Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-01-13
MEMPHIS APPEAL
FRIDAY, JANUARY ~, 1852
A GLUTTED cotton mARKET

In every branch of busiuess there are
rock-rooted fogies opposed to change. So
fixed are they in their notions that they
would have no change in the seasons; would
stay the thunder and lightning and still the
surging pillows of the sea. When a man of
this class becomes a merchant he will &C.
cupy a dark, dismal rookery for a lifetime,
content 20 retire in old age with a few thou
sand dollars, when by enlarged and intelli-
gent enterprise he could have made mil
lion instead of a bare subsistence. This
class of people opposed railroads and
perfectly satisfied with stage coaches,
they opposed all innovations because it was
always safe 10 let "well enough alone" In
the South there is still much OF this old
fogy spirit manifested, and especially among
the agricultural classes. Labor-saviDg ma
chimes are regarded as humbugs, and
improved agricultural implements as
Yankee patents invented for the sole pur-
pose of cheating the honest and unsus
pecting farmer. 1t is not. surprising
that this class should look with alarm upon
the dawning prosperity OF the South with as
much distrust as they once manifested at the
construction of railroads. Ali such ignorant
people seem to think that the influx of capt.
tai and population will root them ont of
house and home, and produce such a density
Of population that it will be difficult for
them to subsist. They express the opinion
that an increased population in the South
will so increase the production Of cotton that
the supply will be greater than the demand,
and that the superabundance of the crop
will so glut the market that they will
get nothing for their labor, and therefore be
IN danger Of starving. Such stupidity is
pitiable. These ignoramuses are so con-
tracted in their views that they cannot see
that the country is constantly increasing in
population, and that cotton goods are
applied to new uses every day. As our popu-
lation increases many of those who now pro-
duce cotton will become manufacturers of
cotton, and thus an equilibrium of labor and
values will be maintained. Those who fear
an over-supply OF cotton by an increase of
population do not take into consideration |
the fact that the labor of the South will soon |
be so diversified that many now engaged in |
the production of cotton will be employed in
other pursuits. When the cotton crop will |
have increased in value from $500, OO0, 900 10
S600000,000, the whole South, including those
ignorant croakers, will begin to realize that
there is no danger of an over-supply in the
wealth concealed in its soil The Southern
States hold the key to the future pre-eminenoe
of America in the worlds commerce. In 1869
the cotton included seven million nine
hundred and thirty-three thousand acres, but
last year it had increased to sixteen million
one hundred and twenty-eight thousand, and
is still extending, while the yield per acre is
increasing. 1t is not improbable that the
acreage which yielded six million six hun.
dred and five thousand seven hundred and
nifty bales that year will will produce ten
million five years hence Experiments have
demonstrated that in very few years, with
an increased population and enlarged indus
trial and mechanical facilities, most of the
cotton raised in the South can be profitably
manufactured there. England manufactures
now about 1851, 10000 worth of cotton good,
while the value of the cotton goods made in
the United States amounts to only 1898, $780,
O0O The development of Southern manu-
features will double this amount in a single
decade; and when it is remembered that our
people use on the average forty yards of cot
ton cloth year each, while the English use 9
only twenty-seven, and the Chinese but .
twenty, the practical Importance of the de a
velopment OF this industry is obvious q