New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-02-09
SOUTHERN COTTON MILLS.

Norman c. Walker of New-Orleans. comment
ing in THE Tradesman" on this table, estimates
a product of 5S9S3,5l0 from Southern cotton
factories in 1894 o. an increase Of $2.O11997 over
1890 He asserts that the cotton mills are adding
s44 1853 900 each year to the value of the cotton
crop. or nearly Is cent. If all the cotton. he
remarks, produced in the Southern States could
be manufactured there, 1t would increase the
value Of the crop four-fold. and the great prob
lem which is now harassing the planters would
be solved This industry, while most prominent
in the Caronas and Georgia, has been extended
to Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi Texas and
other States and, while there has been slight
reduction of production during the last year. is
in so prosperous condition that New-Engand
manufacturers are entering the field and making
large investments in the South The Legislat-
ures of Louisiana, Georgia and South Carolina
have exempted from taxation for ten years the
capital invested in the manufacture or cotton
goods and similar proposition Is now before
the Alabama Legislature. Owing to Improved
machinery and increased skill In the labor, the
tendency is toward the production OF higher
quality of goods: and the advantages or cheap
fuel abundant water power. lower prices OF the
raw material and more manageable labor are so
marked that it is not surprising that the New
England manufa cturers are swarming SOUTH
ward
simultaneously with the establishment OF cot
ton factories in the South, the iron and coal
fields of Alabama. Tennessee. Georgia, virginia
and West Virginia have been opened; the marble
ouarries of East Tennessee and North Georgia
have been set In operation; cotton oil factories
have multiplied; the phosphate industry has been
developed on a large scale and manufacturing
has been introduced the chief occupation OK
nearly all the largest towns. The. South Is no
longer dependent solely upon agriculture as the
source OF its prosperity. It's industries are already
diversified and attracting every year new re-
serves OF capital and skilled labor. That Is tho
way of salvation from the intolerable burdens
~ nGra
planting.
There are pessimists in the South who refuse to
believe that cotton VIII ever again rise ABOVE .
cents or that there can be any permanent reiiet
from low prices I'VE must accept 1t as In
evitable,' they will say. that production VIII
be far in excess OF consumption, and that the
price will drop in year or two TO cents, ana
then 10 3; and must learn how to Keep Soul
and body together on the slight margin OF proht
which may be figured oit after the application o,
various small economies" But that is lesson
which the great majority of cotton planters VIII
never learn The production OF a staple IKE
cotton must at last reach stage where no ma
terial reduction of cost can be effected. Inc dis
use Of fertilizers and the abandonment or In
tensive cultivation will diminish the product as
we'll as cheaper the cost, and what is gained In
one way will be lost in another. Wnen o-cent
cotton is clearly an Improbable crop 1t Is idle
to speculate upon the possibility Oh RAISING '-ee"s
cotton at profit.
The evils OF overproduction and gambling on
reckless exporters guesses are real and urgent;
and there will be practical methods OF counter
acting them 1t ought not to be possible another
year for the value of the greatest source o,
wealth in the South 10 be wantonly sacrnceo
through an estimate OF the crop made by an
operator who has been known 10 be 5000 bales
ont of the way: and the planters. II they are
wise will devise some method Of protecting their
interests against speculative vagares or notori-
Gus cotton bears Overproduction Will be REM
edied by reduction Of acreage and diversincation
OF crops and cotton-planting vii! be abandoned
In less-favor.d sections soon as II Is fouhd 10
be permanently unremunerative. There are TOO
many other resources open 10 the southern peo-
ple for the continuance of the present low prices
OF their chief staple. Those who step down ana
out will leave standing room for those VINO re-
main l. ~ -
New-York Feb 4. 1895.