The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1900-08-29
STUDY OF THE SOUTH:
PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
Speech Of Hon. James T.. Orr at the Clinl<-
scales Reunion at Iva, s. c., August
%, 1900


dishonest niger. The years Of re
construction must be passed over, re
marking that progress in the Soutl
was almost impossible. Ignorance
and vice ran riot over the land ant
every State was plundcrcd not only OF
every dollar which could be wrung
from the impoverished taxpayer, bu,
/ obligations, binding future genera
tions, were piled ur as long a, they
could hc sold
At last The whole people
rose in their might IN one State
after another aud dove the car
pct-baggcrS, thicvc, aad scoundrcls
from power by force. fraud or any
other means at their command, and
took Possession Of their rcspcctivc
/ Statcl govcrnmcnts enacted cduca-
tipnal and property qualifications fol
he franchise, and rid themselves Of
he fear Of negro domination which
bad hung like pail over them for ten
gears. The South could not and did
not improve while this condition cx-
istcd, but when removed, sprung for
ward in the race Of moral, mental and
material development as a thorough
J bred, endowed with courage, speed and
endurance worthy Of srcs for genera:
tons past. When the South was
prostratcd by the war, our slaves
cmancipatcd, our best blood split on
the battcfields, and our treasury bark
rupt, the phosphate deposits Of South
Carolina were found, and not only
brought great riches to the lower part
Of the State, but renewed our worn
out and non productive soil, extended
the area in which cotton could bc pro
fitably raised, and was bcncfaction
to our country. Since that time
Florida has discovered very rich de-
posts of phosphate rock, Tennessee
is equal to any Of them. Since 1884
South Carolina has shipped two mil
lion two hundred thousand tons,
Florida three million one hundr ID
thousand tons, and Tennessee about
one million eight hundred thousand
tons, the beauty of this business be-
ing, that Notwithstanding the cnor
nous output, the price has risen, and
it seems impossible to supply the in
creasing wants Of Europe.
The five great resources of the
South which have changed her from
the most barren section Of the United
States into wealth producing and
| self supporting condition within the
past thirty years, have been cotton,
iron, o0ai, timber and phosphate rock.
The South having less than one
fourth the area of the United States
can alone produce ten times as much
cotton as the whole world uses, and
so far as that is concerned, it is enti-
tied to be crowned king. We supply
65 per cent. of the cotton used in the
whole world, and it has brought within
our borders an average of probably
three hundred million dollars q year
for the last twenty years. Over two
hundred million Of that being drawn
from foreign countries.
In 1866 we produced little over two
million bales, the price uf which in
New York was 81 cents DER pound: ::
1870 only four and half million bales
and the average for middling being II
cents; 1886 the crop amounted to six
and half million bales average price
III cents; 1890 the crop was eight
million six hundred thousand bales.
worth cents per pound; in 1858 the
crop was eleven and quarter million
bales and the average price was 6
cents per pound, which was the lowest
price for fifty years. The appalling
fact stares us in the face, that although
we have increased our production 400
per cent, VIC receive but one-fifth Of
the price for the same. It is our duty
t. ourselves and our section to ascer-
tain the cause Of this, and If possible
remedy it. The universal theory is
that production is the cause Of
low price, but / do not share this
opinion, except to limited extent,
for the reason that, notwithstanding
our crops have ranged from as three
and o half million bales per annum,
still the largest is manufactured as
we'll as the smallest, we must reeog-
nize in the first instance, that all
values are getting year by year on
much lower basis, and we can supply
the demands because our means OF
intercourse has been facilitated to
such degree that deficiency In aby
part Of the world may be supplied
from all other sections. think one
"a ChO phOUduAC Cdtbc6 VI tul6 CO0-
tinual decline in cotton has arisen
from the fact that the building Of new
mills has not kept pace with the in
crease Of population or tho production
of cotton, and that England though
growing not one lock of cotton has
operated over 80 per cent. of the spin
dies of the world. Realizing that she
was the buyer of one-half the crop she
has used that power to continually
depress the market value of this com
modify until it reached the disaster.
GUS figures given above.
The North occupies relatively the
same position, for it has fourteen
million spindles 20 be supplied with
cotton, il does not produce . lock and
naturally neeks to buy it as cheap as
it possibly can. Notwithstanding the
wonderful incrcese n enc South dur
ing the last few years, ahen you real
ize tS.t out Of 104 million spindles,
the Soash has but four million, you
can appreciate more fully tho influence