Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1866-11-24

duced here, and with the facilities for
manufacturing which New England pos
sesses, may become one of the wealthiest
sections on this continent We have all
over the South the water power IN the
greatest abundance, and, it is only Noes
sary that what nature has supplied so
beautifully should be made subservient to
the wants of the people Whenever,
system of manufactures shall be aug
mented, we shall at once enter upon the
highway to wealth and independence.
Let our lnen of wealth bear this in mind.
Some facts in regard to the profits Of
manufacturing in New England viii be
interesting Just here. At the last annual
meeting of the Amoskeag Manufacturing
Company, the capital was stated at three
million dollars, and the corporation has
Surplus Of nearly two millions more. 1t
manufactured 100000 yards of various
descriptions Of cotton clotn last year, and
its profits were nearly 80 per cent on its
capital, \ per cent Of which was divided
among its stockholders The Manchester
Print Works has also become one of great
magnitude Its lpital is $l,S0O.C00, and
it has a surplus of half million or more
The profits of the last year were about II
per cent, and the dividend for the first six
months was u per cent, and for the last
bal year six per cent Nearly twenty
millions Of yards of cloth were manufac~
tured, of which nearly fifteen millions
were delaines, and the remainder print
cloths and WOODEN goods. Of hosiery there
were also manufactured y, 900 dozen pairs.
The fixed capital Of the company, invested
IN real estate and machinery. is 81 100000,
and the working capital and surplus 81, :
$4,000 OF course, we DO not contend
that what has been done in New England
during the past year could be done in the
South right away, but by building u7 man
uilcturing establishments the South would
il few years find wealth pouring in upon
her as it EOw does upon our eastern neigh
bors. The South must become indepen-
dent in her manufacturing and CONNER
c;al interests, and then she will commend
the position in the political relations of the
country 20 which she IS entitled If we
establish manufactures upon scale com
mensurate with the productive capacities
oil the South, commerce will follow as
Consequence It's hardly within the range Of |
probability that Il South will become the
great cotton-producing country it was be-
fore the war 1t seems 70 have been dem
onstrated beyond question that free col
ored labor at least is wholly unsuited to the |
growth Ct this great staple Whether
white labor can be made available to pro-
ducc cotton in anything ike the quantity
which slave labor turned out, is a
question to be settled by practical
tests. Il does not seem to US from
the experience we have had that it will
Cotton can be produced in large quantity
by white labor probably in sufficient
quantities to meet demand fully as large
as that Of New England, but the indica-
tiausare that we shall not be able to grow
cotton 50 as to compete with other cotton
growing countries in the Liverpool mar
ket We can manufacture our own cot,
ten, though, 50 as to make it yield a rea
,onable profit TO the grower and at the
SINE time enable Us to compete with 9TH
aE manufacturers in the markets at pres
aut supplied from this country. Let our
people take up this question and discuss it
in all its bearings, and they cannot fail to
zee that it is t, our interest to nanuiac>
ture our own cotton We thus not only
retain in the South the profits which 80 to
.be cotton grower, Ut also those which
20 to swell the Golfers of the maniac
.urer Look wha5 the New England mills
to which we have referred have done ior
their stockholders, and the most superb
cal observer will decide that it is the poll
" OF the South to manu!a 5tlre her own