The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-12-29

The Charleston News and Courier o
Thursday has an interesting interview
with Mr.. Robert F. Barker, of Manches
/ ter, England. Mr.. Barker is well known
in cotton manufacturing circles in Eng
land and this country, and his purpose il
! visiting Charleston is to find out what ad
vantages that city possesses for the man
ufacture of the finer grades of cottor
/ yarn.
/ In his interview he expresses the opin-
ion that the time cannot be very distant
when the south will far surpass the north
in the manufacture of all kinds of cotton
fabrics. Her advantages for cotton man
ufacturing are so great that capital will
be compelled to recognize them.
MIR Barker purposes to erect a cotton
mill at Charleston for the manufacture of
the fine grades of cotton yarn, if he can
get Charleston capitalists interested in
such an undertaking He tells them that
for the manufacture of that kind of yarn
steam power is preferable to water
power, because it is steadier, and the cost
of it is very little more. The advantage
it possesses overcomes its greater cost.
For number Of years there has been a
steady increase in the number of
cotton mills in the south, and
all of those which are well
managed pay good dividends. The manu-
featuring, however, has been confined to
the coarser and cheaper grades of goods
The reason of this is the lack of capital
Now that beginning is about to be made
in the manufacture of the finer goods, it
is reasonable to expect that cotton manu-
featuring in the south will receive an
impetus that within a comparatively few
years will place her far ahead of the
north in cotton manufacturing The eli
mate is greatly in her favor, and the fact
that the mills and the cotton fields are
close together is an immense advantage.
1t is worthy of notice that the cotton
mills of the south have not been seriously
affected by the hard times that have
been prevailing for the last six months
1t is true they have felt the depression,
because they have not found ready mar
ket for their products, but none of them
have had to shut down, and they are in
much better financial condition than most
of the mills at the north.
Mr.. Barker calls attention to one thing
that is well worth considering 1t is
that no tariff is likely to be adopted that
will injure the cotton mills of the south
The Wilson bill, if it should become a law,
would not hurt them in the least. In
deed, the south, with plenty of capital,
could compete with any other part of the
world in the manufacture of cotton
goods.
1t is understood that the stock of the
proposed cotton mill at Southover juno
ton, close to this city, is being disposed of
rapidly, and before many months, if pres
ent expectations are realized, the work of
erecting the mill will be begun. With
that mill in successful operation it would
not be long before others would be built
in this city Savannah has superior ad-
vantages for cotton manufacturing, and
when once attention is drawn to them it
will be a comparatively easy matter to in
duce capitalists to utilize them. Mr..
Barker, after having satisfied himself in
regard to Charleston, should pay Savan-
nah visit and see what he can do here
towards establishing mill for the manu-
facture of fine cotton yarns.