluiing establishments. On the 

 way down the Ohio river there came on boaid 

 onr boat at Wheeling a French gentleman who 

 was burrvins on from the arrival of the last Liv- 

 erpool steamer, with the funds to piuchase SiSOO,- 

 000 worth of cotton, which was required for the 

 use of some particular colton establishments in 

 France. 



A most beautifid and interesting picture of the 

 already great Cresctnt city, so named from the 

 position of the river in half moon sliiipc extend- 

 ing nearly five miles witli less than hull' the dis- 

 tance in a direct line from point to point np and 

 down the stream, is the forest of masts of the 

 shipping, and the long array of steamers with 

 their whitened booiesand smoke-vomiting chim- 

 neys standing above the water: the latter inila- 

 ding their bales of cotton, their hogslie;i<Ls of 

 .'Ugar and molasses, their barrels of flour, beef, 

 jiork and whiskey, their bars of iron and lea(l,and 

 countless other liiaK'rials raised and produced in 

 the vast valley above. Besides the cargoes of 

 the steamers, there are hundreds and thousamis 

 of arks and co\cred boats laden with coal and 

 other lieavy articles, as well as live stock, beeves 

 and milch kine, horses and mules, constantly ply- 

 ing upon the river towards the great mart of trade 

 and landing their cargoes. 



The I'oreign ships at New Orleans, which at 

 the time of onr visit were nnicli more ninnerous 

 than the American, are a sure indication of the 

 great attraction to trade aftbrded by the cotton 

 production of the south-west. Among the J5rit- 

 ish craft, some dozen or more were njarked as 

 belonging to St. Johns, in New Brunswick, which 

 bad brought to this market their cargoes from the 

 West luilies of cofiVe and other tropical produc- 

 tions procured in exchange (i)r lumber Irom the 

 country of the Aroostook, to be sold here, after 

 which the voyage is to be kept u|i in the profita- 

 ble freight of cotton for an English market. It 

 was no exlraorilijiary spectacle to see trading 

 ships here from Belfast and Londonderry in Ire- 

 land, as well as fiom the German ports upon the 

 Elbe, and Swedish and Taissian ships from tlie 

 Baltic. 



The levee at Nevir Orleans is a strip of land 

 nearest the water, some ten lo thirty rods wide, 

 extending the whole distance of the crescent frcnu 

 one to the other exIreiTie. The busiest point of 

 business upon this levee is against the Second 

 I\luuii'ipaliiy, being higher upcjji the river ihaii 

 the elder or First JMunicipalily in which the an- 

 cient French population mainly resides. 'J'he 

 heavier ships that have not yet engaged their car- 

 go, lie lower clown— the most busy lading of 

 ships is from the centre or Canal street, which di- 

 vides the two JMuuicipalilies, up the stream to- 

 wards that subuib of the city fast becoming of 

 itself n city, called La Fayette. Lower dowji 

 than all upon the river, and forming a enrrespnud- 

 ing point of the crescent with La Fayelie at the 

 other extreme, is the 'J'hird or smallest I'Mnniii- 

 paliiy. The (^Justom House, an iid'erior and in- 

 difiii'rent buihling, stands a lillle in r<.ar of llii^ 

 levee at the point of division between the I'irst 

 and Second IVUmicipalities. The United Slati'S 

 Mint, with commodiousappeiulagesereclcd with- 

 in the last few years, is about a mile lower on the 

 river, near the Esplanade, a wiile street running 

 from the river towards the swamp in the reaj-, 



and dividing the First and the Third Municijml- 

 iiies, as Canal street divides the First and the 

 Second. 



Four thousand draymen, the most of them with 

 tno horses or mules each, are kept inconstant 

 employment in the business season at New Or- 

 leans. 'J'lie ai)peaiance of the open levee, lor 

 miles covereil with cotton bales, hogsheads of su- 

 gar and molasses, bags ol' sail, cofi'ee, corn and 

 :;rain, and almost every species of veiulible pro- 

 iluclion, explains the necessity for this army of 

 draymen. The transport of coiion ii: and from 

 the presses at the busy season of transit from 

 sale and purchase, employs conslanlly several 

 hundred (Iraymen: five bales weighing about five 

 hundred pounds each, disposed upon a dray with 

 two horses or nudes, similar to the heavy <lrajs 

 long conducted by the Boston truckmen, but with 

 animals by no means so heavy and lilt as the 

 triM'k horses of the New England metropolis, is 

 t!ie usual New Orleans draj man's load. What 

 we believe is nol common in Boston, we frequent- 

 ly saw at New Orleans, the rlrayman at his work 

 at the early dawn of the morning, and after the 

 darkness of the evening. 



