The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-04-23
RIGnr sonar or ExpANs1oN.


The recent expansion of the cotton manz
ufacturing business in the South has not
only been most gratifying, but reccrd
breaking. The New York Journal Of Com
merce and Commercial Bulletin, which Is
keeping careful statistical account OF tho
movement. finds from its records that dur
ing the fifteen months beginning Jan !,
1850, and ending March 81, 1900 the projec-
tons and engagements in the South reach
ed the enormous proportions of 2661666
spindles 1t Is probable that al OF
the mills projected will not materiaize,
though an effort has been made to e imi-
nate from the list everything Of a doubtful
character. However, If only half of the
number of projected spindles should be
put into operation, it would show an IA
crease of 10000 undertaken during the
fifteen months. According 10 the Finan-
cial Chronicle the total number Of spindles
in the South in August. 1895, was go go,
$50 that these figures suggest an increase
of over As per cent. compared with hat
date" says the Journal Of Commerce. The
largest previous increase ever shown was
q per cent. in 1896. The new capital re-
quired for engagements and new en-
terprises in set down ct about ,0C0
A notable circumstance in conn ction
with all of this mill building is that the
South has been helped but little by ex-
tension of Northern concerns The mon
ey for the mills is being furnished princi-
pally by the South itself The only two ex-
tensions by Northern companies in the
South that are deemed worthy of note are
those of the Merrimack Company at
Huntsville Ala and a New York com
pany at Rockmart. Ga. These two con
Germs will put in 225,OOO spind,es. or less
than 10 per cent of the total number pro-
jected South Carolina leads the list in
development with Sal .9i6 new and projected
spindes, followed by North Carolina with
1866, Georgia with $50 ,154 and Aabam1
with S37, COO.
While the movement was active during
the whole of the fifteen months, the great
est activity was at the close of the per-
iod, thus indicating that it will continue
for some time TO come. A question that the
Northern mill men are beginning TO ask
themselves is, what will be the effect of
all of these new mills in the South upon
the mills of the North when the current
boom in manufacturing shall have sub
sided? Nobody expects the present wave
of prosperity to last always. Even the
Northern mills which are crowded with
orders look forward to a time when ii will
be difficult 10 find a market for their
goods. They have not forgotten the con-
dition of the trade in 1Sf-9S. Al that time,
with markets full and prices depressed,
the Southern mills not only ran on about
average time, but were able to make mon
ey year or two hence, or whenever the
next period of depression may come.
the Southern mills will be In
better position than ever to COM
pete with the mills of the North.
Many of the most far seeing of the North
ern mill owners are said to be fully aware
of this, and although they are not at pres
sent saying anything about establishing
plants of their1own in the South, 1t is I'M
derstood that they are keeping their eyes
open for desirable sites for mills. The
probabilities are that we have not yet
heard the last of the emigration of mills
from the North to the South. There has
been merely a suspension of that move
ment, because the Northern mills are now
all busy.