The day book. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1857-1867, 1866-08-27
The Destiny of North Carolina.


The Destiny of North Carolina. +
We considered few days ago the water
power of Virginia, which upbraids US in every
ripple with the sight of those undeveloped re-
sources, which, in the future must make this
Commonwealth the seat of vast manufacturing
interests; and to-day we turn to brief con-
sideration Of the water power of North Car
Dina. A-f-e ~ ~
This State presents very much the same
typographical features which were considered
in our previous article. The water sheds of
the Alleghanies turn off streams which rush
down every valley and swell into rivers, all ca
pablo of turning driving wheels; and plying in
Vulnerable tilt-hammers and spindles. The
two Yadkins, the Dam the Neuse, the Cape
Fear, Deep and Haw rivers, and numberless
other streams combine to make up an untold
wealth of water-power And, to turn aside
for moment from the matter specially in
hand, there can be no doubt that the day is
hot very remote when the Old North State,
already in better financial condition than
any of her sisters, will realize the grand vision
Of Finland Navigation" which rose before the
mind of Judge MURPHY. These various
streams and their tributaries, however, have
already been put to good use; and the traveller
IL Western North Carolina is often astonished
to find prosperous factories of cotton or WOOL
Ell goods situated in the most remote and in
accessible regions. White labor is principally
employed in these mills, and causes are at
work which must make the State one of the
very foremost in the South in the manufac-
ture of the fabrics we have named. These
streams and rivers are SO near the cotton grow
ing regions of the State and the South genef-
ally, that in many cases they will possess ad
vantages over all competitors. Every day the
facilities Of transportation will be greater, and
the economy in charges for the same increased
to the native manufacturer. 1t will probably
surprise many of our readers to hear that the
Confederate Government, i'll the last year of the
war drew its main supplies of cotton goods from
North Carolina, and had contracts with her
factories for the supply Of enormous quanti
ties Of wooden fabrics. The production of these
latter commodities will now be greatly stiiuu
lated. The war has liberated the slaves on
the great corn and cotton growing plantations
Of the upper Yadkins and the Dan valley;
and this will ultimately have the effect of
making those magnificent regions stock raising
districts Emanei patton will do for Western
hat f.oo A., e..
England
But, there is another and more powerful
cause at work than either we have mentioned.
Under our old system it was the custom for
each planter to invest his surplus funds at
the end OF each year in the purchase of u.ara
labor and more land Now he cannot pur-
chase labor and will therefore no longer re-
quire new fields. The consequences will be
two fold.
lst. The old exhausted system will be ex-
changed for that introduced by Mr., RUFrIN,
after his explorations in the fertile regions of
the Eastern portion of the State; and
End The surplus money accruing from
agriculture will, of necessity. seek as its best
investment the profits of manufacturing
The people Of North Carolina are full of
energy and courage. Their soil has been less
devastated than that of any other State and
she will sooner recover. Let her people, then,
invest their funds in domestic enterprises.
Let them remember that, while their great
statesman, MACON, in the Convention If 1885
declared the opinion that North Carolina
could never become a commercial State; still
that in manufactures she bids fair to become
opulent and powerful, by mining and
manufactures. Let her people turn their
annual surplus of money into furnaces
and FORCES, cotton and WOODEN Mills and they
will achieve the great work which lies before
them, in the path which nature has marked
ont for them to tread, Not purchases Of
negroes and lands, but the erection of busy
water wheels. and looms, and spindles, and
trip-hammers viii make her future all that
her fancy can paint it, or her children DESIRE
IN opulence and power.
A Big Field With Few ReapePs
lo., f,,11x