'J'he cotton production of the South is a mat- 

 ter but too indifferently afipreciated by Northern 

 men. It irmst be admitted that into this produc- 

 tion has been incorpoi ated, as a mattei' of present 

 necessity, the employment of slave labor. From 

 peisonal observation we bear the willing li-sli- 

 mony that the condition ol the colored race upon 

 the most productive cotlon |)lanlalions in the 

 South is far belter tliaJi we had a|iprehended : the 

 most liajipy of this unlbrtnuate lace ccdiecled 

 and associated in considerable numbers, we be- 

 lieve to be those who are engaL'ed in cultivation 

 profitable to their owners and euqdoyers in the 

 extreme Southern portions of the country. The 

 great mildness of the country contributes very 

 much to their comfort : the extreuii.' fertility of 

 the soil furnishing the best varieties ofsusleuance, 

 makes their living easy anil cheap. The senti- 

 ment among the owners of slaves is universal, 

 lli;it iheir best interest lies in gootl and humane 

 treatment. 



The cotton crop of the United Slates is neces- 

 sary not only to sustain the manufacturing inter- 

 est and prosperity of New England, but it has 

 become necessary to tl.'e prosperity and trade ol' 

 the only powerful nationsof the world with which 

 young America need fear collision. Deprive 

 Great Britain of the cotlon supplied fiom the 

 ports of New Orleans, Mobile and Charleston, 

 and what must become of her trade.' 'J'lils col- 

 ton supply from lite United States, resuUins; from the 

 vecessary evil of slavery ivliieh the present /renerution 

 found existing in the Southern States, is the one 

 point which will force that havs;hty nation lo respect 

 .'Imerican rights and j)revent the collision of war be- 

 Jn-een the two cnnnlries. Jt will be a great olijecl 

 liir Great Britain to furnish partially her supply 

 of cotton hereafter, from Texas annexed to her 

 control, instead of that of the United States; but 

 never in contention for thai, nor for the posses- 

 sion of three or four or half a (hjzen degrees 

 more of latitude n|)on the Pacific in Oregcin, will 

 she go to war with us willingly while ilependent 

 upon our .'inniial crop of collon for the veiy ex- 

 istence of her extended mamifaclures, 



If New l^^nglaiid mannfa(-turers, while their es- 

 tablishments are jet in their iulimcy, find it ne- 

 cessary to watch llie market to make purchases 

 of their raw mali'iial at whatever price it may 

 bear — if they find it to be llurir interest to seek 

 for the supply instead of depending that the sup- 

 ply will come to tlK'in — equally do tin; mannliie- 

 tnrers of Europe find it necessary to go to the 

 same great marls and pie-engage the nmch larg- 

 er supplies which they need. Much has the 

 country sufiered wilhin the l:ist eii;bt y<'ars from 

 the collon sprculalion : millions of capilal have 

 been lost anil sunk to the cmmtry liom alienipts 

 to monopolize the trade, by men who undeistuod 

 heller the uecessily of the article lo llie wants 

 of the manuliu'liu'iug interesis of the world, than 

 iheir power to control and direct so great an in- 

 terest. The lemplations to speculalioim in cot- 

 ton are most exciiing. The rise of a single ceiii 

 in a pound will inescnt great gains lo the holders 

 (if a few thousand bales: upon arising market, 

 speculators rush in. The more slirend some- 

 limes make money in these spi cnlations ; lint a 

 large majority of the cotton speculators who buy 



with the sole expectation of gaining by the rise 

 of price, are in the end made bankrupt. 



