Carolina Watchman

              carolina watchman wkbkly vol xx salisbury n c november 10 1862 mm 15 it 2o i j mtrxkk kill i lit ami i'l.oi'kiktoit il ii_).l.n___.,-___».i m ■■ ■-__-■■ --■ ml ttar itlttresk if snb-l-lrsrr provision crejts in thr snath the regulation of mir crops for another year is engaging the atten tion of the planters and farmers of the south the general conclusion on this sul.jcst ape&rs to he that it will be ii better policy to cultivate grain and raise stock than to plant cotton tnis conclusion i sit length tied by a nuinher uf considerations which apply peculiarly to the coining year jt is now well ascertained that while the corn yield per acre was not an average one this year the wheat cfop was almost an eytire failure — manv tamers and planters it is true have made what would he for them ordinarily a two or three years sup plv ; hut the shortness of ihe wheal i crop and the wants of the less for : tnnaie will materially affect thein and shorten their supply corn will he needed tor the horses mules aud cattle wliich we shall he compelled to raise now that we are cut oft from : kentucky and the northwest it is very clear especially in view of the present scarcity of provision sup plies that to meet future exigencies the cultivation of grain and the rais ing of swine cattle sheep and bora «_.-> aud mules should he persistently aud extensively engaged in and en , c.miiaged in the cotton stales during the war jot ton can supplv hut ' part of the clothing for our army and none of the loud ; while grain is essential to the production of that ! which afford e the clothing and ac tually sustains life there is no doubt that the stock of cotton now in the south is heavy j viiough even if recognition should j take place before planting time without putting in next year more i than will be needed for domestic use our iu formation leads us to j the conclusion titat cotton has heen i more extensively planted this year ** i f than is generally supposed we think it safe to assume that there j are how between three and four mil lions of bales of cotton of the crop oi 18_t in the south we think it safe toassu ne further that between , live and ten bundled thousand bales have been raised this year withi this stock on baud it would be critn ! inally foolish iu the event of a con \ tiuuatiou of tbe war to plant the breadth of land iu cotton wliich is j usual in time of peace the people of the cotton states have already paid much more at , entiou than formerly to the raising of all kinds of stock and there is now growing a large number of brood animal intented to supply tiie future wants of the army during the war and ui the people after wards ibese of course will re quire larger crops of grain than have usually been cultivated to say noth ing oi tiie great and imperative de niamls of the army ihere appears lo be a popular no tion that the object with which our government ims sought f divert the industry of the country from the pro duction of cotton is by the stispen : sion of that crop to compell eng land to break up the blockade ill order to restore the production and supply nf this article of prime ne cessity to her vast manufacturing interest tnis idea is on.bwl.at ex travagaut indeed it is somewhat doubtful to what extent thu suspen sion of our cotton ptoduct would be i i advantage to us in our foreign relations as the effect of this sus pension wmild be in the absence ul competition from our better and more eheeply produced article to stimulate ro the highest possible point the cultivation of cotton in the british dominions in the east the paramount object however of our temporary abandonment of the cot ton culture is to give all our indus try and resources to the tirst and great care of making an abundance of provisions for our armies iu the tild and for our people at home frmil marly every district ill tlie smith we hear complain s of short grain crop suggesting an enlarged necessity lor measurer on the art ui the planting un i fanning interest of the south ni secure for the next year the tin resources i»t mr kh ligtetice it will he tune enough to consider the propriety of planting cotton when we have plenty nf cat tle switie horses runlet him urain to make ns inilejiemli'iit ol all for eign sources of supply the smith carolina papers stale that the season in that siale was marred hy a drought ami in many parts ol tln stale the corn crop was seriously injured so unit there will lie no superabundance and scarcely more than was produced inst year from iniicil less land planted in that greatest of cereals the pri_lnetloii ol rice too this year has heen cur tailed lo a considerable extent hy the removal of planters from the tide witter region slill the season lor lice has heen good and those who have planted have generally made mops it saved the rice crop will very material i v aid in support ing one people and the army collec ted for our defence it is to he hoped that the authorities will af ford every facility and co operation ; in in akin this large resource of hui si _ fence available rich examineb > it is no longer h uhject for conceal • i v ... . . uieiit tliiit otir army in northern \ irgmta is making h backward movement for the j i ui r pose of re-organizing it line of defeu ! cis what i tin present direcliun of this tnovv.un.til ami lb limits assigned tu it j an subjects iijton which we shall not has j aid conjectures tlu-re is abundant reason however to assure our readers that there is nothing ominous in this movement ; that it has not been undertaken from anv pressure from the enemy and that beyond the obvious and advantageous object of bringing us somewhat nearer tbe sources of our supplies and drawing the enemy upon ground more difficult than be now , occupies it i likely to involve no irapor j taut changes in the situation in virginia il is now a well ascertained fact that ; when xen lkk fell back from the polo i mac to bunker hill lie did so under no ! sires from tbe enemy but with tbe oh j ject of drawing him across the river and bring him to battle the enticement has failed ; the enemy will not fiijht and tbe j aclive^campaign being concluded our ar my is aboui to go into winter quarters and is moving back upon a new line of defence in wliich it will consult its convenience — we believe this is to be the easy and na tural explanation of the present move i meats of our army in virginia which of course have been the subject of some pop ular sensation il is to he noticed that while this retro ' gade movement brings us nearer our base of hiiplies n will involve but little burren der of available territories to the enemy — 1 here is i great difference between evacu : aling the enemy h territory teeming with we.-iltli and population and available to i linn for purposes of supplies and leaving ] bim ue!i a desert as be will find in north ' ern virginia its hinds devastated and its wbole system of railroad transportation destroyed in such circumstances the re 1 inciiieiit of our army lias no quality of re treat and many of good geueralship it presents tlie advantage of weakening the enemy by lengthening bis lines of com munic trot without the loss ot impor tant and profitable territory to outweigh the merits of strategy il is doubtful whether the yankees are yet in any considerable force across the potomac it is not known thai thev have made any important demonstration on our rear in lbe recent tnovemeiirs ; and as it is understood io he quite certain that our army is sufficiently strong and confident to ' turn upon anv force lhat the enemy could pul across the potomac and com pel i a de cisive ha tile ii is likely that what ver move ments are now iu progress are in no dan ger of being seriously interrupted it is i known fr.ni reliable information that pre vious to falling from his old lines general - lee inad • a close econiioissailcf in wliich it was positively ascertained that no con siderable force of the enemy was on this ! side of the potomac all the indications point to the termi nation for the prese il the active cam pain in northern vhginia and suggests tbe likelihood that we shall not hear from mcclellan until he bafl completed his task of reorganization and elaborate prepara tion for tbe winter vhile tho two ar t mies mi lhe borders ol virginia have prac i lieallv drawn olf events ate marching r ' pidly in other dtrei-lions ; nml iln ear of i those who are watchine the nigim of the ! lun.'s is si rained to ealeh sounds nl battle from tbe west — rich examiner we may cxp-cl that pxtraordinarv e | i-rtioiim will soon he put forth bv the __. ! illy to get posse sion of ll considerable ! jm.iliiin of our cotton cottnlrv the win i ter is approaching the i iv.-r . will noon rise and in a short time the signal will be j given for a general and rolml v ., iinu taneoii onset on our scabuaid and tbe in land frontier of lbe ____.!«. enl cottoii is to be a great prize ibis winter i twenty millions of people in tho north ', j are to be supplied from a slock of cotton ! and cotton poods winch the new york i journals declare will be intirelv exhausted before tbe first nf next latiuarv a dis tivss of no ordinary character threaten the ninth lhe ' cotton famine " is dis ! i cussed by the journals in ; , t,,ne of the i mo-.l serious alaim and the inl is pointed i out that not more than fifteen per cent of tbe cotton machinery ol their country is | now running w : th a stock on band that j , will be consumed before the year is out il lias never at any tune in this war been so important to keep th trent sta phi of the south out of the hands of the • j enemy as now when the war comtn.nc ! ed the yankees had on hand an abundant ; ! supply of cotton and cotton fabric which | i has thus far enabled thein to put off the j : distress which now so nearly threatens ' j them one gnat ol.ect of the enemy's ; winter campaign south of virginia will i he to obtain supplies of sot ton ; hut in *. 