The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-03-26
Beware Of Cotton min .Rooms. >,


/ A Raleigh. y. c., business man who
was recently interviewed by a corr
/ respondent Of the New York Evening
T Post took occasion 70 warn both the
/ the north and the south that there
I is danger of the building of cotton mills
! at the south being doomed" TO a dis
J astrous extent-that is, disastrous 10 in
/ vestors who take the statements of
I boomers wholly on faith. The
south has, mostly by her own
/ resource. established 'the industry
Of manufacturing cotton in her
own borders" he says. Based upon
the remarkable success she has attained,
a number of people are now canvassiEg
New England, and the north generally,
inviting subscriptions to factory schemes,
many Of which are bound to fail for the
same reasons that town sites failed, and
for the further reason that the pro
moters never did anything but fail in
whatever they undertook"
The reference TO the town site bubbles
affords good Illustration of what the
business man means; and he is right.
Some years ago town was founded at
Birmingham, Ala. The scheme sue
ceeded large and thriving city grew up
and the company that promoted it became
immensely rich Later the Noble broth
ers, Of Rome, Ga, founded the town of
Admission. That was also a success. Fol
| lowing these successes dozens of town
site schemes sprang up all over the south,
and hOme-folks and investors of other
states were swindled numerically. The
boomers Of these town sites traded upon
the reputation of Birmingham and An
uiston, and located their "cities" in all
sorts of impracticable and impossible
places. The schemes, now that they are
no more, are generally referred to as
southern bubbles" but as a matter of
fact in some of the most notorious in
stances the boomers were northern men
who swindled northern men. A shining
example of this is to be found in the Fort
Payne scheme and other town site
! schemes exposed by the New York Her
aid
The reports of the cotton mills in Geor-
| gia, South Carolina and other southern
states have given the boomers an opening
similar to that afforded them by the sue
cesses of the Birmingham and Admission
| town sites schemes, and they viii prob
| ably try to reap a harvest from it.
Investments in southern mill property,
when carefully made after full investiga-
! ton, are undoubtedly among the safest
and best investments to be- had. But
wild cat mill schemes will not pay divi-
| dends, except to the sharpers who pro
mote them, in the south or elsewhere.
An elegantly autographed prospectus
| printed on calendered paper can be "a
! very Ananias when it comes to describing
a water power or a mill site.
Careful investors, both north and south,
| viii do well to be careful of the boomer
| Of cotton mills, as well as the boomer of
! town sites, and the business men of the
south should do all in their power to
break the embryo boom before 1t has had
time to develop. There is a field in the
! south for legitimate enterprise and an in
| definite number of cotton mills But no
cotton mill boom is wanted. Cotton mills
in well established southern cities like
Savannah, whore there are special ad-
yantages for manufacturing cotton goods,
are certain to pay handsome dividends on
! the money invested in them.