The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-12-20
THE SOUTH'S REDEMPTION
Her Remarkable Industrial and Agri-
cultural Development Since the War.
A Rise from Poverty to Prosperity Unequaled
in the History of Conquered Peoples
What Northern Capital Has Done.

BALTIMORE, Dec. 19.-Mr. r. III. Edmonds,
the editor of the Manufacturer Record,
contributes to this weeks issue of that
Journal. under the title of The South's
Redemption-From Poverty to Prosperity
The most elaborate review ever published
of the industrial history of the South, the
occasion for it being the issuing of a special
edition. a copy of which will be sent to
every clearinghouse in the United States
to show what the South has accomplished
and what are its prospects. Opening his
review with the statement of Hon. VIM.
ID. Kelley that THE South is the
coming IL Dorado of American
adventure Mr.. Edmonds briefly
refers to the combination sof advantages
possessed by the South in climate. soil, min
sral and timber wealth: in rivers. large and
small. in an abundant rainfall, ETC., and
says: with the rapid progress now being
made in the development of all these re-
sources, the South Is entering upon a period
of prosperity greater than any part of this
country has ever yet enjoyed. The condi-
tons for this are far more favorable than
IN the West during the period Of the most
rapid growth of that region. and this pros
perlty, being free from fictitious imitation,
VIII be permanent"
Blessed with such marvellous advantages,
what has the South accOmplishedf is a
question which the world has a right to
ask. IL is needless TO enter into any discus
sion OF the reasons why the South did not
undergo industrial development prior to
the war. Her people preferred to give their
attention 20 agriculture. But 1T may be
well to call attention to the fact that when
the census of 1860 was taken the South
ranke very high In wealth, as compared
with the rest OF the country. showing that
she was not slothful in the business of
mOney-making.
The losses entailed npon the South by the
war are estimated at over 5000 .O00. 900. or
double the total amount of capital invested
1880.
At the close of the most disastrous war in
the worlds history. the South was in a de-
plorable condition. Its business interests
had been destroyed: for four years it had
been drained of everything that could help
to maintain its armies; it had been tho
battle-ground of millions of men: its cities
and its towns were in many places in ruins;
Its helds devastated and its fences de-
stroyed. Blackened chimneys marked the
sites where thousands OF fine dwellings had
stood; its foremost men had been killed by
the tens OF thousands. and SO gloomy was
the outlook when the war ended that hun
dreds OF thousands of the young and Wig
1rous men aid boys that were growing up
left during the next few years for the West
and Southwest. and for the North.
Ia 1860 the assessed value of property in
Georgia was greater, than the combined
wealth Of Maine. New Hampshire, Vermont
and Rhode Island. South Carolina was
s6S, OO0. 900 richer than Rhode Island and
New Jersey. Mississippi outranked Con-
Decticut by S160, CO., 600. In the assessed
value of property per capita. Connecticut
stood first in rank; Rhode Island, second;
80 N~.4Ie-. &l.-1. As--..-. --sL
Massachusetts, fifth; Louisiana. sixth;
Georgia. seventh; District of Columbia.
eighth; Florida, ninth: Kentucky, tenth;
Alabama. eleventh; Texas, twelfth: New
Jersey. thirteenth; Maryland. fourteenth;
Arkansas. fifteenth; Virginia, sixteenth, and
Ohio seventeenth. New York and Pennsyl-
vaDia Were also far behind the South in
the amount of wealth In proportion to pop
ulat1on, the former state ranking twenty
secoad and the latter thirtieth. BY 1870
there was u startling change. The
assessed value of property in New York
and Pennsylvania alone was greater than
the whole South; Massachusetts, had just
one-half as much wealth as the fourteen
which in 1860 had been third in rank in
wealth in proportion to the number of her
inhabitants, had dropped to be the Thrift
eth; Georgia, from the seventh TO the thirty
ninth. Mississippi. from the fourth place to
the thirty-fourth; Alabama. from rhe elev-
enth to the forty-fourth; Kentucky, from
tenth to twenty eighth, and the other
Southern States had gone down in the same
way. while the Northern and Western
States had steadily increased in wealth.
In 1850 the assessed value of property in
south Carolina. according to the census.
was $3.50. 000. 600. while the combined values
in Rhode Island and New Jersey aggre-
gated s42i. 100000. or SIS. 0O0.0O0 less than
values in Rhode Island and New Jersey
amounted To $685., 000, 900. aud the value in
South Carolina was SIS. 000. 900. Thus.
while South Carolina had S6s. 900. 900 more
ssstss, Il RRl aa in gs7 70 s 1855 'o soa GOO ' isss t fMo
they had. In 1860 the total assessed value
of property in the United States was Sl2,-
OO0,0 600, 900. and of this the South had s.. 200
100000. or Al per cent; in 1870 the total for
the South had only 5000. 900. 900. or % per
cent.
In 1880 the South had commenced to re-
gain its position of 1850, and its progress
during the last nine years has been the
000,000 have been drawn to the South to
pay for cotton, and the value of cotton ex-
ported to Europe during that period has
been IS. 100. 100000. Heretofore the bulk of
money received for cotton has gone North
and West TO pay for home and farm sup
plies. but now the South IL raising it's own
corn and bacon. and largely produces the
manufactured goods required for home con-
sumption. In this change there is a rev0lu-
ton In the currents of business. Added to
the one or two hundred million dollars of
cotton money that have for twenty-five
years annually gone North, but which will
now remain in the South. will be an equal
or possibly a greater amount brought to
the South to pay for the iron, the lumber
and the cotton goods that are now being
shipped North. the millions that will come
TO pay for mineral and timber lands, the
$50, 600, 900 or more hat is now paid for
early vegetables and fruits. and the great
aggregate. reaching probably already S25.-
100000 spent by. winter visitors who come
South TO enjoy its climate
The agricultural advancement has been
almost as marked as the industrial. In
1919 the value of the South's agricultural
products was ssh, 100000: IN 1855 it was
fs5e. 900. 00n. and in 1889 it Will be about
S50,0O0.cO0. In 1879 the South produced
fSl.OO0,Oo0 bushels of grain, and in 1888
6S2:OOO.O0O bushels, and the yield for 1880
will probably show ESQ. 000, coo to 615. 600, 900
bushels The percentage of increase in
grain production in the South was larger
than In the West In 1879 the value of the
live stock in the South was 1891, 400, goo, and
in 1889 1868, 10000.
In 1850 the South had 90 national banks,
with a capital of S45. 5g7. 600. and in 1881 it
has 472 national banks, and their capital is
k76.f54,0M.
The increase in the number of national
banks since 1879 has been abont Is per cent.
IN the North, 81 per cent. in the West and
1l3 per cent. in the South, while the in
crease in capital stock was nearly 4 per
cent IN the North, % per cent. in the West
and 90 per cent. in the South during the
same period.