The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1897-10-13
SOUTHERN COTTON WILLS.


Northeast, that the New Nnglant
manufactures are practically out o
the race. This exposition OF tho rel
alive progress Of the industry nortl
and south was startling, and was real
ly not suspected by Southern peopl,
generally, although for some time tn,
New England mills have recogniz ed
the immense strides taken by thel
Southern rivals, aud the fact that al
the advantages of cheap labor, cheaE
fuel, aud, above all, proximity to the
source of supply, made competition oil
the part of the Northern mills hope.
less undertaking. Mr.. Hester's re.
port has brought forth several signiti.
cant and interesting comments from
influential New England newspapers,
among which the following, from the
Boston Journal is one of the most
pertinent;
"For the first time in their history
Southern mills the past year bought
aud consumed more than million
bales of cotton. Nothing could demon
strate more clearly the steady expan-
sion OF the Southern cotton manu-
featuring interests. The year was not
favorable to general business The
average consumption per spindle in
the South was less than it was for the
previous twelve months, The Increase
in the aggregate consumption was due
to the building of new mills-in other
words, to the multiplication of spin
dles......The South now absorbs with
IFS own machinery more than one
third of the entire cotton consump-
ton of America. The total takiugs
by Southern spinners In 1862 were,
as we have stated, l,042671 bales,
against 1904, $50 bales consumed by
Northern spinners, out of total crop
of 6,757,964 bales, 1t ls clear that our
wide-swake New England msnufac-
turers have not overestimated the
formidable character of Southern
competition"
On the same subject the New York
journal of commerce has the follow
ing singulsrly generous, manly and |
utterance:
"This is remarkable showing. 1t
is safe to say that it will be q surprise |
to most Northern business men. On
every account 1t is to be welcomed.
One of the greatest disadvantages
under which the South has labored
has been the lack of Investigation of
industries The foremost cotton pro-
ducing area in the world, she has sent
her vast crop of raw material to New
England, TO Man leicester and to Birm.
ngham for manufacture; Afterwards
buying back large part of it alta
much higher price as finished goods.
Ii is manifest that the wealth of the
southern States would be enormously
increased if they could transmute their
.aw cotton into the manufactured
product at home; close by the fields
where the cotton grows. There Is
easOH to believe that this benefit will
be realized in large de.
reop
Of course such showing as that
made by Mr.. Hester must be crafty
lg TO every Southeruer, or to any one {
Tho desires the prosperity and well i
are of this section. The experience
I those portions ofthe south in which =
ILLS have been generally established !,
roves incontestably that through e
lem lies the road to, wea'th North b
aroIiAs, probably less highly favored ,
an agricultural region than any
her state in the South, is yearly in 9.
easing her wealth per capita, and a
e amount of her assessed valuation. d
er people show, more plainly than h.
ose OF any of her sister states, the b.
ect Of a general distribution of NJ
oney, and not only her bushes CEN W
IS, but her smallest country towns, q
ow life, Ylgor and prosperous as. W
OF unSeen.elsewhere in the south. The
lowing table Of textile mills, show OIL
Z the number of mills in Alabama,
'rth Carolina, Georgia, South Caro- 40
a, Mississippi and Tennessee, will co
count for this condition: an
NUMBER OF COTTON MILLS, h.
.Dama ....,,..... 80 South Carolina. .,... 10 tn
rgia ..,.......,, s. Mississippi ......,, 10 40,
IN Carolina, l6i Tennessee .........., n Col