Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-04-10
HOPE AND CONFIDENCE
Early. Return of Prosperity
Looked for in Georgia.
DEPRESSION TEMPORARY
Felt Mostly by Lumber Mills and
the Railways.
FARMERS ON A CASH BASIS
Have Been Holding Their Cotton for
High Prices-Some Results
of Northern Invasion.
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence Of The Star and the
Crhicoco Record Herald

BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence Of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.
AUGUSTA. Ga. March 30. 1905.
| When 1 asked Mr.. Thomas K. Scott, the
general manager of the Georgia railroad.
| and one of the best informed men in the
south. concerning the effect of the recent
financial depression upon railway earn
| ings in that section he replied that IT
| was due to several causes which he be-
lieved to be only temporary, and he could
not imagine any reason why revival of
commercial activity should not occur
soon.
Georgia is principally an agricultural
state said Mr.. Scott. THE manufacture
of metals is confined to Atlanta. and some
of the plants there, I think, were closed
for a time during the recent severe de-
preston. which, of course, affected us as
it did all the rest of the country, but not
to so great a degree. My impression is
that all of the shops that shut down have
already resumed operations The prin-
cipal other manufacturing interests of
Georgia are textiles, cotton seed OIL meal.
etc. lumber and car building. l have not
heard Of any cotton factories closing uown
LII tIllS SoCtlOI vi tIle SoullIlS. Ddihi tiO
recent prosperous times the managers of
our textile mills have not been able to Sc
cure enough operatives to run all of their
machinery. and have been behind on their
| orders. They were probably running
about 50 per cent of their capacity,
and the recent depression has given them
chance to catch up. so that l believe
that they are about even now.
THE production of cotton seed oil and
! kindred products is limited to about four
months in the year. and l think that in
dustry has been uninterrupted and very
profitable. Car building. of course, has
been curtailed because of a lack of or
ders from railroads, and there has been
very general interruption of railroad
building and improvements in this sec
ton. There is comparatively little going
on at this time, and it is impossible to
predict when it will be resumed. Ger
tainly. it is not reasonable to expect any
resumption of railroad extension or con-
struction or general development in trans
portation or other public utilities until
confidence, so terribly shattered by the
agitation of several years past and the
recent panic shall have been restored. 1t
takes but very short time to destroy
confidence and to impair credit, but it
takes a long time to recover 1t.
Lumber Mills Shut Down.
Many of the lumber mills in this state
shut down some weeks ago because of
general stagnation in the market for
their products. This is due to the inter-
ruption Of building. railway construction
and the suspension of other operations
which call for that kind of material. The
railways in the south, as In other parts
of the country, have been using an enor-
nous amount of timber and lumber in
their improvements. There has been an
| unprecedented amount of building in At
lanta and other cities of the south for the
Ioc cox., oh ahCnrhad n
siderable portion of the output of our
saw mills, which are located in the south
ern and southwestern portions of the
state. and that furnished good deal OF
traffic They have shipped a great deal
of material north also for which there is
no longer any demand, but l understand
that business is picking up again in the
building line and will resume normal con-
dtions shortly.
the state of Georgia has shared to a
very large extent in the prosperity that
has prevailed throughout the country
during the last three years. but l have
not the figures at hand to even roughly
estimate our increase in wealth and In
the volume of business transactions. But
everybody knows that both have been
enormous. The south was never in so
good a condition as when the panic oc-
Cured last fall. 1t is impossible to esti-
mate how long the depression VIII last,
but everything looks very encouraging.
will continue to progress. not rapidly. but
steadily for we have all the essential
conditions down here, the material re-
sources are tnexhaustible. our agrlcul-
tural interests are source OF wealth
that cannot be taken away. and the prod
ucts of this state are of such character
that the world needs them and cannot
get along without Them.
Are wages higher than in previous
years:'
Increase in Wages.
Yes. They have advanced materially.
Common railroad labor now commands
10 per cent more wages than it did ten
years ago and farmers are paying a great
deal more for their help than formerly,
but l cannot give you the exact figures.
Locomotive engineers and fremen are also
receiving much more than they did ten
years ago. The wages of conductors and
trainmen have increased but not in the
same ratio as those of engineers and fire
men and ordinary labor. Railroad clerks,
telegraph operators and other employees of
transportation lines have enjoyed some
/ advance, but II has not been general or
| uniform The average increase In the
| pay-rolls of the railway companies has
| been considerable and has affected every
man more or less.
"At the same time, passenger rates have
| been reduced by legislation from three
cents a mile to two and a half cents on
some of the principal railroads, to two and
| a quarter cents on others and to two cents
| on still others. There are also continual
attempts being made to reduce freight
| rates by applications to the railroad COM
mission. Sometimes these demands are
successful and sometimes not. but the
general tendency of railway rates, both
| for passengers and freights, has been
downward for several years. while the
| tendency Of wages has been upward.
| 1.-The money invested in rcw railroad
enterprises in Georgia for many years
past has nearly all come from outside the
state. 1t is quite certain, however. that
some local money has been put into new
| enterprises, but, as rule, 1t mas only
| remained invested in that way until the
projectors could sell their interests to rail-
! road companies already established"
What portion of the community in
! Georgia has enjoyed the greatest degree
of prosperity?'
Prosperity of the Farmers.
Il should say that the. farmers have
| done better than any, other distinct class
of citizens. At least their prosperity has
been more apparent and tangible. We
know what has happened to therl be-
cause the amount of their products is a
matter of record as well as the price at
| which they have been sold. Many of the
farmers. according the best informa-
ton can get have been able to hold
| their cotton on the farms and sell it only
he could hta{p he =