The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1858-09-22
CorroS FAcronY IN MISSISSIPPI. have

! Joining Louisiana which pays tWanty-nlne pei
cent on the capital invested! 1t is certainly q
large figure, and we must confess frankly that
we ourselves were somewhat surprised at it,
though we have long been satisfied that We
here in the south are overlooking some of the
surest means of wealth and independence, and
devoting too much of our time and thoughts
to matters that pay but a very small per cent
upon capital thus valuable. The factory we
refer to is located in Choctaw county, Mssis-
sippi and has been going on noiselessly but
most successfully for number qf years past
We suspect there are no politicians connected
with it, or we should long since have known all
aboutit, and its whole capital would doubtless
have been brought to bear in numerous cleo.
tons, every one of which was specially inten-
ded to save the Stuth. T. @t
So quietly have the affairs of this very pecu-
liar institution been managed that few people,
even in the State in which it is situated, preba-
bly, have had, until recently, any definite knowl-
edge of it. We do not recollect to have seen
any illusions to it in the papers of Mississippi
till lately, and in only one or two at ALL Col.
Williams, the editor of the Mississippi Planter
and Mechanic, who by the way in. development
of it's agriculture and of its domestic resources
in general, lately paid visit to this cotton fac
tory in Choctaw county, and from his letter we
make the following extract:
Were we in search of an argument to prove
the practicability and value of manufacturing
cotton and wooden goods in Mississippi, we
would want nothing more to the point than the
success of the Choctaw factory. Starting with
but little capital, remote from market, and in
the midst of a community that entertained pre-
JUDGES, rather than kindly feelings, it has in
creased and grown in consequences until com
munity of near 800 souls are now deriving sup
port from its operations, while TO the stockhol-
ders, it is paying dividend Of 20: per cent. It
is perhaps one of the best managed concerns
of the sort to be found in the south, combining
economy, skill utility and system in its details
For this the company are indebted, to a great
extent, to the prudential administration of their
excellent president, William Wessc;n. We were
particularly struck with the qufetness, good
order, and sound morality of The little town.
The operatives, male and female, all looked
cheerful and commended, which, Of course, be-
spoke liberal and punctual compensation for
their labor
The extract ought to be embalmed in the
columns of every paper in Louisiana, and we
may add in the south. Improves what we have
been contending for, that in diversifying our
industry SO as to develop our internal resources
and take advantage of our means of natural
wealth, is found our true policy, the means at
once of our safety, of our prosperity and of our
wealth.
This Choctaw factory was commenced and
has been conducted precisely in the manner we
have advocated, viz: upon a small scale at first,
DIV al opla n
success should warrant We trust the inhu-
ence of the success of this experiment will not
be lost upon some of our own citizens who last
year were talking about starting similar estab-
lishment in oranear New Orleans. Surely if
twenty-nine per cent cannot bring them up to
the scratch, nothing can. We trust the matter
will receive immediate attention, and that
another business season will not lie allowed to
pass away without Witnessing the commence
ment of cotton factory in our virinity. Labor
can here be obtained in abundance, the raw
material purchased on the spot, and every yard
of cloth made taken at fair price at the very
door of the warehouse. Who will move in
this work? Commercial Bulletin.
~~~-~U~-~-~-~-~~~~@~~--><>-
CoTToN IN AUsTRALIA.-The cotton tree
grows here most luxuriantly, and appears more
inclined to assume a perennial form than in
even the most favored districts of America
Some of the Moreton bay cotton has already
been manufactured in this country, but the
quantity sent was more as sample, and con-
sisted of but two bales. They were exhibited
at Paris among the products of New South
Wales, where our manufacturers had an oppor-
tunity of seeing what Australia will be able
to produce in this respect whenever its resour-
ces are called out. After the exhibition was
over it was forwarded by directions to London,
with orders to have it manufactured and re-
turned to the colony. There was some delay
and difficulty in getting this order executed
1t would have been easy enough to have had
10000 bales manufactured, but to make spe-
cial job of two bales was what the majority of
the mills would not stoop to do. Those mon
ster manufactures that swallow up bales by the
thousand and clamor necessarily for more, work
on SO 81 gantic scale that they could not adapt
their machinery to deal with such i little uuan-
hty as two bales; an elephant could more easily
pick up pin At length, however, Messrs.
Chas. Tyson and Sons, of Manchester, conde-
scended to take in hand the modest little Aus
tralian consignment, and put their machinery in
gear to work it up separately. On examining
the cotton, it was thought that its very fine |
texture made it particularly suitable for being
worked up into cotton thread, and into thread |
accordingly it was turned. The quantity was
too small to allow of specimens Of all the diff
ferent varieties of thread being produced, but
three qualities,of different degrees of fneness,
were manufactured. These have been returned
to the colony in small case, and they very
excite considerable degree of in
terest among the Australians. Up to the pres
ent time we believe that the cost OF cultivation
has been found too high to make the business
of cotton growing profitable. To reduce this
cost is the problem, for when solved new era
is opened to Australian industry. The Ameri-
can plantation style of cultivationis probably
by no means capable of being reproduced in
Australia. Slavery is not possible there, nor
can any one desire to see wages reduced so
low as to make it possible to emulate the cheap
labor of more crowded countries. But it has
not been sufficiently testedwhether cotton may
not be pro6tably grown by small farmers, not
as their only crop and sole dependence, but in
addition to other things. A variety of crops
would in more respects than one prove an
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