The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-10-15
SOUTHERN PROGRESS.
\ Contract OF the Gold South With
the New" Her industrial Future
Very Bright.


Very Bright.
The Scutl." is q very large ez-
pressicn, AID progress IL the South IN
dicates q r.0vcment distributed over
many states not at all alike: either IL
natural advantages or lat-iy acquired
enterprise. Some parts Of the So"t4
are still very backward, while others
have made advances Of late years which
it would tc difficult t. I'D excellea N
anv other section Of tie cO1ntry. Peo-
ple have become familiar with the
rapiJiy Increasing production OF the
great agricultural staple Of the South.
Between 1850 and 1855 the cgop kept
within 6,ooo, 900 balls, by 1885 it was
$500, 600 lules, and by 1889 close on
t. 100000. The maximum was
thought to have been reached when the
crop OF 1920 exceeded 1900. 900 bales,
but that was thrown into the shade
when the extrao- liuary crop Of last
yea, sAQwe,ia total Of nearly $500, QGO
bales. The present r.ars crop will
be very far short Of this III quantity.
sthoaeh thanks to the advanced price,
its value may be Is great. In the
natural order cf Thugs, the crop OF
1891 VII not stand long without 6
rival. When Texas grows more cotton
tiau Ill th9 Sontl ai>( before the war
,,:,l! sll,. is still 1t the beginning OF her
acricultura; development, the cotton
producing possibilities Of the South
arc very far from being exhausted.
Side by side with Tie growth Of what
used t. be tic only sun:cv oi Southern
wealth there I,!s been growing up q
more diversified agriculture and the
beginning oi 1; wide range OF manu-
tac:ur@s. II is characteristic Of the
uew spirit o. the South that the cotton
seed oil industry is the growth OF the
period since the war. \ product.
which was reckonel useless il 1850
figured in 1890 as barring 3 value, after
treatment in the mills, Of So, S3t, 600.
AID is today the basis ofau Investment
in building and machinery OF $50, o1a,-
OoO. IL 1880 the whole South pro
ducea ouly 5000, 900 bushels Of
grain, last year the yield WAS 600, ,09o,.
O00. The number OF tons of coal
nine. in 1850 was but little over
5000, 900, while 1894 it WIS 10000
900. The output of pig iron IN the
South in 1880 was 1877, 800 tons, and
ia 1891, $50, 600 tons TheS value OF
the product Of the saved and planned
lumber, which in 1880 was S4G, ,93S, 900,
had risenin 1894 to $l14, 146,G74. Tie
true value Of Southern property ac-
ccrlinc to the cenSUs returns Of 1880,
was S7,9H, 900, ,0Q9;, last year i: was
estimated at 81 per cent more.
There are to-day some $500, 100000
invested in manufacturing enterprises
il the South, with - estimated annual
vslae OF product OF 81, l,GDo, 900. 0j9.
OF the former, a5ont Sl38: 100000 is
invested in cotton mills, or five times
as much as in 1SS0,an some S93 ,O00,-
900 IS invested il lumber mills. A
recent writer on the South remarked
that with tha possession of all the raw
materials entering into manufactures,
with cheap labor and cost Of living. the
industrial future of the South should
be Of tue brightest. But the fact that
these resources remained 50 long IN
developed and are now coming SO fully
into evidence argues change III the
spirit OF the people more significant
than The ircxhauStihle bounty of
nature. Ne one ct all familiar with
the old South can fAiI to be struck with
the resolution with which the men,
whom the var left penniless, set them
selves to repair their wasted fortunes.
While there were many that slccamb-
ed to the struggle, as we'll as many
that surmountcd it, they have, as a
rule, left there some much better fit :
ted for tho competition Of modern life
than they were themselves. The rapid
accelcration Of Southern progress may
be due partly TO al infusion of North
ern energy. bat it is mainly the work
ofSoutherners who were too Young to
know anything Of the wNr or its pas
sions, or who were born after its close.
In the hands OF this generation the
South has taker its first great stride Of
real progress.