The age-herald., 1901-11-06
PROSPERITY THE
 SONG OF THE SOUTH
COTTON. RICE, IRON AND COAL PUT MONEY IN MANY POCKETS. BUSH PUTS INDUSTRIES SEC oND TO AGRICULTURE.

Tn an interview in the New York Jour nal T. G. Bush. president of the Ala bama Consolidated Coal and Iron Com pany. discusses prosperity in the South as follows:
 .sThe general conditions today in the South are favorable rather than other wise, and prospects are good for gradual improvement on a substantial basis. There are several important interests on which the prosperity of the South is based. including agriculture. manufactur- ing and transportation.
 While it is true that the industrial in- terests of the South are constantly being brought to public notice. it is, neverthe- less, the fact that the greater basis of prosperity of what is known as the Southern states Is the agricultural inter- est. With lack of prosperity in this line, the South would not attain that growth and assume that position in the general trade of the country to which it is, by reason of it's resources, entitled.
 Tt is encouraging to note that for the past two years the farmers of the South have received higher average price for their cotton. and there Is promise, under existing conditions, of a satisfactory price for the crop now being marketed. As an illustration of the amount being received from cotton in first hands, l call attention to the crop of 19OO-1so1, which, according to reliable authorities, netted the farmers s494,600,00J. To this can be properly added s4o.O0O 600 received from cotton seed, making the total re- ceipts 5S4,500.000.
 'aThe reports as to the present crop in- dicate a probable. yield equal to the crop of last year, considering the increase in acreage; and the price now being re- ceived for this crop leads one to believe that the farmers will receive an average of more than Sc a pound, possibly Sc. This seems to be assured when we con- sider the great shortage today In the worlds supply. as compared with pre- vious years.
 'In considering the cotton crop and the manufacture of cotton in the South, we must not lose sight of other important in- terests some of which are developing quite rapidly. refer more particularly to the rice and sugar interests It per- haps, is not generally known what great have been made in the cul- tivation of rice in Louisiana and Texas by means of irrigation and othe improve ments, in which in the last ten years about s30, 00,000 has been invested.
 "As to the industrial interests of the South, the most conspicuous are iron and coal, cotton and lumber. It is we'll known that the Southern iron companies for the last two or three years have been mak- ing large expenditures in improving their plants and securing more modern appli- ances with a view to reducing cost of production.
 ''The production of coal Is keeping pace with the production of iron. and coke for furnace purposes is gradually improving in quality. thus contributing to a more economical production. It Is fact worthy of note that the coal and iron production of the South at this time is equal to the production of coal and iron fin the United States about twenty years ago.
 As to lumber, 1t must be remembered that of the Standing timber available in this country one-half is in the South, therefore making its resources in that respect remarkably large"