San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1882-10-19
The Boom in Our Cotton Mills.

The Boom In Our Cotton Mills.
At the close of the war the cotton
mills in all the South could be counted
on the fingers of one hand. There
was one at Augusta, two across the
river in South Carolina, one in Macon
and one in Columbus. Perhaps there
were two or three little ones scattered
around, too insignificant to be remem-
bered. In the five mentioned there
were not exceeding $4,000 spindles.
Things have wonderfully changed
since then. A mighty revolution is in
progress. On September /, 1881, the
Southern mills that is, those in the
Cotton States), contained 1896
spindles; on September /, they con-
tanned $50, 1851 spindles, an increase of
As per cent, and to-day, including the
Maryland mills, they boast of 1887
400 spindles. In the meanwhile, there
has been no increase in spindles in
New England, nor any other portion
of the North. Those persons DESTROYS
of investing their capital in the cotton
manufacturing business, naturally turn
toward the South as the best field, re-
turning them the surest and largest
dividends on their money. During the
season of 1880-81 the Northern mills
took 1861 ,2O6 bales for consumption
and, in 1882, 1,686,804 bales, an
increase of only Il per cent. against
an increase of 80 per cent in the con-
sumption of the Southern manufac-
tories. Mr.. Gunby Jordan, of Colum-
bus, Ga, predicts there will be an in
crease of As per cent of spindles in the
South during this business year, and
that by it's close we will be consuming
100000 bales of cotton, or nearly one
third of that of the North.
When it is remembered we set about
this work only fifteen years ago, and
are doubling our capacity every two
years, the progress made and being
made is certainly very gratifying.
The time is rapidly approaching
when the cotton made in the South
will be spun and wove in the South.
There is not one fact, theoretical or
logical, standing in the way. We have
the water, the coal and the wood pow
err; we have the cotton; we have the
labor; we have the advantage in freight;
we have the will; and we have demon
strated by dividends of mills now run
ming that they pay better in the South
ern States than located any where else
il the world. Quite recently an Eng
lishman, himself a cotton manufac-
turer, said in a speech before the Dallas
Board of Trade: my country can not
manufacture cotton goods as cheap as
New England, and New England as
cheap as the South. We can not pay
freig ht on the raw material for three
thousand miles and New England for
half that distance, ANDY compete with
you. Both will be obliged eventual
ly to hand this business over to you"
This man was right. By no process
of reasoning can his truths be shaken.
ooh! you havn't got the capital to
build enough mills to secure monop-
oly!" exclaims the chorus. That is
true, but you have, and it is seen in
the figures above, in the fact that the
North has built no new mill of late
years; you can not prevent it's COM
ming here and investment in this very
business. Capital differs from cotton
in that it does not belong to one ex-
elusive climate. It does not hesitate
and die at 1atitudinal, longitudinal nor
at isothermal lines as plants do. 1t is
ever on the alert, looking over the
whole earth seeking points where it
will quickest multiply. 1t has no IA
vorites. 1t loves no man or place
better than another. 1t has no par
TALLY or preference grounded upon
affection, climate, or government, but
quickly leaps through and over all
these if it has the incentive or induce
ment that it can work there to better
advantage.-From Dallas Planter and
Farmer. .
The Gold Certificates.