they are; and could they all be induced to unite in contributing to the work by taking stock in proportion, respectively, to their taxable property, real and personal, the road would be completed in two and a half years, instead of five, or any longer period. In proof of this, it is only necessary to state, that there are at this time, not less than seventy-eight thosand men, white and black, living within two tiers of counties on the route. About sixty-three thousand of these are in the condition of laborers, while the other fifteen thousand are occupied in professional and mercantile callings, as large landed proprietors, or gentlemen of fortune and leisure-each and all able to pay for the labor of others. We may, therefore, consider the country capable of furnishing continuously, for all departments of the work, one-eighth of its entire manual strength, say 9750 men; and as many horses as may be needed. In two and a half years these men should work 625 days each, which will give in the aggregate 6.093,750 days' work; two-thirds of this labor will probably be required on the grading, bridges, and permanent fixtures of the road, and the remaining one-third will consist of foreign labor expended in making the iron and machinery, and transporting the same to the line. Without going at this time into a calculation of the actual amount of work to be done, which must be determined by the survey now in progress, I assume, for this argument, that about an average of 13,200 days' work of men, and 5,000 of horses, may be required per mile, to complete the road and stock it with buildings, cars and engines; making an aggregate for the whole route of 6,072,000 days' work of men and 2,300,000 days' work of horses. The manual portion being less than one-eighth of the present labor of the country contiguous to the route for the period of two and a half years. Let then the local and laboring people, with their cattle, build the roadway, permanent fixtures, and lay the track; and the 15,000 other citizens, who hold and control capital, furnish the iron and machinery. This will be a simple application of the principle of associate labor of men and capital, which has been so vastly beneficial to the northern and middle states; the fruits of which are honorable and useful employment, common interests, prosperity and happiness, to all classes of the people. In nature the ant and the bee beautifully exemplify the same beneficent idea. Apply it to your present enterprise, and every man interested will be astonished to behold how much can be accomplished in a short time, even during the waste days of a single winter. From what I have seen of the people of the interior, they are exceedingly anxious to have the road, and will be well disposed to associate for their portion of the work, as above suggested. They all know that "many hands make light work." Fifth. The work of making the road belongs to the people who are to reap the benefits of it; at least three fourths of it; thereby creating a property upon which one-fourth of the entire cost may be borrowed for a time, if necessary or convenient, until the road, by invigorating industry of all kinds and producing a revenue, may entirely pay for itself. But, if what I have said of the labor of the, country and the mode of combining it with capital in this work be true, there will be little need of borrowing. So long, however, as the idea is entertained of foreign aid in raising the first three-fourths of the stock, the completion of the road will be delayed. Sixth. The route now under survey is that mainly recommended by Mr. Troost; passing through portions of Ballard and Hickman counties, Kentucky; Obion, Gibson, Madison, McNairy, Hardin and Hardiman counties, Tennessee; Tishamingo, corner of Pontotoc, Itawamba, Munroe, Lowndes, Noxubee, Kemper, Lauderdale, Clarke and Wayne counties, Mississippi; and Washington and Mobile counties, Alabama. Another general route is worthy of particular consideration, and is as follows: diverging from the first route in Obion county, Tennessee; thence through portions of Gibson, Haywood and Favette counties, Tennessee; Marshall, Fayette, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Winston, Neshoba, Newton, Jasper, Clarke and Wayne counties, Mississippi; and Washington and Mobile counties, Alabama; joining the other route again in the valley of the Escatawpa. These two routes, denominated the Eastern and Western, are the most favorable that the country presents, and the thorough examination now under way will enable me to report upon their comparative merits. Very respectfully and truly, I am your obedient servant, Columbus, Ken., Jan. 5, 1849. JOHN CHILDE, Chief Engineer. 3. SOUTH CAROLINA INSTITUTE. We hail with delight the establishment of such an institute in our neighbor city of Charleston, and trust to see the example imitated everywhere. The able and lucid address before the Institute, by Messrs. Taylor, Walker and Thomson, shall have a place in the next number of our Review. The South Carolina Institute, for the Promotion of Arts, Mechanical Ingenuity and Industry.