1 1 i _. ! he will be easily defeated no matter what ! i may be bis military successes if our peo ! pie remain faithful to their obligations of , loyalty and patriotism if the enemy should get possession this ! winter of any considerable portion of our ! cotton territory it does not follow that be ' '■ will get possession of lhe staple it produces i where the cotton cannot be moved beyond ' his reach it is to be committed to the i flames in this matter we must fyust much to tbe discretion and vigilance of our mili tary commanders ; but tf to these was add i ed a rule to punish with death those who succeed by contrivances in selling it to go north we would have then and not until then we vould have a perfect assurance of the safety of tbe cotton of tbe south from tbe bands the enemy the vankess have been most adroit in their management to obtain con from the invaded districts of the south thev give to this article a peculiar distinction ; thev ' will not confiscate it ; their policy is to ' buy it and pay for it in geld the object i of this magnanimity of the tempter is sim i i i t ply to bole out inducements to the plan lens not to destroy their cotton it will j be recoiled that butler in the midst of his ! pillage of new orleans caused it to be ad vertistd tbat he respect even rebel own \ endup in all the cotton brought to its : wharves and make ret tuns to the planter in gold the device proceeded on the supposition lhat there were men in tbe south base and avaricious enough to sell their country unfortunately tins snpuo sitioii has been realized lo nn extent we had little imagined il we wish to keep our cotton this win ter out of yankee clutches wc ti i ti - 1 find take severe and vigilant measure against the contraband and unpatriotic trade that supplies the enemy through a number of i keen and avaricious contrivances from ; this source the north is now obtaining supplies of our staples to an extent almost : incredible a recent nuinher of lhe new york times estimates that lhe receipts of cotton thi re had for some monihs nasi hv i eraged five thousand bales a week hut ■ litile is the prizes of v«r it has been sold in the south and has gone ninth through the secret and crook d cliallielecf 1 of the smuggler it is absolutely astonishing how blunt the moral sense of a portion of our people is on the subject of thi contraband and destructive trade a communication was recently addressed n this paper purport ing to come from a large planter iu winch iii i ii complaints were mad of a military commander who bad n>»t allowed bim to pass his crop to n«w ' cleans ; the hrgu ' ment of the said patriotic planter being that if he sold to the yankees it would be so much taken from the enemy and so much to enable himself to make loyal and grate ful contributions to the expenses of the 1 war the hypocrisy of this i about as contemptible as the avarice which is so flimsily covered with the patriotic ark'ii inent our cotton is more valuable tons than the gold of the enemy that would purchase it and with it our demoraliza tion and dishonor a gait there is one cireutii-ianee which appears tn-ver to have si ruck thone who busy themselves in making weak and t noratit cxons s for traffic with tbe enemy if cotton is sold within lhe lines of the en emy the gold that is paid for il is kept within the same lines what good can it do the confederacy in ib-se ciicnmstan cis ! — what possible profit i the south to derive from lhe gold that has flowed out from mr lincoln's treasury in new or leans and nashville and is sunk in the avaricious pockets of those who have be come the associates of the enemy ! it is to be imped ihal the wild wicked passion for old will not eat much further inlo tie patriotism and morals of our conn try and that argument which involve ureal and intricate public interests are nut longer to he put down hy a weak rant about haul money tin south can 1)0 wil boot ld the north cannot iln wiih out cotton we should bold the lalt-r with a miser 1 * gripe we should destroy it rather than it should be captured hy the enemy as he is about lo lake pos session of any portion of our country let our commanders put lhe torch to the col inn and have a nallei lot those who pre i tending to hide tb/ir properly to keep it | from lhe yankees ate really biding it for them the power of cotton will never be n-alized as long as we permit it to slip throiiirh our hnirers to the north and ttu rope if we succeed in keeping it within a strict blockade for only a few months longer we may yet realize tbat " cotton i is king that its power is not vanished and has never yet heen fairly tested rich examiner eastern north carolina some reference was made in this paper a few days ago to the value of eastern north carolina as a source nf food for our army and people when it is also considered as a ques tion of revenue to enable the gov ernment to carry on the war and ultimately to pay the war debt its protection against tbe ravages ofthe yankees becomes a question of the utmost importance there are already in tbe enemy's possession twelve counties in north carolina it appears that the mis guided policy which allowed theen emv to enter hatteras baa besides lhe misfortune it involved in tbe sac rifices of nm folk aud untold injury to virginia been tbe ruin of twelve ' counties in eastern north carolina j of great value to ihe south for their bread and meat and entailed a h»..s in this state not less than twenty five million