Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-19
GROWTH IN SEVEN YEARS
Vast Strides in the City's Industrial
Enterprises.
RAILWAY EARNINGS FALL OFF
Farmers Holding Back the Cotton
Crop for IS Cents Pound-Pas-
senger Traffic Less.
BY WILLIAM E.. CURTIS.

The good people of Columbia are to bt
| congratulated upon an abundant anc
long continued prosperity which has made
them one of the richest communities IN
the south in proportion to their number
| The business section of the city, as wei
as the residence districts, shows signs OF
wealth and progress. Improvements are
slow in all these southern towns com.
pared with the hustle and hustle Of the
north, but here you can find modern In
novations in the way of one skyscrapel
building and several other substantial
| banks and mercantile houses which nave
| recently been erected. The Carolina Ma
| tional Bank, for example, has one OF the
most perfect counting houses and one OF
the most elaborate vaults ever construct
ed. but it frowns upon lot of old ram
shackle structures which deface the main
street in it's neighborhood. They ought
all to be torn down and they are gradual
| ly disappearing.
| The business of the city justifies these
| fine structures. There is more money on
| deposit here today than there ever mas
been in the history of Columbia. por-
ton of it belongs to the state govern
ment and that balance is constantly De
| ing drawn on by warrants. The largest
| bank in the city has over two millions OF
deposits. There are two others with
| more than a million each. There are six
banks altoget her, with ample capital and
reserve There has been no failure IN
the city of Columbia since reconstruction.
Growth in Seven Years.
/ In 1900 the banking capital was sls!'-
! 500: in 1901 it had increased to lo6.
In 1900 the combined deposits Of the six
banks were so.G:3,o43 and on the first
o. January last they were $o.428, 4n.
in
this city in 1900 was $3.50. 400. while to-
day it is s4715.cOo The number of
spindles in 1860 was 10000. while today
there are $4,000. The number of looms
is 1902 as against 900 in 1900 90 o-o
In 1900 the cotton mills consumed 26210
bales of raw cotton; in 1907 they consumed
IS 600 bales.
The value of the output of the Columbia
cotton mills in 1900 was s.. l33,oO,', While
in 1907 It was 81 S27."O2.
The value of cotton seed products In
1900 was $4,000. and in 1907 1t was
81 AZ, 600.
The wages paid the factory hands in
1900 We're S51S,?S6, while in 1897 they
were $797. 946
|. The products of other manufacturing
concerns were valued at more than four
million dollars last year.
The Olympia is the largest cotton mill
under one roof in the world. according to
the local authorities. employing 1.20O peo-
pie and being surrounded by village or
) 600 inhabitants dependent on its pay roll
1t represents an investment of S2.IJO.OOO
and has 1OO.NO spindleS and 800 looms
800 people and supporting population
of 1900. and the mill that makes sail
cloth and cotton duck employs 100 peo-
pie.
have been very profitable in the past. al
though just now they are running on only
half time because of the falling off In
the demand for cotton products.
Nearly All Wealth Earned.
The money in the banks of Columbia
| was made here. The wealth that is seen
| in every direction has been accumulated
| almost entirely by the present genera
| ton. rather than inherited from pros
porous ancestors. Columbia is purely a
| mercantile and manufacturing COM
! munity. There are some fine farms and
Il few prosperous planters in the neigh
bOrhood, but they do not compare with
| the large plantations in more fertile
| portions of the state. Very few Oftthe
people who occupy the beautiful man.
! sions on the shaded streets of the city
derive their income from the soil; their
wealth has been gained in trade and
manufacturing. Being located in the
| center of the state and having unusu-
| ally good transportation facilities CO.
| lunbia has become a mercantile dis
| tributing point for all South Carolina
and a considerable territory in the adj
| joining states. Four railway systems
| center here. representing a mileage Of
nearly 5000 miles. Fiftysix passen-
| ger trains enter and leave the city
| daily. and sixty heavily loaded freight
trains were passing in and out every
| twenty-four hours until few days ago.
| There has been a considerable falling
| off in traffic, however. during the last
| few months which accounts for the
| decrease of the earnings of the rail-
roads in this section. This decrease has
been so great that the Southern rail.
| way and other companies are compelled
| to cut down the wages of :Icir men
| employees for the same reason that they
raised them two or three years ago.
Holding Back the Cotton.
The chief reason for the falling off in
railway earnings is the holding back Of
last years cotton crop for higher prices.
The planters have entered into COM
bination through the medium of the
| Cotton Growers Association TO force
the price up to Is cents a pound. and
| they are being assisted by bankers.
! manufacturers and commission houses.
'Ten-cent cotton" hitherto has been the
height of the ambition of the average
| planter. The estimated average cost of
raising the staple In South Carolina is
) cents a pound and If it can be sold for
| 10 cents the planters can live in luxury
The demand has been so great that lie
the past winter, but the Cotton Growers
| Association has been determined to force
it up to Is, and 1t has been particularly
successful In this state In persuading the
banks to loan money on that portion
| which has been held back.
The only cotton that went to market
from South Carolina last fall and dur
ing the winter that Is just closing was
that sold by the small farmers who need
ed the money and that which was turned
over to the country merchant to settle
the advances he had made to his custo-
mers He was compelled to pay his bills
and his customers helped him. 1t Is es-
timated that these transactions absorbed
from 10 to 30 per cent of the crop. Will
the assist ance of the banks the rest OF
the cotton was held back until the hnan-
cial crisis occurred in New York. The
banks, being then hard pressed for money
issued clearing house certificates to give
local circulation and that enabled the
farmer to continue to hold back his cot
ton. When the price reached ii cents q
great deal was sold. perhaps about &c
per cent more Of the crop. because IL
was unusually high and many farmers
were not willing to let the opportunity OF
| realizing pass. Thus about 20 per cent OF
last years crop has gone to market. The
official returns show, however, that only
I.0S6, 1OS bales have been exported up to
date. as against S509.926 bales at this
time last year.
The best judges estimate that fully sc
per cent of the crop of 1907 is still held
back on the plantations and in the ware
houses waiting for higher prices. and that
has deprived the railroads of a correspond
ing amount of their most profitable