The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1892-08-04
The Persians or Xerses? His Judges or
Socrates? Plate or Christ?
THE SOIJTH IN J2oo

I
brother of that General whose army
! burnt her cities and laid waste he,
dwelling places, declares that Iii:
Southern section is the most prosper
Gus in the nation to-day, and destined
to be the most wealthy and populous
Did not feeling of pardonabl:
pride thrill through the heart of the
+ Southerner when that remarkable ad.
mission was wrung from the lips oi
the stern statesman by the cruel logic
of truth and fact?
Yes! and under the providence o
God, with Democratic President and
a Congress Democratic in both houses,
the day may come sooner than is
r expected.
THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY.
My theme TO-DAY is circumscribed
by the consideration of but one in
dustry that has helped to achieve this
marvellous result; but l approach its
consideration with conscious pride in
its magnificent exhibit-a surprising
showing even had we been helped by
outsiders, but wonderful when we did
it ourselves.
What constitutes State?
Not high rais'd battlementS Or labOr'd
| mound,
Thick walls or moated gate.
Not cities proud, with spires and turrets
| crOwn'd
Nor bays and broad arm'd ports,
| Whore lauOhinO ar tho StOrn, ,inh
y nayies ride.
No, men, high minded men
Men, who their duties know,
But know their rights. and
Knowing dare maintain.
Pardon a personal allusion. AS so
many did after the war, returned to
school to complete my education. l
got off at railroad station, there to
take a conveyance to Chapel Hill; but
there was no conveyance to be had,
and no place to 60 for lodging. To-
day the name of that one time railroad
station is as familiar as household
words on every continent. The Eng
lishman in London, the Frenchman
in Paris, the German in Berlin and
VIENNA, the Russian in ST. Petersburg,
the poor exiles in Siberian dungeons
and coal mines, the descendants of
the Caliphs in his palace at CONSTANT
nople, the Persian on the throne of
Darius, the disciple of CONTIGUOUS, the
successor of the Ptolemies, and the
Pope on his throne in the Vatican, all
unite in blessing the name of that city.
Men sit in their Offices in the once
obscure towns of North Carolina and
with lightning rapidity, send and re-
ceive orders for their goods from the
distant islands of the ocean; from the
land of the Pharos, from the city that
dwells by the waters of Babylon, from
the continents of Europe, Asia and
Africa. Across continents, under seas,
through deserts, speeds the lightning
message, and the Pacific speaking with
the Nile through the Atlantic, the
Bay of Biscay and the Mediterranean
sends greetings from the New to the
Old World.
CERTAIN STATISTICS.
1t will not be considered out of
place to quote some statistics in sup
port of the very large pretentions we
are making for the tobacco industry
of the State, and the figures and facts
will be very suggestive from another
standpoint. 1t may surprise one to
learn that in 1859 North Carolina
raised 32,Soo,o 900 lbs. of leaf tobacco,
and the same authority, the U. S.
census, placed the crop of 1S9o-1S91
at only 36: 10000 lbs.
1t will not be doubted after Mr..
Woods able address of last summer,
for which not only all who are inter-
ested in the tobacco industry, but the
people at large as we'll, owe him many
thanks, that the census report is far
short of the mark. We will assume
that Mr.. Woods estimate is correct,
and that the crop of 189o-1S91 was
much larger than 36,ooo,ooo lbs. and
was worth some ten millions of dollars
and most of it was marketed in the
State. The point l wish to make
prominent is this, that though before
the war North Carolina grew 32,ooo,-
900 lbs. of tobacco, how much of it
did she manufacture and who got the
credit of growing it? That other
people than our own manufactured
this crop and other States than ours
got the credit for producing it will
not be gainSeid. There was not be-
fore the war 4 single distinctive to-
bacco town in North Carolina, and
the State was not looked upon as
tobacco growing section, although she
then grew within sixteen million pounds
as much as Virginia does to-day.
TOBACCO CULTURE INCREASING IN
NORTH CAROLINA.
North Carolina is one of the few
Southern States that has increased its
tobacco crop since 1859. Missouri
has fallen off in her tobacco production
from twenty-five million pounds in
1859 to nine millions in 1889; Mary
land from thirty-eight million in 1859
to twelve million in 1889; Tennessee
from forty-three million in 1850 to
thirty-six million in 1889; Florida
from eight hundred and seventy thou
sand in 1859 to four hundred and
seventy thousand in 1889; Georgia
from nine hundred and nineteen thou
sand in 1859 to two hundred and eighty