Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-14
manufacturing

able outcome or success ! manufacturing
propositions. Possibly o. great national
event which has affected e reputation OF
New Orleans as place T secure invest
ment and development in all lines may pc
found in the determinatk / of the nauonaI
government to construct D. Panama canal
Being five hundred miles u carer the isthmuS
than any of the Atlantis seaportS and in
close touch with the emit .e central section
of the United States 1t follows that this
point of vantage must blure to It's future
greatness and must result in condition
which will double its population within the
next ten years. and add to It's commercial
life much of the enterprise and capital now
tied up in the more populous and more
wealthy sections of the country, and which
are today more or less stranded by coudi-
lions due to a surplus of population and
restricted sphere of commercial expansion
The rehabilitation of Cuba by the national
government; the wiping out of that great
bugbear. yellow fever, due to the efforts OF
the best medical authorities and expelctS III
the world has practically eliminated from
consideration factor which has been
against the development of the south, and
has. in large measure, operated to the
detriment of New Orleans in the minds of
the people of other states.
Healthy Ambition Engendered.
1.-The employment of eighteen million dol
lars in a system of drainage. sewers and
w
stfuction. has stimulated public confidence
in local conditions and has inculcated
spirit of enterprise. New Orleans Is deter
mined to assert it's right to a position oc-
cupied by the other large commercial CEN
tiers of the United States. Since 1880 health
col ditfons in New Orleans have shown
wonderful increase, the rate of mortality
decreasing from IS. Sc to 1920 excluding the
mortality at the Charity Hospital which
receives and cares for charity patients from
all parts of the gulf states. Again, the eli
matte bugaboo has been gradually elm
mated from the situation.
odd conditions are rapidly passing
away" continued Mr.. Mayo, even the
old portion of the city, quaint and histor-
icai, is disappearing before the march of
progress The removal of the old square
blocks from the pavements of its business
center has been followed by the laying of
asphalt. The scent of bitumen has been
a familiar odor in the public nostrils for
the past two years. Work is being daily
carried on in various portions of the city,
marking the redemption of outlying sections
and the improvement of the central por-
lions. AS evidence of the increase in
business we have forty banks with a cap
ital of s14,92j,960 and deposits of $7102l-
99S. an increase over 1902 of $4,000, 600 and
over 1903 of S5,00O,O0O. The bank clearings
foi- 1904 were S970,92S. 9S4 an increase over
1902 of s143 IBIS. ia and over 1899 of $512-
I09 I6G. The increase in the bank clearings
may be taken as fair indication of gen
eral tendencies The bank clearings for
last month exceeded all past records. Bust
ness in all lines has increased in proportion.
Increase in Land Values.
Real estate values have been slowly ad-
vancing, and numerous instances of sales
recently contaminated show a doubling in
price during the past six years. Business
houses are at a premium while the demand
for modern buildings in the residence Sec
ton is far in advance of the supply. A
recent estimate gives the increase in popu-
lation, over the census figures of 1900 at
nearly 50GT0. and scarcely a day passes but
that inquiries are made in the Office of the
Progressive Union and of the real estate
agents for factory sites This means that
northern men, always with an eye on new
opportunities, do not intend to neglect these
fertile fields for an exploitation of their
idle capital.
New Orleans no longer considers that
purely commercial or jobbing institutions
are alone sufficient to make community
prosperous" explained Mr.. Mayo land the
past two years have been marked by the
institution of large number of small man.
ufacturing plants. Today inquiries pour
ing in, asking for information relative to
the proposed establishment of other indus
tries. 1t is the one field in the United
States today which has not been exploited
by the manufacturer Ninety per cent of
the manufactured articles consumed in New
Orleans or handled by its jobbing houses
are manufactured in other states, although
Louisiana today contains almost every ele-
ment utilized in manufacture except iron.
The utilization of natural resources must
become Il part of southern prosperity and
in this development New Orleans must I'M
doubtedly share. The field is open to COM
petition, and the laws exempt from local
taxation all manufacturing enterprises until
1910
''One gratifying result of local COMPETE
ton and the realization of the city's magni-
hcent advantages has been the creation of
a strong sentiment of confidence IN
part of the New Orleans people A united
citizenship, working as a unit in all mat
tiers affecting the public good. has created
wonderful change in the current of it's
operations and ambitions The cry now is for
n greater New Orleans; a New Orleans in
which absolute harmony shall exist and in
which every dweller in the municipality is
interested