—The first Annual Fair of the above Institute will be held in Charleston, commencing on Wednesday, 17th October next, and continue open during the week. Specimens of Art, Ingenuity, Mechanical Skill and Industry, of every description, are solicited for the Exhibition, and Premiums will be awarded to those presenting the best specimens. A list of the Premiums to be awarded will be published at an early day. All those who intend sending articles for exhibition, will please give notice to the Committee of Arrangements, at an early day as possible, and every specimen sent will be carefully attended to by the Committee of arrangements. Officers of the Institute. WM. KIRKWOOD, 1st Vice President, E. C. JONES, Secretary, L. A. EDMONSTON, Treasurer. C. D. Carr, H. D. Walker, D. N. M'Intosh, 4. AGRICULTURE, COMMERCE, AND MECHANIC ARTS IN SOUTH CAROLINA. Richard F. Reynolds, Esq., chairman of a special committee appointed by the Legislature of South Carolina, made a valuable report to that body, upon the propriety of appointing a regular "Standing Committee on Commerce," etc., in the Legislature. Mr. Reynolds deserves great credit for his exertions, in this respect, and in many others bearing upon the industrial progress of the South. His idea of a Bureau of Statistics, in South Carolina, as in Louisiana, is what we desire to see in all the states of the Union, very soon. It is a fact scarcely to be credited, that whilst within sight of this building, there are beds of the noblest granite in the world, the very pillars of our Capitol gates, of similar material, have been brought from abroad-transported a thousand miles by sea, and more than a hundred miles by land; that whilst we have lime formations in abundance, the walls of our dwellings are cemented by like materials, brought from an equally distant region; that whilst we have iron, the very best in the world, gold, copper, lead, precious stones, white and variegated marbles, of fine quality and susceptible of the highest polish, freestone, slate, plumbago, chalk, lithic paints, sulphur, asbestos, porcelain clay, and many other mineral productions, which might be prepared for use, and rendered productive of great profit, they are suffered, for the most part, to remain in their natural state, unappreciated and unused. But a new era is breaking upon us, and we are beginning to avail ourselves of those natural advantages which Providence has placed within our reach. We have discovered that cotton can be manufactured at a much less cost here than at Lowell or Manchester-that whilst our labor is cheaper, we are supplied with the raw material at smaller cost, and that therefore we can, without the protection of federal tariffs, compete successfully with others in the markets of the world, and enrich ourselves with ample profits. It has become apparent, too, that mechanical pursuits of almost every description, can be conducted with greater profit here than in more northern latitudes, not only on account of the advantages arising from a more liberal dispensation of solar light and heat, but from the greater cheapness of the means of subsistence; and it is only necessary for capital, with her magic wand, to call into being those establishments which concentrate and economize mechanical labor, in order to render us entirely independent in this respect. And commerce, too-commerce is opening to us new avenues of wealth. Within a brief period we were consumers of northern flour; now we are the exporters of it to the extent of thousands of barrels, and it is only necessary for us to comply, by legislative enactments regulating its inspection, with those imperative demands of foreign commerce, which the merchant suggests, and which he only can intelligently direct, in order to facilitate its sale in the markets which he has found for you. It is well known, that on all the flour now produced in this state, and sent to the sea board, an average loss of one dollar per barrel is sustained by the agriculturist or the miller, in consequence of non-compliance with the inspection laws of the world, which require the packages to be of peculiar character-their capacity perfectly uniform-and the qualities duly classified and certified-a loss which might be entirely saved, by decreeing those wholesome regulations against which the clamors of the ignorant are raised, because they impose an inspection tax, as it is called, of five cents per barrel. It is a fact so entirely notorious, as hardly to be worthy of reiteration, that southern flour is better than northern, and the only drawback to its profitable sale in foreign markets, is in consequence of neglect of those inspection laws which the merchant dictates, and the necessity of which is forced upon his convictions by actual experience of their importance. No wonder that your Judiciary Committee, who were charged with the consideration of a bill of this character, have felt themselves constrained to ask its transfer to another committee; and it will not be surprising if your Committee on Agriculture come to the conclusion that a bill of that sort is as far removed from the appropriate sphere of their duties, as of that of the Judiciary. It is a Commercial Committee you need for such matters, and if the membership of this House does not furnish merchants, the committee would be not the less able to arrive at an enlightened decision in all such cases, inasmuch as that class of citizens would place within their reach all such information as might be necessary or desirable. There is now no proper or recognized destination for such information. The merchant, the manufacturer, or the mechanic, comes to the capitol-he looks into your Rules of Order, and finds that you have provided for the planter, the physician, and the lawyer, but that he is nowhere recognized there. A name