The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1870-06-02
Cotton Manufactures at the South.

Cotton Manufactures at the South. ~
1t is said by those who have Investigated the
subject, that from S2500,000 to S3,000,O0O can
be saved to the South, yearly from manufactu-
ring yarns and goods near where the cotton is
grown. 1t is claimed that yarns can be SPUN
here much cheaper than in England Those
who have given the subject careful attention
and study declare that yarns can be made
cheaper in the South by five cents per pound
than in the North, and that yarns made in the
South can be sold in Europe four and d half
cents cheaper per pound than yarns made in
Europe of exported American cotton. If this
statement is correct it warrants the establish
ment of yarn factories in all parts of the South.
A spinning mill that would employ eighty-sev-
en- operators and consume 887 bales of cotton
yearly, would cost not more than $4,000, and
at Northern prices the estimated profit on the
sales of its annual yarn product would be S17,-
600. These are Southern estimates, and al
though somewhat exaggerated, perhaps, as it is
naturally supposed they would be- it cannot be
denied that the business can be made largely
profitable, even allowing liberal margin for
contingent expenses not included in the gene
raj estimates; and the encouragement offered
is sufficient to warrant the belief that cotton
spinning will soon become one of the most i'm
portant manufacturing industries of the South.
The demonstrated success of all the cotton fac
tories now in operation in the Southern States,
has greatly encouraged the small capitalists OF
the more prosperous sections In their desire to
engage in such enterprises. In Georgia and
Mississippi the cotton mills are in prosperous
condition, and a ready market for all goods
they can turn out; and the leading papers in
those States urge the formation of new compa-
nies and the erection of more mills. Why
should not the South manufacture its own cot
ton crop9" is the question constantly kept be-
fore the people. 1t is not proposed that the
South should convert all its lint into yarn, but
the manufacture of even small portion of it
would be found largely profitable. The South
has neither the capital nor the trained manu-
featuring skill of the New England States, and
cannot compete with them in the manufacture
of cotton cloth; but neither very much capital
nor very much skill are needed for the manu-
facture of yarns, or of the coarser grades of
cloth for which ready home market may be
found
A report was made to the Agricultural and
immigration Convention recently held at
Charleston, which embraces careful estimates
showing the comparative cost OF manufacturing
cotton at the North and at the South. These
estimates, the report states, show that yarns
can be made at the South, sent to the North,
nav a commission of five per cent for selling,
be sold at the cost of Northern production, and
Weld a profit of ten cents per pound. In
April, 1869 the Saluda Factory of South Caro-
lima, to test the value of their yarns in the
English market sent some packages of their
No. 20 yarn to Manchester, where they sold for
16 pence per pound, equal at the then price OF
cold, to 431 cents in currency. The total cost
Of the yarns, including freight, commissions
and other charges, was 39l cents per pound, so
that the profit to the manufacturers was a
cents per pound, or about II per cent. That
Southern manufactures should thus success
fully compete with the British in their own
markets, while Northern manufacturers de-
mand protection against British competition, is
a fact which teaches its own lessons. There
are factories for making plain goods at Angus
ia, Ga, and Graniteville, S. c., and others at
Columbus and Alamance for making colored
goods. All these establishments were operated
proftably at time when the depression OF
trade caused the working of the Northern mills
to result in loss. A Northern manufacturer,
writing on the condition of his interests to
friend, said
"While l have only met expenses in the
North in running twenty frames--about 5000
spindles-the returns I have from sixteen
frames of the same machinery in Georgia for
the last six months have been S15, 600 clear
profit. Our company has determined to sell
out their machinery. The South enjoys the
advantage of not less than twenty per cent.
over the North in manufacturing"
The writer of this letter is now manufactu-
ring at the South. The constantly increasing
demand for cotton fabrics in the world creates
an increasing demand for cotton mills, and in
telligent men in the Southern States perceive
the Importance of diverting share of the ad-
ditional manufacturing facilities to their re-
gion, where labor is cheap, fuel abundant, the
climate mild and the raw material right at
the doors. Commissioner Wells showed, in
his last report that even pig iron is made
cheaper in the South than in the North, East
or West; that while the cost of making 1t is
s27 9S at Pittsburg and S25 at Carondelet, it is
only S22 go at Nashville, and only S19 on the
Nashville and Chattanooga railroad. These
figures, together with the resultof the test made
by the Saluda factory, prove that fabrics OF
such Southern materials as cotton, wool, wood
and iron can be made ten to twenty per cent.
cheaper in the Southern States than IN the
North. All that the South needs is capital and
skilled labor, and these it will surely have In
time-St. Louis Republican.
= The President has issued a proclamation,
setting forth that it has come to his knowledge
that sundry illegal military enterprises and ex-
peditions are on foot within the Unlted states,