viduals, if, peradventure, the company should become insolvent." Nor can any man of sense suppose, that under the present state of public feeling, in regard to corporations, any legislature will grant such a charter to a great trading company, which proposes to monopolize all the cotton trade of the United States; and which, according to the showing of its friends, is to divide enormous profits. Credat Judæus Appellas, non ego! If, then, a charter be necessary to the organization of the company, the first question may be answered in the negative. But waiving this legislative obstacle, we will suppose a charter obtained; what next? How will the capital of twenty millions of dollars be obtained? Will it be subscribed for, and paid in money? Supposing a willingness to adventure their fortunes in such a scheme, it will not be asserted that its friends have such a sum of money waiting the opportuuity of investment; the money must, therefore, be raised by sale of cotton. It is the general belief that the crop of 1851, which is now being harvested, will prove a large one. It was this belief which induced the meeting of the Macon Convention. The crop is variously estimated at from 2,600,000 to 3.000,000 bales, of 400 lbs. each; and the pamphlet acknowledges a surplus of 646,000 bales of preceding crops. If, then, the crop shall prove equal to the lowest of the estimates, the supply of cotton will be 3,200,000, while the demand is not estimated to exceed 2,300,000 bales; and under such a state of things, will the price of the article range above 64 cents per pound. or twenty-five dollars per bale? At that price it will require a sale of 800,000 bales to raise the proposed capital of twenty mil lions of dollars. And be it remembered, that these 800,000 bales will go into the hands of the manufacturers, and will supply one-third of their wants for the year. The operation, therefore, will have no tendency to raise prices; on the contrary, it must depress the value of the residue of the crop. Can it be believed that nearly one-third of the cotton crop of the year will be thus disposed of for the purpose of subscribing to the stock of the company? The man who so believes, must have faith in the existence of folly amounting to infatuation. We will, however, for argument sake, suppose the association to be organized; and proceed to the Second inquiry,-Whether it would, or could, remedy the evils of short prices? I will suppose the capital of twenty millions of dollars to have been paid in by stockholders, who had the money ready for investment, when opportunity offered and will make no deduction from its amouut for purchasing, a building, warehouses, salaries of officers, &c., &c. The company gives "notice to the world, that whenever cotton offering is not wanted by others, at or above 11 cents per pound, it will be wanted by it." Would not cotton be rushed upon it until its capital was invested! At eleven cents per pound, the value of a bale of cotton would be forty-four dollars; and the twenty millions of dollars would purchase 454,000 bales: after which the company would remain dormant, and incapable of action, or life, until some future short crop of cotton should so raise the price, as to enable it to sell what it had purchased. Meanwhile, would this withdrawal from market of 454,000 bales materially raise the price of the 2,700,000 bales left to supply a demand for 2,300,000! I think it would not. If the capital of twenty millions of dollars was raised by sale of the 800,000 bales before mentioned, the chance for a rise in the price of cotton would be still fess; for that sale would have supplied the manu facturers with more than one-third of their wants, and at a minimum price; and they would afterwards dictate the price for the remainder. In this case, too, the capital raised by supplying the manufacturers with 800,000 bales, when invested in cotton at 11 cents, would only withdraw 454,000 bales from market, and leave 1,940,000 bales to supply a remaining demand for 1,500,000 bales. But the author of the scheme has another way of obtaining his capital of twenty miltheir cotton with the company, and take its lions of dollars: "The planters will deposit stock in payment." Will this plan produce better effects? The company will not expect subscriptions to its stock, payable in cotton at prices lower than 11 cents; at which rate this plan will place in the company's warehouses nearly the same number of 454,000 bales; after which, as before stated, all capacity for further action ceases; and still no rise in the price of the remainder of the crop will result. To enable it to raise the price of cotton, the capital of the company should be forty instead of twenty millions of dollars. Such a sum invested, at 11 cents per pound, would place in its warehouses 900,000 bales of cotton; and leave in the market barely a sufficiency to supply the demand. Under such circumstances, prices would certainly advance. But what would be the inducement to such a subscription of stock! Cui bono? The advance in prices would benefit only those who were not stockholders; while their 900,000 bales must remain in the warehouses of the company until short crops or increased consumption should cause the demand to exceed the supply. Where will the author of the scheme find such public-spirited and self-sacrificing | production. Thus, while a crop of only stockholders ? This review of the scheme was, however, unnecessary, inasmuch as failure and bankruptcy has been the result of every such attempt at monopoly; and "vanity of vanities" would be che sentence pronounced upon it by every commercial man. If, as is proposed, another Cotton Planters' Convention be held in April next, at Montgomery, Alabama, it is to be hoped that better judgment will prevail, and some plain and practicable scheme be adopted. G. COTTON PLANTERS' CONVENTION -THE TRUE REMEDY.