The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1874-01-28
The Condition and Needs Of the South.


Mr.. Edward King of New York,
iii letter to the Tribune, insists up
on a newiinfusion of labor and cap
ital into the South as necessary to
rescue it from a serious paralysis of
production. Emancipation has
disorganized labor and deprived us
of capital, and ever since the wal
the Southern farmer has been work.
ing under conditions which have
proved very great obstacles to all
progress. The lack of ready mon
ey has led to the introduction o:
"the share SYSTEM" which can con
tinue only so long as the farmer ii
unable to improve his farm anc
diversity his crops. With the
means of directing and coatmlhne
labor, the work of substantial im
provement' will begin. This i'm
crease of the circulating medium
will naturally be brought about, by
the establishment of manufactures
and increased diversity in our in
dustrial pursuits. The facilities
for the establishment of ,Nap|Hfac
lures at the South are especial,
great, and the dividends declared
BY the factories in operation, arr
very encouraging. Cotton manu-
factures can only ybe carried on to it
utmost capacity on the grount
where the raw material is produced
and manufactures established a
the South .would defy competition
from the North. The time has ar
rived for the mills to 60 to the cot
ton, and for Northern capital and
energy to assist in the develope
mentof Southern production. W.
need capital and we need labor
and we especially invite those i'm
grants to our homes who can ado
something to both. The write1
says: -'...a.~1 ....' "
"The Southern people are no.
able, under existing political ant
social conditions, to effect them
selves allthe desired changes. They
must, unaided, 60 on very much Al
they have heretofore since the war
crushed to inactivity by every con
traction consequent on q fnancia
crisis, in daily need Of q capita
which has been utterly destroyed
but for which nothing has been sub
stituted. They have done wha
they could in establishing as many
manufactures as their limited
means would allow, and in doub
ling the cotton crop as fast as pos
sible. They seemed determined te
follow, as a rule, the excellent ex
ample of Alabama, in exemptine
manufacturers entirely from taxa
ton. ...'t
The South has as many advan
tages as a manufacturer as she hal
as a producer. The fourishine
cotton factories at Columbus anG
Augusta, Ga.; at Tallahassee, Ala
bama; at Nashville, Tenn, and a,
Petersburg, Va, show that divi
dends beyond those attainable al
the North are possible. Gen
Banks never said truer word than
when he declared "that the princi
Piles and processes of Lowell will
never be fully carried out until our
raw material is manufactured on
the ground where it is produced )"
and that those principles enunciated
by so able a mind as Lowell's, COM
pose the only solid basis on which
Industrial edifces can permanently
stand.'' If the South should ever
set q fair start in manufacturing
cotton-say on the strength of cap
ital sent over from England-the
North could not certainly compete
with hes, It is about time, as; the
Southern papers sometimes say,
that New England should 60 South,
that the mills should 60 to the cot
ton ;ithat the talent of the North
should see what it can do TOWARD
helping to reorganize labor and in
crease the volume of production in
the South, insuring general pros
perity. there, and : securing itself
against a possibility of a future
dangerous competition, at the same
time that it pockets handsome
profit for its enterprise"
The Expenses Of our Court.
, -r 80. -