Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-05-17
Southern Growth.

The PULljc dwells at length on the de-
VeIopment OF manufacturing interests in
the South, In the matter of coarse cotton
goods there seems to be no doubt that the
southern mills are Superseding the East
ern in the Southern and Western market.
ana IL Is only question of time When a
similar condition of things VIII prevail
with respect to the finer class of cotton
goods. The Graniteville mills. in South
Carolina, have just paid dfvi-
dend of II per cent. after paying
interest on debt and all other expenses.
and it is said that the instance
is but one of many of the kind that might
be produced. There is probably not a
cotton mill in the North that can make
anything like such showing this wear.
While many of them have lost money.
The saving of railroad freights and lower
wages are the causes of the difference.
The growth of cotton manufacture in the
south Is surely indicated in these con-
ditiOns.
The PubIjc SAYS:
but this is not an isolated change. 1t
is IN fact but a single incident in the in
dustrlal revolution which has apparently
commenced. Southern iron, for instance.
is already sold in Boston and Providence.
as well as in Cincinnati and Chicago.
Southern lumber begins definitely to take
the place OF Northern for many uses in
Northern markets. Instead of buy
ing from the Northwest most of
the wheat and even some of the
corn consumed, the Southern States
begin to produce some excess for eXDor
tatlon. The advantages of a miider
climate have recently been turned to ac-
count by some considerable wool growers.
who are now sending lambs to Northern
Dutchers and wool to Northern millers.
short hna al,
ed the dlVersiticatiOn of industry which
the system of slave labor so long prevent
ed, and for want of which that section
was so long impoverished and retarded i'm
its development.
There is no mistaking the fact that the
main force Of development in the United
States will be exhibited in the South for
the next quarter OF century at least. An
equallzlng process must 90 on until an
equilibrium is reached, and opportunities
for the investment of capital become no
better IN one section than the other. At
present both Northern and British capitaI
are taking advantage of Southern re-
sources, and this process will in
crease with the extension of
railroads and the improvement
in State and local governments. The
cOaltand IRON deposits in some parts of the
South are in no sense inferior to those of
Pennsylvania, and the mines and furnaces
which are being started are having per-
ceptible effect upon the market. Unless
the iron workers and miners of the North
are quick to extend their organization
throughout the whole country they might
as well stop striking, for the supply of our
coal is altogether too widely distributed
tOlOng permit any one State to control the
product or the prices, and labOrers are not
slow in being produced where they are
wanted.
This southern growth is one to be re-
garded from an unsectiOnal point of view
with profound satisfaction. 1t means
better roads, better agriculture. better
political feeling, and the arrival at con-
dition of things in which the whole coun-
try can move equally forward together.
Hitherto its progress has been One-sded.
The North and the Northwest
have received the main part of
the national impetus until within
a few years. Now change is
going on; the South is taking her Iegiti-
mate place in the Union, and the fact is
being recognized. Senator Edmunds
knew what he was talking about when he
said that fifty years hence st. Louis would
look upon Chicago as baby. In this
development there are also the solutions
of some social problems that are troubling
the South.