The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1886-06-19
THE NEW ERA,
A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR THE "SUNNY
SOUTH"


One of the most interesting contri-
buttons to the literature of Southern |
progress has recently appeared in the
shape of a pamphlet from the pen of
Mr.. William l.. Brcyfogle, of Louis
vile, in which he discusses the ne
cessities of the North and the oppor-
tunities of the South, These, he as
serts, "were never so well calculated
or so happily timed to give to each
section immediate and great prosper
ity, necessarily resulting in a cordial
and thorough union of interests and
feelings. The situation in the South
is such as to promise for itself unpre-
cedented development and growth
in wealth, and for the North great
and lasting revival Of all its indus
tries, if only good sense and good feel
ings shall reign, and the causes Of
present depression and disturbance
shall be honestly and fairly sought
for and considered, with a view to the
common good of both sections" The
author then proceeds to argue that
under existing conditions the North
and South must become either allies
or rivals. "If the former, both sec
tions will gain unparalleled prosper
ity. If the latter, then, while the
North must lose much, the South
will gain something, but far less than
if both sections move together He
believes that the South can grow in a
way to build up the North, or it can
grow at the expense Of the North.
Mr.. Breyfogle explains the way in
which the settlement of the vast ma
tional domain in the West has given
great prosperity and activity to the
North during the last thirty years,
while the South has been to a great
extent sidetracked in respect climate
rial development. The opening up
of the prairie, timber and mining re-
gions has excited and employed all
the energies and capital otthc nation,
and the only thing that could arrest
the movement would be the fact that
the Northern States had OutgroWn
their markets, domestic and foreign
Then it would be checked, and the
tide of capital and labor would flow
elsewhere.
The pamphlet reviews tile Western
farrlers loss of contol Of the bread
stutts market and the growth Of In
dian, Egyptian and Australian com
petition, and so ont in much the way
that the SAME matters have been pre-
sented to readers of the TimesDemo
crat in these columns. AS u conse
ouence of the changed conditions
large profit margins have vanished
the heavy demand for material fo
railway extension is replaced by
small one for repair only; competi
ton in foreign markets is coinciden
| with lessened dentand and lower pri
ces at home, and the earning an,
consuming powers of the working
masses are greatly restricted. "Th'
railway system of the North \ il
| finding that instead of having an0th
er great empire to build in the West
it is coming down more and more t'
the work of hauling out diminished
volume of freight for Eastern con
sumption and export y new iiel'
mast be found to engage the none,
and muscle no longer needed in thu
overdeveIoped West. 1t cannot b'
found at onee in foreign commerce
and the only opening is in the South
"The investor in the North who nov
enters this field has the entire wealth
of the North as security that tn
South will be rapidly developed.
Mr.. Breyfogle thinks that a goo'
share of the current depression at tn
North is due to Southern cdmpeti
ton. He refers to the ability of tn
South to sell iron at profit in, AM
below the cost of production in, tn
strongholds of the Northern iron in
terests, and very properly observe
| that this is because the (cOMpara
tively) small flow of Investment tina
has gone into the South so far ha
naturally sought that in which ther
was the quickest and surest out
come.n Hence, the development o
the Southern iron interest has bee1
comparatively greater than the gen
eral growth of the section.
These Brief extracts will serve t
show the line of argument FOLLOWED
in the pamphlet. The conclusions ar
obvious: The direct way to destro
the injurious effect of Southern com
petition, as in the case of the iron in
dustry, is for Northern capital an
enterprise to join heartily in tn
thorough development of the South
thereby building up home deman
sufficient to absorb all of our varie
home productions. What might b
expected from the adoption of such
policy we will leave the author t
state in his own way
"The natural wealth of the South
ern States is very much greater thai
that of the North Taken all in all, |
would probably be within bounds t.
say that it is as two to one. 1t is, IL