The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1910-01-05
OUTLOOK FOR THE YEAR.
THE MANUFACTURERS RECORD
TAKES OPTIMISTIC VIEW.
Baltimore Paper Says This section is
Joining In the March Towards Ma
tiOnal Success.

rest Of the country In 1910, The
Manufacturers Record says in this
weeks issue.
with a production OF pig iron
now running on q basis of $1,000
, 900 tons a year. as against 10000
tons for the whole Of 1908, and u.s.
O00.0 tons for 1907. the iron trade
has already reached record figures,
though the conditions seem to point
to a very much greater advance dur
ing the coming year. AS yet, the
railroads have been comparatively
Indifferent buyers Of rolling stock
and track equipment,
Whenever the railroads do enter
the market on a large scale the de-
| mand for iron and steel will carry
production far beyond present out
put, although existing plants are be-
ing run to almost the full limit Of
the country's capacity.
There has been depression in the
| cotton goods trade, but, on the other
hand. there has been great prosperi-
ty to the cotton growers. for they
have been getting for this years crop
| higher price than they have receiv-
ed In the last rs years. With the
certainty that the worlds consump-
tive requirements will completely
clean up the worlds available supply
Of cotton before the gathering Of the
next crop, 1t ought to be possible
to insure that next years crop will
be sold at very profitable figures to
the grower. and II the planters Of
the South are wise In not concen-
trating too much attention upon cot
ton. such will be the result. Diver
sification OF farm crops should be
preached to every farmer in the
South that in the coming year cot
ton may be made the surplus crop
after the farmers have raised their
own food stuffs.
Broadly surveying the whole
situation there are seen evidence
that the South Is joing In the march
OF progress which the North and
West entered a little In advance of
this section by reason OF the fact
that the South did not feel the full
effect OF the panic as soon as other
sections did.
Here and there are striking IL
Illustrations Of the wonderful advance
that II being made In the South. In
Alabama immense steel works and
expansion Of iron Industries are un-
der way, but not on so large a scale
as the resources Of the South justify.
On the gulf coast great warehousing
and docking facilities are being de-
veloped at some ports, but there are
equally as great needs at other ports
where the work has not yet been
carried forward with energy. In the
coal mines Of West Virginia, Ken
lucky, Tennessee and Alabama prog
ress Is being made. and a great ad-
vance In the value Of mineral pro-
perties Is everywhere seen. But there
Is room for still greater development
In mining operations and for still
| greater increase In the value Of coal
and iron and other mineral proper
ties. The trend of population from
the West Is toward the South espec-
| tally of Texas and Florida but Miss
issippi and Louisiana and ether
Southern States are sharing in some
extent In this movement. This i'm
migration is small as compared to
what 1t should be. Though Texas is
revolving new comers from the
North and West at the rate Of about
| 100000 a year, 1t would take a quar-
ter OF a century at that rate to add
| 100000 outsiders to the popula-
| ton OF the State, whereas Texas
would not be crowded with 25,OOO.-
| 900 people. In other Southern States
the opportunities are as great as IN
/ '" anu the HioNei1ent Oh pOpula-
ton should be proportionately equal
iy as great. The incoming Of 2OO,-
600 of the better class Of people from
the West and the Northwest will be
or immense benefit to Texas. The
incoming of not only hundreds Of
thousands. but of millions of the
same classes into other Southern
states would benefit the whole South
and benefit everybody In it.
| Every railroad and every man in
terested In any way whatever i'm the
material advancement of the South
Is interested I'm the supreme i'm
portance OF drawing population of