The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-10-26
land and New England doing the carrying


business.
Up to the time when the inventions Just
described gave such stimulus to cotton
planting. general manufactures had pros
pered more In the South than in other parts
of the Union. As late a. 1910. according
,o the United States census for that year.
the manufactured products Of Virginia.
the Carolinas and Georgia exceeded in va
rie,y and value those OF all New England
AN INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION.
while the production of cotton remained
profitable. the growth Of slavery gradually
stifed Southern manufacturing interests.
And as another result OF slavery. no further
improvements were made IN the appliances
and the methods OF preparing cotton for
the market.
THE standard ante-bellum gin. gin
house and screw were practically the same
in 1850 as in 1920 During Il Q period Of
forty years the inhertor If slaves had be-
come an aristocrat; the cunning mechan-
ical skill of his forefather was temporarily
lost.
But, while lost temporarily, it lived III
the bones of the people. because no sooner
had the late war ended. wiping slavery
cut Of existence. than one improvement
after another in cotton production APP
peared in rapid succession.
within thirty years the spirit Of enter
prise, invention and improvement has
again taken possession of the people Of the
South. and they have revolutioaized the
whole method of preparing cotton for the
market, giving their attention TO the per-
lection of all the machinery and appliances
relating thereto.
The extent Of this progress may be real
lied wien II j. remembered that the cost
Of ginning IS o pounds Il seed cotton and
of baling the lint is now only about one
fifth of what it was in 1870
AFTER TIE WAR.
But even the end Of tho war did not bring
with II a speedy movement toward a resto-
ration OF those early days Of manufactur-
ing prosperity in the South which slavery
had wiped out. Even under favorable
conditions 1t would have been no easy
task.
But the conditions were jrst about "a
far from being favorable as IL is possible
for the mind of man to conceive.
II Is necessary always in considering
the progress OF the South TO insist upon
one thing that Is sometimes lost sight of.
And that is the utter annihilation of every
thing by the war Always, If you would
do the South Justice, keep In view the fact
that In 1896 she started with absolutely
nothing save the soil and practically the
same resources which the first pioneers
found when they settled the country.
The South had nothing. She had worse
than nothing. for in addition 70 the loss of
all material things, there was over all the
disbursement Of defeat and blank IN
certainty as TO the future.
EFFECT or REcoNsrRrcrIoN.
But even that was cot all Following
the war for from ten to twelve years there
was another blight. the era OF reconstruc-
ton; those dark days when a state Of SEMI
anarchy prevailed and all mems energies
and all the strength of their moral fibre
was drawn upon TO bring them out Of the
political and social chaos.
There was no surplus energy to spare
In those days. II was not until as late as
1879 that there began 10 appear "a streak
OF light ahead and people here had breath
ing spell In which to begin to look forward
and plan little for the future.
1876 THE TURNING POINT.
The year 1876 was the turning point.
That year marks the low water limit Of the
reconstruction days depression.
The only satisfaction the Southern peo-
pie had in the beginning Of that year was
the sorry one that things could not very
we'll be any worse. II thcy changed at ALL
they must change for the better. And
they did change and they did change for the
better.
Here-is where the statistics begin to tell
their story. Cotton manufacturing may
very well be taken as the barometer in
measuring tho prosperity OF the South
and the statistic OF cotton manufacturing
tell us that IN all the Southern States there
wem in 1879 only $50 cotton mills with
S?S 900 spndles. the lowest number since
1910, when an attempt was made by several
patriotic Southern men TO check the grow
ing blight Of slavery b. the development
Of internal imrovements. commerce and
manufacturing.
THE soCrHs MANUFACTURING GROWTH.
In that year, 1873. there were in New
! England not many. II any, fewer than 800
mills with nearly 1000, 900 spindles.
But the upward movement in the South
J had begun. Il was slow enough at fret
| as a matter Of course.
In 1880 in all the South there were only
lOl lNllls, Dut Win IflpTONeu ueNiCes tnt
number OF spindles had Increased from
3c5 eco TO $4,000. Between $780, the year
! when the tide Of industrial revival really
began TO be felt and the year 1890 there
| was leap upward.
In 1890 there were in the Southern States
239 mile operating i,5S 1000 spindles, a
| gain Of rs mills and over Il million splndes.
In this year Of 1902 there are over 500
cotton mills in the South operating more
than 5000 900 spindles. 10000 looms. en-
! ploying over 10000 operatives, repre-
scnting an invested capital of over sl'5-
900 600 as compared with barely $4,000, 900
in 1870. OF the II 90, 600 bales of cotton
produced III the year 1900, the mills Of the
South consumed 100000 a. compared with
about C5.0Oo in 1879
NORTH CARoLISA's MILLS.
Now of all this great progress North
Carolina Is the centre and the pivot. The
old North State in 1900 had $50 cotton mills
as compared with 1888 in Kentucky, Nir-
Rinia, Tennessee South Carolina, Georgia
| Alabama and Nj o-s sippi combined