-March, 1852.-I do not expect to attend the Convention of Cotton Planters, proposed to be held in May next, in Montgomery; and will take the liberty of submitting to you, and, if you think proper, to your readers, the plan which I proposed at the late Macon Convention. It was there submitted in the shape of a few resolutions, which found favor with the committee of twenty-one, who twice recommended their adoption. On the last day, however, when not a fifth of the members were present, the report of the committee was set aside, and the "Florida Scheme," as published in your November number, was adopted as a substitute. Strange to say, the Macon correspondent of the New-York Courier and Inquirer represented me as the zealous advocate of the substitute. I promptly denied the slander, in a letter addressed to the editor, and received an apology for the mistake, with the offer to publish my plan, if I would forward it. I did so; but as yet have seen no publication of either my denial or the plan. It would be well if every scheme which may be brought before the Convention should previously be submitted to the view of the planting interest, so as to be maturely considered and well understood. My experience as a member of two such conventions, convinces me of the policy of such a course. The evils complained of by the cotton planters are, that the prices of their staple productions are irregular, and too often not remunerative. The first-named evil has at times been disastrously felt by others than growers of cotton; and if a remedy can be devised, the good will not be confined to the cotton planter. These fluctuations sometimes cause a difference of from thirty to sixty millions of dollars in the sales of two crops: a difference productive not only of loss to the planter, but which sometimes tells with disastrous effect upon foreign exchanges and banking institutions. These fluctuations are always in the inverse ratio of the 2,200,000 bales of cotton will yield to the producers one hundred and ten millions of dollars, a crop of 2,800,000 bales will pay only sixty millions; and the bounty of Heaven, in the gift of good seasons, proves more destructive to the planter than seasons of drought, flood, storms and frosts. This loss of fifty millions of dollars falls with its full weight upon the planter, but is also felt by all engaged in, or dependent upon, commerce; and they are equally interested in the discovery of a remedy; yet it is chiefly by such that Cotton Planters' Conventions are jeered at and ridiculed. True it is, that no good resulted from the action of the Convention held in Macon, in the year 1839, and that as little can be expected from that lately held in the same city; but it does not follow that an efficient remedy cannot be found: at any rate, the importance of the object will justify renewed efforts. The dogma" that prices must and will be regulated by the relations of supply and demand," is by many deemed conclusive refutation of all hope of success. But the question to be solved is, "whether the supply cannot be so regulated as to secure regular and remunerating prices?" If it can, the remedy is found. If the cotton crop of the United States belonged to one man, the remedy would be obvious. Naming his price, he would sell only so much as is required for consumption, and leave the residue under his cotton shed, to supply deficiency in the crop of next year; and if the surplus was large, he would plant less next year. Such a course would be efficient for the object; and the only obstacle to similar action by the cotton planters generally, is the difficulty of procuring concert of action. The difficulty is great, but I think not insuperable. Besides the loss attendant upon a large crop, the planter is often subjected to loss upon a small one, because of his ignorance of the extent of the crop of the country. Cotton is the agricultural staple of some eight or ten states, covering a vast extent of country. Seasons are often favorable in some districts, and unfavorable in others. Dealers in cotton take measures to inform themselves, with sufficient accuracy, of the extent of the crop, and are prepared to go into the market with knowledge of its value. It is their interest, too, to exaggerate its extent, and this is annually done by publication of what purports to be extracts of letters written in cotton states, but really fabricated for the purpose. The planter, ignorant of its real amount, and influenced by such statements, disposes of his crop at low prices, before the falsehood is discovered. For low prices, a remedy would be found, in an agreement to plant less cotton; but that would nor prevent irregularity in price, because good and bad seasons would still