The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1906-08-10

England mas $SOO,OOO,OOU invested IN
cotton manufacturing.
We of the South think that we have
been making progress in the develop
ment of our spinning industry, and
it is true that we have done remarka-
bly, well, but if we judge what we have
accomplished by the possibilities be
fore us we would be amazed at what
the future holds in store. It is no
longer a question of finding capital
for Southern cotton mills, but it is a
serious question at present to find a
labor supply adequate to the needs OF
this growing industry. This, however,
can be overcome; labor can be brought
in and will be brought in In the near
future to an extent which will pre-
went the hating of our cotton-mill de-
Ivelopment. We have, as / have just
said, made great progress, and yet
Massachusetts, has nearly as many
spindles as the South, and Great Brit
ain last year alone added 100000
spindles to it's cotton mills, or two
thirds as many as the total number in
the South. The world has upwards
of 110,000,O00 spindles, for which the
South furnishes more than three
fourths of the raw material, but out
of this vast number we have less than
10, 100000 The possibilities in the
extension of cotton-mill building are
only limited by the question of labor.
We could quadruple our entire mill in
dustry and still fall short of the mag
nitude of eotton-spinning at Manches-
ter.
OF what avail is it, however, If we
have these boundless stores unless
they can be fully utilized? And, If utili-
zed, what may we anticipate in the de-
velopment of wealth? Possibly no bet
ter illuatration of the illimitable posi-
bilities that stretch before us can be
given than by brief comparison with
Massachusetts. That State, but 5000
square miles in area, or only one-fifth
of Virginia's, practically without a
single advantage, unless it be q few
waterpowers, comes to the South and
takes of us our raw material To Vir-
ginia it comes for coal, to the central
South and to Texas and Oklahoma Il
goes for cotton, in the pine forests of
the central South it seeks its timber,
in Virginia and Alabama it buys it pig
iron, and from the far West it imports
its foodstuffs. Gathering these raw
materials for manufacturing and the
food for the sustenance of its people,
it has developed a manufacturing in
dustry which is now annually produc-
ing $1,000, 100000, against $1,800,000,-
600 as the value of the manufactured
products of the fourteen Southern
States. Pennsylvania falls 400 square
miles short in area of Alabama, 1t
has but little iron ore, hauling it's sup
ply more than 1000 miles from Lake SUI
perior, against Alabama's vast stores,
and yet Pennsylvania had in 1900 ST.
550,000000 invested in manufacturing,
based on coal and iron as the chief
foundation, against $1,15O, 100000 as
the total manufacturing capital of the
whole South.
Would you gain conception of the
limitless field for human activity, for
the development of industries great
and small, for the profitable employ
ment of people and the growth of
riches beyond our widest dreams a
few years ago? Then contrast what
Massachusetts on its rock-ribbed soil
has been able to accomplish anu
think of the boundless possibilities of
the. South so lavishly blessed by ma
ttEe with every advantage which the
heart of man could desire.
These facts bring to the bankers of
the South an opportunity fraught with
great responsibility. Every mine
opened, every factory built, every acre
of land enriched by better cultivation
means added prosperity for bankers.
Every settler who brings his brain,
his Drawn or his money is an investor
in the upbuilding of the greatest of
all enterprises-the South--in which
the bankers hold the controlling
stock. The power of money for good
or for evil makes the banker, whether
he be saint or sinner, a dominant fac
tor in his community
You bankers hold over your commni-
ties an influence of such potentiality
to bless or to curse, to build or to
destroy, not material things only, but
character, honor and all that make
for mans higher life, that you should
feel profound sense of responsibility
Your position brings you in contact
with the whole community, and what
you do others are sure to initiate.
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