The daily gazette., 1881-03-04
SOUTHERN INDUSTRIES,

SPLENDID OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE
INVESTMENT OF CAPITAL.
From the Philadelphia Press.
STEAMER CITY OF AUSTIN, Feb. II.
-"What splendid opportunities tue
South offers for the investment of CAPT.
tai in almost all of the avenues of
trade, manufacture and agriculture.
If her people had greater respect for
brains and muscle, thrift and energy,
1t would be good place for Northern
people who begin at the bottom of the
ladder TO emigrate to. Her immense
mineral resources, and her marvellous
water powers are all waiting developn
ment, and her fruitful lands are beg
ging for tenants. Scarcely a manu-
featuring industry in the South but is
in its infancy" said General Cameron
TO me this morning. "In the cotton
producing Stale of South Carolina
there are only eighteen cotton mills
ami less than 80, 500, 900 of capital en-
ployed in the manufacture of that
great staple. Out of yearly product
Of nearly if not quite 100000 bales OF
cotton less than $1,000 are manufac>
tuIed within her borders. Myimpres-
SION is that Georgia does but little bet
ter than this, and that Louisiana, the
greatest cotton exporting State In the
Union, does still less. This is only
conjecture, however, and both may do
better than South Carolina and YET, not
interfere with the fact that all of them
present beggarly array of figures in
their manufacturing statistics. 1t
would be a large estimate to give the
whole South credit for the manufac-
ture of more than 300, 900 bales of cot
ton out of total product which the
best authority in the South estimates
will reach this year six million bales.
A DIVISION OF LABOR.
'In England the cotton industry is
divided between Manchester, Oldham
and other surroundings. One devotes
itself to spinning the cotton and the
other to weaving it into cloth. That
is the natural division of labor between
the North and the South. What the
South wants to do is to spin its cotton
at home and then ship it to the great
weaving centres at the North to be
converted into cloth. Spinning mills
can be erected at much less expense
than weaving and spinning mills, and
it has been found by actual experience
that to divide the labor of converting
cotton into fabrics brings increased
profit to both. Naturally the CONVEX
sion of yarn into cloth requires great
er skill, more capital and peculiar con-
ditions which the South does not pos.
sess to SO great an extent as theNorth,
and cannot acquire for many years, If
ever. Even our great Northern fac
tories, which can and do command
the best appliances and skill that
money can procure, are lacking in tho
dyeing and sizing of it's products. 1t
takes years of experience and great
fortunes to gather the labor and ma
terials to manufacture cotton CLOTH
The South ought not to waste its en-
ergies in trying to do it unless there
is much easier and fully as fruitful
an avenue open to it. The South
should convert its cotton into yarn at
home and export it in that condi-
Iion.
The shipment Of the thread ready for
dyeing and manufacture woulI save
very largely in the matter OF freight on
the bulky raw material, which the
South could add to its profits, besides, at
the same time adding to its wealth, popu-
lation and Importance. The industries
Of the North are being taxed to the
utteImost in the manufacture of fabrics
made from cotton, aud this division OF
labor between The sections would add 10
the profit of both aud tend to unite them
in closer relations, which would add
the prosperity Of both. 1t will be long
time before the South can command
even the skilled labor to convert its cot
ton into goods. am told that nearly
all the operatives new employed in the
cotton mills OF the South are native, the
superintsndents being from New Eng
land. This native labor cannot Tor
many years, If ever, successfully compete
with the trained skill Of the North, aud
therefore tbis section must suffer more or
less In the class of goods it turns out
when brought into composition with the