Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-03-09


Memphis appeal.
Can the South compete with New Enlg-
land in the manufacture of cotton goods,
Is question that will rapidly grow in
importance. Mr.. Edward Atkinson, of
Boston, who Is an acknowledged authori
ty on cotton manufactures, is thus re
ported in an interview with correspond
emit of the New York Herald:
ssNow. am frequently asked, Mr.. Atkinson
went on to say, whether or not think the
cotton factories of New England viii gradually
drift to the South. MY reply is that the manu-
facture Of cotton Is q unit lt commences
when the cotton is ready for picking, and ends
when the cloth is ready for the merchant. The
most important part Of this work Is that which
must be done near the field In which the staple
is raised-viz: the picking. the ginning and the
baling. And 1t is my conviction that there Is a
much richer profit to the Southern people in
improving their methods in this part of the
work than there is in trying to do it all"
This is not as frank a statement as
Mr.. Atkinson might and should have
made. He indirectly evades an answer
to the question, and yet he knows the
South is answering it every day by the
rapid erection of cotton factories. Geor-
gia is the Empire State of the South, +"
more because of its many and rapidly
multiplying cotton factories than for
anything else Her example is being
followed in all the other cotton States,
Arkansas, the youngest, being now en-
gagged in the erection of one of the
largest cotton factories in all the cot
ton belt. The war of 1912, and the
embargo on commerce, led New Eng
land to engage in cotton manufac
turing sooner, perhaps, than she would
have Rnk nrrla &c
the rival of Old England in the manu-
facture of cotton goods. The South
went into the manufacture of cotton be-
cause there is money in it, and because
it is her interest to do so. She has
greater advantages over New England
than the latter ever had over old Eng
land. Southern cotton fields are nearer
to Boston than to Liverpool; but they
are nearer to any Southern factory than
to Boston. Suppose cotton mill at the
South annually consumes %, 900 bales OF
cotton. Suppose Northern mill con-
sumes as much What adVan-
tages has the Southern over
the Northern mill? Just the
difference in the cost of transporting
%, 900 bales 800 900 miles to Boston,
and Transporting the same cotton to the
Southern mill from the cotton producing
country lying all around it. 1t would
cost an average of at least So 90 per bale
to transport it to Boston. besides the
cost of storage, commissions for buying,
and cost of COMPRISING. All these items
of expense are avoided at every Southern
cotton mill. The country around, lying
within a radius of fifteen or
twenty miles of any one of them,
will always produce enough cotton
for their spindles and looms; and that
cotton is generally taken to the mill on
wagons, or, if by rail, on very short
haul The farmer sells to the mill, and no
commission is paid, both parties thereby
saving what the Northern mill has to
paw. The Southern mill consuming
25 600 bales per annum thus saves at
least So per bale over the Northern mill
bv the time the bale reaches the factory,
and this is $3.50, 900 saved on the annual
consumption, a sum large enough to
start pretty good factory every year.
Mr. Atkinson says: The most i'm
portant part of the work is that which
must be done near the field where the
staple is raised, and intimates that there
is more profit in improving the mode of
gathering the crop than in manufacturing
it. Experience has not proven this to be
So The profit has not been as great to
the planter so far as to the manufacturer;
and we cannot see how the profit to the
latter will be less when he gets the plant
er's bale in better condition than now,
for the planter will have to pay the
cost of putting it in that better
condition. True. we think both will
be benefited, but the manufacturer
will be benefited most. Our argument
is supported by the well known fact that
before the war, wien Southern cotton
was gathered and handled much better
than it ever has been since the war,
Northern manufacturers made as much or
more money from it than now. But if the
better handling of cotton at the gin will
benefit both the planter and the North
ern manufacturer, it will surely equally
benefit the Southern manufacturer. This
is proven by the fact that Southern peo-
pie are increasing the number and
power of their factories every
year. Is it wonder When
the Southern planter sees that bale of
cotton can be carried one thousand miles
to New England at an average cost of
SO to So per bale, and yet yield the
manufacturer at Lowell or Boston twice
as much profit as he makes in raising it,
the question naturally comes up to him,
Can not the Southern people make even
more than the Boston or the Lowell
man, by manufacturing in Southern
cotton mills the cotton raised in the
country around them?"
There is the question, and there is but
one answer to it; though that answer has
conditions which we will consider in
another issue.