Norfolk day book. [volume] (Norfolk and Portsmouth Va.) 1868-1880, 1869-10-28
From the Richmond Wing OF goth.
The Industrial Policy Of the South

never to return, we may fearlessly con
template some of the consequences
entailed upon our business--consequen
ces which we were unwilling to &C
knowledge when that institution exist
ed. The mcst formidable of thos
was that it excluded immigrants from
the slave States as effectually as If thel
settlement here had heen inhibited b.
law. In consequence of this our labo
was conducted by the most ignoran
class amongst us-the slaves. Tha
labor was Of the simplest kind. 1t wa
performed by mere thews and snews
and its employment was pretty much
confined to agriculture. 1t was no
self-directing, but was performed unde
white supervision and management
The slave class did not furnish thu
skilled and educated labor needed il
manufacturing nor did our ..grisultur
lists attempt to engage to any impor-
tant extent in that branch of industry
They were rich, self-indulgent anc
.averse to engaging in the troubles anc
centanglements of business. Their sur
plus capital was invested, as it accrued
lin land and negroes. Northern capt.
talists were generally unwilling to re.
move their families to the slave States
and invest their capital here. Northern
white operatives were also averse tore
moving to the South, where laborers
were slaves, and where labor was not
xespe cted. So, for years and years, we
went on producing the raw material
and allowing Northern shippers. factors
aud manufacturers to appropriate all
the profits connected with the transport,
tation, manipulation and manufacture
of the raw material.
Rid of slavery, we may also rid ours
selves of all the impedimentssto the pro-
.secution of the more profitable pursuits
that result from it. We may employ
our own surplus capital in those pur-
suits. We can command Northern capt.
tai and can attract all of the skilled la
Dor that may be needed. 1t is in the
sewer OF the South to become the
manufacturer as well as the producer Of
the raw material, and in few years to
make the profits of the new business
nav the losses resulting from the aboli-
ton of slavery. Our cotton, wool, to-
bacco, and our iron and other metals
and ores, may be made the sources of
almost incalculable wealth, If we but
have the energy to engage in manufac-
sures.
The manufacturer of New England
or of the Central or Western States who
shall remove his family, his capital, his
machinery and his operatives among US
to engage in this business should be wei
coined as public benefactor, and should
be favored by such legal privileges and
exemptions as may be found necessary
TO enable him to place his bushes on
stable and prosperous footing.
The Importance of establishing facto,
RES. .yorkshops, mills. &C., &c, in the
South cannot be overestimated. Our
own city by reason of its geographical
position, of its vast waterpower, of its
.contiguity to extended coal fields and Of
its canal, river, and railway lines pre-
SCENTS pre.eminent advantages as man
ufacturing centre.
There IS great activity in the building
Of cotton factories and railroads III the
more Southern States. A Southern ex-
change stated recently that almost every
thriving town OF three thousand inhabi-
tants in Alabama and Mississippi is
building a'cotton mill A large amount
of Boston capital is said to be assisting
in these enterprises. A correspondent
of the New York evening Post writes
to that journal, that 'in Tennessee 1t is
proposcd to exempt from taxation the
stocks of all new manufacturing compass
MES started in that State Earnest eff
forts are in progress for raising money
by subscription to erect cotton factories
at Corinth and Huntsville.
3 We recently spoke of the great ad-
vantage in having factories near the
fields of production. Besides saving
the expense of transportation, brokerage
storage. &c., there is the advantage OF
procuring the cotton directly from the
plantation before being tightly packed
into bales. The Philadelphia North
American says: The opening is SO
remarkable a one that we are not sur
prised at the prompt eagerness OF the
Bostonians to take advantage OF it, and
adds, that with any reasonable amount
of care and diligence their cotton goods
are sure toscommand a preference in
.he markets of the worlds commerce
Instead of selling raw cotton to the
North and abroad to be manufactured
the South should send cotton goods.
But it is not of cotton factories alone
that we mean to speak. If we would
build up our cities, increase taxable
values. augment population, provide
en,nloyment Tor hundreds and thou
sands of families, increase our trade
create capital to enable us to establish
new railway communications, enable
sour business men to buy all that our
farmers produce and sell on good terms
all thew consume, make us independent
of external communities and give us sell
sustaining power. we must turn our at
tention to manufacturing-especlally
must we do so in Virginia. Here we
do not raise cotton, and there is 80 mucf
the more reason why We should aim to
appropriate and enjoy the profits atten,
ding its manufacture. In doing thl'
we should also engage largely in othel
branches of manufacturing. Who WI!
undertake to estimate the value to this
citv of the Tredegar Iron Works and o
ths Touring mills in operation no"
many mouths do they feed, how many