The Osceola times., 1877-05-26
SOUTHERN COTTON MANUFAC.
TUHES.
VIII, the sotsh c.. Successfully CSmpete
with NsW England In ske Man hsat-
Cure OF Cotton.

/
Baltimore Evening Bulletin, 10Th :
The last. and perhaps the most interest.
ing. of the able and instructive papers
on " American cotton" by Mr.. Edward
Atkinson. which have been published in
the New York Herald, il that printed on
last Monday. IL considers the subject of
cotton manufacture at the south, and
proneunces against the attempt TO tstab-
lish the industry there, believing that it
can only I've successfully conducted in
New England. Mr.. Atkinson supports
his judgment with an elaborate and
careful array of those facts and figures
and comparisons which he knows 40 well
the value and use of, and reasons from
them in very close and apparently con-
elusive way. We have read Mr.. Atkin-
sons paper with at least the attention it
deserver, and have been deeply impressed
with the force of much that he says.
We have not, however, been able TO ar
rive at the conclusions to which he
comes, and we will endeavor to set forth
why not? Mr.. Atkinson's fallacy seems
to be more or less of the same sort as the
Nations fallacy, which we pointed out
yesterday in regard to the Turks and
Russians; that because things are not
done in the most scientific way, they
cannot he done at all. The Turks can
not defend their country, because they
have not the best arms and the finest
battaliohs. No Mr.. Atkinson ssys, with
updoubted truth, that cotton-spinning
requires for its permanent success large
capital, very few operatives. ample
banking facilities, thoroughly organ
lied system of distribution, a machine
shop on one side and a paper mill to
work up the waste on the other but,
more than all, it requires habit and
training TOR it, or other like occupations
in the mass of the community, and a
cool or cold climate, in which long hours
of persistent but not arduous indoor Ia
Dor can be sustained. Undoubtedly this
is every bit true, as it applies to the
populations with which Mr.. Atkinson
has been in the habit of dealing. But
nevertheless, the view is not onlya
oNE-sIDED VIEW
it is a false one. Take an illustration: :
by parity OF reasoning the manufacture
of -four can only be conducted in the
great and costly mills of Minnesota,
where the water-power, the processes, the
machinery, the operatives, banking facili-
ties, means of consumption for waste,
system of distribution, ETC., are all more
perfect than anywhere else. Why, then.
do not mills elsewhere stop, because
milling can be done cheapest in Mime.
sofa? The Minnesota -four comes To
Baltimore, to Richmond, to New York,
but the other merchant mills which sup
ply these cities do not stop running; do
not lose their profits. Every stream in
the land where there is head enough of
water to turn an undershot wheel, every
fall where a few logs or stones can make
dam, there you will find country mills.
In fat countries the old turn.about wind
mill, with its uneasy sails and its huge
rudder, is everywhere TO be seen, and in
the south there are woodland mills that
are not even rooted over nor weather
boarded, where dribble of water turns
two diminutive burrs, set upon a plat
form made of slabs and puncheons; all
the same, the mills run, and must run at
a profit, or the business would be discon-
tinued, since there is no capital invested
in them TO enable them to sustain loss.
So il is, and so it will be, with the cotton
manufacture, for the reason that every
enterprise must have it's rude beginning
in the rude way, and with the rude ap-
pliance. Capital, fine machinery, skilled
labor, organized system, and competition
taxing every energy to keep the margin
of profit from crossing over the border
and turning into loss; these do not come
until long afterward, and when the
highly artificial system has been per-
fectly developed and matured. II is
LAW OF POLITICAL ECONOMY
that in the fields where fine machinery,
steady labor and large capital are en-
ployed, the margin both Of profit and
wages Ia marked down to the lowest
point. This was clearly and satisfac-
toriy demonstrated by General Francis
A. Walker, in his able and instructive
introduction to the industrial statistici
Of the ninth census. The points herr
made are unconsciously illustrated BY
Mr.. Atkinson himself, when. referring t
the mill reported upon by Mr.. Burke
which contained six thousand nine hun
Ndred and fifty-fve spindles opsy~tin
W No. IA yarn. be 1s--~' 1T. ~
onod .