The news & observer., 1905-10-22
Prof. Charles Lee Raper's S
Pamphlet.
SEESA WORLD MARKET
The Conquest OF New EngIand's Mills
and Those of England to be a Gi-
gantic Industrial Battle Which
Will be Long, But Sure in
Result.

partment of Economics and History in
the University. has written a pam
phlet on "The South and the Manu-
facture of Cotton which is remarka-
bic for wealth of information. histor
ical deduction and hope of the future.
Short extracts follow:
Mr.. Raper traces the production of
cotton, showing that even before the
war the South had come to enlarge
upon manufacture and diversified in
jdustry, coming upon revival through
the setback in the price of the staple
of an impetus which had been stayed
by the high price of cotton and the
immense profit in its cultivation.
The Southern farmer now grows
more than eleven million bales of
cotton. at least Seventy-tive per cent.
of the worlds annual output Will
the Southern business man allow 9TH
er sections than his own to transform
more than nine million bales of this
raw material into finished fabric!
Will he permit the manufacturer of
New England and Europe to reap
the great reward of such a process?
The answers to these most important
inquiries are to be found. it seems to
me. in the facts of the past, in a
keen analysis cf present conditions
and tendencies, and in a wise forecast
of the future
He refers to the disaster of the
same and draws the contrast:
while in 1850 the Southern
States possessed at least forty per
cent. of all the property of the entire
country, they were poor by 1870. and
they became poorer during the un-
certain and gloomy days of Recon-
struction. To the South the War
brought ruin and poverty; to the
North they brought riches and hope.
For the South to have rebuilt her
commonwealths, to have restored and
diversified her agriculture, to have
reconstructed her RAILROADS, banking
institutions and factories, to have risen
from low position in 1880 to high
one in 1905--to have done all this
within a quarter of a centur is an
extraordinary comment upon the
character and energy of the South
ern man.
THE New South is not to any
very great extent, a product of out
side energy and ability. She is large
ly revival and a continuation of the
old life. a child born of the old con
ditions. but reared amid new sur
rOundingS.
During these years the South had
an increase iii the value of land and
it's improvements of siXty-seven per
cent. while the whole country saw an
increase of only SiXty-three per cent.
the South had an increase in the
value of fffarm products of almost one
hundred per cent, though her pop
ulation increased by only forty-four
per cent; the South had an increase
i'm the value of investments in man
ufacture of all kinds of about three
hundred and forty-eight per cent.
while the increase for the whole cOun-
try was about two hundred and fifty
per cent; the South had an increase
in the value of factory products of
almost two hundred and twenty per
cent. while the increase for the whole
country was only one hundred and
forty-two per cent.
what then of our fundamental
question? What of the future of the
South in the manufacture of cotton
goods? AS we hace stated, the South
ern farmer grows annually raw cotton
amounting to more than eleven mill
lion bales. Viii the South allow New
England and Europe to manufacture
more than nine million bales of this
raw material Can the South
take from New England and England
their factories, at least many of them.
and pour into her own life the vast
wealth and marvellous stimulation
which their transfer would bring? l
am optimistic enough to think that
she can. and l believe that the facts
in the case will support my convic-
ton. *
LET us now consider what the
South is doing in the making of cotton
fabrics. In 1880 the Southern States
had less than seven hundred thousand
cotton Spindles and about twenty mil
lion dollars invested in cotton facto-
ries. Today they have eight million
SpindleS, or more than eleven times
as many as in 1880. Today they have
almost two hundred million dollars in
factories or ten times as much as
they had twenty-four years ago. Dur
ing the last two decades of the nine
teenth century the capital invested III
cotton factories throughout the Unit
ed States had an increase of about
one hundred and twenty per cent,
while that invested in the Southern
mills saw an increase of about four
hundred and twelve per cent. In 1892
the Northern factories transformed
into a fabric a little more than two
million bales. while the Southern
mills needed only about six hundred
thousand. Today the factories of each
section call for about the same
amount-about two million bales. In
other words the amount manufacture
ed by the Northern factories has not
increased during the last twelve years
while the amount used by the South
ern factories mas increased with extra
ordinary rapidity."
Mr. Raper refers eloquently to the
signs which point to Southern Su-
premacy in cotton manufacturing, the
climate. the measures to the field, the
cheapness of livin~. the drift of cap
ital and Sa1He
.'In answering one of tour Ques-
tions. can the South become the Amer
lean center of the manufacture of cot
ton goods, we have considered the
facts. analyzed the general situation.
and we have been led to the affirma-
tive side. The more sweeping queS-
tion. can the South become the world
center of cotton manufacture. meets
with somewhat the same response.
thought time will not permit me to
give detailed evidence. For the South
to do this will mean that the whole
process of the production of cotton
goods viii be completed within her
own borders and that her own peo-
pie will reap great rewards accruing
a. = =