The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1893-03-30
Wilmington Star. |


possibilities and to the attainment OF
the full measure of prosperity. These
are diversified agriculture, first, and
in our opinion the most important,
and diversified manufactures is the
next in importance. When diversified
agriculture becomes an established
fact, then the farmers of the South will
have entered on an era of prosperity
such as they have never seen. Then
we will hear no more about worn -ou!
lands, 90 old fields which ale now so
common in some of the Southern
States for there will be no WORKOUT
lands. Then we will hear no more
of Southern farmers migrating to the
West because they cannot make a
living on their ancestral acres, once
fertile, but impoverished by continued
bad treatment. We have seen thou
sands upon thousands of acres of land
in central North Carolina, once abun-
dainty productive, which wouldn't
sprout army beans, bare and gully
washed, the unsightly relics of mans
short sighted folly. Diversified farm
ing will come, it may be slow in
coming, but will come, for it is a
necessity and must come. There has
been more diversified farming done
within the past three years than for
twenty years before, and it has been
more thought about and discussed
among farmers in the past two years
than tor twenty years before all put
together.
Diversified manufactures will come
in time, too, but there is not the in
terest shown in it that there should
be. The South has made within the
past ten years marvellous progress in
the establishment of manufacturing
industries, but it has been mainly in
the iron and cotton manufacturing
business. Millions of dollars have
been invested in the erection and
operation of iron mills and cotton
mills, which have fully realized the
expectations of those who invested in
them, and hove at the same time done
much to add to the prosperity of this
section and to demonstrate the ad-
vantages it possesses for industries of
that kind, advantages which are now
pretty fully recognized and conceded
even by many who less than ten years
ago contended that the South could
never become successful manufacture
ing section.
But while we have made great prog
ress in these lines, we have not made
the progress which should have been
made in other industries for which the
South IS peculiarly adapted. These
two leading industries seem to have
engrossed the attention of our people
who had money to invest, and conse-
quently other industries have been
sIow-paced in coming. Such as have
been established are ofsmall capacity,
but, as far as we know, when we'll
managed, have proved successful.
What the South needs now to put
her on the same plane with other man.
ufacturing sections is what are called
"small industries" on a large scale.
There are scores of things in common
use in or about every household which
are imported and sold in every city
and country store, for which the people
of the town and country spend great
sums of money every year, not one
of which is made, to any extent if at
all, South of the Potomac or Ohio
rivers. Ask your grocer where he
buys the buckets, tubs, brooms, &C.,
which he sells you- Ask the crockery-
dealer where he buys his china, stone
ware, earthenwa1e and glassware. Ask
the hardware merch ant where he buys
his cutlery, rakes, hoes, spades, &c.
Ask the furniturc-dealer where he buys
his furniture, baby carriages, &C.; the
carriage dealer where be buys his car
riages and buggies. They will tell
you that all, or nearly all, of the ar
ticles they sell you are made in the
North or West, which supply US with
nearly everything we use in the way
of manufactured articles, from the im-
ported match with which we light the
fire in an imported stove, to the i'm
ported axe which cuts the wood to
burn, from the imported shoe to the
imported hat; from the imported
cradle in which we are first rocked,
to the coffin in which we are at last
laid away. And for all these things
the South pays millions upon millions
of dollars annually, and has paid
enough in profits to Northern and
Western manufacturers to permanently
establish these industries in every
Southern State.
The disadvantage we labor under
in making movement in this direc-
ton is that other sections have had
the start Of us, and are SO we'll equipped
for business in the respective lines re-
ferred to that they are competitors
difficult 10 contend against in the be-
ginning When attempts have been
made to establish industries of the
kinds referred to they have had to
compete with other manufacturers
with large capital, long experience,
and such knowledge OF the details of
business as to enable them to sell low
and yet reap fair percentage in
profit because of the amount of bust
ness done. In other words they have
capital behind them.
If the South could command the
capital the advantage would be with
her. for in most of the industries she
has the advantage in the abundance,
superiority and cheapness of the crude
materials, and when we learn to COM
bine our capital as they do, we will
have overcome to great extent the
obstacle in the way of establishing
diversified industries. Combination