The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1890-03-20
ADDRESS OF W. II. HENRY.
Delivered at the Opening EX-
CrciseS o. WEI. II. :. iturgwyn
& Co.'S Plug Tobacco Factory,
Wednesday,, March 9Th, 1890.

In orr report ofthe opening exercise:
/ of Col. Burgwyn's plug tobacco factory
last week. we could not Of course give
more than a passing reference to tht
addresses made: but as we believe tht
spirit and tone that charteriZed tht
utterances of the speakers will have {
wholesome effect in crystalizing arc
/ intensifyin9 public interest on the sub
ject Of industrial! enterprise and de
! yelopment. we shall from time to time
! Law before our readers the remarks il
full of some of the gentlemen. as takel
down by stenographer at the time
! We publish to-day the address of Mr.
W. r. Henry who was invited by Col
Burgwyn to speak on behalf of the town
"a compliment which was duly appre-
ciated no doubt and pleasant duty
which those who heard him acknowl.
edge was well performed. Mr.. Henry
said:
INTRODUCTION.
| Mr.. Char man, Ladies and Gentlemen
The formal opening of this grand
Temple of Industry suggests and de-
mands a much more elaborate presen-
tation Of the vast value of manufacro-
ries to any State or community than |
am prepared to make Or that the pres
ent happy hour will permit.
/ come before you in obedience to
| an invitation to make "a few remarks
on this occasion. and [ gladly avail
for a brief period, this brilliant and in
telligent audience adorned with beauty.
and made the more interesting by rea-
son of the distinguished gentlemen who
are here to-day to testify their interest
i'll this important step which Henderson
and North Carolina, through the en-
terprise of Col. W. II. S. Burgwyn are
about to take on the highway fProgress.
My Friends, eagerly seize this OPP
perfume moment to express my intense
longing to see the time come when the
blue dome that stretches in Italian
likc-loveliness above our God-blessed
Southland, shall be wreathed and yelled
like a bride, with the curling smoke of
ten thousand factories. and all our
sparkling streams made musical with
the hum of machinery and the song of
the spindle.
THE SOUTH MUST HAVE MANUFAC-
TORIES.
Why is there an imperative demand
for manufactures in the South Be
cause while cotton is our chief staple,
our greatest agricultural reliance. Got
ton is no longer King" If any one
doubts this statement he must beutterly
ignorant of existing conditions.
Cotton is no longer King but Cotton
and Tobacco united with manufactures |
would make the South Queen among
The nations of the earth.
Previous to the war and up to the !
line of the emancipation of the slaves,
lotion was undoubtedly King of all az
icles, whether of the forest. the field
II the loom
Reference to statistics will show this
o be true.
North and West amounted to $40, 600.
100 while those of the South amounted
o $193, 200, 900 of which s161 900. 900
7ere due to cotton, giving balance
4 favor of the South of S14S. 0OO. 900.
'or was the reign of cotton confined to
ur country. 1t extended beyond the
ca. And why? Because England
-1S and IS napaCSnri1y- I
ountry. She had to have cotton. She |
ould not procure it in sufficient quanti- {
es from India. She had endeavored S
| vain to raise her own cotton in the {
asst Indies. Africa and the West =
ldles. Brazil was exporting but lit t
e. She thus found herself dependent
pom the cotton crops of the Southern i
5ates, land in order to show the vast in h
lence OF Southern cotton at that time, t
quote from the London Economist of S
lat date, which said: LET any great e
cial or physical CONFUSION visit the a
nlted States, and England would feel /
e shock from Lands End to John t
'Groats. The lives Of nearly two fl
illions of our countrymen are depend I
It upon the cotton crop of the South G
II planters. Let any calamity befall f
at land of cotton, and thousand of e
r merchant ships would rot idly in
thousand mills must stop W
cir busy looms. and two thousand. 81
ousand men would starve for lack of Il
ead.'' 81
n quarter of a century has passed CT
ray. Southern cotton has no longer \
e monopoly in the British market. c;
India, Brazil, the West Indies. Africa il
d the East Indies and the isles of the D;
l, are all engaged in the cultivation
d transportation of cotton to Eng o,
Id. Slave labor being abolished, we cl
lnot now make cotton at mere nomi- {"
cost and receive for it from sixteen Fl
forty cents in gold-but we make it
great cost and are alloped for it from r.
he to eleven cents per pound. CO
IN 1858 England consumed 931 .OOO,- g,
pounds of cotton. and of that FL
cunt the South furnished 734 .OOO.- HI
}. England the erstwhile slave to ~,
Southern Cotton King. has now "
de that King her slave as is annual &c
hown by the iniquitous performances
he Liverpool Cotton Exchange. H,
II addition to all this. the people of
nth Carolina.and indeed of the whole
18th. seem possessed with a mania in III
heir persistency to produce cotton an
he exclusion of the necessaries of -;
They have carried this policy to ~;
llamitous extent.
heir meat houses are for the most ~,
t III Illinois. their corn cribs in G.
o. their wheat granaries in Indi co.
and on the plains of Colorado. their = )
les in New York and New Jersey, 80,
almost every article Of clothing. IN;
~ agricultural implement and me- 70
meal tool is manufactured in the - y;
til. II
'HANGE MUST BE MADE-MANI-- ba'
FACTORIES THE HOPE OF THE ism
SOUTH. Go
hese things being true it must be che
aren't TO any thinking man that |
ething must be done in the South and
rder TO save her from starvation eiol