The Asheville citizen. [volume] (Asheville, N.C.) 1885-1889, 1886-11-14
OUR NEEDs.


Guy Cyril Advocates Dlyersi
tyofProducftons.
L1gING ExEMPLIFI.
CATTONOF IsTM EENTURYPUsH.
make . market within Ourselves.
During q recent and extensive trip
through. the rich and fertile valley lands
Of Virginia and also into the productive
lands oftke great old 7commonwealth Of
Pennsylvania, was particularIy struck
with the nreat ameunt Of progress and
thrift seen on every hand
Why this progress and development
Because every thing Is made to pay and
q home market created ior the farmer
the artisan and the mechanic.
It is recognized that the South wants
additional population, y evidenced by
tie establishment q pn.- bn=
reads inthe different States, but Why
Except in the utilization of at present
unoccupied land, and certain growth in
the collective wealth of State, no spe.
cial advantage would accrue from an In
crease in the number Of farmers, each
tending to multiply and consequently
cheaper products whose price is low
enough already, and cannot decline
without loss to the agricultural commu-
nifty. The great want of our section, and
for that matter the entire South, is a
population subsisting by other means
than farming. and furnishing the farmer
a market for his products, without COM
peting with him in the business of rails
ing food supplies.
So long as industry is mainly confined
to- raising cotton, tobacco, breadstuffs,
DC, so long will society remain unpro-
gressive, keeping its wants within the
limited range prescribed by the availa-
BILE means of supplying them, but bring
into the country the life and activity
consequent on diversity of occupation,
and while paying market would be es-
tablished for all the farmer might pro-
duce, the country would be infinitely
better supplied with everything minis
tering to the miscellaneous wants of the
people.
The benefit would be twofeld.
With good market and an active de-
mand the farmer would be stimulated to
the use of improved methods to double
~, r, -,,o,,fSE- &c L q. 49, l.,I1Es I =.
their variety, while the additional man.
ufacturing industry, furnishing him witha
home market, would cheaper the cost of
the articles which he can now i'll afford to
purchase,
At present our farmers stand at an inn
measurable disadvantage. The products
OF his farm, his dairy and poultry yard
3 drug where so many individuals are
bringing the same sNaNes to market
are exchanged for commodities obtain
able only from distance, on which
heavy profits and transportation charges
have been paid, 80 that he has the worst
of the bargain in every transaction.
Something is wanted to create COM
petition for what he has to sell and, at
the same time, to destroy monopoly in
the articles that he has to buy. This
change can only be effected by diversi.
flying occupations. 1t has been shown
conclusively that wherever the greatest
variety of employment prevails, there is
the greatest progress, the greatest pros
perity, the greatest value of all kinds of
property, while in the sections where
effort is mainly confined to the cultlva-
ton of the soil, there the land, the crops
and the fixtures are of the least value,
wages are lowest and the people are
yearly reaping the smallest return and
receiving the least encouragement in
their labor.
In the establishment of koroe indus
tries in the South, marvels have been
wrought in recent years, as is evidenced
by the growth of places like Birming-
ham, Roanoke, and our own charming
city of Asheville.
What has been the result of the estab-
lishment of such industries in our own
city? AsheVille of to-day is busy mart
in comparison to Asheville of ten years
ago. The amount of capital invested here
since the 1st of last January amounts to
$648,520, while the expenditures for
building run up in the neighborhood of
$325, 600.
The causes remain the same in the up
building of any town or city,
Asheville begins her growth from the
introduction of the Western N. G. R, R,
and from the earnest efforts put forth by
one of her loyal sons-Col. A. B. An.
drews-whose policy in railroad affairs
has always been formulated with view
to the further progress and development
of Western North Carolinass Her cli-
mate, resources, productive wealth. and
mineral interests are the prime, motors
in her wonderful strides towards pro-
gress and development
Not only do we need large industries
but all the mdltitudfn fno1s ones T6ap pnake
up the busy life of the Northern and
Eastern States. The incoming of thrifty
people to turn the waste landsinto calti-
vated farms is to be welcomed efoF every
community established, creates demand
for all sorts of industrial products, butt
is more than questionable whether the
expenditure incurred by the efforts of
immigration boards would not be equal
ly if not more beneficial, if devoted to
the establishment of native industries.
There is too much supine waiting for
outside help, too much talk ofmines and
fields and water-power inviting the at
tention of orthern and English capital.
Much could be done by association and
joint effort in the South to start enter
prises that should be distinctively South
ern, and whose profits would be Heaped
at home and not by absentees..
Wherever there is q demand for fac
tory of any kind, there should, if possi-
BILE, be combination on the spot to pro-
vide for it; If the project is promising
enough to warrantt the invitation of the
foreign capitalists. it must be good in
vestment for our home population, and
will benefit all alike.
Granted that there are millions oi
acres that might be cultivated with the
incoming of strangers and the aggregate