Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1900-07-06
\ THE SOUTH AND chipping.

THE SOUTH AND sniPPlNo.
National Ala fsr n Restorstisa y We
The rapid growth Of manufacturing
in the South, and IL beneficial effect
upon other industries, are arousing IN
the minds Of the people new thoughts
and hopes for the future Of their great
section Of the Union. One Of the most
reliable authorities on Southern prog
ress and development IL R. H. Ed
monds, the well-known Baltimore
publisher, who keeps in constant per-
sonal touch with the up-to-date senti-
ment Of the leading manufacturers,
bankers, and influential men OF the
South. 1t is his repeated declaration
and as a result of his own observa-
tions that the
SOUTHERN BUSINESS MEN
are almost a unit in favor of national
aid in the re-establishment OF our
ships upon the seas. He finds the sen
timent among men representative OF
Southern industrial and commercial
progress quite at variance with that
disclosed by their representatives and
senators in congress. The latter seem
to represent a theoretical opposition
to the utilization of modern methods
for the advancement Of industrial pros
perity that has kept back Southern
development for fully generation In
the foreign trade of the United States,
as conducted between Southern and
foreign ports. one Of the
RAREST SIGHTS IS THE AMER1-
CAN FLAG
floating from the sterns Of the ships
conducting that trade. That the de-
mand has grown in the South for ma
tional legislation for the upbuilding
of our merchant marine seems to Mr..
Edmonds to be logical. He sees In the
realization of the growing hopes of his
people in this respect much Of per-
manent benefit to the section he repre-
sents. He has made an especial study
Of ante-bellum sentiment on the sub
ject Of American maritime develop
ment, and was surprised to find that,
as far back as
SIXTY YEARS AGO
the sentiment in favor of safeguard
ing and promoting our merchant mar
inc commended the thoughtful atten-
ton of the most advanced of South
ern statesmen and business men. In
an address before the Cotton Spin
ners' association at Charlotte, North
Carolina, recently, Mr.. Edmonds
stated that in 1S45 John G. Calhoun
presided at q convention in Memphis
at which the subject was discussed. In
1851 a report was made at Virginia
convention in favor Of facilitating the
mails through the establ. shment Of
steamship lines running between
Hampton Roads and European ports.
Another convention ~ Memphis held
in 1853 favored
GOVERNMENT ENCOURAGEMENT
AND PROTECTION
in the establishment Of steamship lines
between Southern and European ports.
The Charleston convention of 1854
urged congress to encourage the es-
Enlistment of mail steamships, even
to the extent of granting state boun-
ties in the form of rebates to ship
pers employing American vessels. In
1856 Louisiana's legislature passed an
act paying S. per ton bounty on all
ships exceeding 100 tons burden built
In the state. A report made to the
legislature of Alabama as far back as
1888 showed that her citizens contrib
uted $1,S00,000 year to get their cot
ton to Europe, and contained the
query: III this amount must be paid,
why should it not be paid to our own
citizens?" No wonder score Of years
alter Alabama's legislature passed an
act granting bounty of 81 per ton on
all steamers built within that state.
AT CHARLESTON IN 1889
Robert Y. Hayne discussed the sub
ject before a commercial convention
held in that city, in which he said that
southern and southwestern states were
producing nearly three-quarters of the
domestic exports Of the Union, al
though importing not to exceed one
tenth of the foreign merchandise en-
tering the United States, and that for
eiEn commerce was causing cities OF
other states to flourish while Southern
cities were falling into decay" Lieu
tenant NJ. F.. Maury, famous for his
invaluable aids to mariners upon the
oceans, was impressed with the
| IMMENSE BENEFITS SOUTHERN
| STATES
| would derive from the establishment
of steamship lines between Southern
and European ports. For many years
he urged the investment of Southern
capital in such lines, showing the
great and growing power her rich for
eign commerce was giving to New
York, and deploring the fact that the
South was missing its opportunities
to share therein. He saw for Norfolk
Virginia, possibilities of development
which have never been realized, but