The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1881-12-15
TEE FUTURE OF THE SOUTH.
Tho Focts and Figures Presented by Mr.
Edward Atkinson at tho ATLANTA Expos,.
ton.

The following extract from the address
| recently delivered by Mr.. Edward Akin.
son, of Massachusetts, at the Atlanta Ex.
position are we'll worth reading:
"If in my devotion TO the principle .,
liberty have ever offended you, forgive
| ne for my cause. 1t is the great and
| central idea by which this nation lives
1t is in its spirit and moved by il i'm
pulse that the foundation OF this erss
exposition has been laid. Even ycu
yourselves do not yet know how deep q
hold j. has upon US all. Why, gentle
men, am almost appalled, at what ! sec
and by what you have accomplished in
less than single year since the mention
OF this undertaking less than six
months since the first practical measures
were taken in one hundred and eight DAYS
rom the beginning of the work to the
e Jcniug day. think that we who are
om the North may we'll return home and
ponder little on what this means. may
not conclude thai We erred when we
helped you lift the burden of slavery from
your shoulders. which had kept you back
80 long in your competition withus. Sup
pose we should 60 home and muster once
more an armed force, three times your
number, and come down here again to re.
establish slavery. Could we doit9 New
er never never never p
You have deprecated every crop OF
cotton you have made at least 10 per
cent. by want Of care and attention in
ginning, baling, pressing and caring for
the, cotton between the field and the fac.
tory. You can save half your labor and
add 10 per cent. to the value of your crop
II you will use the new tools and ma.
chimes here on exhibition and heed the
words which now speak"
1.-THE Southern planter and farmer has
no knowledge, as yet, outside Of the
sea island district, Of the merits of true
roller gin. Clark's cleaner has just been
introduced and is only known within
narrow limits. There are several other
machines for the same purpose, which are
not here at all. Yet the beginning of
Improvement and of profit is here and
the growth will be rapid"
"Now, am going to touch q tender
subject-cotton manufacturing. What is
manufacturing According to the Latin
derivation of the word it is TO make some.
thing with the hand. 1t is a singular
fact that cotton fabrics are the only ones
which can be actually made by the hand,
and from this we infer that cottJn fabrics
are the Oldest of any. Our Aryan ances.
tors came from section of Asia where
cotton is indigenous, and, although the
linen mummy cloths of Egypt are the
Oldest frabrics now in existence, cotton
must have been used in prehistoric times.
You or can do what our Aryan apces-
tors may have done, we can spin thread
with our fingers from the boil of ripe
cotton holding it by the middle in our
teeth, we can double and twist it into a
strong cord. We can tie the ends of the
warp to set Of bamboo reeds, even rs
the Chinese do now with sharp flint
Implement from another length Of bam-
boo we can make shuttle, and without
much difficulty VIC can weave web
of cloth. five need to card our cotton first
we can use fish's jay, ae the East In
dians do to this day in working the finest
fabric ever made. Every other fibre
needs some preparation; wool must be
c!eansed, fax must be rotted and separa-
ted from the woody fire; silk must be
reeled, hut cotton may be truly manufac-
tnrea. 7 have hoTe pictures Of the prim
tive processes. In this plate, taken from
work upon the costumes of India, are
pictures of the most primitive, even pre-
historic methods which are still in use in
the fabrication of the Dacca muslin
known as the Woven Wind No work
of machinery has ever equalled it.
There are some small bits of the finest
kinds"
THE card is but the substtutz for the
fishbone. The rollers of Arkwright are
still imperfect. Whoever can find q
seamless substitute for the leather cot
with which the top roll of the spin
ming frames covered will'add five or ten
per cent. to the capacity Of every MILL
and may make great fortune. The mer-
it of the saw gin is in its capacity rather
than in the quality ofits work. Some of
the most valuable kinds Of green seed cot
ton in that field, and others of the same
kind which have been sent me, cannot
be ginned on saw gin. You are we'll
aware that there is great difference in
the tenacity with which the fibre adheres
to the seed, and in those varieties in
which the tcnacity is great the roller gin
must be used-teazie burr--each spindle OF
the thousand on frame is the same as
the single one attached to the wheel.
Who invented the loom no man knows.
The saw gin Of Eli Whitney and the ex-
tension of the strand by means of rollers
attributed to Arkwright, but really in
vented by Hyatt, constitute the two orig
inal inventions; and the Ozier cotton
peeler and other similar kind are ruined
by the saw gin and when mixed in the
same bale or lot with common staple
they injure the whole for our use. AS
have said, we must have uniformity
but we want these fine long cotton mid
way between sea island and upland for q
great variety of use."
"Now let me call your attention to the
fundamental principle on which your
success in spinning and weaving cotton
must stand or fall. 1t is not question
Of wages-no wages can be measured in
less money than the earning of these In.
dian women or these Chinese laborers
Goods are made at the lowest cost by
those who earn the highest wages, where
ever modern machinery is apr'jed tc
their fabrication. The ..~c,: :. a;:;
factories are much lower than in ours al
the North, but you employ thirty more
hands than VIC do to thousand spindes
with their proper complement of looms
In some Of your best mills you work as
economically as we do, but isolated mills
scattered at far distances, are at disad
vantage anywhere. So far as you un.
dertake cotton manufacturing view t
| anything more than local demand, con
centrate your mills and let all the appli
ances and subsidiary employment grow
up and around them. Ihave never taken
the ground that there were any climati,
difficulties in many parts of the South
The real difficulty is that the margin O
profit is very small on very largo CAPT
tai, and unless you can work, in the Ions
run, on very smali margin you canno