The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-10-19
COTTON BELT CHANGING.
MOMENTOUs DEVELOPMENT OF THE
GREAT SOUTHERN INDUSTRY.


eign Competition.
From the New York Sun.
North Carolina has already enough mills
within her borders to spin every bale of
cotton raised in the state and a little to
spare, and in a few years the same will
be true Of Georgia, South Carolina and a
few other Atlantic states. But now it is
predicted that within ten years these great
Southern mills will be as far from the cen
ter of cotton production as the New Eng
land mills, when the distance is measured
by freight rates The reason for this is
not far 10 seek. The cotton belt has been
changing and shifting year by year. The
great bulk of our cotton came from the
states east of the Mississippi twenty years
ago but to-day about seven-tenths of the
crop is raised beyond thai river The cot
ton belt was supposed originally to run
only through the best lands of Virginia,
Georgia and the two Carolinas, with the
edges overlapping parts of the contiguous
states. Texas was not thought of, Arkan-
sas was too far west and Missouri and
Kansas were supposed to be good only
for corn and cattle.
The map of the cotton belt is entirely al
tered, and each successive year it must be
enlarged to include new territory where
cotton 1ourlshes abundantly. Texas has
forged ahead in cotton raising so rapidly
that growers wonder where it win stop;
Arkansas has more recently started upon
a similar career, whiie the farmers. of
Kansas and Missouri are beginning to raise
cotton on a large scale. At the present
| rate of increase this great belt west of the
Mississippi will soon be raising three
fourths of all our cotton. Then the mills
of the South, around which so much in
terest centers to-day, will have as great
a problem to solve as the New England
mills are struggling with.
But the growth and development of the
| cotton mills in the South viii continue,
now that the movement has been once
| started They will not stop in the cotton
| belt east of the Mississippi, but new ones
will appear in Kansas and Missouri, and
| south to the Gulf. There is something in
! this new cotton belt that promises great
| things for the future. The climate is, in
! some respects, better suited to cotton grow
| ing than the Atlantic seaboard states. The
! cotton plants demonstrate this better than
! any scientific theory The bush grows
I higher and bears longer, while open, ram
! less fans make the harvesting easier, and
| the injury from insects and weather less.
| 1t is estimated by the department of ag-
/ ricultuTe that cotton can be raised success
! fully in nearly one-third of the territory
of the United States. At present the cot
/ ton belt covers q degrees of longitude and
| about 10 degrees of latitude, but only
| about one-twentIeth of the land is actual
w used for cotton growing Thus the %
100000 acres of cotton plantations represent
only fraction of the vast empire of cot
ton soil that has never been titled.
The fear that cotton growing has reach
ed its zenith, and that it must soon de-
crime in view of the dow prices received
for it, looms up every season when the
new crop begins to come in, but like SINH
lar nightmares, il fails to produce any
permanent results. The world has just be-
gun to use cotton. Our invasion of the
Japanese markets with this product is
but a promise of what we may expect on
a larger scale in other quarters. There are
over / 800, 600 600 human beings existing on
this globe and of this number about half
are imperfectly clad They live in climates
where little protection Is needed, but that
protection must come in the form of cot
ton clothes. The vast hordes of the Orient,
of the islands of the Pacific, and of the
great African continent, require cotton
goods for Clothing. To-day they go without
them only because they are not obtainable
at prices within their means.
The WOfldS ylelQ Oh cOllOu mas AlSpiSe
in twenty-five years and it has nearly
doubled itself in the last ten years. Our
own product has represented a large per-
centage of this increase. India, China and
Egypt can raise cotton on large scale,
too but, with all their cheap LABOR, the
Southern planter can raise and the Ameri-
can manufacturer can work up into sala-
Bile goods our cotton and place it in East
ern markets at prices lower than the ma
tives can ever hope to accomplish.
Much of this depends upon the Superior
mills which are being erected in the cot
ton belt and upon the more intelligent OPP
orators in them but the low price of cot
ion is a factor of the greatest Importance.
Cotton has steadily declined in price since
the acreage has been increasing. Planters
have fought this downward tendency, in
dividualy and collectively, but without
avail. No one is sure that the bottom
has been reached yet There are plenty
who predict Accent cotton within another
decade This seems utterly inconcevabie
to the growers, but 50 did scent and
6-cent cotton years ago. The attempts 10
restrict the acreage of cotton have failed
repeatedly II our crop falls below a GER
tain point in the worlds supply there will
be a corresponding increase in the acreage
i'm other countries. English capital and
brains are working hard in Egypt to con-
troll the cotton trade of the Far East, and
any tendency to loosen our hold upon the
great cotton industry would be the signal
for the rapid extension of the cotton fields
of Egypt India and even China and ia
pan The law of supply and demand
must regulate. the price.
The new cotton belt is more able to
raise cotton to-day than many Of the older
regions This is due to The better soil
and climate. Texas forced prices for cot
ton down more than any other factor
In that princely domain King Cotton -four
ished so well that planters who had been
struggling for years with Indifferent cot
ton soil could no longer compete in the
open market. They we're showed to the
wall and forced to raise other products
Some Of the counties In the cotton states
partially or wholly broke away from cot
ton and turned their attention more to
grass grains and fruits. Others are sure
10 follow, and not only counties but
states. But this is no indication that
the cotton crop win be reduced. The
change is due merely 10 the shifting of the
cotton belt
The South is meeting the same shifting
conditions that faced the Eastern farmers
taaf a oorfttrx a0o Vvhas, tha e,roaf W.