The age-herald., 1901-03-29
Southern Industrial Progress.


being done in the iron business. Speaking of recent evolution, the Manufacturers Record, in it's last issue points out that these leading industries "are but illus trations of the general progress of the south's whole industrial life. and the cen sus now being compiled will shortly show that the total production in agriculture manufactures and mining for the year ended June 30, 1900. was doubtless as much as $2, ,750,O0o.OOO"
 The genuineness of the souths compe- tition is thus unquestionable, and the alarm of some New England manufactur- CTS appears at first sight to have consid- erable reason It is claimed that in the southern states the manufacturer is close to the supply of raw material that labor organizations have gained but slight hold on the working population, that the 2 cost of living is not so high as at the north. and that taxes are generally low CT, while (so far as the textile industry is concerned) climatic conditions are by far more favorable to successful produc- tion Can the textile manufacturers of the north bear up under the pressure of such competition? The answer of some northern pessimists and southern enthus- lasts is that resistance will prove im- possible.
 But there is another side to the ques- tion, of which little has hitherto been said. While it is undoubtedly true that the cost of transportation is largely econ omized by southern manufacturers, and that for some grades of goods climatic conditions are better than in the north, 1t should be remembered that the other advantages now claimed by southern producers are temporary in their nature, and are sure to be partly neutralized by corresponding disadvantages The south ern states are not likely to continue very long the manufacturers paradise they are now said to be. Already labor is be- ginning to show signs of unrest, and the recent strikes in Virginia, though lim- ited in area and in violence, show what a hold the labor organizations are gain ing Some progress. too, has been made with factory legislation, and full set of such acts in the early future Is antici- pated in many southern states by those who are conversant with the situation.
 But there is a difficulty deeper even than this It is found in the character of the labor srrply. The original erorts at manufacturing were supported by col ored labor which soon proved to be in- efficient for the present, and negroes were supplanted by operatives drawn from the poor-white classes. These have in many instances been found patient and willing, but in other and more numerous cases they have proved shiftless and un- teachable It is now felt by many manu- lecturers that the finer grades of goods can be produced only by labor imported from the North, and this fact explains the steady flow of workmen thither from this part of the country. These men take with them their old standard of living and their organization.
 The same is, in large measure, true of the iron industry. The whole situa- tion resembles that which existed in Eng land just after the era of the great in- ventions, and which formed an impor- tant element in the industrial revolution of the eighteenth century redistribu- tion and relocaliZation of industries be- came necessary, and resulted in consider able suffering and loss. This inconven- fence, however, was only temporary.
 Northern manufacturers need not look at conditions too pessimistically. They must, however, reconsider their methods of production. In textiles they may have to conf1ne themselves to those grades of goods which require skilled labor and in which the cost of transportation is but a small percentage of the final value. Fur niture manufacturers in the north would occupy quite as favorable a position as those of the south could they get Ca nadian lumber without duty. In the pro- duction of iron and steel the advantages of the south will for long time be off, set by superior organization in the north and by close proximity to the great cen- ters where the output is chiefly con- sumed.
 >-~-~~~%~~<~~->~-~ | Chicago and Alton Railroad to the Rocke- falIeY- inferacfc ha firm of Kuhn T,oeh