New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-09-07
SOUTHERN PROGRESS.

The opening of the Northern Pacific Railroad
is directing public attention for the time to the
future of the great Northwest, somewhat to
the disregard of other undovelOped portions OF
the country. Yet an exposition is in progress
in Louisville which marks u new era in the in-
dustrial history of the South, and preparations
are being made for great fair in New-Orleans
to be held next year, the chief feature of which
will doubtless be the cotton display. These
events are significant The development which
the Northwest is having and will have is phe-
nomenal, and the South cannot hope for such
good fortune. Even if its natural advantages
were much greater than they are, the current OF
immigration toward the Pacific sets too strongly
to be turned, and it will not be likely to move
southwark until the best portions of the North
west have been filled Nevertheless the prog
ress of the Southern. and especially the South
western, States in manufactures and in general
prosperity is one of the most interesting in
ciden;s IN the history of the country. In some
respects, and in few favored localities, it may
almost be said to resemble the magical growths
often seen in the far West.
1t is fact not to be overlooked that this do
velopment is seen mainly in the Gulf States.
Capital is seeking investment in all the States,
no doubt, to certain extent, but capitalists
who have gone South on prospecting tours have
come back shaking their heads over the pros
poets of certain portions of it, and it is in some
of the Gulf States and Others allel to them
that the strongest evidences OF commercial
change are given. The New- Orleans Times
Democrat has been subjecting the Governors of
the States stretching from Florida to Texas to
~ ;p+a fhpmp
mediate object u.s. of course, to stimu-
late general interest in next years ex-
position but with all necessary allowance
for this as we'll as for the local pride which
induces each Governor to make as good an s1
hibit as he can for his State, the proof given OF
material progress is such as to leave deep inn
preston.
Georgia, often called the Empire State of the
South, held the Atlanta Exposition as aproof of
its progress, and found it great aid at the
same time. Governor Mcdaniel says there are in
the State at least forty cotton mills of consider
able capacity, besides many smaller ones, run
ming over 800, 600 spindles. Other manufac-
turing industries are largely represented. In
agriculture great advances have been made.
The grain crops have been increased, and
there is a greater diversity of crops. The in
crease in the property assessments of Alabama,
Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Missis-
sippi, Tennessee and Texas within the past
four years has been $494, S36.66S, and fally
one-third Of this. or Sl65, 100000, has been
in Georgia alone. Alabama can set of against
the Western cities that spring up almost in a
night the town of Birmingham, the centre of
the iron and coal district, which eleven years
ago had one house, and now claims 10000 in
habitants. The iron product of the State will
be- it is said, nearly 600 600 tons this year, as
compared with 191 900 in 1Ss0-bat three
years ago. The coal product shows an increase in
the same time from $40, 900 tons to 200, 900
tons. There are twenty cotton mills in the
State, and they pay average dividends Of Is per
cent
The development of Texas, it is we'll known,
has been great. If we are to Judge by the in
crease in property assessment, 1t has been
markable, for this has risen 60 per cent in the
past four years, and the increase is az great as
that of all the other seven States just named
combined. The vast territory and varied re-
sources of this State make its future an inter
esting subject of speculation. Its mineral
wealth is undeveloped, and manufactures have
not been introduced to any great extent, but
wealth. Governor Ireland declares that the |
value of these, including CATTLE wool and um-
Der, for the season just ended must he |
$3.50, 100000. Arkansas, like Texas and Flor |
ida, has doubled its railroad mileage in the past
four years. It's lumber district is being apidly |
developed by Northern capital The census of |
1880 reported 319 sawmlls, turning out 172,- |
10000 feet of lumber annually, but Governor |
Berry says the number OF mills and the rate |
of production have more than quadrupled since |
then, and that the output Is twenty times what |
it was in 1875. Louisiana already had great
commercial city within its borders, and the con-
trast is less marked, perhaps. in her case.
Mississippi. which is backward when compared
with some of the others, still has fourteen
wooden and cotton factories, and Governor
Lowry declares that the capital invested in the |
many manufactures OF all kinds has nearly
doubled in the past five years. The State has
made large appropriations for the encourage
ment Of immigration. In Florida, gigantic
enterprises on foot for redeeming and open
ir vast tracts of land TO agriculture.
This is a new Soutl-which is anxious for i'm
where manufactures are growing,
aud labor is honorable, and business ability is
respected and admired. Every American i.
glad to sec the South prosper. One thing is
necessary to the continuance and increase of
that prosperity-that every Uan there, what
ever his politics. shall have the same rights and
the same freedom of opinion lie would enjoy in
the North.
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A GAIN TO FRANCE.
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