than are to
be found among those at present engaged in this great controversy.

Take a more particular view of this subject, in the light of the
commercial operations of the United States, for the year 1859, as best
indicating the relations of the North and the South, and their mutual
dependence upon each other. The total value of the imports of foreign
commodities, including specie, was $338,768,130.[96] Of this $20,895,077
were re-exported, leaving for home consumption, $317,873,053--an amount
more than eleven times greater than the whole foreign commerce of Great
Britain one hundred and fifty-six years ago, and more than four times
greater than her exports eighty-six years ago.[97]

Let us inquire how this immense foreign commerce is sustained; how these
$317,873,000 of foreign imports are paid for by the American people; and
how far the Northern and Southern States respectively have contributed
to its payment. More than one-half the amount, or $161,434,923, was paid
in raw cotton, and more than one-third of the remainder, or $57,502,305,
in the precious metals; leaving less than $100,000,000 to be paid in the
other productions of the country. More than one-third of this remainder
was paid in cotton fabrics, tobacco, and rice; while the products of the
forest, of the sea, and of various minor manufactures, swelled up our
credits, so that the exports of breadstuffs and provisions, needed to
liquidate the debt, only amounted to a little over $38,000,000.[98] Of
this amount the exports, from the Northern States, of wheat and wheat
flour, made up only $15,262,769, and the corn and corn meal but
$2,206,396. "King Hay," so much lauded for his magnitude and money
value, never once ventured on board a merchant vessel, to seek a foreign
land, so as to aid in paying for the commodities which we imported.[99]
In a word, the products of the forest and of agriculture, exported by
the free States, amounted in value to about $45,300,000; while the same
classes of products, supplied for export by the Slave States, amounted
to more than $193,400,000.[100]

The economical relations of the North and the South can now be
understood more clearly than they could be from the statistics referred
to in the body of this work. The facts, in relation to the commerce of
the United States, for 1859, were not accessible until after the
stereotyping had been completed; and they are only crowded in here by
omitting two or three pages of remarks of