The Republican journal., 1903-02-12
KING COTTON.
He Still Reigns in the South. Growth OF
the Industry in that Section. The Com
ing Carnival.


New ORLEANS, LA, FEB. 1913. VI
the many ways of entering the gates OF
this ancient city for travellers from the
east that of the Southern Railway, con-
Meeting with the Louisville and Nash
Vile system at Mobile, is most interest
inc and comfortable at this season.
This route leads one from the natonal
capital through Virginia, the Carolinas,
Georgia Alabama and Mississippi to the
month of the great river and the Cres-
cent City. The journey is through the
centre of the cotton belt, and cotton is
still king in this section. 1t is the basis
of the great prosperity of the South TO-
day. and the key OF her wonderful re-
covarv from the misfortuneS and al
most absolute ruin of terrible, long
continued war. What is being gained
at present by Dixie from this staple, IN
wealth and business expansion, is only
fraction of what will come to her III
later wears when double the acreage OF
land is under cultivation and cotton
mills and cotton fields are inseparable
twins in every village. For this is
what is going on all over the South.
More land is being laid to cotton every
wear. as greater certainty OF sure crops
and high prices naturally lead TO lts
cultivation. But that is not all. COT
ton mills are as numerous along the
railway lines in North and South caro-
lima and Georgia as are ice houses
along the Kennebec river. | was hrst
in the State of Georgia fifteen years ago,
and then. outside the large cities OF
Aupusta. Macon and few other towns,
cotton mills were hardly thought of,-
certainly not built or projected. Now
at almost every minor railway Statloh
one sees sometimes a single mlll,-
aoYi,, several; and dozens i'll process OF
erection. They seem to be substantiaF
TX hnilt If brick and stone, many OF
only one story,-others OF two and
three. For miles about them and up
+o fine very doors are the cotton llelds,
soou to receive the seed that Shall later
make them assume the likeness OF
hinge alea of popcorn. This is getting
t1,4 stable and factory together IN dead
earnest. Here is the raw materlal on
the spot: mills practically IN the cottoh
fields. and the cheapest labor IN Amer
ica not barring the negroes. 1t STANDS
ia reason that cotton goods can be
made cheaper than i'll the North, ana
+he only grounds for hope i'll the Massa-
ab1sptts mill cities for long-contlnu-
ance Of the high scale of wages now be-
ing paid there is the fact that 1t may
moi he found feasible TO make the liner
grades of goods in the South. At pres
enr only the coarser grades are made.
The wage. .earners are not very Skilled
or very INTELLIGENT. or with the ambition
for better state Of things found In
+bair brethren of Fall River and Man
chester still their work is well done,
they live on what is paid them, and the
product OF their labor competes with
that of other manufacturing localltles.
Huddled near the mills are their little
dwellings of two and three rooms,-
owned bv the corporations employing
them. All the family labor; that is, all
hut the very small children. Many OF
twelve to thirteen years are employed
and do good days work for forty or
tftv cents. AS to their education and
cultivation.-Well, that has to Wait,-
generally forever. | noticed, at Spar
tauburg. :. c.. when the hands were
leaving the mill at the noon hour, how
many of the very young were IN the
ranks. 1t seemed to me greater work,
and one likely to bring about more sat
lsfact0ry results i'll the end, that
fine large school house should take
the piace of the new mill which was
under construction only few rods
awav. Many of the legislatures, notab-
iy in Alabama during the week just
past. are discussing remedies for this
great evil of child-labor in the mills.
No doubt something will come from it
soon and the age-limit be raised, as the
least benefit that will accrue. The earn
sne of a livelihood is a noble ambition
for Young or old, but the culture of the
mind, to make true man or woman
instead of a machine, is far and away
beyond it.
A leading cotton dealer of this city
said 10 me recently that he sees no rea-
son why, in years to come, the finer
GRADES of cotton cloth should not be
made III Georgia and the Carolinas, as
the summer climate is temperate and
healthful foroperatives from the North,
and the winter climate, by comparison,
a joy forever. When that time comes,
if il does. their industry will either be
placed Oh a much less profitable basis
than at home, OF wages may be cut right
a nd left in New England to stem the
current, OF the industry itself trans
ferred bodily to the South.
New Orleans is the largest cotton
port in the world and exports annually
nearly two million of bales,-or about
seven thousand for each working day.
Vr~,