dollars in slaves the following counties lie upon and east of the wilmington ami weldon railroad not in the enemy's ! lines we give the number of slaves product of corn and amount of pork beef and mutton slaughtered in 1850 val of pork counties no slaves bu coin beef ac hertrord 5.7 iu 288.805 $ tj.'j,44 hei tie 7,11)4 hi'j,.:,li:i 428.645 northampton 6,511 657,051 114,76*2 martin 3,367 267,477 70,665 pitt 6,633 458,478 109,16 < greene 3,244 268,370 63.720 : halitiix 8,954 879,040 131,601 | bdgecoihb ' 8.547 759,373 179,038 wayne 5,020 480,240 148,183 lenoir 4,u6 322,584 68,443 1 jones 2,757 235,362 44,918 onslow 3,108 233,293 71,537 dupliti 6,007 372,830 138,397 ; new hanover 8,581 226,448 62,273 77,766 6,203,545 1,378,820 to the number of slaves add 20 \ per cent increase and there were in the above counties in 1s0o l)o,'iu_i slaves which at lhe average value t 500 make 46,653,000 add the increase of one thud in corn winch is perhaps a small estimate for the present year and we have 8,371,392 bushes of corn which at 1 per bushel would be 8,871,392 in the above 14 counties tor 1860 the product iu pork beef and unit ton adding the one third increase would be m 18(k 1,865,097 but which would he worth to tbe gov ernment now 5,595,291 of the productive wealth of these counties we leave out of the calculation the value of other crops — cotton peas potatoes c produced largely and the turpentine tar and lumber in terest far more valuable than the corn und bacon products thene statistics though perhaps falling be low the truth show tothe most care less observer bow iiupoitani it ia to protect the eastern part of the state by every possible means in the pow er of the government against the in vasion of the yankees — rich ex we have again in the recent cap ture of galveston a repetition of the old story the accounts of the easy fall of this city testify no want of va lor or devotion on the part of onr troops they simply record . he re sults of improvidence on the part of the government ami prove nothing more than that our soldiers cannot resist yankee armaments to which ill the absence of defences ihey caor only offer up useless sacrifices of life as information of thi disaster ie developed we have revealed a limit remarkable history nf weakness it is stated that at least seventy five guns of the most approved pattern were required to perfect the defence nf galveston ; when the fact is that all the ordnance ever sent there by ibis government was some few guns shipped during the glimmer of 1861 by the way of new orleans in the early pan of the war lhe defenceless condition of galveston was represen ted to the govern ment as in fact there was no ordnance available there hut a lot of old cannon captured from the united states these rep resentations in the letters and peti tions of the people of gal vestpfl were made without effect until at last some time in the summer of 1861 a deputation of citizens waited upon the authorities at richmond beg ging piteously a few cannon to de fend them from the enemy we are informed tlmt the whole extent of tbe response of the government to this aud other appeals was to seud to galveston eleven or thirteen guns two of which were rifled ; and that transportation for these was only given to new orleans where they had to be dragged over piney trills and through swamps to their desti nation the consequence has been that the enemy has made an easy prize of one of onr principal seaports when after threatening it for eigh teen months he at last finds it de fenceless ' much is to be trusted in all cir cumstances to the valor of our troops and tbe fortitude of our people but these alone and naked cannot oppose the crushing weight of armaments we cannot build walls of living men against cannon aud oppose the fire of artillery with bared breasts of martyrs the tale of roanoke isl and has been repeate i at galveston it will be not less than madness for our government to risk again at other times and places in this war the cruel experiment of leaving our ports defenceless and fighting its iron clad enemy with the open hand — rich mond examiner a bragg of the right sort the greenville teen banner in noticing the arrival ofthe trains at morriston with the spoils taken by bragg in kentucky says the whole face of the earth arountfuhat town is covered with wagons a letter writer says th'at bragg has secured four thousand seven hun dred wagons loaded with provis ions c some persons at tirst doubted the reported capture of 15 000 mules and horses but the ac counts received subsequently seem to confirm it reported dead it is stated on the authority of lion v ij hatch od lee tor of the port of new orleans thai mayor monroe who h_.il been imprisoned hy butler the vile beast is dead lie tlie tl from the effect of his imprisonment on ship island where he suffered with neglect all manner of want disease and tor ture of body besi les that of mind kentucky jcanx — a large quan tity of heavy jeans captured by bragg's army in kentucky has reached augusta iu and the pa persofthat city advertise for 1,000 women to make up the goods into winter clothing for the soldiers