Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-09-28
The international Cotton Exposition.


Among the great movements of this
stirring period, few Will attract greater at
tentiOn this year or have a more important
bearing on the future of our country than
the International Cotton Exposition which
will open at Atlanta, Ca, October 5th. 1t
is to be an illustration of the progress this
country has made in agriculture, manufae-
lures, commerce, science and the arts dur
ing the five years that have passed since the
Philadelphia centennial was closed to the
public. Industrial enterprises In the form
of expositions have become since that time
factors Of no mean Importance to the bust
ness of the country. The people of the
Northwest have learned by the brilliant ex-
perience of our Chicago Exposition and by
the similar exhibitions that are annually
given in other great centres to appreciate
the value of these modern aids to all depart
ments Of industry and labor. But the Inter
national Exposition that will open at At
lanta, will be unlike any other this country
or the world has ever seen. 1t may be
called sal QeTleTis for its uniqueness and pc
culiarities. 1t was originally intended to
promote the interests Of the cotton planters
of the South and the cotton mills and man
ufacturers Of the rest of the country; but
mo sooner was the plan presented to the
| public than the wise heads of our CONNER
cial centres saw that it admitted of great
| development, and gave a long desired op-
portunity to place before the people of the
| South complete picture of our diversified
national industries. Director General Kim
ball and his associates were the right men
to appreciate this grand idea, and it was
adopted, and arrangements made to carry
it into practical effect.
The railway companies of the United
States are exponents as well as leaders of,
and more than any other class In this coun-
try believe in progress. The great lines of
the South saw at very early day that the
Exposition would give them chance to
place before the capitalists of the world
such a display of the natural resources of
the regions which they traverse as would be
likely to lead to numerous investments and
to the development of the mines, and the
utilization of the forests, of that vast and
richly endowed region. They, therefore,
made arrangements with the Director Gene
raj to furnish them with space on the Expo
stiOn grounds In which they could exhibit
collections of minerals, lumber, forage
plants, agricultural products and everything
else found adjacent to their lines, which
would support human beings and fur
nish the raw materials for their employment.
So soon as this plan was made public, 1t ex-
cited universal attention and interest-other
roads joined with those that had conceived
the plan, and, as a result, the entire coun-
try south of the 10th parallel will be COM
prised in these displays. Everything north
of the Gulf of Mexico and the Mexican ter
ritory between the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans, south of the line named that is
worthy place in the Exposition will be
there; and all these exhibits will be so
skillfully arranged and classified that who
ever sees them will be able to tell at a glance
where anything IN which he is especially in
terested can be found. Nothing like this
has ever before been attempted, and we are
not surprised to learn that some of the
heaviest capitalists of this country ana Eu-
rope have determined to visit the ExpOsi-
tion and to make these railway exhibits a
matter Of careful and thorough investiga-
tiOn