The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1894-09-07
Southern Exchange Association.
iFULL EXPLANATION OF ITS PURPOSES
ITS SCOPE AND ITS PERSONNEL
To tie Editor Of The Mail and Elprcs,:


ITS SCOPE AND ITS PERSONNEL.
To tie Editor cfthe Nail and Express:
Sin: Despite the generous notice which
has been given the Southern Exchange Asso-
ciaiion by the press Of the country, we find
III certain quarters misapprehension "a to
who compose il, its raison dctre its plan
AMI purpose and what il has thus far accom-
plshed. Therefore we ask space in your
valuable columns 10 which TO set forth
fiirly these matters.
The small central b 'dy, with its headquor-
ters here at the commercial heart Of the
nation consists Of forty-four members
Eighteen Of these are Northern men, ten are
Southern by birth, but Northern by adop-
ton, and the remainder are Southerners
and reside in the South. These last are
chairmen Of the Advisory Boards of their
respective States, Missouri and the District
of Columbia bringing the number up TO six
teen.
The chairman Of each State oppoints a
chairman for each Congressional District
III, reof, and the latter u chair On for each
county in his district. This organization is
further extended by the appointment Of q
chairman for each township in the county.
All report through the successive grades,
to the central body at New York. To each
chairman is accorded the privilege Of gath
aring about him the number he fnd. neces-
sary to make up an efficient advisory board.
The purposes of the association are "to
provide the ways and means for ascertaining
advertising. aud in oil ways advancing the
development of the South" Which. ana
lyzed, means that it will, through experts
gather reliable and exhaustive data rs 10 the
South's resources, advantages and needs,
aud, through appropriate channels convey
this specific information, properly arranged
and classified, to those whom il will most
interest.
10 answer the inquiry thus awakened, il
will maintain in New York City perma-
nent exhibit, which will afford ocular de-
monetration of what the South produces:
aud 1t will keep registry, open to inspec-
tlon by prospective settlers or investors and
which will ctforth properties for sae in
the way of timber, mineral or agricultural
lands, water powers, etc, inducements
offered to immigration or TO manufacture
capital wanted for commercial or industrial
enterprises etc, by individuals firms, cor
porations or communities together with the
terms and conditions governing same.
skilled artisan or agriculturist is dis-
SATISFIED with his surroundings-some
locality In the South exactly fits his require.
ments and badly needs him: Southern
town wants and is Offering extraordinary
inducements for some particular kind of
mlll-el:cwhere parties are searching for
just such opportunity; some Southern locali-
ty Is making all attractive bid ior much
needed capiIal-in other sections Of the
cQuLtry idle capital is awaiting snch adyen-
ture; yet these without the Intervention Of
some such exchange as this. might never
find each other.
The several States Of the South, through
their commissioners Of immigration, bureaus
OF agriculture land or other departments
fave long sought to attract settlers: the
communities Of the South, through their
commercial bodies, to encourage manufnc-
ture ana the investnen. Of capital; but lack.
ing concert Of action, they have met with
failure, or at best, only partial success
bidding against each other, they have hurt
each other chances.
The Southern railroads have been no
more successful, for actuated by the same
spirit OF competition which governed the
policy Of the great East and Wes; railroads
IN settling their waste lands, they seldom
have paused to consider whether or no the
Immigrant would suit his new environment.
Like the transcontinental roads, they
have-!o' often carried the lumberman inte
the prairies, the husbandman into the tim
bcr regions or mining country, aud the
miner lnto agricultural fields. OF course
they did not fit, Not infrequently they
have failed TO attract settlers for the reason
that the immigrant agent of~cach has so
Deittled the inducements oil, red by the
others as to cause the prospcc or to .distrust
the representations'of all.
All this tho Southern Exchange Associa-
tion, equally interested in each Southern
State, Will endeavOr to remedy Its Impair
tlal statements will accredit to each section
nr oil - a
more. Therefore, when this comes to te
generally known and accepted, each section
or locality will develop along the lines of its
best advantages and resources
ltls claimed that the generally enter
talued doubt as to the guarantees offered by
the laws of the Southern States to business
and investment is is the chief hindrauce 10
their rapid devel pment, and it is to gather
information which will dissipate this doubt
should it prove to be unfouudeJ, or TO pro-
cure the correction OF adverse Legislation
should it really exist that the southern
Exchange Association has established n
Bureau Of Legislation, the membership of
which comprises six Of the ablest jurists in
the country.
Besides this Bureau of Legislation there
are fifteen other bureaus-such as the
Enrcau Of Manufacture, Bureau of Agricul-
ui each Of which is to gather oil the facts
cons rning its specially for the information
VI thc executive committee Of which it may
be said TO be o subcommittee.
IL wil be seen that TO arrange the ma
chinery Of such on organization Is no small
undertaking, and that it cannot instantly
DO accomplished. II must necessarily take
some little time and much hard work; and
yet less comprehensive system would fail
# thoroughly representing, caring for,
facilitating aud promoting the commercial
aud industrial interests Of the Southern
Stues in scveralty and as whole.
The asSpciation, the purpose and plans of
which have been cordially accepted by the
c"untry--as is attestei by the comments of
;ae press, and by m immense volume Of
letters of encouragement, approval and con-
sratulatiOn-is only now entering upon its
h vwrot Of existence yet it may be said
TO hove, even in this short time, made re-
markablc progress, for it has already sue
-, .Li F.,iI,cn ,tb tln