another kind, but of less
importance, which closed the volume. By consulting Table XII, and two or
three of the others, which contain similar facts, covering the
commercial operations of the country since the year 1821, the whole
question of the relations of the North and the South can be fully
comprehended. It will be seen that the exports of tobacco, which are
mainly from the South, have equaled in value considerably more than
one-third the amount of that of breadstuffs and provisions; and that, in
the same period, the exports of cotton have exceeded in value those of
breadstuffs and provisions to the amount of $1,421,482,261.[101] Here,
now, a just conception can be formed of the importance of cotton to the
commerce of the country, as compared with our other productions. The
amount exported, of that article, in the last thirty-nine years, has
exceeded in value the exports of breadstuffs and provisions to the
extent of _fourteen hundred and twenty-one millions of dollars_! Verily,
Cotton is King!

Another point needs consideration. It is a fact, not to be questioned,
that the productions of the Northern States amount to an immense sum,
above those of the Southern States, when valued in dollars and cents;
but the proportion of the products of the former; exported to foreign
countries, is very insignificant, indeed, when compared with the value
of the exports from the latter.[102] And, yet, the North is acquiring
wealth with amazing rapidity. This fact could not exist, unless the
Northern people produce more than they consume--unless they have a
surplus to sell, after supplying their own wants. They must, therefore,
find a permanent and profitable market, somewhere, for the surplus
products that yield them their wealth. As that market is not in Europe,
it must be in the Southern States. But the extent to which the South
receive their supplies from the North, cannot be determined by any data
now in the possession of the public. It must, however, be very large in
amount, and, if withheld, would greatly embarrass the Southern people,
by lessening their ability to export as largely as hitherto. So, on the
other hand, if the Northern people were deprived of the markets afforded
by the South, they would find so little demand elsewhere for their
products, that it would have a ruinous effect upon their prosperity. All
that can be safely said upon this subject is, that the interests of both
sections of the country are so intima