The Continental Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 2, February, 1862: Devoted To Literature And National PolicyVarious
History
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 2, February, 1862: Devoted To Literature And National Policy
Various
Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; United States -- Politics and government -- 19th century -- Periodicals
But be it borne in mind;--and we would urge it with greater earnestness
than, aught which we have yet said,--there is in England a large, noble
body of men who do _not_ sympathize with the Southern rebels; who are
_not_ sold, soul and body, to cotton; who see this struggle of ours as
it is, and who would not willingly see us divided. These men believe in
industry, in free labor, in having every country developed as much as
possible, in order that the industry of each may benefit by that of the
other. Honor to whom honor is due,--and much is due to these men.
Meanwhile we can wait,--and, waiting, we shall strive to do what is
right. England has her choice between the cotton of the South and the
market of the North. Let her choose the former, and she will grasp ruin.
We should suffer for a time, bitterly. But out of that suffering we
should come so strengthened, so united, and so perfectly able to
dispense with all foreign labor, that where we were before as rough ore,
then we should be pure gold in our prosperity.
The first statesmen of England have shown by their speeches, as the
first British journals have indicated in their articles, that they
earnestly believe what Stephens and hundreds of other Southerners have
asserted, that _all_ the wealth of the Northern States has come from the
South, and that the South is the great ultimate market for the major
portion of our imports. Glancing over our map,--as was done by _The
Times_,-the Englishman may well believe this. He sees a vast extent of
territory,--he has heard and witnessed the boasts and extravagance of
Southerners abroad,--he knows that where so many million bales of cotton
go out, just so much money must flow in; he is angry at our Northern
tariff of emergency, and so believes that by opening to himself the
South he will secure a vast market. Little does he reflect on the fact
that, this step once taken, he will close up in the North and West his
greatest market, one worth ten times that of the South, and constantly
increasing, just in proportion as our population progresses more rapidly
than that of the slave States. It is no exaggeration,--strange as it may
seem,--but this extraordinary ignorance has been manifested time and
again by high authority in England since the war began. But supposing
the balance struck, and cotton found to be worth more to England than
the market of the North. Does not our very independence of English
manufactures imply such a stimulus to our own, as to threaten that we
shall thereby be in a much shorter time in a condition to compete with
her in every market of the world? Drive us to manufacturing for
ourselves, and we shall manufacture for every one. Already every year
witnesses American inventiveness achieving new triumphs over British
rivalry. Has England forgotten the report of Messrs. Whitworth and
Wallis on American manufactures, in which they were told that of late
years they have been more indebted to American skill for useful
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