The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-06-30
REORGANIZATION OF THE SOUTH

The attempt of Senator McLaurin to
make political capital out of the indus
trial regeneration Of the South, has riv-
eted public attention upon that region,
with the result that facts have been
brought to the attention of the North
and East which are little less than as
founding The South is about to claim
it's own and that at the expense of the
East in many lines of industry
The year 1920 which brought to Vir-
ginia the first negro slaves and the first
cottonseed, fixed for nearly three eentu-
ries the fate Of the South. Slave labor
and the landed aristocracy which it was
instrumental In establishing were re-
sponsible for the plantation system and
initiated against the introduction of the
intelligent white laborer of the industrial
mandatory
Blessed with a fertile soil, salubrous
climate and abundant mineral resources.
there never has been a physical reason
for the sparse population of the region
south Of the Mason and Dixon line. The
civil war which at once wiped out the
system of slavery and with it the landed
aristocracy of the South, although it dew
astated the country and left it filed
with the bitterness of defeat and the
apathy of despair was to that vast en-
pire blessing. 1t broke TIE bonds that
had bound the South to the soil. and
made it possible for the coming genera
ton to enter upon it's inheritance-an in
! her1tance of unmeasured wealth Eng
land grew wealthy from her spin6les and
| looms which had to look to the South
for raw material. New England took up
] the cue and followed in the footsteps Of
old England. The South poured it's riches
into their laps, not knowing or not car
| ing for its own possibilities.
ALI this Is now undergoing metamor-
pEosis. The industrial vigor of the North
! and East has entered the field of enter
prise and now beside the cotton field
! is seen the smokestack of the mill. It's
! iron and coal are being mined, while
! diversified farming Is being introduced
| TO supply the markets of an increasing
| population and incidentally to redeem the
Wornout soil Of the old regime.
instead of sending her cotton to Eng
land and buying it back in the sha "a
OF textile fabrics; instead of shipping
1t to New England and being compelled
to pay ruinous tariff of Transportation
! that staple is being manufactured ON
the spot. North Carolina manufactured
her whole cotton crop in 1900 and South
Carolina and Georgia did nearly as well.
Inc spindles of the South have incres sed
during the last ten years from LOO 600
| to 100000 and the looms have kent naca
with the spindles. Nor is this awakening
confined to the cotton spinning and weay-
j ing industries The South is in the iron
industry to stay, Alabama and Georgia
and Tennessee will soon rival Pennsv,.
van,a in the production Of irsn and
| steel
! What is wanted to accelerate this re-
vival of the South? Is it a high tariff as
| indicated by the man who poses 40 a
disciple Of the new regime? Not at all
What is needed is an unlimited foreign
market. The South can compete with
| the world and make a handsome profr
1t has nothing to fear from foreign man
! ufacturers. All that it has to fear comes
l from the enterprise Of the Eastern and
Middle states in the home market. By
custom, born of long immunity. these
| sections enjoy a complete monopoly Of
the home trade. The lines are estab-
lished and it has taken and will take an
effort to break into those, but with the
outside world there is no such handicap
The South starts even-footed with the
best of them. With the opening up of
the far East-a veritable bonanza for
the cotton fabric exporter-the South
with it's new machinery and dts abundant
raw material at hand can dictate it's
own terms and select It's own market
The worst foes to the regeneration of