The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1876-03-01
ADDRESS
GOV. THOMAS A. HENDRICKS,
Southern Industrial Exposition at Ne'c
Orleans, February 20, 1876.
AT THE

which we have assembled 70 lnaugurate, IN ths
magnitude OF its proportions, in the variety OF lt'
attractions and in the faT-reachlng scope OF ls
usefulness, is superior 10 any which has ever Ne
been held in this region OF our country. sympa
thize with the deep interest you have in its sue
cess. j do not think you Oyerestimate Its great
importance. Here from workshop, field and
household you have gathered products OF your
industry and trophies OF your skill. Here you
have both the token and the pledge oil return
ing prosperity and here, also, you have invalua
BILE opportunities of studying the means and
modes bv which your labor may be best applied
IN the development OF your immense resources
should find il difficult TO give an adequate eX
preston of my high appreciation of the honor
done me in the invitation to address you upon sc
auspiciOus an occasion. / esteem il no small priv
ilege to be permitted TO address al once the two
great classes of producers: The ullerS OF tne sou
who feed the world and xpish the material ioE
its clothing and the skilled-nechanics who make
scientific agriculture possible ana Oy whose iaDors
all the manifold material appliances OF civilization
are produced
/ think ii a happy and most hopeful sign and
one for which your board OF management deserves
your thanks that in this exposition agriculture
and the mechanic arts have been 80 tremendously
brought together. Why IL should have been so j
am not prepared to say, but IL Is certainly fact
that there has always in the history of mankind,
appeared 10 be tendency TO an unnatural Jeal-
Ousy, il not antGgOnism, between the agricultural
and the other industrial classes. Sometimes, a.
well in ancient as in modern times, this tendency
has shown itself in the formation and sentiment
OF political parties, but it has shown itself more
frequently, perhaps more powerfully, IN social
alterations and invdiOus class distinctions. such
antagOnism, let me repeat, Is most unnatural and
hurtful Agriculture and the mechanical indus
tries are equally necessary IN laying the fOunda-
tions of an enduring prosperity IN every nation
under heaven, and neither can advance TO excel
lence without the other. The wooden pillow which
scratched the soil of ancient Greece, Egypt and
Syria marked both the rudenesS OF the agriculture
and the low state of the artisan. The polished and
beautiful pillow of our own day, which sits steadily
in the furrow almost without support, shows at
once the present progress Of agriculture and the
wonderful advancement of mechanical invention.
The steamboat and the railroad train are tri-
umphs of the art of the mechanic, but they are
also evidences of an agricultural productiveness,
which demands the aid OF the mechanic IN the
transportation Of the teeming riches OF the soil
Increased facilities of transportation, the other
hand, stimulate the farmer to increased pro-
ductiOn, and he, on his part calls inventive genius
once into requisiuon 10 devise and construct
new implements by which mems labor may be
saved and their necessities more easily and album
dainty supplied.
more striking illustration of the mutual influence
OF agriculture and mechanical invention and in
dustry than that of Mhitney's cotton gin. One Of
your early judicial writers thus describes the i'm
mediate consequences of its introduction:
The whole interior of the southern states" he
says Twas languishing. end its Inhabitants emil
grating for want of some object to engage their
attention and employ their industry, when the
invention of this machine at once opened views to
them " nich set the whole country III active mo-
ton From childhood to age it has presented to
US lucrative employment. individuals who were
depressed with poverty and sunk IN idleness have
debts have been paid off capitals have increased
and our lands trebled themselves in value. We
can not express the weight OF the obligation which
the country owes to this invention"
Such were the benefits and blessings brought to
this great agricultural region OF our country by the
aid OF the mechanical inventor, Whitney IL IS not
too much to say that they were instantly and Law
ishly repaid in blessings TO the manufacturer and
the artisan, both in this country and abroad To-
are supported, and thousands OF millions of money
are prOftably employed in the transportation,
manufacture and distribution OF the cotton crop
which you produce. Yet that is not all. Abundant
cotton means cheap clothing and an increase of
physical comfort 70 the laDoring classes every
where. This agals means better health, and better
health means happier and longer life. Thus,
by the naturs cooperation Of the agricultural and
the mechanical industries in this instance, not
only have new means OF existence been afforded,
and new means OF incTeaSed wealth been offered TO
millions upon millions of our fellow men, but
health and happiness promoted. aud the little
span of human life has been appreciably prolonged.
For these reasons and for Others that can not
now and here express. greatly rejoice that in this
exposition, the inter-dependence and community
of interest which exist between the skilled labor
of the agriculturalis and the skilled labor OF the
mechanic have been so widely recognized and so
happily illustrated. l believe that there is no
great improvement possible to the one which will
not directly or indirectly tend to the advantage of
the other, and believe no less than any serious
damage to either will always and inevitably result
in injury to the other.
have spoken of this point with some emphasis
because tile tendency of your section is very natur-
ally to the exclusive production of a few great
staples which can nowhere else be cultivated with
the same advantages of climate and facilities of
transp ortatiOn. can not think that your entire
devotion TO the production OF these staples while
YOU totally neglect other branches OF industry for
the pursuit of which nature has endowed you with
equally great facilities, is economically speaking
wise and prudent thing, and as producers and the
representatives OF producers, you can not and you
ought not TO avoid this question: With what
diversity of industries il pedent that your cap
ital shall be invested and your labor employed?
griIv
and eminently adapted to the cultivation of cotton,
rice, sugar and tobacco just the Western States
are peculiarly adapted TO the raising of grain and
live stock. In short the west and south are agri-
cultural sections. They VIII continue so to be By
Gods ordinance in nature. You and we must
always look to agriculture for the great body of
our wealth. IL IS not and 1t never can become
good policy nor sound economy to neglect an in
dustry which is obviously and manifestly remun-
eratye i'll order to devote ourselves to Others which
require unnatural and artificial stimulants to
make them profitable. But 1t does not follow that
the West must be dependent upon the industries
of other countries and sections for everything but
stock ana grain, and just little ought the South
to make herself permanently dependent upon
other sections for the great mass of her necessary
supplies. Nature herself has indicated a far diff
ferent design. The bowels Of the earth reveal her
purposes well the black soil and the blue sky
above our coal fields, well distributed and almost
inexhsustbe together with vast stores of iron ore
and many other minerals. invite both capital and
labor to investments which must bring both large
and long-eontinued profits. The coal and ore in
supply your section of the country for thousands
of years to come. In Alabama am told coal and
iron are found side by side, close to the very sur
face of the SOIL with great quarres of marble near
at hand, and with immense forests of valuable
timber everywhere around What more could ma
ture do TO invite mans industry and to insure the
certainty OF its reward? Where she has done far
less intelligence and energy have shown that rich
results may be compelled from her reluctant hand;
but il is surely wastefulness to disregard the I'M
exampled lavishness with which she has combined
gifts which even separately are of inestimable
value.
But these are not the only sources and
suggestions of more varied industry. A gen.
tleman of large intelligence and great experience
in the manufacture Of cotton goods in the State
OF Georgia. has given me his opinion that that
business can be made even moro profitable at the
south than at the north He says that the advan-
tage of the south lies in these particulars: that
the raw material costs, On en- average eight dol
lars per bale less in Georgia than in New Eng
land; that the mildness of the atmosphere makes
it favorable for the spinning process that the
climate makes the cost of living to the laboreI
cheaper in respect TO fuel, clo1ing. and many
articles of food, and that ready market for the
E. l. -.