Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1883-09-27
A sOUrHERS BOON.

~
the South, and in a conversation with
him we have obtained some very inter-
estipg points in regard to the growth OF
the Southern States. He thinks that
the Southern and Southwestern States
ale in q boom Of prosperity, the like OF
which that part of the Union never be-
'ore experienced. It is not limited to
one or two States. In his words ''from
The Potomac to the Rio Grande del
Norte the States are dressed in the new
rig Of progress up to the height Of fash
ion, North and West The South
used to depend on king Cotton"
alone. II the king crop failed there was
no other resource. They looked 10 the
North and West for their corn, pork,
bacon, lard, butter, clothing and -four.
They had open shipping ports only
for the expectation Of cotton, and if the
manufacture Of the staple ever entered
into the Southern mind quarter OF
century ago it was only as a vague
dream. The dolce Jar RieRte Of planta-
ton life was content with its semi.eivil-
zed surroundings, and from its long Sc
clusiOn aud love Of seclusiOn never as
pired 10 rivalry with the restless activity
of TIE outside world. All that, like sla-
very and the theory Of State rights and
a separate empire, has passed away;
passed almost out of remembrance, and
certainly beyond recall. West Virginia
snd the Old Dominion, to some extent,
are reaching out after those mining and
manufacturing industries in iron thai
have made Pennsylvania 50 great, and
the resources Of the two Virginias are
not less than those of the Keystone
State in coal and iron. South Carolina
and Georgia have taken on the condi-
ton of varied agriculture, on which Illi-
nois and Ohio prOspered, without in the
lest disseminating their staple Of cotton.
Cotton manufactures are growing in
hese States and Alabama more rapidly
than in any part of New England for
| the good reason that the net profits are
greaterthan in New England. 1t is not a
metaphor to say that New Orleans slept
for twenty years, from 1850 to 1850, al
most as unconscious Of her natural adj
vantages of position and what was going
on in the world as RIP VAN WINKLE
was Of the Oh anges in his native town.
All at once the old Creole city has risen
Cut Of her slumber and put on new
life as vigorous as that Of the most en-
terprising city of the West. Her ex-
Eorts which prior to lSSO were insig-
nificant, last year reached S3S,OOO,OO0
in value, and the estimates of this year
are nearly S5O,OOO,OO0. No doubt the
Improvement Of the navigation of the
liver below the city has contributed
argely to this boom, but the railway
system Of the Southwest, and especially
Of Texas, has contributed more.
And as this system expands and as
the navigation Of the great river alone,
70 the Black Hills on one side and the
Falls Of st, Anthony on the other, is
bettered by contributions from the Fed
eral Government, the growth of the
! commerce OF New Orleans must con-
tlnue to increase till it shall be at least
the second export city on the continent.
Wheat and -four produced west of Hi.
noiS will not 60 to New York, Boston
OF Baltimore by rail when it can reach
New Orleans by water at cheaper rates.
And the cotton of Arkansas, Tennessee,
Mississippi, Louisiana, the Indian Ter
ritory and Texas will, from the railway
facilities afforded, nearly all go to New
Orleans, that does not go to Galveston.
As to Texas, that great State is only be-
ginning to be appreciated at its future
value and capabilities. Larger than
France, it has better soil generally, as
good q climate, is watered by
many rivers and will soon he
as well railroaded as the mos.
thrifty State in the Union. Mar
vellous as was its increase in population
from 1870 to 1850, much more is expect
ed in the present decade. AS good a
judge as General MCCLELLAN, who has
recently visited many parts of the
Texas Panhandle, predicts a popula-
ton Of 100000 for the whole State by
the year 1890, and he declares that it
can prosperously support 20,OOO,0OO
and without crowding. A State like
that is capable Of supporting a CONNER
cial city of the first-class. Already
texas is second only to Georgia in the
production of cotton, and she produces
| more cattle than any other two States.