The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-05-25
PROGRESS OF THE SOUTH.
HEK coMmERcIAL md FINANcIAL
Advancement Discussed by Mr.. j. skeltoh
Williams, of Richmond-The Negro
Problem the only Stumbling Block.


Skelton Williams OF Richmond Va. here
to-day before tho Commercial Club Of this
city.
Following is a synopsis of the address
which WAS listened TO with profound interest
and literally epplauded.
Mr.. Williams began with eulogy Of the
old South and is civilization which had given
| the country many Of It's greatest men. uLheI
/ the domination Of which our Government hAh
been formed and our people had risen ~
/ strength, prosperity and power. Tho bhsis "a
/ that civilization. be SAID WAS the basis OF ~
credit. character and high and Jealous regard
F for personal honor.
/ This had been illustrated by tie care with
/ which the Southern States had protected the
interests OF their creditors. Ii0 gave tls
figures Of the debts OF these States al the be-
ginning of tho war and showed that the If'g
effort # their people amid all the ruin ara
/ dangers following had been 10 inaiutoin iheH
credit by Just settlements. H8 raWiy
sbctched the means by which the debts weIe
/ 40 enormously swollen during the reconstlu'-
ton period and urged that tie adjustments
made were lar more generous than were I'd
have been expected especially as the people
had the power OF reputation and O someWlAs
/ decent excuse for 10.
surprising fact brought ont was that un-
der the recent agreement with her creditors llo
State Of Virginia will have paid practically me
face of her whole debt with interest az tfo
per cent She has paid on her debt since
1861 more than So 100000 and the ohly
part of which she has been rehefei
is West AirCinia's one-third ana th7
compound interest. The cases OF South
Carolina. Arkansas Georgia, LOUISIANA
Alabama and Tennessee were also reviewed
Mr Williams compared the settlements
made bv the southern States with those mace
with creditors 80 various times by Al"h,
England. Russia Italy aud Turkey and hy
PENNSYLVANIA aud several Western states
much 10 the advantage OF the south.
lie then spoke of the credit oi Southein
cites and of the rapid decline IA the rates ~
interest they pay. Cities which few years
AGO borrowed 10 l0 per cent. nov ana eager
buyers for their j5 at par. NO southern
cities had ever resOrted 10 tie wholesale To-
pudiauon of Obligations such es had ueen
made by Western cities after the panic oi
1851 He bad seen list OF the deiaulted se-
/ cuuties of sixteen cities counties Hnd ioWL-
ships ~ the State of Illinois alone.
The taxable property per capita OF thirty
FIVE principal Southern cites lu 1880 had lu-
creased 20 per cent over ls,0. while the ih-
debtelness per capita IN tho same time shows
/ an average decrease of over ~ per cent. lef
capita The average debt per capita of these
cities In 1870 was si2 against an average of
go for New York. Boston. Plttsburg Cine
ciunaI Jersey City. Providence and ot
LOUIS. and an average of -l20 tor Antwerp
Brussels Liverpool. Manchester and Iarls.
The address contained some very surpris
ing information regarding comparative real
estate mortgage indebtedness ia the south
and West he compared Illinois, Iowa and
Kansas with tennessee and Alabama as iOl-
lows.
tennessee Total assessed values. s3,2 0O0-
600. mortgage debts. S30.Oo0,O00.
Kansas Assessed values, -Jf8, 900, 600; mort
oaue debts @y43 NUl. 600.
Iowa Assessed values, s47s. .00l 000 mort
gage debts 900. 900 600.
illinois Assessed values, ss0s, 600. .O00 mort
gage debts, @3sl 10000.
Alabama Assessed values S2j7. 900. 900.
mortgage debts V3yO00 COO.
The per capita mortgage debt in these
States ranges from $40 lu Kansas % -lOJ in
illinois. -lOi IN iowa, so in Alabama and
ez3 In tennessee.
The southern mortgages are shorter and
the total interest per aunum paid 0u mort-
ga-os lu tennessee ls Oue-tcutA of that ual
IN Illinois. oue-sXth of that in Iowa
Except in State debts tie Southern States
show smaller indebtedness in proportion G.
valuation and per capita than ans other States
of tie Mon. iu all the southern states eS-
cept Texas there was marked decrease iu
county deu O. from l-eO % 1880. The county
deUts OF Illinois and Kansas amount to moro
than the combined county debts of all tho
Southern states, including Texas. If the
West can he prosperous and can claim and
receive credit. certainly. blr Williams urged.
the south has abundant reason for conf
deace.
The third branch of the address was on the
increase OF the wealth and prosperity of the
South increasing her clam 60 credit. The
census returns are eloquent on this subject,
the speaker said
Inls sect. las 1900 miles of railroad
against 5000 I'm lssl aud the improvement
ID frH Il .NI fHI.a b.
The average decline in passenger rates on
y utleru roads In ten years has been n per
cent. against per cent. decline ia tle North
and ~ in the West. Freight rates had de
clined so per cent. In the South against II per
cent. ~ the North and 81 in the West.
Ina 1850 Southern railroads carried 7300O0
passengers. in 1859 they carried 35 500 00l
They moved z0.30J.000 tons OF freight ln 1850
and 20 900 900 in 1859. Passenger transpOrta-
tiOn had increased 3-4 per cent. ia the South
against i2G per cent. IA the rest of tho cOun-
try Freight tonnage in the South had iu-
creased zl per cent, against 81 per cent IN
the North and West.
Ho touched on the Richmond Terminal
matter and contended that the condition Of
that sy stem is caused by faults in rs man
agemelt not by any failure of the sections Ia
which IL operates 60 support It adequately.
Mr. Williams briefly reviewed tho educa-
tiOnal and criminal statistics 10 show that ln
number OF enrolled pupils OF tie schools the
South has gained much faster than auy other
section. that her percentage of crime ana
pauperism are by far the smallest III tho
country
Tie business concerns Of the South be
showed. mad increased from 96.2s7 in 1873 80
40. 759 N 1890. Ia 1875 this section had one
failure for every siNty-e,ght establishments.
IA 1850 one for every seyenty-nIne. while there
WAS u reduction OF 80 per cent. in the average
liabilities. The reports of Braudstreets
showed that Southern failures have been less
serious than u other parts of the country.
In s9l assets IN this section were 6l per
cent. of liabilities. against III for the rest OF
the country Despite the iiil ia the price of
cotton the failures and liabilities in the South
ia 1892 are less than in 1891, although the !
Eastern and Middle States show an increase
From 1881 10 1891 there was an increase of
200 per cent. IN national banks IN tie South.
against an increase OF per cent. IN the New
England States, and the capital OF our State
banks and trust companies las doubled IA
the decade.
The census Of 1890 shows. said Mr.. Williams.
that the Increase OF population IN tho South |
was practically All in the cities and towns.
The same number of people who ia 1880 grew t
5.4OO 600 bales OF cotton and 25O.O0O. .O0D /
bushels of corn. ia 1891 made nearly 100000 !
bales of cotton aud 100000 900 bushels of /
corn, besides receiving tens OF millions OF
dollars for truck and fruits which made but
small item IN 1850. Another interesting fact /
Is that the average price OF corn ia the South /