GG THE CALIFORNIA 



Europe as a remittance if there was there an open and 

 ready market. 



Shall we turn to cotton, the great staple of our nation ? 

 Even this, in all its magnitude, is unequal to produce 

 the desired results. The supply of cotton already cjuals 

 the demand at remunerating prices. Other nations, as 

 well as our own, produce this article, and will undoubt- 

 edly continue to produce it in an increasing quantity as 

 long as it will command adequate returns. India, 

 China, Asia, Turkey, several of .the islands of the In- 

 dian Ocean, Egypt, Mexico, Brazil, and Texas, all pro- 

 duce cotton ; and all will continue to produce it while 

 remunerating prices continue. If we therefore labor to 

 swell the production of cotton further, the result must 

 be such a reduction in the price that it must entirely 

 oease to be a valuable product at all. The cost of pro- 

 duction will equal or exceed the price obtained ; besides, 

 when more than one quarter of a large and rapidly in- 

 creasing section is devoted to this article, it is at least 

 questionable whether the principles of political economy 

 do not forbid other portions of our country to depend on 

 cotton, while they continue destitute of any valuable ex- 

 ports. 



Indeed, it may be "fairly' questioned whether the rela- 

 tion between the demand and the supply of cotton is 

 not at this moment such that the individual interest of 

 cotton growing, as well as the interests of the whole 

 country would be promoted, if one-third less cotton were 

 produced, and the labor necessary to produce this third 

 was devoted to the production of other valuable articles 

 of export. 