cause irregular production; and although remunerative, prices would be irregular. A bad season might also so reduce the supply, as to throw out of employment a large portion of capital, and of operatives, now engaged in its manufacture. Such a state of things would be deplorable, and in the end injurious to the grower. His interests, and those of the manufacturer, are best subserved by regular and reasonable prices. The first thing to be done by the Convention, should be the adoption of a plan for ascertaining the extent of each year's crop. This is essential to all judicious and efficient action. I propose to effect it by the agency of Planters' Societies, to be organized in every county in the cotton states. By districting the counties, and distributing the labor among the members, the crop of each county can be ascertained by the middle of January every year. The county societies should immediately thereafter report the amount of the crop to a committee, or some officer, residing at the seat of the state government, who should report the aggregate crop of the state to a central committee, to be appointed by the Cotton Planters' Convention; upon which central committee should also devolve the labor of obtaining all attainable information respecting the probable demand by manufacturers at home and abroad-the supplies which may be expected from other countries—and, generally, all the information in its power, connected with the production and consumption of cot ton. The information referred to, and the reports from the state committees, may be in the possession of the central committee by the 1st of April in each year, and should be published; and the planters advised what proportion of the respective crops should be sold, and what retained. But inasmuch as a considerable portion of the crop is annually sold before the report of the central committee could be made, I propose an agreement among the planters, "not to sell more than two-thirds of their respective crops before receipt of said report, and not to sell any for a price less than agreed upon." And further, "not to sell more of the reserved one-third than shall be advised by the central committee." For illustration of my meaning: Supposing the crop to be 2,700,000 bales; the sale of two- hirds would amount to 1,800,000-leaving 900,000 bales on hand. If advised that the consumption of American cotton would be only 2,200,000 bales, each planter should then sell only four out of every nine bales which had been reserved, and retain the remaining five bales under his cotton shed, to await future demand, or supply deficiencies in future crops. Experience has shown that a crop of 2,700,000 bales, thrown upon the market, will reduce the price of cotton to about five cents; whereas, a crop of only 2,200,000 bales will raise it to thirteen cents, or more. These are extreme prices; the first not remunerative to the planter, the last tending too much to stimulate production elsewhere. The interests of all parties, producers, manufacturers and consumers, will be best served by moderate and regular prices-say about ten cents per pound. At that price, two-thirds of his crop will put more money into the planter's pocket than would the whole crop, sold at six cents. I have said that the difficulty of obtaining concert of action among planters, so widely separated from each other, is great; but my confidence in its practicability is based upon their obvious interest and their good common sense. Although less expert at figures than the speculators in the staple, the least informed among them can see that ten bales of cotton, sold at ten cents, will yield more money than fifteen bales, sold at six cents. And, aided by past experience of the evils resulting from want of organization, it demands no extraordinary faith in their good sense, to believe that concert may be ob tained. The only objection ever made to this plan. is, "that the planters will not act in good faith, but will secretly sell more than their proportion of their crops." Now, without claiming for cotton planters a higher character for honor and integrity, I may say, that they possess as much of those qualities as any other class of our population. And although some may, and will, act basely, the number will be small, and their unfaithfulness will but little affect the result. I may say the same of another small class, found in every community-Solomons in their own conceit, who make it a point of honor never to think or act like their neighbors; and who will, perhaps, refuse to enter into the agree ment. But if the plan suggested be tried, breaches of faith will be fewer and fewer every year; and where a sense of honor will not restrain, fear of exposure and shame will. Without some general concert of action, no plan can succeed and that now proposed presents as few objections as any other. It proposes no advance of moneyno risk of loss-and no change in the pursuits of the planter. If adopted, it must do good. It can do no harm. You have, in the preceding, my plan for regulating the price of cotton. There is another subject connected with the cotton interest which I have much at heart; and which, in the shape of a resolution, I submitted to the Convention. I know not whether it was adopted, having left the meeting upon discovery of the