Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1900-06-08
TEXTILE MANUFACTURING.
A Description of the Growth Of South
ern Enterprises. %

ern Enterprises. %
The growth and development of tn
South in industrial enterprise during
the past decade has been phenomenal
and its advancement in textile indus
tries must be regarded as natural an'
a national development. The South
it stands to reason should be particu
larly interested in everything pertain
ing to the growth of cotton and in cot
ton products. AS the chief source OF
the worlds supply of raw cotton, the
southern section of the United States
has held unique and distinctive place
1t looks now as if 1t would also earn
prestige as a cotton manufacturing
stronghold. Though the South built
its first cotton mill about the same
year in which Samuel Slater laid the
foundations of New England's mag.
nificent textile industry, no noticea-
BILE advance was made until recently,
| Now South Carolina ranks second only
to Massachusetts In the number of her
spindles. North Carolina contains
more factories than South Carolina,
though her plants average smaller, and
Georgia and Alabama are rapidly fol-
lowing the lead of the Carolinas.
The are two chief advantages in the
South for cotton manufacturing:
Proximity to the sources of supply Of
raw material and an abundance Of
cheap labor. The value of these re-
guisites to successful industrial enter
prise needs no exposition. In addition
to these prime advantages, are claimed
cheap mill sites, low taxes. cheap build
ing material, cheap fuel. low rate of
living expenses, and present freedom
from labor agitation.
1t is the tardy, but now general. rec
ognitiOn of these economic advant
ages which has brought about the pre-
sent general awakening OF Industrial
movements in the South. The growth
has largely taken place within the past
five years. In textile manufacturing.
as has been indicated, the gain is pro-
digious. While there were 7,160,OO
splndles in Massachusetts at the begin
ing of 1895, there was no State south of
Mason and Dixon 3 line with 1000, 900.
In 1898 both of the Carolinas had over
one million apiece, with Georgia close
behind. From 1896 to 1898 the number
of spindles in Massachusetts had in
creased only II per cent; but South
Carolina had made gain of 26 per
cent. In Alabama the increase in the
number of spindles for the same time
was SO per cent; Kentucky, 1875 per
cent. Arkansas, 16.43 per cent; and
North Carolina, 1872 per cent. The
increase in both the Carolinas for the
decade ending 1896 was over 300 per
cent. During the current year mills
are being rapidly erected and the de.
velopment continues on a colossal scale.
1t is estimated that the increase in the
price of raw cotton to nearly 10 cents
a pound had added almost 5000, 900
to the available wealth of the South
ern people in a single season. 1t Is
evident that this accretion of wealth
demands investment. The Southern
capitalists are putting their money in
to new factories as the best possible
outlet for surplus capital. 1t has been
stated that every Southern cotton mill
is making over Is per cent. on it's capi-
tai. In many cases, it is declared, the
profits for 1899 ran up to IS per cent,
and there is certainty that this pros
perity will be exceeded during the
present year.
Perhaps in no section has the South
ern movement been viewed with livelier
interest than in New England, the
citadel of the cotton industry. In the
large cotton centers of Massachusetts,
and Maine, the manufacturers have
claimed that reduction in wages was
necessary to enable them to make goods
in competition with the low wages
and long hours in the South. In New
England nearly uniform laws respect
ing hours of labor and employment of
children make the conditions more
equal in the competition of these
States.
However, although healthful COM
petition may arise, no serious antagon-
ism is anticipated between the indus
trial interests of the N Orth and South.
The outcome will undoubtedly simply
be that the entrance of the South into
the arena of cotton manufacturing will
bring about readjustment OF produc-
ing centers. 1t is aptly pointed out
that as our textile manufacturing
grows, it is fast becoming separated
into distinct classes, each class start
ing about some special place. Thus
Fall River leads in the manufacture Of
prints. Providence is the Ecenter of
the wOrsted industry. New Bedford
sets the standard in finer white cOttOns,
and Lowell in coarser goods. New
England as a whole is coming year by
year to finer counts. AS long as no
other part of the United States was
engaged in manufacturing coarser
goods, New England retained her
grasp in that field, leaving the finer
makes to foreign looms. But each
year sees finer product from New
England looms. Climatic advantages
over the South in the way of the es-
sential degree of humidity will always
be in favor of New England. This
fact seems to relegate to the South the
coarser products, for which humidity
! is not so necessary. The rapid perfect
ing of humidifying apparatus, however,
| is minimizing to some extent the
climatic disadvantage of the South