The Atlanta constitution., 1900-04-02
The Southwark Flow!

The remarkable industrial develop
ment now going on in the south is at
tracing attention all over the civilized
world. And indeed. when we take
into consideration the drawbacks ana
the obstacles that had to be overcome,
the result is simply marvellous. These
drawbacks and obstacles were OF
very serious character In the first
place, there were the prejudiccs engen-
dered by the war, the bitter sectional
ism, which. having control Of the lead
ing newspapers and periodicals of the
country, spread abroad over the world
the idea that the south was inhabited
by barbarians; that life and property
were not safe here. and that, even II
matters were otherwise, the south was
a tropical region where all the forms
of malaria disease were constantly
preying on the population.
This tropical idea was so firmly fas-
tened upon the minds OF those who had
never visited the south that only few
wears ago. when n Boston artist was
called on to make a design for cover
to a volume of Georgia stories. the
date-palm and the cocoanut tree were
brought prominently TO the front. If
the artist had been told that the face
of nature in middle Georgia was pretty
much that of Maine, the information
would doubtless have been followed by
heart failure.
Anyhow. barbarism and tropical ma
laria have figured largely in the case
against the south but of late years
the margin of profits in manufacturing
in the east and the margin of comfort
cut down by economic changes which
eastern and northern capitalists have
been very anxious to bring about.
These changes produced great hard-
ships i'm various quarters and the total
result is that the south has been spied
out and seized upon, as it were, as the
land OF promise. For the past two or
three years there has been great
movement in this direction. The cot
ton mill industry has attracted the most
attention by reason of the sensltiveness
of the eastern mills to competition, but
in the real industrial development the
building of new cotton mills, impor-
tant as this feature is, has been simply
an incident. 1t has been accompanied
bv a movement in all the lines of in
dustrial development in the production
and manufacture Of iron and steel. in
gold mining. in the manufacture of ma
chinery. in knitting mills and in a
swarm Of smaller but not less profitable
manufactures.
In the south the town or village
that has no cotton mill completed or in
process OF building or in contemplation
is regarded as given over to decay. The
railroads. too, have within the last few
years discovered that they have other
functions besides those which are con-
fined to the passive and cOntented hau'-
ing OF freights and passengers. Their
managers have opened their eyes TO the
fact that they can increase their busi-
ness and profits by planting colonies
and securing the establishment of
industrial enterprises in close proximity
to their lines. and they have gone
about this business with a vigor and
an energy that promise the most sub
stantial results.
The telegram from Chicago. contain
ing an extract from The Chicago
Times-H Herald which We print else
where. will give faint idea of the
character and extent of the movement
in which the railways of the south are
now engaged The statements of The
Times-Herald, in the nature of things,
do not cover the whole ground. They
are merely hints as to what is really
going on. The managers of the roads
are not advertising their plans in the
newspapers. but it may be said that
they are doing their utmost to develop
industrially that part of the country
through which their various lines pass.
This utmost means good deal. IL
means more than all the efforts of all
the immigration bureaus, and more
than all the energies Of those combina-
tions of citizens who are endeavorlng
to accelerate the industrial develop
ment of this section. With respect 10
this particular feature Georgia Is
more fortunate than any other south
ern state. She has within her borders
a great railway center. the terminus