Birmingham age-herald., 1895-04-23
IHE souIH,s fuIuRE DEVELOPMENT.


 The Boston Herald of Saturday April 20. says editorially: Tt would not be at all surprising if for the next ten years the rate of progress in the South were more rapid than in any other section of the country. It is of course, somewhat misleading to class under one compre- hensive designation States whose ma terial conditions differ so widely as those of South Carolina and Texas, Louisiana and West Virginia. But even limiting the inquiry to the older States of the cotton belt, there are forces at work des- tined to put a new face on Southern de- yelopment before the century has run out. The extension of cotton manufac- turing is but one of these, though it is an undeniably important one. Two points in regard to this were strongly inn pressed on the Massachusetts delega- ton in their recent tour of investigation. One was the comparative abundance and intelligence of the white labor, and the other the extent of the still untouched resources of water power. With the new facilities. offered for electrical distribu- ton, this is certain to be a very impor- tant element in the coming development of the South With the crudest appli- ances it has already contributed largely to the economical working of the cotton mills, and with more scientific methods of conversion and distribution 1t cannot fail to be a fruitful source of wealth" These comments only go to show that the East and North is full of the confi- dence that actuates far-sighted Southern business men. The financial strain to which the country has been subjected was only a preparation, or time of proba- ton, and our section is now on the eve of an era of prosperity and happiness. A al lxincr dnn note of aVricIll- tural and lumber industries, the article pays it's respects to our immediate source of wealth. and passes down the line in the following words that cannot fail to give encouragement to those inclined to be doubtful:
 "The rapid strides made in the utiliza- tion of the coal and iron beds of Ala bama are but a sample of what is sure to be witnessed in other States, notably in Tennessee. The fact that the rapidly growing trade in phosphate fertilizers in South Carolina and Florida is of very recent origin has not been generally recognized. These two States mine more phosphate rock than all the rest of the world, and now Tennessee is coming into the field with deposits of considera- ble extent and richness The manufac- ture of cottonseed oil is also compar- atively new industry, and 1t means for the South a solid addition of wealth from a product formerly all but worth less. The ports of the South are begin ming to claim share of the import com merce to which they have long been strangers, and are trying to utilize the advantages of geographical nearness as distributing points for places like St. Louis, Cincinnati, Louisville and Kan sas City Nearly all the manufacturing enterprises of the South have yielded of late years a profit above the Northern standard, and much of this profit has gone to the extension of works and fac tories already in existence, or the build ing of new ones. Briefly, the South is in the field of commercial and industrial competition as it never was before, and it's progress in this direction is bound to have in the immediate future greatly accelerated rate of speed"