Baltimore commercial journal, and Lyford's price-current. [volume] (Baltimore, Md) 1840-1849, 1849-05-12
4 SO
From tic Philadelphia Inquirer.
THE INDUSTRY OF THE SOUTH.-MANU-
FACTURES.


duce the capitalists aud planters of that section OF
the Union, to direct at least portion OF their ener-
gics TO manufacturing pursuits. Inc new orleans
Commercial Times gave several able articles upon
the subject. The general view that the South
ern States should manufacture the coarscr faorlcs
such might be employed with advantage among
their slaves, and that they should also enucanor 70
TO and followed up by quite number OF influential
journals in Louisiana, Mississippi Missouri and
other States. Nay, already have manufacturing es-
adjustments to very considerable extent been put
in operaion in the South and in most with com
plcte success. We perceive also, that Mr.. d. y.
Williams of Kinds, Mississippi, has published let
ter, in which he expresses belief that 1t Is only
a question of time TO the general introduction OF
manufactures in Mssissipp he has no doubt but the
individual is now living 10 see MISSISSIPPI Lowelis
and lnscys keep out of the market all other goods
of the same description; nor Is the he Gis'ah "hsh
b,ooing made from cotton will ciftctuay take the
place of kentucky and Missouri hemp pagSihS' as
The writer himself has seen the Kentucky oasglhS
drive entirely from the market the inverness Gnu
Dundee the only kinds OF baggng used twenty-five
or thirty years ago. Slave labor will DC found cheaper
and better adapted to manufacturing purposes 'na"
free labor.--Wh hen capital and labor are properly
divided, the South will become the most prosperous
section of the Union -
Still further MIR. Bryant, the editor OF inc Ne"
York Evening Post, well known Free irade Jour
nall is now at the South, aud IN letter dateu Darn
well District South Carolina, describes cotton mill
where, he says, the poor white people OF Georgia
and South Carolina find occupation. 1t is large
mandatory, and the machinery is in perfect order
His sketch is too graphic TO be omitted:
.'Hcrc" said gentleman VINO accompanied us as
we entered the long apartment IN the second story
"you will a sample of the brunettes Oh the phy
woods"
the spndIes, had for the most part, sa!low, sckly
complexion and in many Of their faces | remarked
that look of mingled dlstwlst and d'lectlon whlch
often accompanies the condition OF extreme, hopeless
poverty. 'Thcse poor girls, said one OF our party,
GItb
poycd here, and accept work gladly. They come
from the most barren parts OF Carolina and u orgla
where their families live wretchedly, Tor hi'heLto
there has been no manual occupation proNldcu lIr
Them from which they do not shrink as diSgracetul,
on account of its being the occupation oil slaves. In
these factories, negroes are not employed as opera
tives, and this gives the calling OF the factory siIi
certain dignity. You would be surprised TO see the
change which a short time effects IN these poor pco
pie They come bar,tootcd dirty. and in rags; they
are secured put into shoes and stockings set at work.
and sent regularly to Sunday school, where hGy are
taught what none Of them have been taught O-lor"-
to read and write. In short timc, they become eN-
pert their work; they lose their suIlrn shFnSss'
and their physiognomy becomes comparatively open
and cheerful. Their families are relieved from me
temptations theft and other shameful courses which
accompany the condition Of poverty without occupa-
ton"
"Thcv have a good deal Of the pol;c-casy manner
of the piny woods about them yet, said one OF our
party, a Georgian. Ii true, | perceived that
they had not yet acquired all that aacrity and quick
in their work, which you see in the workpcopIc
Of the New England mills. In one OF the upper Sio-
rcs, | a girl Of clearer complexion than the
rest with two long curls swinging behind each car,
as she stepped about with the air OF a duchess.
"That girl Is from the North said our conductor;
cat first we placed expert operative from the
North in each story of the building as an instructor
and pattern TO the rest
] have since learned that some attempts were
made at first to induce the poor white people TO work
side BY side with the blacks IN these mills They
nffpr led and he became
proprictors, whether they should employ blacks only,
whites only; whether they should give these poor
people occupation which, while 1t tended 10 ele-
vac their condition, secured more expert class OIL
workpeople than the negroes could be expected to
become, or whether they should rely upon the less
intelligent and more negligent services OF slaves
They decided at length upon banishing the labor ol
blacks from their mills.
At Granitcville in South Carolina, about ten miles
from the Savannah river, little manufacturing VII
lage has lately been built up where the families Of
the crackers as they called, reclaimed from their
idle lives in the woods, settled and white labor
only is employed. The enterprise is SAID to be IN
most prosperous condition.
Only coarse cloths are made at these mills-srong
thick fabrics, suitable for negro shlrlng-and the de-
mand for this kind Of goods, am told, Is greater
than the supply. Every yard made in this manuac-
tory at Augusta is taken off soon as IT leaves the
loom. ] fell in with a Northern man in the course
of the day, who told IN, that these mills had driven
the Northern manufacturer Of coarse cottons out oi
the Southern market.
"The buildings are erected here more cheaply,"
he continued; 'thcrc is far less expense in fuel, and
the wages of the workpeople are less AT hrst, the
boys and girls Of the "cracker" families were en-
gagged for little more than their board; their wages
now better, but they are still low. am about
TO 90 the North, aud shall do my best 10 persuade
some of my friends, who have been almost ruined
by this Southern competitions to come 10 Augusta
and set up cotton mills"
Here, them the experiment alluded to IS IN opera
ton and with the happiest results. Mr. Bryan says
that ne looks upon the introduction OF manufactures
al the South event Of the most favorable pro-
mise for that part Of the country, since 1t both con-
denses a class of population too thiny scattered to
have the benefit Of the institutions Of civilized life
of education and region-and restores one branch
of labor, at least, to its proper dignity in region
where manual labor has been the badge Of SerVtude
and dependence.
He adds
''In this part of South Carolina, since was last
here the culture Of wheat has been introduced, many
planters raising enough for their own consu:np-
ton. The sugar is also planted and quantities
of sugar and molasses are often made, suihcent to
supply the plantations on which 1t is cultivated.
Spinning wheels and looms have come into use, and
strong and durable cloth is made BY the ne
gro for the wear OF the slaves. All TINS
shows an earnest desire to make the most OF the re-
Of the country, and TO protect the planter
against the embarrassments which often ARISE from
the fuctuating prices Of the great staple OF The
South"
But still further. A correspondent Of the Louis
vile Journal quotes a letter from a distinguished
PhiladelphIa merchant, IN Whlch inc oP'hIoh 10 ="
pressed that Kentucky and other Southern States can
spin cotton yarn and export it by shpoad far better
and cheaper than England can. The writer in the
Journal regards the opinion entitled 10 the great.
est consideration, and he urges the capitalists and
men of energy and enterprise in the South, to direct
their attention 10 manufacturing employments. lie
also gives important facts, bearing upon the sub
ject. According the best authority the exports Of
cotton yarn from Great Britain, in pounds, were as
follows:
Is3l,...... SO $40 1903 lS4l,.... .ll5,6G5,47S
1886, SO 1876, ,02 1896. Isl, l3O,O25
OF the exports of 1876 ,42l ,742 lbs. to the
British colonial possessions including all Of India
leaving demand Of l3l ,70S,2S3 lbs. in countries
frnua Nv HIGH shnull be xcludel by litferen: