Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-05-15
The sou,b,s Industrial Future

The recuperation Of the South from The
waste of war and the evil effects of bad
government during the reconstruction
epoch has astonished the world, but the
development of her RESOURCES has latterly
assumed proportions that attract con-
slant attention without her borders.
That a great future awaits our people Is
manifest, and with the continued diyersi-
fication of their industries. their progress
will become the more marked. The New
York Public recentlys drew attention to
the subject of Southern progress, and
fatty declared that the cotton manufac-
turers Of this section can, and
do undersell the best Northern mills
in Western markets. 1t is inclined TO
think .that. as the Southern manufac-
lures become more developed, so that en-
plOyers acquire the capital and machinery,
and the laborers the skill for the manufac-
ture of finer goods, the margin of adYan-
tage i'm the lower cost of transportation
will become wider and more effective, and
one cannot now set the limits beyond
which Southern spinners may not be able
hereafter to compete with Northern"
But il is not only in cotton manutac-
turing that the South has progressed, and
the Public recognizes this fact, and goes
on to say:
But this is not an isolated change. 1t
is i'm fact but a single incident in the in
dustrial revolution which has apparently
| commenced. Southern iron, for instance,
/ is already sold i'm Boston and Providence,
as well as i'm Cincinnati and Chicago.
Southern lumber begins definitely to
| take the place of Northern for many
uses in Northern markets. Instead
of buying from the Northwest
most of the wheat and even
some of the corn consumed. the Southern
1 states begin to produce some excess for
/ expectation. The advantages ola milder
| climate have recently been tnrned TO ac-
! count by some considerable wOOl-grow-
/ ers. who are now sending lambs TO North
I ern butchers and wool to Northern mil
/ lers. In short the South has clearly COM
menced that diversification of industry
which the system of slave-labOr so long
/ prevented, and for want Of which that
| section was so long impoverished and re-
| taried in lis Development.
! The fact is that when it becomes gener-
/ ally known. as it soon will be, that cot
| ton. iron and other manufactures can be
| conducted more cheaply in the South than
ia many portions of the North the capital
| to conduct such enterprises will come
! here. several of our Southern contempt
! raries allow themselves to be persuaded
/ that the South needs protection in order
to build up her industries, but to demand
! it is to fly in the face of facts. With
/ the support removed that the tariff affords
/ Northern manufacturers they would
| be compelled to remove to this section.
| The South gets protection bat she does
not need it, since the advantages she pos
sesses over the North are Independent of
/ legislation. The North has reaped the
| benefit of legislation for twenty years,
and the rest of the country has
been unfairly taxed for its support
| With a schedule of import duties equi-
| tably arranged the force Of Southern COM
| petition would be felt far more than it is
or can be under such system as that
which the present tariff fastens upon the
| npODlp