Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-11-13

has an area OF $4,000 square miles, and
500 miles more OF steamboat navigation
than any other State in the Union. la
mineral wealth she is unequaled, and in
her forest wealth unsurpassed by any
other State. Her capacity for corn, wheat
Gin northern portion and fruits she Is UNI
rivaled. She rasies more cotton per acre
than any other state, and she and Texas
have produced one third Of the whole
cotton crop during the past five years
And yet, Arkansas had but fifteen people
to the square mile in 1880, When that
State and the adjacent ones, and the Ter
rltories, shall have as many souls per
square mile as Ono had in 1880 (7S), who
can estimate the amount and value Of the
varied products which will cross the
Mississippi at Memphis on their way TO
an Atlantic marketp
THE CURRENTS OF COMMERCE. CHANGED.
Railroads have greatly changed the
currents Of commerce in this valley.
Fifty years ago every thing fioated down
the river TO New Orleans as an ocean out
let. Now there are two or three iron
rivers for every river of water. Last year
at st. Louis seven tons of freight passed
over the st. Louis bridge where one passed
under the bridge, Let our Southern cities
urge upon Congress the great Importance
OF improving their harbors. 1t is meas
ure AS just TO growing commerce as IL
is 10 the cities themselves; and as the
country increases in thrifty and ener-
getic population which will develop its
wonderful and varied resources, the ne
cessity Of such harbor improvements will
annually become more and more urgent.
In conclusion, let me ask your serious
consideration of table .. The strange
but very ominous fact stares us IN the
face that the three leading cotton States
OF the South--GeOrgia, Alabama and Mis-
sissippi-with nearly twice as many
people In 1880 as in 1860, and with more
work stock, did not have any more cattle
in 1880 than they had 30 years before, that
they did not have two-thirds as many
hogs in 1880 as they had In 1860, that they
did not produce two-thirds as much corn
in 1880 as in 1860, that they produced but
little more than half as many sweet
potatoes in 1880 as they did in 1860, and
Just the same quantity OF cotton.
All this too, with the advantages of inn
proved agricultural implements and ma
chinery and fertilizers.
The lesson taught by this is that there
is some fundamental defect in our labor.
am aware that matters are improving
since 1880, but that improvement will be
found, on examination, to be due to the
increase of t0hite labor.
Fly the year 1900 all the trained negro
labor of 1850 and 1860 will have passed
away, aud no sane man need be told that
this labor now taking its place is becom-
ing more and more unreliable every year.
Ever since the late civil war was ended |
have anxlously looked for an influx OF that
industrious, energetic, intelligent, thrifty
population from Norway, Sweden, Den
mark, Germany and France, which has so
yitalized the States north OF the old Ma
aOn and DixOn,9 line With auph "a gfrpam
pouring down upon us, either from Europe
or from their descendants In the North,
the South would soon become the garden
agricultural region of the world.
Until we have an abundance Of such
a population the resources OF this section
OF the Union will never be developed.
Respectfully, J. T. TREzEvANT.