Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-08-19
Southern Industries.

doI' CoSStUS M. Gay IN l1tttGStYlSt South.
l am tired of hearing the depfeciating cry
OF WE want Yankee brains and enterprise. !"
We don't want any such thing-we want
Southern brains and enterprise. What the
South wants is common sense and action.
The old ruling class was not, and is not,
more inefficient class than the same strata
In New England. On the contrary, history
shows that when we applied ourselves 70
the thing n hand we excered the North.
we had more good statesmen and orators
taan 10 MnF6h Qug mllitaEy men
we're 81 fgfenlpsf A zaeta
she south wi.n = her faislIsi cities s1d
sparse nopula 91s ak Iaazt equal kas
abroad held superior, 70 the Norfh Il 81 s.
seal deveiopmont they are, and have been.
superiors OF the North. Slavery prevented
manufactures and commerce, and interfered
with common education, and, therefore. was
block to most OF the progress of modern
lizatiOn-mechanic arts, roads, build
ings, ships, and all that. 1t prevented in
ventions and the intelligent use Of the meth
ods already known. 1t warred against econo-
my and self-restraint. But slavery is gone
and gone forever, and the road to progress
lies full and free before US
Ii we take the old slave line as the border
OF the South, we have a larger and better
surface and soil than the North, and also
better climes. We are the place Of the great
world staples, cotton, corn (maize), tobacco
and rice. There are vast fields yet to be
occupied with the sugar cane. The cotton
and all these other staples should reach
their highest preparation for consumption
here. We have all the minerals of the
world.
We have the cline for the best peaches,
apples and cherries, not to speak of the
orange, banana, lemon and the watermelon
and many small fruits. The vine aud silk
culture must succeed here, If anywhere in
America. The South has the best timber:
the wood OF the sunny cline is frmer,
stronger and more varied than in the North
and its growth more rapid. When forestry
becomes an art and culture, as it will, the
South will be the place of its highest sue
cess.
When sorghum and the sugar beet, the
one for stock and the other for sugar, shall
become great staples, and they will in time,
the South will be,the place for their culture
We have also the site for fax and hemn.
and the best wheat and barley.
There is plenty of capital In the South for
all Legitimate purposes. Where comes the
money for our foreign travel, our summer
watering places. our extravaganza in house
hold and personal decoration? We have
enough to begin with, and more will Join us
II need be, as in our new cotton factories.
We should begin with the manufacture Of
such OF our staples as maize, wheat end
oats, In distilling and in grinding-in wool
as well as cotton. We should move slowly:
first crawl, then toddle, then up and away
as the boy and man Let all the takers Of
a city and village and cross roads get to-
gether and "strike out" by forming a Joint
stock company to make horse shoes, hoes,
axes, especially the wooden parts of the
same. For this, the best machinery known
should be used, to save the expenditure of
the labor. Much of this must be imported
import also the skilled men to operate it
at the beginning, Everywhere let one in
telligent man study the surroundings. At
one place hoe helves, sneeds, chisel and
axe handles and all that is best; at another
coal mining, slate, clay and such industries
as are proper; slaves, railroad ties and bar
rels.
l return again to the beet, for 1t must at
some time rival cotton. The beet has not
been success in America, because it has
been grown too far north-the South is the
place. The company should start on
small scale, raise some beets themselves,
engage others, send prudent meH to France
aud other countries to study their ma
chinery and methods, and then enlarge
operations only with successful experience.
l stake my reputation for Judgment on this
industry. Sugar is one of the greatest
luXuries OF life, Is a most agreeble and
WAOACoCA-O
the finest and most healthy climes. It
gives employment to men, women and chill
dren, and the refuse is a most valuable food
for live stock. Who will deserve the graft
tude of all America and the world by max
ing the beet sugar cultivation a success
Northern productions may excel ours In
some things, but they are few. The potato
does best there now under our present cul-
ture, but the South has learned something
about potatoes, and begins to rival them
Some Northern apples now excel ours, but
1t is because vermin do not destroy them.
After long experience, I believe the apple is
best south OF thirty-eight degrees north.
They have beaten us in hay only because we
allowed them TO do so. Their climate
may allow them to excel us in summer
grazing for cows and superiority therefore
in butter and cheese. But the field lies open
for contest, because know that last year,
the driest ever known In Kentucky, the red
clover remained green all through, and there
is no better feed than red clover for cows,
green or cured.
In fishing the North now is ahead of US,
but the South is full Of the finest fish, and
the time is near when they will be utilized.
All our sea coasts are full of fine fish, and II
the carp, the domestic fish," succeeds at
all, It must be In the South. We have but
one thing to contend against, and that is
self-satisfaction.