The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-04-30
The south's Progress and Prospects. I

senator, has compiled an interesting ar
ticle six columns long setting forth that
in extent and variety of agricul-
ure and horticulture, in the pro
duction and manufacture of cot
ton. iron and wood, the south is the rich
est country in the world. The article
further shows that the conditions that
constituted the old south have passed
away and that the new south, with I'M
| rivaled resources and actuated by the
loftiest aims is on the high road to
substantial prosperity that the old south
never knew, and which few sections Of
/ the world have ever attained TO.
! The erroneous impression that obtains
! in the north and elsewhere that the cli-
mate of the south is enervating is dis
! cussed and corrected. AS incontrovertI-
| bic proof that the southern climate makes
men of blood and iron, the record of the
! southern soldiers in the war is pointed to-
/ No armies ever endured greater hard
/ ships than the armies of the south. Had
/ the men not been Of the hardest, most
| rugged constitutions, they could never
have borne what they did. Andsince the
war sanitary improvements have assisted
! the climate in making the south still more
| healthful
Climatic influences being favorable, and
| all formerly existing barriers of a social
or political nature being removed, and
| the south being in possession of limitless
natural resources in an Undeveloped state,
/ there is every reason why immigration
| should pour into this section and legiti-
| mate industries take root and expand rap
/ idly. The tide of immigration and the
/ industrial expansion have, indeed, already
/ set in and will continue, for the very CO.
! gent reason that neither Europe nor any
other section of America has such induce
ments to offer to both capital and labor.
The assertion that the south's re-
| sources mineral, agricultural and manu-
! facturing-are unrivaled is backed up by
| data from the last federal census, and
| expressions by Robert p. Porter, census
/ commissioner, as well as by data and
| opinions from Edward Atkinson, R. II.
Edmonds, the Manufacturers Record and
various other authorities on economic and
industrial subjects. All of these facts
| are summarized and go straight to the
| point of showing that there is room in the
south for as many legitimate enterprises
as promoters may desire to plant here
Boomers and land sharks, however, find
no consolation in the article.
Cotton production and manufacture
are, of course, given a leading place in
| the consideration of the souths staples
In fourteen years the value of cotton
milling establishments in the south has
jumped from S22, OOO, 900 to s97, OOO, 900, and
the value of their products has increased
in about like proportion. During the
next ten years it is extremely probable
the value of the mills will increase to
81, 500, 900, 600 The New England and
English manufacturers of cotton goods
have come to realize that the south offers
the most economical field for cotton man
| ufacturing plants, and many of them will
remove their mills to the south. Already
several New England mill men have moved
or are arranging to move their mills for
coarse goods to the south. Presently we
shall see fine-goods mills going up in the
south also; and then the southern section
will command the cotton goods markets
! of the world. At present the south fur
nishes 60 per cent. of the cotton used by
the world. With the mills brought to the
fields, the percentage will still further in
crease.
The agricultural wealth of the south in
1860 was estimated at less than
$1,000, 100000; three years ago 1t was esti-
mated at $4,000 ,OOO, 900, of which cotton
gave $780, 600, 600 and the by-products of
cotton SGT 200, 900 more. During the last
ten years more attention than formerly
has been given to the diversification of
crops, so that.cotton is no longer virtually
the only crop of the south. Fruits and
vegetables have assumed leading posi-
tions, especially in Georgia and Florida,
and rice in Louisiana is hardly second to
cotton.
| The greatest forests in the country are
to be found at the south Forty-one per
cent. of the southern lands are timbered
and the variety of the growth is limited
only by the number of the species in
digenous to the temperate zone.
OF minerals, the south has about every
thing in the catalogue from coal to dia-
monds, from sandstone to marble, and
from iron to gold. North Carolina, Geor-
! gia and South Carolina rank respectively
thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth
among the gold producing states Ala
bama stands in the front rank with the
world in iron, steel and coal
Georgia is cited as an example of
southern progress: "She is thelargest
state in the Union east of the
Mississippi, having nearly 10000 square
miles of territory. In 1880 the as
sessed value of property was S251, 000,-
600. In 1898 it had increased to S452 ,OOO,-
600. Agricultural lands, live stock and
farm implements increased in value-1S7O
to ls93-from s114,OOO,OOO to S164, OOO, 900
Investments in cotton factories from
S1,600,00O to over S12,OOO,OOO; railroad
property from s1O,OOO,OOO to $4,000, oOO
1t is worthy of note that the property of
negroes increased in the same time from
S, 900, 900 to SIS, 900, O00"
The entire article, which covers the
whole field of the south's industries and
prospects, is as full of solid facts as an
egg is Of meat, and does credit to its
author.
A year ago Drs. Goelet and Delphy. OF