The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-01-27
APACkING HOUSE HERE.

we publish this morning in another col
umn a communicate from Mr.. c. p.
Rogers. Sr.. of Letohatchee, Ala, which
should be read with lively interest by
every business man in Savannah and the
management of every railroad system and
other transportation line centering or do
ing business here. Mr.. Rogers refers to
a speech Of Senator Berrien and a state
ment by Gen. Barnard Of the federal corps
of engineers in which it was said that
Savannah occupied the finest geograpni-
cal position of any city on the South At
lantic seaboard." Events since then"
says Mr.. Rogers, seem to have verified"
the opinion. But the question arises In
Mr.. Rogers mind, are the people of Sa-
vannah appreciatve and ready 10 avail
themselves of their great opportunities?
He dwells especially upon one great in
dustry, the packing Of meats, and points
out that Savannah should be the central
market for producers Of meats in five or
six states, and the central distributing
point not only for these states and others,
but for a large foreign trade in meats as
we'll
In Savannah's tributary territory, close
ly- connected by modern railway systems,
are half of Tennessee, the northern part
Of Louisiana and the whole of Georgia,
Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and South
Carolina. Within this territory are mil
lions Of acres OF land which could be de-
voted to the raising of cattle, sheep and
hogs. Indeed the meat supply of a con-
tinent might be produced within the ter
ritory. Nevertheless the states named are
importers of Western meats Their win
ters are short and mild their canebrakes
are perpetuaily green, their grasses -four
ish nine and a half mouths of the year,
their fields are very fruitful in corn. peas
and cotton seed, and such OF their cattle and
stock as are given careful attention are
fine animals. Is there any good reason
why the section should be a purchaser of
meats instead of the producer of a very
large surplus for the general market?
One reason why cotton as so persistently
adhered TO as money crop is that the
producer does not have to hunt for his
market. 1t is always ready and waiting
for him. And one reason why the raising
of meats has not received more attention
in this section is that there Is no ever
ready and waiting market for 1t. The es-
tablishing of a large packing establishment
at Savannah would create that market for
producers in all of the states named. Let
il be thoroughly understood among the
farmers that a pound of meat-beef, NUT
ton or pork-was as readily saleable IN
a waiting market for cash as a pound of
cotton, and it would not be long before
the farmers would be raising the meat
to supply the market.
How could great packing house at Sa-
vannah be financed? Mr. Rogers touches
upon that point, and shows one way. He
tells how the great industry in Chicago
was set going. The railroads put up the
money They had the foresight to see a
good thing for themselves in freights as
wen as in profits on their investment. 1t
is needless to say anything about the rich
fruition of their expectations. The pack
ing industry is pre-eminently the great
industry of Chicago, and that city has
practically the world as her market Can
not thing that has been once done be
done again, if conditions are similarly ia
vorable? AS a matter of fact, are not
conditions at Savannah more favorable
than they were at Chicago? Savannah
has better territory and better transpor-
tation facilities to begin with than Chi
cago had; Savannah is on the sea coast
and has cheap water transportation from
Maine to Florida and across the ocean,
while Chicago is 700 miles from the sea
and must pay freight for that distance to
reach a point at which she could begin to
compete with large packing establish
ment situated in this city.
Besides the points briefly referred to in
this article, and those noted in the COM
munication of Mr.. Rogers, there are no
doubt many others which will suggest
themselves TO enterprising business men
when they come to examine closely into
the matter. The subject. as We have said,
is one which merits the consideration of
our business and railroad men.