Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-06-10
The Way to Increase the Wealth Of
the South.
Mean OrIenna Tinaaa

The wealth of the South is increas-
ing. 1t is not increasing, however, as
rapidly as the wealth Of the North.
There was time when of the two Sec
tons the South was the richer There
is no good reason why she should not
contain the most wealth now. Her adj
vantages for the accumulation of wealth
are greater Her climate is better and
her soil is equally fertile. Why is il
then that the North has been so much
more successful in the accumula-
ton of wealth The chief rea-
son is that the North has not
only enjoyed the profit of her own pro
auctions, but has, also, made great
profit on the productions of the South.
For example, it is stated that IN 1860
Mississippi produced one million bales
of cotton which brought her thirty-f1ve
millions of dollars. This was the entire
income of the State In the same year
Massachusetts, manufactured three hun
bred thousand bales of cotton into cot
ton cloth which she sold for thirtysix
and half millions of dollars. The
manufacture of cotton goods was only
one of the industries of Massachusetts,
but it brought her more money than the
entire product of the single industry
of Mississippi. 1t is probable that a
very large part of the profit of the
cotton crop of Mississippi went
into the pockets of Northern manu-.
facturers for merchandise of one
kind and another consumed by the
people of Mississippi The same condi-
ton of affairs which existed in 1860 ex-
lists, to a very considerable extent, to.
day, and will continue to exist until the
South manufactures the raw material
which she produces. Why should not
the South manufacture not only the cot.
ton and wooden goods which she needs,
but, also, agricultural implements and
machinery of various kinds which she
uses on her plantations? She has coal,
iron and timber, and there is no reason
why she should not supply her own
wants. If cotton can be transported to
Connecticut and Massachusetts, manu-
featured there and brought back here at
a profit, there is no reason why it
cannot be manufactured here
where it is produced prodtably. AS
long as the North is allowed to make the
profit out of the raw materials of the
South, which the South ought to make
herself, the North will be the richer sec
ton. There is one industry of which
the South was shrewd enough to obtain
control. 1t is the manufacture of oil
cake and oil from cotton seed. A little
more than dozen years ago cotton seed
was regarded as worthless except for
planting. 1t was discovered that
two very valuable articles of
commerce could be made out of it. To-
day the manufactured products of cot
ton seed enrich the South millions of
dollars annually. OF the productions of
Texas, cotton seed oil and oil cake rank
third in value. Cotton ranks first and
cattle second. The number of cotton
seed oil factories is increasing rap dly.
That which was thought to be of nc
value few years ago will, in all proba-
bility, by the time the next census is
taken. add more than anything else to
the wealth of the cotton States except
cotton itself. 1t is remarkable that the
enterprising New Englanders did notg get
control of the cotton seed oil industry.
The question arises why cannot we
manufacture our cotton into cotton cloth
as well as we can manufacture cotton
seed into oil and oil cake? We can and
ought. The cotton States, instead of
furnishing the raw material to the cotton
factories of Europe and New England,
ought to supply the markets of the
world with cotton goods Cotton ought
to be manufactured where it isproduced,
and the millions of dollars which are
annually made by the manufacture of
cotton goods ought to be distributed in
the cotton States. When that time
comes and we are confident it will come,
the cotton States will surpass the New
England States in wealth.