The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-09-05
A NEED or The SOUTH.

RALEIoH, n. c.. Sept ,.-Admittins the
enormous development OF the States OF the
South during the last twenty-five years,
there must also he admitted the fact that
even that which has been attained In no
more than a meagre fraction Of the posi-
bilites of the section, The limitation Of
economic advancement In any land may b~
attributed broadly to one. two or all of
three influences. lack Of capital, short
age Of labor. and lack of energy. To all
Of these, in varying degree, the limitation
OF Southern development may be charged
The lack Of sufficient capital Ia partly
actual and partly imaginary. More capt.
tai. In combination with more abundant
labor supply, would endlessly increase pro-,
duction in our Southern areas. To no other
section Of the United States has nature
been more lavish with her gifts Of soil and
climate In no other section is there to-day
so wide an opportunity for profitable in
vestment on either large or small scale.
Capital, judiciously invested and inteli-
gently handled, will convert Southern soil
and climate into generous banking accounts.
But this lack Of capital In partly imaginary.
The South has capital. not, perhaps, as the
Accommodations for investment in Jumps of
millions, But all census returns, all sta
tistics. all results Of careful observation
clearly demonstrate the fact that the South
has vastly increased its general capital
account during the last quarter OF a CEN
fury.
At this point there Ia encountered an
influence which ia not fully realized by the
people OF the section, and ia little II at
all appreciated by those Of the reet Of the
country. The South, as whole, believes
itself to be poor, It's belief In that idea ap-
proaehes fxity. The Southerner will ac
count for the undeveloped areas Of his sec
ton. for the comparative absence Of up-to-
date methods Of cultivation. for the lack Of
initiative In diversified production, by an
assertion Of Southern poverty. Admitting
the partial correctness Of the view, there
nation Is easily found The South emerged
from the conditions OF prolonged civil war
in dire poverty, Real property had been
destroyed. fertile fields had gone to waste.
and ready money had been sacrificed or
consumed. The South was poor, The
men and women OF to-day were the chill
dren Of that period Their early days were
days Of sore trial and struggle. Affluence
has come to only a comparatively small
number The modest competence, or the
comfortable income which has been &C.
quired by very much larger number, has
not driven out the idea Of poverty which
prohibits wider enterprise. Many were
nurtured in childhood on tales Of former
wealth, and many more have heard much
of Northern opulsnoe The very influx Of
Northern capital and the free expendi-
ture OF money by Northern tourists, have
stimulated the idea Of the comparative
poverty Of the South. with the result that
much less is done than might we'll be done
to the Southerner's own great financial
advantage.
| Among those who have been more fortu-
| nate than some Of their fellow citizens, this
idea Is dying out This is shown In the
largo investment OF Southern money in
cotton mills and In few other branches
Of industrial development. But the old
Idea remains with many, and the little ac-
| c,mulation OF a few Thousands Of dollars
| remains boarded or Is placed In Investment
where returns are small but reasonably
sure. An active rolling Of the dollars to
make them accumulate more dollars is not
general habit with the people Of the South
to-day But they really have more capital
than they think they have.
| Two elements contribute to the complica-
ton OF the Southern labor question: q very
considerable group of shiftless whites.
locally known In some sections az Atrihin',
and very considerable group 81 lazy ne
groes Both can and do exist for a year on
the result Of few weeks of labor. A little
work in the cornfeld. little work In the
cotton patch, and an occasional odd job
enable thousands in both groups to live
and bring up family to follow In their
footsteps For this there seems to be no
Immediate remedy. 30 long rs man does
not become an expense to the community In
which he lives, there seems to be no way to
obige him to do more than he secs fit. The
unused energy and the utter lack OF energy
on the part Of these groups, white and black
alike, is burden which the South now car
ries No community, North, West or South,
Ia entirely free from this element, but the
South has 1t in overabundant measure and
there seems to be no way for the section 10
rid itself OF tho incubus by any summary
| pIoNvSS
Much would be done for the South il
means could be found to send into that dis
trict some hundreds Of thousands Of indus
trious immigrants who would turn her fer
tile acres into prosperous little farms
Much would also be done for the immi
grants II they could be sent there. The
congestion OF an important peroeutage Of
our new arrivals In certain localities. nota-
bly, In our Eastern cities holds its menace
of social and economic evils against which
any Government is duly justified In protect
ing itself The purpose for which these
hundreds Of thousands OF immigrants come
10 this country is a betterment of their
social and industrial conditions. In no
part OF our land can those ends be more
surely attained than In our southern area.
More than that. 1t IL equally true that in no
other section oan those ends be attained
with so little danger and so great an ad-
vantage to our national welfare. These