The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-01-30

SanlZaSlOn at DelnlDnlco : tDnlgnt.
! Among the guests Of honor were Sena-
tor John L. McLaurin. OF South Caro-
lima; Jutaro Kemura- minister from
Japan; Charles DENLY. ex-United
States minister 10 China WI Tin
Fang. minister from China; Cornelius
y. Bliss, John Barrett, ex-ministcr TO
Siam. and Brayton Ives.
The English and American colors n
the head of the table were uhe only
decorations. Letters Of regret were
read 'FRONT.' President Mckinley. Sec
rotary OF State John Hay, Secretary OF
the Treasury Gag Senators Bever-
idge, Lodge and Aldrich, and Morris
X. Jessup, president of the chamber
of commerce.
The addresses and the speakers We're
as follows:
THE President of the United States"
Charles DENLY: The American Asiatic
Association" Everett FraZar; China,
the Greatest Potential Market in the
World" WI Ting Fang; Japan, the
Pioneer of Asiatic Progress" JutaTo
Kemura; The South and the Open
Door in the Far East" FOL L. Nc
Laurin; The Pacific Slope and the
Asiatic Trade" Hon. Addison G. Eos
ter; The. Permanent Interests Of the
United States in Asia" John Barrett.
Minister WI Ting Fang wore his
brilliant Oriental costume of silk, en-
broidered with heavy gold braid and
decorated with Chinese characters.
The minister from Japan wore full ev-
ening dress after the American nod
Ex-Minister DENLY was the first
speaker.
Senator McLaurin, of South Carolina.
spoke at length of the industrial
growth of the south and its stimula-
ton by trade with the Orient, as fol-
lows:
Under favorable conditions there s
no limit to the industrial possibilities
and progress Of the south. The mills
are bound to come to the cotton IN the
near future and you will find in every
little town a ginnery, oil mill and yarn
factory run by the same power, n
combined under n management. Add
to his system cattle feeding, and think
what it means. There is no ~by-produci
in the world whose possibilities COM
pare with cotton seed. The profit for
such a plant would be about 33 per.
cent. per annum. When every neigh
borhood has such a plant of this kind
the south will be the richest country
on earth.
I'm iron, steel and other Industries
remarkable progress has been made. 1t
was confidently predicted, and, 1 fear,
hoped by the New England manufac-
turerS tWenty years ago hat the south
would never become a manufacturing
center. The labor problem, the chief
predicted obstacle, has been suffi-
GENTLY solved; its cheapness and adap-
liability have been demonstrated.
Where the New England mills pay s1.25
per day, our mills pay IS cents. There
is no better class Of citizens and no
better laborers than the mill opera
tives of the south. They are the chill
dren OF those who for four dreary
years followed Lee and Jackson with
N,t mo III nr +bn hnnn nf rnu-or1 for
they were not slave owners All efforts
to use the negro in the factories have
been futile, but the negroes are direct
ly benefited, because the factory
draws labor from the farm, thus en-
larging the colored mans opportunity
in a field for which he is peculiarly
adapted.
THE magnificent possibilities Of a
commerce eagerly awaiting develop
ments is a prize worthy to be solved.
The south cannot stand still and con-
~servatively oppose commercial expan-
sion. To do so means to go backward
toward the ruinous conditions Of thir-
ty a ago. .-
1.-The unexpected and unintentional
acquisition of the Philippines is TO
mark an epoch in the history Of this
country. The worlds conflict in the
east at this time is in reality h out
! growth Of commercial competition. 1t
is a question of markets and market
places.
1.-THE great ace between the nations
| this century is TO dispose of their sur
plus productions. Russia has made an
adroit advance by rail into China to
forestall a large measure Of supply at
her sea ports. Germany, in the inter
ests of her trade. has forced China to
| France, Italy n Japan have acquired
we'll developed spheres of commercial
| influence. Today with a foothold in
| the Philippines we hold the key to The
door.
THE loss Of our Chinese trade would
be a calamity to the American farmer
and manufacturer. Without outside
down and labor be thrown out of en-
| ployment.
The south is peculiarly interested
in our Asiatic markets. From the
Orient comes a continually increasing
| demand for raw and manufactured
| cotton. The outlet there for our sur
plus products seems almost limitless.
In China today the most popular cot
ton products come from southern mills.
| Southern manufacturers a not yet
reached more than one-thirtieth OF the
| population of China. II is NOT unrea-
| sonable ITO say that when thu entire
! field is covered il will more than re-
4 qulTt uOuDlt THE capacity VI our IHlgsS
to supply their demand This marke-
! presents the astonishing condition of
demanding both raw and maaufactur-
ed cotton from the same section. II is
( OF inestimable importance 20 the entire
. south that this trade hould be de-
veloped. held n protected. With mil
.io-s of capital invested in southern
factories, dependent as they are upon
the markets OF the Orient. the repre-
sentative from the south who opposes
I commercial expansion with all It's re-
suits and responsibilities is blind ed 70
the true interests of his section. and
welded to a mere political sentiment
I'm striving for commercial progress,
commercial expansion and commercial
supremacy, / would n favor the in
corporation into our body polite or any
semi-barbarous totally unable IN
appreciate our system OF government.
but / do favor the policy OF expansion.
/ will vote for the retention OF these
islands in some constitutional way, 50
as to control new markets and new
commercial advantages II this be i'm