The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-08-01
A FrrrrNa MEMoRIAI.

It Ia gratifying to note that the New
England Cotton Manufacturers Associa-
ton proposes to erect memorial to Ell
Whitney. 1t Do to be in the form of a
bronze tablet, suitably inscribed. and is
to be erected near Augusta, Ga. whitney,
1t will be remembered, died at the resi-
dence of Mrs. Greene, widow of Gen. Ma
thaniel Greene Of Revolutionary fame
and it was there that he invented the
cotton gin, one of the most useful and
important inventions ever made by man.
Whether the spot chosen for the me
mortal is at the place of his death we
cannot say. but that is not so important
as is the fact that at this late day more
than a century after his invention, those
who have been most benefited by that
invention should thus commemorate the
inventor.
1t Is peculiarly fitting that New Eng
land should honor whitney, not only be-
cause he was born there and died there,
but because of the wonderful results to
that section which followed the discovery.
We feel that we could not do better than
copy the following from a recent edito-
rial in The Portland oregonian on the
subject:
It but feebly indicates the tremendous
influence that Eli Whitneys invention
has had on one of the worlds greatest
industries to show that in 1871 the entire
exports OF American cotton aggregated
only 1S9.5OO bales while in 1903 they had
arisen to more than 10000 bales. Ma
caulay has written that what Peter the
Great did to make Russia dominant, Eli
Whitney's cotton gin has more than
equalled in it's relation to the progress
and the power of the United States. I"
Robert Fulton said: "Arkwright, Watt
most for mankind of any of their con-
temporaries." And we find in The
Protectionlst for August the opinion that
few inventions OF the last one hundred
and fifty years of marvellous discoveries
have taken rank for usefulness with the
cotton gin of Eli Whitney" stan, he
was SO bounded, harassed and prosecuted
and so denied his plain rights by Con-
gress and the courts of his country that
he was driven finally from the cotton in
oustry and forced to seek competency
in the perfecting and manufacture of
FIRE arms. At this distance the world
finds It dificult to understand the pre1u-
dice against a man like Whitney, and the
on him. His great invention brought him
only trouble and misfortune.
His inventions were small numerically,
but all-important. Against them. let us
George Westinghouse between 1872 and
1900 tnclusive-and the wealth that they
have brought him; the 1856 of Hiram S.
Maximand the wealth and royal recog-
milton that they have brought him also;
Of the 7t2 of Thomas A. Edison-and
who can now measure the volume of the
returns that will come to him therefrom?
Still, Whitney helped conspicuously to
make the civilization that readily rewards
the genius of these men! For him the
monument and the tablet!
The temptation is strong at times to
believe that some were here too soon.
There is another reason why New Fig
land should honor Whitney, aside from
his invention of the cotton gin. While he
received little from that invention, en-
cept vexatious and harassing litigation,
which have robbed him of all the
profits which should have been
his. 1t is equally true that he
made a large fortune in Connec-
ticut through other inventions, and
through his connection with other manu-.
featuring enterprises He made a great
deal of money, for that day, from the
manufacture Of fire arms. but the inven-
ton which made his name famous, which
changed the Industrial system of the civ
ilized world, and which has had SUCH
wonderful results both in the North and
the South. was barren, so far as profit
was concerned The justice denied him
ia in some measure TO be given to his
memory.