Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1879-01-30
[Ffom the N. Y. Evening post.l
The Future Of tho South.

from the N. I. Eveplng lost.
The Future Of tho South.
Mr.. George w. Williams, 4 leading
merchant aud banker of Charleston, S. g.,
has been contributing to the Southern
Christian AdUocatc series of articles
entitled, "How TO Succeed" which, com
lug from uan who began by succeeding
n his own undertakings before trying to
Instruct others, ought to havo weight
with his fellow Southcrncrs, and cspe
cally with the young men of that part Of
the country.
In the course of these articles, Mr.. Will
liams has taken pains to controvert with
facts number Of pessimist assumptions
which have had baneful and puralyzing
effect upon young nlcn Of the South. Tho
notion that white men cannot successfully
till the soil in the Southern States, and its
follow error that free negroes will not work
with stcadiness, he oonfronts with tho fact
that the cotton crop of 1878, which must
havc been cultivated und picked by some
body, is larger thnn any other ever grown
even when the labor Of the negroes was
compulsory. lie has never accepted these
theories, indeed, a,d has been from the
first 80 strongly convinced Of the success Of
| the South with free labor that he bcgSn to
| build great warehouses in Charleston for
| the storage of cotton imln nediatcly after the
war ended His friends rem ,nstrated with
him, predicting ";hat cotton could not be
produced by white labor, und that the ne
groes would not work; /" 81 did not believe
any such doctrine" he says, aud in vind.
cation of the soundnc Of his Judgment, he
points to his ovcr0nwing warehouses, which
arc incapable Of holding the cotton which
ho has need 10 store Mr.. Williams conf
denoe in the industry of tho negroes opd in
their disposition to work tremendously with
the whites for the good of the country und
for their own prosperity by legitimate mems
is nntounded. "i am happy to say" he
writes, "that the relation between the whites
and their former elaves has greatly improved
i We owe the freedmen q debt of
gratitude for their humane consideration OF
tho wives and children of our soldiers du.
ring the lato war, who were left mainly to
their mercy. Their subsequent conduct
has been equally creGitabc, especially
when you cnnsilor their sudden elevation
from slaves to enfrancbised citizens"
The expression Of a conviction Of this
nature by men Of prominence aud influence
in the South, where public opiuion counts
for more than 1t docs elsewhere, besides its
significance, must tend to make The relations
between the Two races plcasantcr, aud tt
promote that mutual good feeling out o.
which the healthy homogencity of Southern
population will come.
The letter writer points out with great
sagaoity certain facts which promise vel
for tho South if her people will mak;
proper use Of their opportunities, and labor
patiently to rebuild their fortunes under The
J new conditions. One produc. alone of tn,
South, her cotton cr,p, will yield this yea
notwithstanding low prices, tho enormous
sum of two hundred and fifty millions o
dollars, which, estimating the population o
3 the cotton States at little more than cigh
millions, gives the startling average of thir
! ty-one dollars income from this one cro]
for each person, NAL, or female, old an,
young, black aud white, throughout tn
whole cotton region. Other products Q
, the South, her tar and turpentino, be
t lumber and her grain; her mineral product
S and the products of her recently cstablishe
l unufactories--sources of wealth the dc
0 veopmcnt of which is scarcely yet begun
c must be added to this as the years go Oh
!, how rapidly depends upon tho energy c
{, Southern men. Concerning q single on
u of these resources, and that q minor ont
o Mr. Williams says:
] "Auothcr source of considerable wcalt
y to the South has arisen from the discover
o of immense beds Of phosphate rock an
Q fossil bone in South Carolina. These ro
8 markable deposits, both on land and in til
d navigablc streams, attracted tho attentio
:. of geologists more than century ogo, bu
h strange to say, their value was not know
d until after the close of the war. Thcs
% immense deposits havo added greatly to til
n commerce Of South Carolina Hundred
IS of cargoes are annually shipped from Char
o lesion and Beaufort to foreign and domcst
e ports. The manufacture of commerc;
% fertilizers from these rocks md fossils hi
y added to the wealth and trade OF Oharlcsto
Is The oapital now employed in mining phos
q phate rock and manufacturing fortilize
y oxooeds tho whole banking capital Of ii
d State"
h 1t is narrow and unsound phlosoph
' whether in tho North or 10 tho South whit
G secs In the bright prospects Of the South
'r mooaco to tho prosperity Of tho Mort
y This oountry is ono, and whataeericnrioh
:, any part oft, whatever enables any, part.
&, IL to a8ll fn0ra fn tha world Sfnx thc Sgnrid