The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-05-14
THE SoUTH'S GREAT CHANCE.
50O,00o,ooO PEOPLE IN THE FAR
EAST WANT TER COTTON.

structiveIS of the Opportunity the
Southern states Have for Greater
Market for Their COtton-He
Points Out what Would Follow the
Opening of the Nicaragua Canal.
The People of the Far East Great
Consumers of Cotton.
United States Legation, Bangkok, SIAM.
March 2.-Does the South appreciate her
opportunity in the far East? Does she
realize that the mighty markets Of Asia's
millions await her best efforts at exploita-
ton? If not, she should. The far East
is not reserved for our Pacific coast alone,
not for the manufacturing cities Of our
Atlantic seaboard only, not for the exclu-
sive control of Europe; no, not by any
means, but for the South of the United
States as well-provided the opportunity is
seized before it is too late
Some parts of the South and some South
erners, more 'enterprising than their COM
peutors, are already at work, and il they
are reading what I write, can doubtless
foreten my proposition The average
Southerner, however, will be skeptical in
accepting my suggestion that his particular
portion of the United States has any par
ticular interest in the far East
To get TO my point: King Cotton can
tell the story: The far East wants the
South's cotton; It wants lot Of it, IL
wants 1t now and it Will want II more next
year-and in ten years it viii want twenty
times what it demands nowi
NOT FANTASIES. But FACTS AID
VANCED.
I am not indulging in hair-brained fan
tastes nor writing for effect as if perched
on some lofty pinnacle of erudition where
l may look down and pity those who do
not know as much as /, as II were, but am
drawing conclusions from several years of
the closest personal observation and study
of trans-Pacfc lands, peoples, and mar
kets. and from frequent discussions with
the best authorities on the resources and
possibilities thereof. Though born and
raised Yankee, and now a resident Of the
Pacific coast, l have always taken a deep
and sincere interest in the progress and
development of Dixie confirmed by extend
ed travel in her favored states, and by
course Of study al one of her great insti-
tutions, Vanderbilt University, Nashville
while absent from my own college in the
North for a temporary sojourn in the
heart of the South, seeking information on
her resources and possibilities.
Figures might be quoted. statistics given,
and argument upon argument of cold dry
facts advanced but / viii forbear introduce
ing them here because am not sure that
any one will ever read what / am writing
and do not wish to destroy my very OBJ
ject of awakening interest among all by
too technical a review of the situation.
DO not think I am cock sure"-do not
think that l think l ami Rather than
weaken my contentious by giving that i'm
preston. / viii admit that l may be al
together mistaken, but permit me to adj
vance few facts.
ASIAS MILLIONS WANT COTTON.
First There are nearly 500 100000 in
habitants of these lapds-far surprising
the United States in area-whose shores
are washed by the Pacific and are oi-
rectly across the seas from our western
coast
Second The demands of these millions
though small individually are vast in the
aggregate and are increasing with great
rapidity-even more rapidly than the chief
experts in commerce and trade have
dared prophesy in their widest moments
of hypothetical reasoning-and still China
is hardly awake yet. When she does move
look out for her. 1t viii be like an avail
anchel
Third. OF this half billion population,
$50 600 wear almost nothing but
cotton clothing and use nothing
but cotton materials for the hundred and
one other uses that cloth is put to. The
average Asiatic wears more clothing the
more he progresses or comes into contact
with foreigners. / do not know as that
could be called progress. however, at least,
in the tropics, because l have always
found that the less clothing l wore, the.
happier / was and the more work l could
do! But that is not TO my point 1t is
noticeable that the demand for cotton
goods of all kinds has increased during
The last few years far more rapidly than
the population and that sales are on an
ascending scale, which means a brilliant
future for the trade in cotton goods and
raw cotton.
CONDITIONS OF COTTON SUPPLY.
Fourth. The supply of raw cotton in
China is SO small, compared 10 the total
consumption of cotton goods, that Il could
never meet the demand if supplies from
other lands like India, Egypt and America,
were cut off. 1t is true that China even
exports cotton, but that goes only to ia
pan and simply for manufacture, to be
shipped back as yarn or piece goods. Then
again cotton growing is not a science
10 China, while the soil and
sun do not seem to suit 1t like our own
The product of one acre of good cotton
land in the United States win equal that
of five to ten in China. The time may
come when China's millions viii learn how
TO grow all their cotton in China's number
less acres, but that day is so far distant
as not 10 discourage the planters and man
ufacturers of the South in exploiting these
Aslatic markets. And mind, please, /
have only spoken of China Japan can
never supply her own mills with the raw
product now over 100 in number, and be-
ing added 10 every year. Eastern Siberia,
Korea, Formosa, Cochin China, Siam,
Straits Settlement Java. Borneo, and the
Philippines are great purchasers of cotton
goods, and even If mills should be started
in their cities the raw product must still be
imported.
WILL THE SOUTH MEET THE DE-
MAND?
Fifth. The tendency now of the far East
illustrated by the development of cotton
manufacturing in Japan, with head
quarters at Osaka, and by the
working and construction OF numer-
Gus mills at Shanghai and other points,
In China, is to supply the market on the
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