determination COTTON TRADE OF THE SOUTH. of the small number present to force the question upon the adoption of the substitute. My resolution recommended the erection of cotton manufactories in every county in the cotton states-these factories to commence with spinning; and afterwards connecting the business of weaving the cloth. What greater Spinning requires little skill in the operatives; and yarns sell for double the price of the raw material. The facility of obtaining yarn from neighboring factories would COTTON TRADE OF THE SOUTHenable our planters to clothe their families and servants better and cheaper than now. There are, upon every plantation, servants PRICES-STOCK--SUPPLY--DEMAND-FOREIGN who, at times, would be inefficient in the COMPETITION-CONSUMPTION-HOME AND Fofield, while perfectly able to work the loom. REIGN STATISTICS, ETC.-1852.-From year This, however, is the least of the benefits to year, almost without exception, the reports which would result from the system of ma- of a short crop are circulated everywhere on nufacturing. Millions of pounds of cotton this side of the Atlantic; and on the other These yarn are annually exported from Great side, with the same regularity, are heard the Britain to the continent of Europe, and to tales of ruinous prices of goods, and of bankother portions of the world; and the business rupt brokers and manufacturers. of spinning is said to be more profitable than rumors are not, however, peculiar to the Our southern factories dealers in cotton. They are common to all' that of weaving. would obtain the raw material at, at least, the pursuits of business where the supply twenty per cent. cheaper than those of Eng- and demand are irregular and uncertain. land, and southern yarn and cloth would The bulls and bears in Wall street are enmonopolize both the foreign and the home gaged in the same efforts as the cotton sellers market. Let each county commence with a of New-Orleans and the buyers of ManchesThey are found factory of one thousand spindles; and let the ter. The trade in flour, tobacco, and coffee, planters agree to invest, annually, ten per as well as wines, spices, and fruits, is subject cent. of their crops in the extension of such to the same false reports. factories; and in a few years they would everywhere; they are unavoidable, and they manufacture the whole crop of the country, cannot be prevented. and export it, in the shape of yarn and cloth. Such a course would double the value of our exports, and would add to the prosperity of the country more than the gold mines of California, twice told. Its effect upon the banking institutions and commercial interests of the country cannot be sufficiently estimated. But for the gold of California, these interests would, ere now, have been prostrate, and the country experiencing a recurrence of the scenes of the year 1837. The mines of California may cease to be productive, but not so the proceeds of the cotton fields. The manufacture of the cotton crop would employ as many operatives as are engaged in its production; and the food and sustenance of this body of operatives would enable our planters so to diversify their agricultural operations, as to transfer one-half of their labor from cotton to the production of bread stuffs. These reports sometimes imply fraud and falsehood-but often this is not the case. In a country like ours, where cotton is cultivaThe frost, the worm, ted in every variety of soil and climate, the drought which is so disastrous to one is often the rust, and the floods, are seldom universal. a blessing to another. Partial showers may relieve the general absence of rain. The wet bottoms do not require the same seasons as the thirsty uplands. The early crops do not demand the same supply of rain and sunshine as the late plantings. While thus from numerous localities the rumors of ruin and destruction may be true, they may not be general or universal. Those who meet with calamities make the loudest noise, for it affects them deeply. Those who do not suffer say but little, for they obtain only their wishes or expectations, and there is nothing in this to call particular attention to their condition. merchant, and others, and thus many join in affect not only the planter, but the factor, the the cry of disasters. The good fortune of others has no one to herald it, because few have any particular interest in the result. The losses But this scheme of manufacturing the cotton crop has another aspect, which comBut though these false reports may always mends itself to the favor of the patriot, philanthropist and Christian. In the cotton states there is a numerous white population be expected, and do not of themselves imply From harm to all concerned. Sometimes they apscattered over the pine barrens, and subsist- frand and deception, they do nothing but ing by hunting and raising stock. their dispersed condition they cannot have pear to help the planter, but this is fully either schools or churches; and their chil-balanced at another time by a loss equal to his former gain. As the profit and loss are years, both of the crop and of the money it thus sure at last to be fairly balanced, the was sold for, and to call that an average crop unnecessary fluctuations in price caused by which was near-say within 5 per cent of these false