Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-06-23

1t is expected that by Aug. the Bureau
of Statistics VIII have collected all the
data necessary for the proposed CONNER
cial, industrial and transportation census
of the South. The special agents en-
ployed in this work are forwarding infor-
nation rapidly. and enough has already
been received from them to justify the
statement thar the census will be compre-
/ hensive and valuable.
! one OF the purposes of the census is to
present a comparison between the fnan-
cial, commercial, industrial, educational
and transportational condition Of the
South in 1860 and that of 1896.
1t is, OF course, quite difficult to get all
the Information that is desirable relative
TO the South's material condition in 1860,
but sufficient will be secured, it is said,
to give a very accurate idea of the pro-
gress that has been made in the twenty
six years that have passed since that
time.
The chief of the Bureau of Statistics
states that the reports which have already
been sent tohim indicate that the progress
Of the South has been far more rapid and
substantial than it is generally believed
to be. There is no longer any reason to
doubt, be says. that its development with
in the last few years has been fully
equal to that of any other section of the
Union. New fields of enterprise have
been opened, aud its commercial activity
has attracted attention in all the great
commercial centres of the country. The
progress of the West has been great but
it has not been greater than that of the
South since the South got fairly started on
the road to prosperity.
The chief OF the Bureau of Statistics
says that the returns so far received
relative to the agricultural and mineral
resources of the South are a surprise to
him, and he has no doubt that they will
be to thousands of others who have not
REGARDED the South with much favor.
There is one thing this statistical GEN.
sus will show, which will help to turn the
attention OF capitalists tow ards the South.
1t is that the Southern States have a great
advantage over the Northern and West.
ern States in the matter of labOrers.
Southern laborers are not only strong and
they are contented. All through the
Northern and Western States last spring
commerce and business of all kinds were
Interrupted by discontinued laborers, and
even now, to some extent, the same con-
dition Of affairs exists. The South, as
yet, hardly knows what labor troubles
are. The time may come, of course, when
labor disturbances will affict the South
with their disastrous consequences, but
there is reason to think that it is not close
at hand.
The South, however, knows something
OF political disturbances, and it is proba-
BILE that they are more to be dreaded than
those which grow out of labor questions
During the reconstruction period, and
even up to the Inauguration Of Mr.. Cleve-
land, the prosperity of the South was re-
tarled by troubles directly traceable to
politics. The Southern people struggled
against these troubles heroically, but,
having to contend against the fanaticism
of the North, the power of the Federal
government, and for years against that OF
the State governments, the struggle was
a long one. They finally triumphed, how
ever, and now, being in full possession OF
their political rights, and having turned
their whole attention to the development
of their material resources, their pros
poets for a prosperous future are very
promising.