Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1882-01-23

AANA WV iANretAN ""hN es-s w
alterations are going on. Mr. Beok
arrives at precisely the opposite con
clusion, and believes the one hope o.
n tariff for revenue viii lilo IN ths
indifference that the various manuiac'
turing interests will have 10 every
other industry except their owl, anc
thus, by the conflict and antagoniEinE
Of lobbyists, the present Congress car
take enough from Peter 10 satisfy
Paul, and then cut Paul of very shorl
on the final vote. That the wool mel
will not care very much what is done
with cotton, or the paper men how il
goes with silk, or tho steel men what
is cut from wines and liquors, or the
chemists how it fares with sugars, has
often been proved. Both Senators
start from the one point Of opposing
protection, per SO. Yet they scarcely
give full force tothe new position that
their own section-the new South-is
taking in Industrial matters.
The Atlanta Exposition and the
last census have quite a new story to
tell, which must break down the old
theory that Southern interests are ex-
clusively welded to free trade. The
South is becoming a manufacturer on
its own account, and any one who saw
the cotton exhibition must realize the
fact The cotton growers Of the coun
try have already taken the FIRST steps
that show faith in protection, and
by it. ea
In the matter of cheap cotton ia
brics, which Northern free traders arc
SO anxious to enter free or with greatly
cut down duties, it will be quite
against Atlanta's warnings to follow
this lead, as the South has begun to
manufacture this class Of cottons with
good paying results. She has only
about 600, 900 spindles as yet, but some
of the mills are said to pay profits of
from one to twenty-five per cent on
the capital invested. 1t is easy to
see why this can be. They are on
the ground, ahead of all competitors.
This saves baling, and freight, and
insurance, and SO it is no wonder
the profits are large. In addition.
the moist climate Of the South is
said to be highly favorable to the
manufacture. Just as the lace man
ufacture OF Brussels is carried out
best and finest in the cellars Of that
city, 40 atmosphere and relative
warmth and humidity have consid
cradle to do with making cotton
goods.
The moro hands at work in South
ern mills and taken from the fields,
the better the market for Mr., Beck's
agricultural constituents. This is one
point that forever escapes the doctrin
aires who have the farmers interests
so exclusively at hearth 1t is, without
dispute, that provision dealers and
market farmers near manufacturing
centers flourish exceedingly. Ii the
farmer, according to the false reason
ing of free trade, should have to pay
more for his working coat (which no
does mott because mechanics and arti
sans have good wages under protec-
tive tariff, he gets it all back, and
more than back, in their market
money. The South, in spite Of pos
sessing some of the best grazing lands
in the world, has overlooked the profit
from dairies and short horns. SO long
as the bluegrass region OF Kentucky
bred fine racers for tho turf that splen.
did country was not held to be of so
much importance as since the Butter
and Cheese Conventions held 10 the
North showed profits of millions Of
dollars in this industry. But the fac
tory chimneys in one State or belt of
States point directly to home consump.
tion. and home raising of better food
staples. There is more call for Della
ware canned peaches, tomatoes and
oysters, when the wages Of mill hands
are spent at the village stores. than
where the cotton grower is alone and
gets his next crop mortgaged for ba-
con, lard and cornmeal to live on In
the intervening time.
But what has this new boom" in
the South to do with iron, steel or
metal work. Why should not the
cotton mill owners. who are protected
by the same duties that protect their
Northern colleagues, and without
which they might not have been able
to get well on their legs-why should
these not cry aloud for free trade" in
all the metal work they want TO buy?
Why should they not act on the be-
nignant principle of every man for
HIMSELF The answer is at their doors,
and has spoken already with such en-
phasis as to open the eyes Of Senator
Voorhees, Ii is because the develop
ment now rapidly going on Of the vast
metalliferOus resources Of the South
needs such encouragement as only a
discriminating tariff can give. Look
at Alabama's enormous stride in iron
between 1870 and 1880, her yield oil
half million tons in 1880 being 792
per cent advance in quantity in the
decade. Georgia's 265 per sent ad.
vance in the same time enforces the
same answer. Where would these
Southern yields have been-could they
have been possible-under free
trade tariff legislation? The every
man for himself principle will nc
longer work in the South for othel
reasons, and these come from thu
sugar producers Of Louisisna and thu
wool growers Of Texas, These asl
protection just as other industries d.
in other parts of tho country; anC
they get it by the help Of the Con
gressional Representatives Of the othe
industrial States. a discriminating
tariff is now indispensable to the South
and some at least of her Statesmen
recognize this to the extent of redis
covering in their country in the nea
future a rich and fourishing America
oh, Isn't She a Beauty
She is the generalization of al