The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-06-28
CHINESE COTTON GROWING.
THREATENING TO SUPPLY TIE
WORLD WITH THE STAPLE.

Planter Made on a Tour Through
the Country.
From the st. Louis Globe-Democrat.
In view of the general interest in tbs
7 awakening OF the orient the recent Oh
I servatiOns in China OF Mr.. John NJ Put
nam. retired New York cotton broker
are Of value. He travelled through a sec
sion Of the ancient empire strll1ingly
I similar to the plantation districts Of ouI
southern states. where he saw cotton
growing. and inspected the methods Of
the heather" in its preparation.
/ The American was amazed at the ex
/ tent Of the cotton cultivation in that re-
mote locality. and even more surprised
/ TO hear that the Tartar government had
/ sent out proclamations encouraging the
/ planters to grow less tea and all the cot
| ton they could, and also announcing that
railroads were soon to be constructed
connecting their plantations with the
/ principal seaports. The discovery Of this
rare state of activity was specially sig
nificant TO Mr.. Putnam, who onced owned
a large cotton plantation in Mississippi.
as it made it plain to him that the great
industry Of our southern states is threat
ened, and that the result may be an ag-
/ ilculluidl anu commercial revolution IN
the gulf section of the United states
when China gets established in the cult
walton Of cotton.
Mr.. Putnam's observations are strik-
| ingiy timely in accordance with the ma
tional feeling which led TO the presenta-
ton Of resolutions hearing on the subject
in congress. Through no other existing
channel could such Information as the re-
tired cotton magnatc has gathered be OBJ
tanned. Had an especial commissioner
been appointed and sent to China for the
purpose OF inquiring into suspected Orien-
TAI movements endangering American in
dustries a report more minute In detail
could not have resulted than herewith
presented in the words of Mr. Putnam.
TO begin With,' said the former cotton
planter, AL this talk about China's eli
mate and soil not being consistent with
the requirements Of cotton growing is in
itself inconsistent. That part in the
neighborhoOd of Pekin may not be so. but
CHINA is vast country. It's southern ex-
posture to the warm currents exists under
practically the same circums tances S the
southern exposure Of the United States
while the climate at Pe6in is almost iden-
teal with that of New York. / saw cotton
growing In seven of the great provinces
or the Monaghan kingdom, but most ex-
tensiVely in HO-nan and Ganhwuy though
II could be raised in Fuhkeen, Hoo-pik
Ho-nan Kwang-tung and Kwang-se, al
most as extensively. Ho-nan and Can
hWuy, however, are especially GONNA "a HE
with the two great American cotton states
Mississippi and Alabama Their climate
soil and river navigation are much the
same, and If China becomes the cotton
raising country of the world these two
provinces will be the center of the indus
try
The first Of these I reached coming
down from Pekin was Ho-nan. I found
the valley of the Tang-ho and Pe-ho
very fertile. and that its inhabitants
raised as much cotton as tea. although
there are other parts further south that
are more adapted TO cotton growing
From this region / went further south
through Ganhuwy, and found cotton
growing on much larger scale In the
latter district, for miles along the Kiang
river, and especially in the neighborhood
of Hang-chow, / found the natives the
most interested in the enterprise In
deed, the planters seem IN have caught
sort of cotton Juror, only compare BILE
to that of the early settlers of California
Tor gold mining. l was here informed
that the Chinese government had sent
out proclamations encouraging planters
TO raise all the cotton they could and If
necessary to grow less tea, as it would
be more profitable to them These proc
the power of the Chinese planters to
supply the world with cotton at cheaper
prices than any other country, and that
1t would be a cunning move to quietly
take Givantage of this extraordinary
opening, to. the progress of which the
government would lend all aid in its
power.
Il was especially impressed with the
activity of the planters. They had al
ways seemed lazy and barbaric in the lit
erature of the nation L had read, and If
| the opposite characteristics which l OBJ
served are the result of the recent ma
| tional disturbance, the effect is indeed
wonderfulM Instead of a gang of MUIR
derous assassins, 1 found them hard
working men, especially anxious to get
even with their archriValS, the Japanese
The of their hrnue urh nj
them, was sufficient to satisfy me of their
| earnestness, and when they discovered
| that l was agreeable, my interpreter was
kept busy in his professional capaeity
marked that there was no reason WHY
| they should not advance as the Japanese
| have. / afterWard expressed surprise al
/ the civilized feeling in these few more in.
| telligent of the Chinese land workers tc
my guide, and was informed that they
were new men in those parts, educat ed
| in the methods of civilized agriculture
and distributed through the country.
From the plantation districts of Gan,
! hway, l travelled south to Kwange-se, anC
| in this province found quite extensive cot
| ton fields in the neighborhood Of Kweiln
/ on the kwei-keang river. I next entered
! Fuh-keen, where l was informed that. tht
! cotton thar / saw was a new undertaking
/ Quite a field was being cultivated on the
Shaon-ke. near Fuhchow Foo. Here tn,
natives had received special encOura se
ment from Pekin through the provincial
| office at Fuh-chow Foo, it being the be
lief that this province was especial,
adapted to cotton growing. Indeed,
found this proclamation had been univer
| sally delivered throughout the southern
part of the empire.
Proceeding further through this section
of the country, 1 passed through Kwang
| tung, Hoo-nan and Hoo-pih, in the agri
cultural districts of all of which 1 saw
cotton growing, and observed that cot
ton cultivation was on the increase. Thes,
latter provinces are also well adapted I,
the future Chinese industry. While a
Changtih Foo, HoO-nan, I saw a Chinamal
point me out to his comrades, men. wo
men and children, and was at first at ;
loss to comprehend why his features Ii
up so brilliantly as 1 approached I sooI
discovered the cause of his pleasure. HI
had been to America, and took me for al
American at once, not hesitating to max,
known his visit to my native land. am
the fact that he could speak a little Eng
lish in very chang-chang way. This half
AmericaniZed mongol, whom / found act
ing as q sort of oVerseer, informed me o
the cotton fever throughout the south
ern Chinese provinces. and same som,
'workie' he had once done on a Mississfp
pi plantation had placed him in a hial
position on his return to China
"On my return north I stopped at Nan
king, in Keang-so province. where 1 ha(