and a place are denied him, and he feels that although his brethren of the legisla ture, who are sent up here to legislate for the good of all, are entirely disposed to mete out justice to him, yet he finds you unadvised of his requirements, and actually prejudiced unwisely and unjustly against him, in consequence of being unaware of his true position in the productive community. The lack of legislative encouragement and protection to industrial pursuits in this state, and the astonishing energy of at least one class of our artizans, which overcomes even the coldness and apathy of the legislative power, cannot be better illustrated than by some allusions to the lumber trade of South Carolina, in so far as it may be indicated by that comparatively small portion of it which finds vent at the Port of Charleston, and which present, to the eye of every one who desires the prosperity of the state, features as gratifying as they are astonishing, showing that in scarcely a single item of trade, in any part of this country, is an increase exhibited so remarkable as this. The following tabular statements exhibit the exports of lumber, foreign and coastwise, from the port of Charleston, for the last four years: EXPORTS FROM CHARLESTON OF LUMBER AND TIMBER. consequence of the absence of that system of inspection of lumber which this legislature will be sought at no distant day to establish, and which although indispensable to the continued rapid increase of our foreign trade in that article, may be crushed in its inception, unless sustained by the enlightenment which would be brought to bear upon it by a Committee especially charged with such investigations. In the pine trees of South Carolina lies, hidden and unexplored, a mine of wealth as valuable as it is inexhaustible. The tar, pitch, turpentine, lumber and timber which they afford, and the demand for which in the European market, is of incalculable extent, render them the most valuable trees of our forest, and the day is not far distant, when, in consequence of a correct appreciation of their value, the pine forests which abound in every part of our state will be carefully conserved-they will be fenced and hedged around with safeguards from injury, and instead of beholding in our cotton fields thousands of be ted trees, the mocking monuments of a reckless and disastrous policy, we shall jealously provide for their use and improvement. The experiments which have already been made in the production of such naval stores as the pine produces, have been attended with the most gratifying success. At one of the depots on the South Carolina Railroad, may now be seen more than five hundred barrels of turpentine, ready for shipment, which are but a portion of the produce of a single individual engaged in this new and profitable business. The results of these experiments clearly prove, that an average net profit of more than $250 to the hand, is easily accomplished in the present state of the market, and this whilst the cotton planter is scarcely able to realize a net gain of more than $50 to the hand. The proofs are at hand, that in North Carolina the production of a single laborer of great activity and industry-in a season unusually favorable for the yield of the pine-and with prices at a liberal rate, a net profit of more than $700 has been realized. Do not facts such as these present inducements to a diversion of a portion, at least, of our labor from its customary unprofitable channels? But the inquiry will be propounded, what can legislation do for the accomplishment of all this? The answer is plain. We ask not for bounties or protections, other than such as every other interest craves. We desire only such legislation, and the means of directing it, as is granted to other pursuits. We ask only that sort of protection which legislation provides against the prejudices of the ignorant-only that sort of fostering care which will tend, by the diffusion of information respecting our true interests, to direct our energies into the most profitable employments. It may, also, be apprehended by some, that we desire to interfere, in matters of commerce, with those regulations of trade which properly belong to the federal government. Nothing is further from our wishes than this. We are content to leave the foreign and domestic commerce, and its regulations, precisely where the Constitution has placed it, but we do seek to regulate, and in so far as falls within the scope of state legislation, to facilitate and develop, that purely internal trade, which, in extent and importance, is infinitely beyond the former. The internal trade and commerce of South Carolina, with which the general government has nothing to do, and which has already been recognized and provided for, in some measure, by our own statutes, is infinitely greater in extent than all our foreign commerce. The interesting statistics which would correctly indicate this, may not properly be embraced within the limits of such a document as this, but sufficient illustration is found, for our present purpose, in a brief allusion to the trade, internal and foreign, of the United States. The exports of the United States, for fifty years past, show an average of less than $7 to each inhabitant, and the imports, of course, are about the same-arising from that well established maxim in political economy, which declares that the imports of any country must correspond with the exports, except in so far as the former