The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-02-20
"IHE SOUTH is PROSPEROUS"
What william =. Witham. OF Georgia.
Has To Say About Expansion and the
Tariff I'm Connection with the INDUS
trial development or the south.

Mr.. William <. witham. OF Atlanta,
Ga, arrived in Baltimore last night
to attend a meeting today OF the d.
rectors OF the Guardian Trust and De-
post Company. Of which he was re-
Gently elected a member. Mr. Witham
has had a remarkable career, and Is
the president of twenty-seven banks II
Georgia and Alabama, besides being
active in the nagemen OF a num-
Der OF cotton mills. He was seen last
night at the home of Mr.. John L.
Blake, 1918 McCulloh street, president
OF the Guardian Trust and Deposit
Company, and talked interestingly or
southern conditions.
The southern people" he said, ARE
now paying attention to their interests
and have stopped wasting energy about
their rights. some doctrines which in
the past were either opposed because
they originated with the hated repub-
lican party or because they were not
understood are now becoming convic-
tons with the practical people of the
south.
The south is for expansion. and
looks TO the Philippines as the open
door 10 the trade OF the Chinese m
pire. l believe that this country should
hold the Philippines and have free
trade between these stands and this
country, then let the other nations who
are competitors pay a duty TO trade in
these new markets. We are odd to
let well enough alone. The man who
lets we'll enough alone Is a fool. If l
make 800 today and can make S200 to-
morrow l should feel that l had COM
mitted a sin if die not AXE advan-
tage Of the opportunity. 1t does not
matter what the natives of the is
lands are today, We can put them in
shape so that hey will have need for
articles that were never dreamt of as
salable in such markets. What would
Great Britain have amounted to If IL
had not been for expansion? She a
blazed the way and our business is in
he same direction.
protection is another doctrine which
the rapidly multiplying manufacturing
interests of the south causes to grow
stronger every year. 1t means to us
the looking after of our own family
interests. The south is for sound mon
ey. and the attack made upon honest
money in the Bryan campaign was
met by the south with the greatest re-
publican vote in its history. If Bryan
is nominated again | would not be sur
prised to see several southern states
carried by the republicans.
There has been some effort toward
a repeal of the 10 per cent. tax OF state
bank circulation, but the demand for
this is met by the bill now before IN
gresS which will enable the organiza-
ton of national banks with a capital
stock of $25, 900. This will supply the
circulation which is wanted, and on
the passage of this act there will be
many state banks converted into ma
tional banks.
The people of the south are prosper
Gus. There are more cotton mills that
Will pay 40 per cent. dividends this
year than those that will not. Some
of them will pay 100 per cent From
the national capital to Atlanta cotton
mills are running night and day. They
never stop except on Sunday, and
where you do find a mill shut down it
is to put in machinery to double it's
capacity. The theory that there must
be a great aggregation of capital to
make a success of al Industrial enter
prise does not hold good with the cot
ton mills, as the small mills can meet
the market mand as we'll as the
large ones. In our twenty-seven banks
the deposits increased 25 per cent. in
four months, and Scent cotton was the
cause. The man with the hoe is the
basis of our prosperity, as an examina-
ton of u deposits showed that So out
of every 81 belonged to the farmers.
Our cotton business will only stop
when we have spun every pound of
cotton we raise, and the south is not
going to take hold of any political
creed that does not stand for the open
markets of the world. There was a
time when a bale of cotton only left
S25 in the south, but now we get 500
out of it by selling the finished pro-
SIM February 18th