The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1891-06-30


No fact disclosed 10y the census as far IS II
has been made puiic. Is more interesting or
sion,acant than that tho State Of Alabama IL
now a larger producer Of iron orc than Iehn-
svlvania. the Commonwealth which has NM
erto enioved a pre-eminence in this respect"
In other words. Alabama now leads all Oh Tue
States of the Union in the amount OF Don o'o
which it produces, which is tantamo"n' ~
saving that the South has become the iron
producing centre Of the United States.
In 1850 only ten years ago, Alabama was
the seventh State in the production OF IRON
ore the amount which it produced pe'hs
1896 tons IS compared with 2lso'o'o CONS
in Pennsylvania. 10 is not surprising ~ 'no
light Of ths enormous growth IN so snort
time TO find that the South - now pi"u'cins
rs much iron ore rs was produced ~ the
whole country in 1910. These wonderful
strides have been taken in tie course OF
single generation ana with heavy obstiu- TONS
in the way OF competition and traffic rates 20
overcome.
Accepting what has already been accom-
plished as the basis of what may be antici-
patcd. the future would seem to assure Tor the
Southern States such a development OF Its
iron interests as has no parallel IN American
history. The development that has been
going on in the recent past has been phenome-
nal. It will. however, bear only FAINT COM
parison to what will he observed IN the near
future. not only because the mineral resources
of the South are more widely known no"
than ever before butalso because the develop
ment # these resources has reached stage
where il will be carried along at a moro rapid
rate Of progress 10y the impulse OF its own
momentum.
The GREAT Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania,
q Commonwealth tecmng with population ana
possessing enormous wealth, Commonwealth
dotted with thriving cities and villages ana
interlined by net-way of prosperous raA-
roads. lsaInonumenttot the iron orc which has
been dug III such vast quantities from beneath
its surface. Zig iron is the substantial basis
of the plenty which is t. lie observed from
one end Of its territory to the other.
The astonishing changes which the deyel-
opment Of the mineral resources OF Fennsyl-
wanna has marked on the whole face OF the
State are a out to be repeated IN all those sec
tons Of the South which have been blessed
by nature with rich deposits OF ore. The ex-
tent 10 which this ore has been mined so far
Will sink into insignifcance when at the close
Of the present century the statistics OF South
ern iron p oduction for the decade ending
1900 shall be compared with the statistics OF
the census Of 1890.
The twentieth century will as distinctly
illustrate the industrial supremacy OF the
South in the United States as the first SIX de-
cades of the nineteenth illustrated rs poht-
cal Already before the threshold of the
twentieth century has been reached one OF
the Southern States has taken the lead III the
production of iron ore. 1t cannot be very
long. comparatively speaking before every
form Of iron manufacture viii he observed III
the South This may be anticipated with
confidence if the history of Pennsy wanna can
be relied upon a, throwing any light upon the
probable course of industrial events else
where All this signifies that States like
Alabama, Tennessee and Virginia, which
have mineral wealth pract caily inexhaustl-
bic. 1ill become as POI uious and wealthy as
the Keystone State. if not more populous and
wealthy than that magnificent Common
wealth.
The day is not far distant" remarks the
WASHINGTON Post, when the whole country
will be one united and busy Workshop and
when this is accomplished let us hope that
the wish Of our valued contemporary will
be fully realized, namely, that the occupa-
ton of the sectional shrieker will be forever
0Onen