may be augmented by the price of freight to the foreign market, and the mercantile profit which accrues thereon. Now, let it be considered that all that we import from abroad, including luxuries, works of art, books, &c., do not average so much as $7 to each inhabitant; and then take into view the average personal expenditure of each individual at home, for food, clothing, implements of trade, house farniture, horses, carriages, &c., all of which enter into the channels of trade before they reach the consumer, and some idea may be formed of the extent of that vast internal trade, the regulating and fostering of which falls legitimately within the province of state legislation. The unavoidable haste, and consequent imperfection, of such a report as this, precludes the display of such facts and considerations as would, if properly exhibited, prove the necessity of providing, in this way, some such organization as would lead to a correct understanding of these important matters, and the insufficiency of the data here presented only serves to show conclusively, that we have been heretofore neglectful of those means of information which are calculated to elicit correct apprehensions of our advantages and our duties. We know not how strong we are at some points, nor how weak we are at othThe appointment of such a committee will soon lead to the establishment of an efficient ers. "BUREAU OF STATISTICS," which will be the means of collecting and disseminating statistical information touching all the interests of the state of the most valuable kind. It will surely hardly be necessary to vindicate before the legislature of South Carolina, the dignity and importance of those classes of citizens whose interests form the subject matter of the memorial. By common consent, the merchant, the manufacturer, and the mechanic, stand first and highest on the platform of civilization. The agricultu ral interest, with us at least, stands, it is true, at the base of our social fabric; but after all, agriculture is, in the scale of civilization, but one remove from the hunter state of the savage, whilst commerce, manufactures, and the mechanical arts, are the offspring of a high state of civilization, and it is in consequence of these that knowledge is diffused, and the devotees of the learned professions are called into requisition, and made the especial repositories of those treasures of information which were previously elicited by the demands arising from those occupations. 5. THE COTTON CROP OF 1848, ETC. MOBILE, January 9, 1849. Bright skies are now decidedly before us. The diminished consumption, for the past two years, of cotton, has left all markets bare of manufactures, and the restoration of confidence in France, will give the impulse to trade I predicted, which has not been exceeded before. This instinctive opinion, with the modified estimates of our crop, which the minds of all are becoming prepared for, will have a tendency to advance and sustain prices for the present season, and I might venture now the opinion, that prices another year will be better than they may reach this. The era of low prices is now, in my opinion, positively passed. The enor mously increasing consumption in our own, and also in every other, country, with the impossibility of a corresponding increase of production, will do for the cotton planter, what his own prudence has scarcely warranted his expecting. But while I allow that prices may go handsomely up another year, I must again repeat, that there is no probability of its advancing to a figure that will make the return equal to the investments of the same amount of capital in the various manufacturing, coal and iron mining, or railroad and bank, stocks, which exist, or might be most advantageously created. In the South, and particularly Alabama, we have very many advantageous modes of investing. To the end that concert of action might be obtained, and the concentration of intelligent thought upon the many and important interests of the cotton planter, I should consider a convention, or congress, of cotton planters, annually convened, to propose and consider their general wellfare, as of vast and practical importance. It need not convene, as it did in Macon, in 1839, to keep prices up to what were at that time prevailing, 14@17c., but it would result in preventing the price from (under any circumstances) going so low as they have been in the past spring or fall. And low as cotton may be, there is, at even one per cent. annual profit on the capital invested, a large aggregate of capital accumulated in each year; and for the benefit of the common stock, that profit should be, and some besides, diverted toward other industrial interests. From our national and state legislatures we can expect nothing; and the total indifference of our government to the subject may be observed in the report. of the Commissioner of Patents, when to this stupendous interest he devotes some tenth to a twentieth part of the notice he takes of objects comparatively valueless to this, and as usual represents Georgia as the largest cotton growing state-when Mobile alone exports more cotton than all the Atlantic states together, Georgia included. To which might be added, to represent the Alabama crop (according to the census of 1810), some 120,000 bales going from North Alabama down the Tennessee, and 50,000 bales going down the Chatahoochee. From this deduct some 60,000 bales, from the several eastern |