reports are a serious and import- this average. Thus, for the year 1847 the ant injury to both parties. It would be a number of bales delivered at the seaports was great advantage to all, if greater steadiness 1.779.000; the average of 1845, '4C, '47, '48, could be given to prices. When the planter and '49 was 2,270.000 bales, so that the remakes his purchases and expenditures, ex- ceipts were less than the average of 47 1,000 pecting to receive fifteen cents for his cotton, bales, or 21 per cent. below. This would, and sells at last for nine, the loss and incon- therefore, be regarded as a very short crop, venience are greater than the gain and grati- because more than 5 per cent. from the ave fication that attend an advance from nine to rage. So with the amounts for which the fifteen. So it is with the manufacturer. If cotton was sold. In 1848 the value of our he contracts to deliver his cloth or his yarn, cotton exports was $62,000.000. For 1846, when cotton is low, a rise in the raw mate- '47, 48, 49, and '50, the average of the rial forces him to ruinous sacrifices, perhaps values was $57,300,000. The real receipts to pay extraordinary interest to the money were, therefore, large, being $4,700,000, or lender, or close his business in bankruptcy. 8 per cent. above the average of the five Goods will not rise immediately with an ad- years of which 1848 was the middle one. vance in cotton. They fall sooner with a decline than they rise with an advance. The loss is thus more than the gain. As greater regularity and uniformity would be promoted by correct and accurate knowledge of the crops and markets, the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, would be of advantage to all. It is a common opinion among the planters and factors of the South, that a short crop not only brings a higher price, but actually produces a larger amount of money than a large or an average crop. It would be strange if this were true. Fine seasons, instead of being the kind gifts of a bountiful Providence, would then be an injury and a curse. The destructive drought and early frosts would be a positive advantage to the agriculturist. The planter would be acting wisely for his own intere: ts if he should destroy a large portion of what he had pro duced. These seem like strange propositions, and at first sight, are very improbable. Let us examine them by the history of prices for twenty-five years past. the sea. The receipts for our cotton are constantly changing; they rise and fall like a wave of At times they go up for several years, and then decline suddenly. At other times the rise is rapid, and the fall gradual. In twenty-five years the value of our cotton exports, according to the official reports of the Secretary of the Treasury, has six times reached the highest point, and five times the lowest. Of these six years of large receipts, three of them were large crops, two an ave rage, and one small. Of the five years of small receipts, four of them were small crops, and one an average. In these eleven years, the rule therefore was true but once. Perhaps, however, the rule deserves a fuller examination. We have supposed above that th crop and its proceeds were large when they exceeded the amounts of the year before and the year after, and smail when they were less than both. It would be fairer, perhaps, to take the average of every five If, now, we compare the rule with the facts of the last twenty-five years, the crops were large, according to this definition, in 1827, 30, 31, 40, 43, 45, 48, and '49, and short in 1828, 32, 37, 41, 42, 47, and '50. Of these fifteen years no short crop brought a large value, and only one large one-that of 1831-brought a small value. If we had taken the exports in pounds instead of the crops in bales, there would not have been a single year that the rule would have been found true; so that the only case where the rule appears to hold, in the twenty-five years, occurred when a large crop brought a retained at home and unsold. In table I., at small price, because a great deal of it was the end of this article, may be seen all the five years, with the average for each, and crops, values, and exports for the twentyIn 1827 the exports were 5 per cent, above every one may examine the facts for himself. the average, and the money received for them 32 per cent. above. In 1828 the exports were 15 per cent. below, and the value 17 per cent. below. In 1829 the crop was an average one, and so was the cash received for it. In 1830 both were large, and in 1831 both were small. For the six years, from 1832 to 1837, the exports were about an average, but the values were sometimes large and sometimes small. In 1838 and 1839 the amount exported was first large and then small, and both years brought average values. In 1840 it was large, and the money was large. In 1841 and 1842 we had two very short crops succeeding each other, yet the sales of the second year were 12 per cent. lower than the average. In 1843 the exports were large, and the proceeds were within the average limit. From 1844 to 1851 we have had three large crops-1845, 48, and '49-and each of them brought average values. In the same time we had three short crops-1846, '47, and '50; the first brought a small return-the other two were about the average. And thus, for every year |