Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-09-18
WHAT NORTM CAROLINA WANTS.
"Tar-IIecI- Visits Virginia and IL
Struck with Her Industry.

GREENSBORO, September ii, 1886.
To the Editor of the Dispatch:
A few weeks ago had occasion to
make tour through the State Of Vir-
ginia. l could but notice the spirit of
industry and push that pervaded your
atmosphere as contrasted with the State
of things in North Carolina. | have al
ways heard North Carolina called the
L" Rip Van Wrinkle State" and fear it
is true she has chronic case Of Rip
Van Winkleism. 1t seems to me there
is q remedy for this, and revolution
in some respects would work wonders.
The first place / struck in Virginia
was Danville. l was in Danville about
three years ago, aud | was sstonished
at the proportions that city has assumed
since that time. The increase in size
of the place, the number Of people, and
the amount Of business done are all
incredible. The principle business To-
calities Of the city present scenes which
no city in North Carolina can Guido for
liyeliness and interest. The place has
sprung up, as if by magic, FROM small
railroad station to one Of the leading
cities in the South and behind all this
there is q grand secret, and IL North
Carolina could to-day feel the power Of
that mighty force that is doing the work
for Danville and that is driving the
engines of civilization all over the
world, she would not be long in shaking
of the dusty mantle Of "Trip Van
Winkle." And what is it? Manu-
fscture. The secret of Yankee SUI
periority over the South is because the
North is essentially a manufacturing
region, and the secret Of North Carolina
conservatism as compared with the
other southern States is because Of her
lack of manufacture. North Carolina
is an agricultural State, and as such is
a non.prcgressive State. Agriculture is
a good thing, but it certainly doesn't
build cities nor make fortunes, and IL
is proverbial fact that farmers live
and die poor. 1t is an employment
that has no expansive and improving
tendencies, and a man is no better of
after farming twenty years than he was
ct first. 1t need not be argued that
farmers are absolutely necessary to the
support of the land, for while this is true
to an extent, there are hundreds of
farmers all over North Carolina who only
farm for living and contribute nothing
to the market. These men otherwise
employed would make q better living
and at the same time their labors would
be employed in cooperative system
that would build up the country in
which they live. Manufacture will do
this and agriculture will not. 1t is
Danville's tobacco-factories that have
epgeDdered and perpetuated the teeming
interests in that city, and that to-day
cause every energy to stand on tip-toe
with the irresistible pulses Of their on
ward drive. This is not only true of
Danville, but the cities Of Richmond
and Lynchburg, which / also visited,
present pictures which are not to be
seen in North Carolina. Here we are
greeted with o melancholy contrast
when comparing the capital Of Virginia
with the capital OF North Carolina. The
one a vast metropolis where the cease
less vibrations Of vital force send the
life-blood coursing in every direction, the
other q staid and settled town, which
seems to have attained the maturity Of
its growth and stopped-where the roar
Of machinery is not heard, and the life
giving pulsations Of manufacture are
not felt. The one is a manufacturing
emporium and the other is not, and the
difference Of result is not to be esti-
mated. Where to-day in the State Of
North Carolina is there to be found
such journal as the Richmond DIS.
patch, both for the character of its COM
position, and the extent Of its popularity
and circulation? And yet the expla-
nation for this is easy. Virginia, as q
manufacturing State, is live and pro-
gressiye State. The people imbibing
the contsgioD, there is feeling Of re-
ciprocal terestgenerated. Everybody
wants to know about everybody else.
They are not satisfied to exist wholly
within the compass of their own limited
sphere of existence, but, coexistent
with that spirit Of thrift and interest
which is created by manufacture, there
is desire for intelligence and a wish to
be posted with the world and its doings.
In the midst Of such circumstances
good newspapers will be appreciated.
The city of Lynchburg is . reflex Of
that same hustle and activity to be
met in Danvills and Richmond. With
its countless factories, frowning down
from every hill, its buzz Of machinery
in every quarter, its chatter, clstter Of
hurryipg streetcars and eager men, it
tells its own unnistskable story Of the
secret Of success and manufactures
will do this for North Carolina.
TAR.HPET.