Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1886-12-31
CITIES FOR THE BEST REALTY
VALUES.

A gentleman from the f1ourishing young
pig iron city Of Birming cham, Ala, recent
~ made the remark to gentleman of
Wichita that that city could produce pig
iron cheaper and in far greater quantity
than it could be produced elsewhere in the
United States, if not in the world, and
that hence tie place promised to become a
very large manufacturing city. He reason
ed that real estate promised, in conse-
quence, to be more valuable presently and
permanently than it did in cities like
Wichita and Omaha or Kansas City. This
reasoning is founded upon error from the
following facts:
Birmingham, whilst possessing great
abundance of iron ore, possesses also a
very valuable adjunct to cheap production
in her great abundance of the most ignor-
ant and pliable labor to be found in
America 1t is in the very heart Of the
late Gulf slave states, and also in close
proximity to vast coal field. Those ad-
yantages are very greatly in favor of Biz
mineham for the immediate present no
doubt. But the white laborers Of the north
and cast already feel the effects
of competition with the poor paid
and easily controlled laborers of the
south. They have organized enor-
nous guilds like the powerful order of the
K. of L. These guilds have made more
rapid strides in prosyliting and organizing
the southern blacks than has ever been
made before by all previous attempts. 1t
will consequently be very short time
when the prices for iron pudding around
the furnaces about Birmingham and Chat
tanooga will be regulated by those prices
prevailing about Pittsburg and Wheeling.
1t will then be found that the experts and
capitalists of Pittsburg, and other cities
now well equipped with great manufac
turing plants, will both be content TO take
the raw product from their black ally with |
out going to Birmingham and Chattanooga
bag and baggage to educate him for further
and closer competition. 1t will then be
found that both Chattanooga and Birming-
ham will be able to put out vast deal of
the raw pig and cinder manufactures with
population of 80, 900 to so, 900.
Besides, the iron and coal is so generally
scattered through that region that there
will be more of large district of pudding
towns than large pudding city. This
will be the day of lcveling up.
In cities devoted to manufactures
alone, real estate generally gets
a fixed value, controlled cxclu-
sively by its present uses. The large
numbers of wage workers constantly get
ting monied pay, are induced by the great
proprietors for selfish purposes to buy little
homes and become rooted in the soil The
land is thus anxiously sold to then at low
prices Those who get dissatisfied, and
their name is legion. are the ones who sell
out to their fellow workers. Such sales
are generally made for the original cost for
cash or or long time A city devoted TO
manufactures alone acquires a fixed and
squalid status where one day is the picture
of every ether But with a city devoted to
general commerce and a variety Of manu-
featuring, surrounded 10y vast extent Of
rich agricultural lands. the case is quite
different. The populations are so diversi-
fed in their callings that the energy, push
ard varying fortunes of one element checks
the evil tendencies Of the other. If "A fac i
tory hand wishes to sell lis property lie
does not have to depend solely upon his
brother craftsman TO buy his property, but
throws it upon general and live market
governed by more influences than his guild.
The difference is that cities of the latter
class are ever progressive in tie greatest ,
variety of ways, wealth and growth; whilst
those of the former class acquire a fixed
status and ever after attract little or no nc ;
lice aside from that special feature. 5
Hence it follows that a person seeking a
present or permanent investment in real es-
tate, may safely go TO p thriving young .
city stu ated in rich and tributary agri-
cultural region wit bout rivals, OR to one Of I
like character already far on the road to ,,
But there are few capitalists ,
great or small who are seeking PiitSburg {
Wheeling or Lowell, fer investments III {
real estate. Simply because they practi-
cally have no market. Their realty values !
ire as fixed, with rare exceptions, rs the i
figures on the beam of Il pair of scales