COTTON AND THE LOOM. 483 



of the N. O. Commercial Bulletin, that the planter has to give five for one. What 

 then becomes of his remaining three 1 Assuredly no planter should rest satisfied 

 until he can answer this question, to the end that as far as practicable he should 

 escape from so heavy a tax. To answer the question, let us endeavor to trace 

 the course of operation to which the five bales of cotton are subjected from the 

 time of leaving the plantation until they are returned in the shape of one bale 

 converted into cloth. First, we have the transportation to the place of ship- 

 ment, in which a part is swallowed up.* Next comes commission to agents in 

 New-Orleans or Charleston. After this comes transportation to England, or to 

 New- York or Boston on its way to Lowell or Manchester. Next, commissions 

 in New-York, Boston, Liverpool, and Manchester. Next come wages to opera- 

 tives and profits to master-manufacturers. Following this, we have transportation 

 from Lowell or Manchester, and thence to New-Orleans, with an endless train 

 of charges and commissions, the result of all which is, that the planter gets back 

 one bale for five, when he should have, by a just distribution of profits in pro- 

 portion to labor, almost three. He gives five for one instead of two for one (the 

 real, naked difference between producing and converting, making a most liberal 

 allowance for the latter,) and the other three are irrecoverably lost to him. 



Let us now inquire of what all these charges consist, and we shall find that 

 they resolve themselves almost altogether into the single article of y'oo<f, the 

 only others being a small amount of clothing and lodging. The cart and the 

 wagon are composed chiefly of the food eaten by the men who made them. 

 The road by which they travel in conveying the cotton to the place of ship- 

 ment is composed of, or chiefly based upon, the food of the men who made it. 

 The steamboats by which it is conveyed to New-Orleans represent the food of 

 the men who built them, of those who navigate them, and of those who provide 

 the fuel. The commissions represent the food of the men who sell the cotton, 

 of the servants who ■vfrait upon them, of the men who build houses for them to 

 live in, and carriages for them to ride in. The packet-ship represents the food 

 of the men who felled and sawed the timber, and of those who transported it ; of 

 the men who dug and smelted the ore and fashioned the iron used in her con- 

 struction, and the carpenters and workmen by whom it was put together. The 

 work of twisting, and weaving, and finishing, represents the food of the twisters, 

 and weavers, and finishers. If now v/e inquire what proportion the latter bears 

 to the whole quantity, we shall find that it is far less than one-fourth of the 

 whole. We will, however, assume that it is one-fourth, and then show what be- 

 comes of the other three bales that the planter pays for one of manufactured 

 cotton. 



Crcdilor. 

 ByoHcbale cotton twisted, woven and finished. 

 By o«2 bale given for the food of the person? 



•who twisted, and wove, and finished it. 

 By three bales given for the food of the persons 

 intermediately emploj-ed in carrying it to- 

 the twister and weaver, and bringing back 

 to the planter the one bale twisted and 

 woven ready for use. 



Debtor. 

 To five bales of cotton. 



" Of the expense of this first movement some idea may be formed by those who have seen it coming 

 over dreadful roads, up to the hub, dragged slowly along, 20, 30, or 40 miles, as we have seen it coming 

 into Natchez and Vicksburg. hauled by five yoke of oxen carrying 2,e00 to 3,000 pounds, and so slovpjy 

 that motion was scarcely perceptible. So many perish in the yoke in winter and spring that it has been 

 said, with some exaggeration, that you might walk on dead oxen from Jackson to Vicksburg. That was 

 before the railroad was made. A wagon is loaded up, say 14 miles from Natchez, and started at night, and 

 reaches there in time to get back the next night time enough to " load up." Thus ten oxen have been 

 wearing and tearing and dropping their manure on the road for 24 hours to make one load. 

 (923) 



