Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1902-12-03

INXW In Dixie, ana SHOWS tlaE the future
1INSpHH is full Of promise for this section
ES[7AxSS In mechanical enterprise as we'll as
agriculture it is now the progressive section. But
its progress is not alone in material things 'It Is
well within the truth" says the Bankers Magazine
Ito say that education is nowhere receiving q lar
ger share Of public attention than is being bestowed
upon this subject today throughout the south.
Technical education is being iostered by states and
municipalities, and there a number of nstitu
tions Of the highest rank annually giving practi-
cal training to large and increasing body Of stu
dents" A supply Of skilled labor is being pre-
pared in the recently erected mills with the result
Of facilitating further industrial development. The
employment now given in many manufacturing
towns to whole families drawn from the poverty
stricken mountain regions is rapidly improving the
economic and intellectual condition Of the only very
backward portion OF the white population.
Between 1880 and 1900 the population Of the
south increased from 16, ,36s $50 to 3d. 64S 4O, or A
per cent, but in the same period southern agricul
tural, manufactured and mineral products increased
in value from e1 1884, $50, 229 to 2644 646 44O,
157 per cent. Farm values grew from e2,29O, 1884,.
321 to e3, ,961, ,631, 632. Farming is improving as
Is shown by the fact that, while the acreage in
wheat increased in the two decades but IL per cent
the crop increased 50 per cent. The average per
acre is nearly two bushels higher than the average
for the whole country. The corn, hay and Ost crops
about doubled, and the cotton output increased
80 per cent The value OF the crop Of cotton in 1900
seed included was 1850 900, 900. The rice and su-
gar crops much more than doubled, and the pro-
duct OF sOutern tobacco is 20 per cent Of that Of
the entire union. The rural population is accord.
nRly fairly prosperous and It's gain in Numbers be-
tween 1890 and 1900 was much larger than that Of
all the rest Of the United States.
Manufacturing has had an enormous development
in the south in the last two decades such develop
ment being favored by abundant water power, coal,
railway facilities and labor. New towns and indus
tries are springing up by the hundred. In 1880
there we're, for example, 161 cotton factories; in
1900 there were 400. Between 1890 and 1900 the
south gained 2, TAT SS9 cotton spindles, against q
gain Of but 172 410 In the north. In the same pc.
riOd the capital in cotton manufacturing interests
from s58, ,OOO 900 to s124, ,OOO,O 900. But oil mills,
furnaces, rolling mills, furniture and other wood
working mills have also sprung up as il by magic
An epitOme of the manufactures Of the South shows
80, 522 manufacturing establishments in 1900, with
capital Of 81, Ill 688, 852, against 43 625 estab
lishments in 1880, with capital of S151 692 O38.
The value Of product has grown from S44, ,572, 461
to 81 419, ,00I, 873. The mining output in 1900 was
S115, ,352, 763, against 81, ,SO7, GAG in 1882. The
lumber industry has already increased phenomi-
nally This industrial progress has resulted largely
from the expansion OF the railway systems and the
improvement Of harbOr facilities. Southern ports
have increased their exports since 1880 by 955 per
cent this being sequel of the increase Of southern
railroad mileage from 81 612 miles to 52 594 miles,
growth Of 143 per cent, against growth of but 98
per cent in the rest Of the union In banking also
''the south compares most favOrably,o says the
Bankers Magazine, 'wlth other parts OF the union"
Between 1898 and 1902 the capital Of southern banks
increased from $63 100000 to ST. OOO 900; deposits
from $685. OOO 900 to S269 600 OOO total resources
from $685. 900 to $5O6, 900. Cearings indi-
cate volume OF business. The Clearings OF sOtheTn
cities in the week ended August 20, 1884, we're e47,
100000, while in the week ended August 16, 1902,
there we're S9O, 100000. The rate Of gain was much
greater than in any other part Of the country.
From nearly every point Of view the outlook is
most favorable, confirming the dictum Of Abram s.
Hewitt:
''There is no corresponding region on this habit
able globe which has 80 many advantages as the
south, all available by natural or artificial COM
municatiOns and capable Of more economical opera
tiOn than in any other part Of the country"