The Hickman courier., 1877-12-14


featuring in New hampshire certainly
not in any part of The state far removed
from tide water. The oearser cottons
will be manufactured in the south.
Why
/. Because the cotton is there. Now
what is saved by manufacturing it on
the spot? Three very important items
are embraced in this calculation, viz:
the coAo freight; the cost Of pressing
and the damage and loss IN transitu, the
latter amounting to one-twentieth of all
the cotton sent north. These are very
considerable items.
,. The water power in the south is
Just as good as ours. Georgia alone has
a mountsin region abounding in rapidly
descending streams, equal TO the whole
area of Maine, where the operatives in
cotton mills look from their windows
directly upon broad fields OF cotton.
3. The climate. These streams, by
reason Of the mild winters, are never
troubled with ice. No care has to be
taken to protect wheels or buildings from
frsst. \ much cheaper foundation and
a much cheaper building answers for
manufacturing purposes. With good
Georgia pine plenty at $40 thousand
and no danger Of the heaying Of founda-
tions by frost, suitable buildings can be
provided very cheap. Laborers can live
with equal comfort in houses costing half
as much They have no use for cellars,
or for weather boards, the clapboards
invariably being nailed 10 the stHdding
They require not more than one-fourth
as much fuel and half as much clothing
+. Not only the cotton, but the wood
the coal and the iron are there.
5. The laboring population of the south
have not yet contracted the expensive
habits of New England, but live more as
our fathers did. They know nothing about
carpets, stuffed furniture and other ex-
pensive articles which adorn the homes
of New England mechanics. Their dress IL
OF the plainest kind. They know nothing
ofbeeisteak, pies, cakes, spices, tea, coffee
or butter, and hence are not dyspeptics.
Even wheat bread is almost unknown.
They live principally on sweet potatoes,
pork, fish, corn bread, hoTminy, rice and
molasses. Content with these they can
afford to work cheap. Is it any wonder
that cotton mills are springing uPaIl over
that country?
The emily hindranees of which we can
conceive are the want Of good, settled
government and reluctance Of the few
necessary skilled workmen from the
north to settle in society so different
from that to which they have been ac
customed. But these obstacles are being
gradually removed.
We do not see how the force of these
facts can be set aside and the conclusion
to us seems irresistible.
1t has always been admitted that tht
south had the best part of the country
Slavery alone has been held responsible
for It's less rapid development. In the
discussions on the slavery issue it usec
frequently to be said that if slavery were
abolished the south weuld do its ewr
manufacturing, and we, at least, admit
ted ir again and again. One source o
New England prosperity is cut of, anC
it seems to us wise to face the truth, an6
seasonably consider whittier we are tC
turn for compensation. For long time
the finer fabrics, and the machinery tC
make them, will doubtless continue tC
have their home in New England. It il
for US, as the manufacture of The coarsel
cloths becomes improbable by reason Of
southern competition, to introduce the
manufacture of finer goods, and a great
variety of articles now imported from
England, France, Belgium, Germany
and Switzerland. The worst OF it is that
there is in New Hampshire no raw ma
terial of any kind for extensive manu-
facturA 1t must be up hill business il
more senses than one to freight such
material 10 northern and western New
Hampshire, and then freight the goods
back. ANY freight tariff not ruinous to
railroads is a prohibition on such manu-
factures in this part Of the state. Oh
course Nashua, Manchester and Dover
have an immense advantage over the
rest of us in this respect. If we had
cheap fuel, that might Offset this disad-
vantage. But by far the cheapest fuel
we can -pow get is coal freightfd from
Pennsylvania. You cannot manufacture
anywhere without. cheap fuel, and this
cold climate requires a good deal of 1T.
If we are to manufacture at all it must
be those articles which require little
freighting, and little fuel. a business
has been lately introduced into Lebanon
which well illustrates this point-the
manufacture of watch keys-which is
being carried on successfully, and will
employ about thirty hands the coming
winter.
You may do something with the shoe
business in southeastern New Hampshire,
but north of Concord no enc seems to
dare attempt it. Freights and express
eat up all the profits. More wool ought
to be raised in the state-very much
more-and every pound of it made into
cloth at home. But we sheuld need the
product of ten states like this to do an
extensive business in the manufacture of
woolens.
z On what, then, must New Hampshire,
outside of Rockingham, Straford and the
eastern part of Hillsboro counties, mainly
depend in the future for prosperity +? Up
on summer boarding, as we think. She
has the grandest scenery and during i've
months in the year the best climate on the
continent. With the present method of
doing business in the cities, it is becom-
ing more and more an absolute necessity