The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1889-09-12
MORNING, SEPT. u, 1889.
PROSPERITY OF THE SOUTH.


Gratis annual review of the progress
of the South make most encour-
aging exhibit for the year ended
August 81, 1889. There has been,
it is shown, a steady advance every
where and in every line of business.
There has been no boom, except in
few isolated spots, but there have
been no set-backs, no financial dis
tress, no business depression to stay
the march of Improvement.
The extent of the general advance
since the census year may be Judged
from the fact that the assessed wealth
of the South, Shich was 2,164, 1922
795 in 1880 is now S3,759, O53, 1867,
an increase of 1873 per cent. The
"true valuation" of the South to-day
is estimated at SS,047, S9O,O2S, an
increase of S2,922, SCOOPS, in the
nine years. IN the same period the
debts of the Southern States have
been reduced from S121 ,O66,S9 to
SS9, 1857, 73O. With reduction of
the rate of taxation from 400 to t. %
mills per dollar, the revenues have
grown from S13,2O1 $3.50 to 81, ;
1868, an increase of 60 per cent.
Railroad mileage has grown in the
nine years from 17,S0S, to 1866
miles, with 2,447 more miles under
construction. Cotton mills have. in
crease d from 152, with 542,1 4S
spindles, to $50, with 1,S59,626
spindles. Cotton seed mills show a
still larger development, the increase
having been from 10 in 1880 to 2l4
i'm 1889. The value of the oil pro-
duced in 1880 was S7,690,921 to
day it is SIT, 669.71O. These fig
ures do not simply indicate progress;
they point to the transfer of an i'm
portant branch of manufacturing
industry from the North to the
South.
The statistics of the iron pro-
duction of the South suggest a
like movement. The admission is,
in fact, now general that the North
cannot produce iron as cheaply as
the South, with its exceptional adj
vantages, and that the future home
of the great iron industry of the
country is in Dixie. The product
of pig iron in 1880 was but 212, 1872
tons; this year it is 1,245,595 tons
Figures that signify a great deal.
Related to the production ofiron is
the production of coal, which is now
12,376,5DO tons per annum, against
1868, 574 tons in 1880. The value
of the annual product of minerals of
all kinds was S3,347,445 in 1880;
in 1889 it is S29, 476, 442, an increase
of $50 per cent. The lumber pro-
duct has more than doubled in value,
and the same may be said of the
fruit product. Live stock has in
creased in annual value from $751;
312,254 to 1851 ,52S,731. Agricul-
tural products show growth in
annual value from S611 ,679,O45 to
SS6S, 979, 523- The total addition
to the agricultural, industrial and
mineral wealth of the South last
year was 81 ,631 ,513, 6S6, as against
81, OS9, 366,654 in 1880, showing a
large increase Of productive capacity.
Along with this increase of profits
has been gratifying increase of ex
penditure for schools. In 1880 the
outlay for public schools was
So, las, FOG; in 1889 it is S13, $685.
304, an increase of 1913 per cent.
In every item of the list the per-
centage of growth has been in. adj
vance of the growth of population.
In 1880 the population was S14,-
639,714; in 1889 it is estimated, to
be -, 3O4, 1913. an increase of 1922
per cent.
The South, it will be seen,
is better off as respects material
wealth than for many years past.
Its social, intellectual, moral and
political condition has improved, it
is believed, at an almost equal rate.
The white population, not having
been affected by immigration, is
American still to the backbone, and
is animated by sentiments of devo-
ton to constitutional government
which render the South the conserv-
alive element of the Union. Its
growth in wealth, in culture, in
population and political influence is,
therefore, in the interest of free in
situations, to be desired by the whole
country. s.