The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1895-11-12

passed anu n south has In mills now
In operation and those which will be- at
work within sixty days 1900. 600 spin
dies. Add to this number $40. 600 for
mills under constructions and by the end
oil the current crop year this section
would have $500, 900 spindles in opera
ton. 1t will then only require an aver
age increase OF 300, 00C spindles n year
TO give this South Il total Of 5000, 600
spindles by 1900. 1t Is now safe to pre-.
dict a u larger number than that.
ADVANTAGES OF THE SOUTH.
Referring to the special advantages
offered by the South for tho operation
ofcQtton mille, Mr.. Edmonds said
Probably the most important con-
sidefation in the estimation of mill men
is the labor. The South has an album
dant supply OF the very best help from
which TO secure mill operatives. An
investigation on this point will con-
vince the most skeptical. A New Eng
land mill owner lately stated that. to
say that New England mill help was in
any way superior TO Southern, was sim
ply to say that tho lower classes of for
eigners are superior to the native An
glo-Saxon Americans. Half a century
ago New England mills were operated
by native Observation-Disclosures of the
small farmers in the ~neighborhood OF
the mills; but the incoming of French
Canadians aud others drove the Amer
lean girls out of the mills. There Is no
danger OF this in the South. at least for
many years to come. The supply OF
possible operatives, eager for the OBJ
portunity to earn q living by working
in cotton mills, is today sufficient to
equip three or four times as many mills
as we have, provided these mills are
not clustered too afosely in any one To-
cailty. The increase in the help sup.
ply Will be almost as great as the in
crease in mills for many years. These
people are capable Of acquiring the
highest skill required in cotton manu-
featuring; they are docile, not given
to strikes, and as q ella =, are anxious to
ind work and willing 10 accept much
lower wages than Northern operatives
are compelled to have In order to live.
On tlis point it must be remembered
that nature has made it possible to live
In the South ut q very much lower cost
than in the North, because of the lower
cost of fuel and clothes, tho cheapness
vita which food u be produced, and
the and cheapness Of build
ing materials. These are permanent
advantages; no possible change of con-
ditions can alter them. They forever
guarantee a lower labor cost in the
South than elsewhere
MILLS SHOULD BE LOCATED HERE.
Mr.. Edmonds insisted that by nat.
ural selection the South was the proper
location Tor cotton mills. Said he, in
closing:
Everywhere manufacturing is tend
Ing to the source of raw material, ,provi-
ded the facilities for production can be
secured. In Former years the profits in
manufacturing we're sufficiently large
TO Justify the transportation OF raw ma
terial. New England could haul its
cotton u thousand miles, and it's coal
almost an equal distance and find a
profitable market for the production of
its goods. Great Britain could imDort
It's cotton rom America, operate it's
4o,OOo,oOo spindles and market the pro.
duction OF it's mills throughout the
world. But with the decreasing mar.
gin OF profit in manufacturing, it is in
cotton, rs in iron, timber and Other
lines OF industry, necessary for the
mill to seek the source Of supply. In
the fallness of time the SouGh's D
tunity has come Its own people huy.
demonstrated their UNUSUAL ability in
cotton manufacturing. The profits in
this industry throughout the South
have been sufficiently large to turn the
attention. OF this entire section YER,
largely to this industry. The ublesl
hnanciers in the South, the most con
sentative bankers. the general mer
chants and the farmers are all now in
vesting freely in cotton mills. Tn,
1900, OOO spindles the South now has IN
operation is scarcely ! per cent. of the
number OF spindles In the wOrld-lates
reports giving the total us 81. DOC, 900
although the South produces over 6l
!, per cen of the worlds cotton crOu
There are abundant reasons, easily un
, derstood by any man who will take tn,
) time to Investigate, why the South wa
unable after the disastrous losses of tn,
war To take up Industrial pursuits unit
4 b0u 3 1t is mainly during the las
> hVe years that the greatest progress
has been made, and every year il add
ing Increased momentum to this move
! ment.'
TIE FUTURE OF THE SOUTH.
: "Looking to Central and Soutl
America and To Asia and japan, by tn,
! cutting OF the Nicaragua canal, for
market for American cotton goods. tn,
South's position is impregnablc. 1t Ia
every possible advantage that can y,
!. asked Tor the production OF cotton good
at the lowest possible cost. Its advan
, tnges Tor distribution are but little in
ferior to those Of the North, and what
=, aver disadvantages it has in this wa,
VIII be eliminated under the genera
progress which Is being made. No on,
can possibly any longer question tn,
South's future position in the cottor
manufacturing world. The rapid de
yelopment of the textile industry in tn,
South does MT necessarily involve it,
declease In New England or Great Brit
ain. Even should these hold tlIei,
present business and continue to oper
ate az many spindles as they do today
the natural increase when the eve,
growing demands of the world require
must be met by the South. 1t is posi-
ble that China and Japan may become
factors In this industry, but II they de
the reduced cost at which thew will
pIoduce goods will simply be an addi
tlonal force to drive the capital in New
England and British mills to the South
rs the only place which can hope &c
meet competition from mills in Japan
ana China, provided this industry
should develop largely in those coun
ties.
The South's position is safe. IL il
only u question as to whether the mil
owners OF other sections shall leave the
South to develop this industry with it's
own capital and by It's own labor, or
JOIN In the work and thus secure a. part
OF the profits and all sections be mu.
tually benefited by an interchange of
Investments"
THE FARMER AND THE OH, Mill,