Commercial Importance and Future of the South [pp. 120-134]

CO)IMERCIAL IMPORTANCE AND FUTURE OF THE SOUTH. 121
I find in a newspaper an article, reditcd to the N. Y. News,
so alplpropr)iate, that I quote it at large:
Tl ee is so much misapprehension in relation to our foreign trade, and
it is so iipl)ortant at the present juncture to have a correct understanding
upon the sullject, that, at the risk of repetition, we shall recur to it again.
For this purpose we shall take fr'om the official returns of 1861 the amount
of exports, distinguishing the exclusively Northern from the exclulsively
Southern origin of the articles'
UIXTYED STATES EXPORTS.
Forest................ $,085,931
P~roduc~ts of the sea.....$,1,180 Breadstufis............9,567,397
Forest................ 9,368,91 Cotton............... 191,806,555
ProvX-isions............ 20,215, Tobacco............ 19,278,621
Breadstuffs............ 9,02,01H emp, ete c......... 746,370
uth(tur es............ 25,599,547 MIanufactures..........10,934,795
Total Northern origin...S$7,363,070 Total Southern origin.,238,419,680
Total exports......................................335,782,740
Imports consumed............... 336,380,172
These are the fioures of the treasury tal)le, and their careful consideration may dispel some strange illusions that possess the public mind.
Anlong tile items, it will be observed, under the head of prodlucts of the
folest?, Georia pine and lumber, naval stores, etc., bear a high figure. All
those w ho lhav e been patiently aw aiting the South to be "starved out," will
olisiirve with some surprise that it supplies one-third of all the breadstuffs
ceported(l firom the Union. Hence, if they cannot "eat cotton," they will
not starve. The manufactures which originate in the South form also a
small sum total for which many are not prepared.
The result is, that the North furnishes one-fourth of the merchandize
exported and the South three-fourths. It will now be understood that
three-io)irtlh of the national exports are embargoed by blockade. It is very
inlpomtr, t thoroughly to understand that fact, because on it hangs all the
1~,~e ~.'~ tthe was. Breadstuffs and provisions, it will be observed, form
one-hialf of the Northern exports, and the harvest in England being good,
those articles, if sold at all, must be sold very low.
It' +Xe turn to the importations into the country we find the followinig result o:
IMPORTS.
Srpeele.
North................... $4,780,598
South........... 3,770,546
Total............ $8,551,135
Goods.
$316,842,381
36,802,738
$353,645,11 9
The sp1ecie imports at the South are mostly silver from MIexico, and of the
mer(halI,lize, cofce counts S9,731,617; sugcar for 83,500,000; for Vestern
accounit. iron, queens-ware, etc., for the balance. Now, if we bring the aggregates together, they will show as follows:
Total Im. Total Ex. Excess Im. Excess Ex.
North.. $ 316,812,381 $77,367,070 $ 239,449,31 1
South......... 36,802,738 238,419,6X0........... $ 201,616,932
We hlave here the conclusive fact that the three-fourths of the whole foreign trade of the country is Southern. The exports are produced there,
X-ORTItER.N ORIGIN.
SOUTIIEl,RN ORIGIN.
To,tal.
$321,592,970
40,5783,284
$362,:1 6,254