Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1894-05-03

l. OpYftUt''H az nc HttHY SVHulcUte.I
From tie April dag in 1860 when Gen
Robert i. Lee surrendered to Gen. T. s.
Grant, tine southern people have steadt0stly
devoted tber best energies to the upbuilding
of their material interests Sectional bit
terness and partisan hate bavo retarded the
development of the richest and greatest
natural resources with which the God of ma
ture has ever blessed a people. There is not
i'll the temperate zone country Astounding
i'll such possibilities of undeveloped wealth
as the Southern States.
1t Is no eXaggeration to assert that the
South is not only the garden spot of the
world but the richest in undeveloped re.
sources of any section of the United States
That portion of our common country e1-
tending southwark from Virginia to Texas
embraced in what was known as the South
ern confederacy, is the richest. climate and
all other things considered, in the habitable
globe.
But to assert is not always to prove. The
late Gen. Robert Toombs, who was one of
the intellectual gladiators of the South,
man of great influence in Georgia and an
orator whose tongue was tipped with elo-
quence, was noted for his epgrams. He is
credited with saying that figures could be
made to lie like tombstones But the prac-
Teal man must have facts and figures in or
der to demonstrate the correctness of aSscr-
tons. TO state some things is to prove
them. To assert that the South is the rich
est country III AGRICULTURAL mining and
manufacturing possibilities needs practical
demonstration, and to prove this statement
by facts and official sources is tho duty inn
posed upon me,
THE WEALTH OF THE SOUTH.
The late Hon. William d. Kelly of Penn.
sylvan.a, the father Of the Federal House of
Representatives., who on account of his de.
NOtlOn to the iron interests of Pennsylvania
was irrey ently nick named 'Pig-iron" Kelly,
Is recorded as saying that the South is tho
richest and most inviting section of the
| Mon on account of climatic advantages
diversified agriculture, wealth of timber
mineral resources ineXhaustable water pow
er and raw material for manufactures Of
iron, cotton and other industries in wood
marble and granite. The census of the gov
eminent for the decade ended 1890 confirms
the statement OF Mr.. Kelly.
Were Horace Greeley in the flesh to-day.
he would answer atiivnatvely as to the
Sunth's resources of the field forest. mine
water-power, climate and raw material for
diversified agriculture and manufactures
and he would urge all the ambitious aud in
dustriou3 young men of the Eastern and
Middle States TO Ego South young men
and grow up with the country. The South
and not the West is the promised land
We should never discredit ourselves, how
ever, as veritablo opponents of the South's
wealth Of natural resources, but whenever
We can find natural testimony from those
prominent in official station or recognized
experts in political economy who are not of
our section OF OF our political faith, such
witnesses should always be placed on the
stand to prove the prc-eminent attractions
Of the Southern States as the most inviting
field in the United states for capital and
labor to develop.
JNlIN ALEH MINERAL RESOU RCES.
one " the strongest witnesses for the
South is MI Robert p. Porter, sup-rintenI
ent of thr census In areyew OF the aCri-
cultural and industrial! progress of the
South, based upon the official statistics OF
the last census, Mr. Porter says:
The mineral development aud the in
crease in manufactures during this period
60 years has been OF such magnitude aud
of such Importance as to seriously attract
the attention Of tho world The South is to.
pig iron as the entire United States pro-
duced in 1870. With fact like this estab-
lshed by official statistics, it is not to bo
wondered at that as careful II statistician as
Edward Atkinson should say that, standing
on the top of the highest peak of the great
smoky mountains, nc would lind in a radius
Of 70 miles, tho future iron producing region
OF tho United State. Those who live in the
South and in the midst OF all this progress
know it and realize il far better than the
people here in the North To- my mind the
progress of the Southern States III the man
ufacture Of steel will be as great during the
next ~ year. as it las been ia the produc-
ton of coal and plS-iron during the Past de-
cade The class of labor attracted t. these
rich mineral Regions viii he of u higher
character than Of the past, that is to say,
there will be artzanS and mechanics who