Almost lower than the cost of production, the 

 cotiiiii market of the year 1814 commenced: it 

 "as as low as three cents for indifferent, and not 

 above four cents per pound for good merchant- 

 able cotlon. A fidling market greatly discour- 

 aged the colton planters. It has bad the good 

 I'fi'cct of directing the owners of the most prn- 

 ihiclive plantations to the true economy of fur- 

 nishing iheir means of sustenance, their meat and 

 their breailslufis, diri'Cily lidin their own grounds 

 instead of grouiug cotton alone, and sending to 

 the places where the cotton is sold for their sup- 

 plies, ll is believed the colton market at New 

 Orleans and Mobile will close at an advance in 

 price of from nne-fonrlh to one-lhiril. And the 

 prudent planters of Mississippi and Alabama say 

 ihey will alwajs be satisfied and can make money 

 enough wben the price of colton shall never 

 range below six cents per pound ; and they nev- 

 er with to see it rise above eight cents. \Ve do 

 not believe, while the uauls of eiillon are open- 

 ing from the liicililies of intercourse increasing 

 to almost every point of the habitable world, thai 

 there ever can be over-proiliiclion of the cotton 

 of the United States. This most imporlant and 

 invaluable material deserves to be clierislu'd by 

 the whole people of the United Slates — it is of 

 no less consequence indirectly lo the manulac- 

 tiirersaiiil liuniers of the North than to the own- 

 ers of planlalions and slaves in the Soiilli. 



But if the collon iiilerest of the South with 

 the net amount of |iroiluciion of one hundred 

 dollars li:r each slave :it the moder.iie and easy 

 labor uliich the slaves upon the colton planta- 

 tions undergo, aftords a tolerable iiilerest to the 

 planter, what shall we say of the great gains of 

 the sugar lilantalions of Louisiana, which during 

 the year 1844 have averaged a production of four 

 himdred dollars lo each baud.' To carry on a 

 sugar planlation well, a man must command a 

 capital ol" many thousand dollars. The cleared 

 lands upon the Mississippi bear as high aprice 

 as the best culiivaled garden hinds of .New F.nc- 

 land ; and the investment of properly in slaves 

 is even greater ihan the juice of the land. The 

 machinery for the manufacture from the cane on 

 Ihe smallest scale, requires an expenditure of at 

 least si.x thousand dollars. With these invest- 

 ments once made, the cash expenses of a sugar 

 plaulalion are comparatively trifling, as along 

 willi ihe cane iiroiluclion the plantation ilself 

 yields almost the entire means ofsusleuance, the 

 meal, bread and vegelablcs neceSsary for the sub- 

 sistence of the operatives. 



The value of onr discriminating larifl" to the 

 sugar planter may be illuslraled by an example. 

 There is really as much reason «hy the collon 

 planter should be paid a bounly liir his collon or 

 the niirlliern farmer for his crop of corn and po- 

 tatoes and his stock of cattle and horses, .as that 

 the rich planter of Louisiana should be paid a 

 bounly for every pound of sugar and every gal- 

 lon of molasses be |noduccs. Lei this be illiis- 

 traleil by a single ev.imple. A well known weal- 

 thy genlleman living near N:ishville, Tennessee, 

 not long since invested $150,000 in a sugar 

 planlaiion and slaves upon the lower Mississippi 

 in ihe Slate of Louisi.ina. This plantation he 

 conducts exclusively under the care of overseers. 

 Il proihiceil dining the last season in sugar and 

 nmlasses, as he slated himself, equal lo llie value 

 of half a million of pounds: our informant iiii- 

 derslood the genlleman lo say that his proiluc- 

 lion was five hundred thousand piuinds of sugar 

 — ibis for two hundred and filiy slaves winilil he 

 two ihousand pounds of sugar to the hanil. 

 The price of su;^:ir at New Orleans rose in the 

 monlh of Maicli last from four to five and six 

 cents per pound. Jlis crop of sugar at five cents 

 auiouuleil lo fifiy thousand dollars. The interest 

 on his invi-sliiii'iit of .•Jl.'iO.OOO was 1*0,000— his 

 cash expendilures only §(1,000, making' bis out- 

 lav hui SI.'i.OOO: his crop is worth $50,000; and 

 hi's :;aiu $.S5,000! 



One half of ihis planter's gain is to be found 

 in the tariff paid of 2i cents on every pound of 

 imporli d sugar. We will suppose he had no 

 proleciion from the tarifi", and that in conse- 

 quence Ihe sugar consumed by the farmers of 

 ihc interior could have been bought at New Or- 

 leans fiir Si instead of 5 cenls per pound. His 

 crop ill ihat case would have given him 8:2.5,000, 

 and this would bo a gain high and dry of all ex- 



