The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-01-11
THE S0UTH'S FUTURE.
Continued from First Page)


hand. A lmitless supply of water and
coal are alongside them, and labor is
reasonable and contented.
1 will not describe the granite, the
marble, the phosphate and other kindred
resources in the South They abound and
are rapidly contributing to Southern com
merce.
The inquiry is natural if these resources
exist if these opportunities are present,
why is it that already the South does not
occupy the commercial position which l
attribute to its future? Such a question
is pertinent, and the answer is necessary
to correctly deal with the subject which
you assigned to me- If all this agricul-
tural wealth; if all this mineral wealth;
if all this opportunity for manufacturing
enterprises have existed why have they
to such an extent remained dormant?
The explanation is easily given. When
stated it becomes obvious. The undevel-
Oped condition of the South is due to three
causes, but they no longer exist to hinder
growth. The causes We're: % Slavery.
(2) The Civil War 60 The legislation fol-
lowing the war known as reconstruction
legislation.
The total wealth of the South depre-
ciated from 1860 to 1880 two billion four
tion did not stop with the war, but con-
tnued almost until 1880 three hundred
million being properly chargeable to the
period from 1870 to 1880. BY 1880 the politi
cal conditions had so changed that good
government had been restored in every
state in the South. and in almost every
county and municipality. The minds &C
the people were then turned with zeal
and energy to their material interests.
The progress made. in the South from 1880
to 1850 is indeed remarkable. The census
of 1890 showed an increase in assessed
values during the period of ten years Of
one billion eight hundred and fif-
teen million dollars, while the increase In
the true value was three billion eight
hundred and ninety-three million dollars.
In ten years the value of the products
of the South increased from one billion
two hundred million to two billion dollars
annually. The percentage Of growth dur
ing those ten years in the Southern states,
was about twice that of the Eastern and
Middle states.
The census report of 1890 shows in the
Southern states an increase from 1880 to
1890 of 50. rs per cent. in the true valuation
OF real and personal property, of 1850 per
cent. in the value OF manufactured pro-
ducts; of 20 IS per cent in the value Of
farm products, and OF SO. % per cent. in
the expenditures for public schools. The
contemplation of these figures discloses at
once che general growth and healthy de-
velopment. not of an old. but Of a new
country. The development of the South
prior to 1850 had been swept away by the
war, and by the subsequent conditions in
cident to the reconstruction era. The re-
sources of the South I'm 1880 had been
scarcely touched. and the marvellous per-
centages OF growth, which / predict for
the next ten years, are due, IN large part
to the fact that the development of natu-
raj resources Is still in It's infancy
The most marked progress of the South
in all it's history has been that OF the
past two years. The farmers do not now
rely upon cotton as an exclusive crop.
In 1898 the South produced 55,35t,2i6 bush
els OF wheat. 400 325,976 bushels Of corn,
and 591 .O22 900 pounds OF sugar In 1897
the South furnished Il per cent. of the
hogs raised in the United States. IN one
locality in Florida the freight upon the
vegetables grown from 5000 acres,
amounted TO S5S5,000 in a single year; IN a
single day from one locality IN Tennessee
1853 carloads of Strawberries were shipped,
which paid IN cash over 10000. A large
county of Georgia is given over almos.
entirely to the peach culture, and the
profits Of one orchard owner during the
past year were 100000. The name Of the
Georgia watermelon IS almost as familiar
as that OF the negro who so much delights
to eat IT, The truck farmers around Nor
folk alone ship annually over six million
dollars worth Of vegetables and fruit 90
New York and the East
In 1893 a lumber company I'm South
Georgia planted In sugar cane fifteen
acres Of land which had cost 81 per acre.