New Iberia enterprise and independent observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, 1910-10-01
THE SOUTH COMING INTO
ITS OWN.


States, with especial reference to
extravaganza and Indebtedness,
the Mobile Gala Register offers,
as follows, as analytical eXplana-
ton dee dedly out Of the ordi-
nary:
"The Southerner has not been
'azed by prosperity; that IS as
much the true explanation as any
other that can be given. He has
had hard and Instructive eXper-
fence with low prices and debts,
He has had too learn that corn is
as essential his welfare as cot
ton. He is beginn ng to get his
head above the ocean Of his debts.
Prices are higher for cotton and
he has the best corn crop ever
seen in the South. He has had to
, labor and to wait, but he IS not
going to spoil it all by eXtrava
gance. The South is going to be
the richest agricultural region in
the country, as a result that will
be due to the common sense and
industry of the Southern man.
Viewed from this angle and it
is logical, it is evident the South
can claim to be making good
largely BY reason Of the silver
lining in the-clOud philosophy.
The hard times and more or less
tempestuous domestic experiences
prevailing up to within fifteen
years ago, comprise the cloud the
experience and sectional habits
springing therefrom, the silver lin
ing. And now it is the latter that
is mainly in evidence.
"sweet are the uses of advers-
ity," sang Shakespeare, and the
South has proven, and is prov
ing, the truth Of the adage The
decade Immediately following the
CIVIL War, carrying with it the
horrors and the poverty of recon
struction; gave the South such
discipline in courage and economy
as has been vouchsafed to few ma
tions. 1t was essential in the
first place, to rebuild our institll-
tions practically from the ground
up and this in the face Of odds that
appear the more formidable from
the prosperous slant of the pres
ent day. Nor had adversely fin
ished lis work with the Southern
States when section ferocity abat-
ed. and the people of the various
States reclaimed their govern
ment from the grip Of the carpet
Dagger and their own dissolute cle-
mentS
If the crush of the Civil War
Laid our political institutions in
the dust, they did the same thingI
for our economic, our agricultural
and our industrial institutions.
The baroninal plantations, so cas-
lily handled with docile slave lab
or. and now to be handled with
erratc, unrelia bile and thriftless
free labor, split up into small farn:s
and rented to Indifferent farmers
or wholly abandoned. The sue
cessive stringencies and panics
that afflicted the nation and the
world since the big evnts of the
sixties also retarded the rehabili-
tation Of the Southern States.
The memory of cheap cotton, the |
specter of those years in which the |
mortgage dominated the South |
like a sinister visitation, are yet
fresh in the minds of the people.
Moreover, the curious agricultural
conditions springing up at the |
close of the war dealt a stunning
temporary blow to diversification,
so that until recent years the Sec
ton had been draining its income
from cotton tOl bear substance
wherewith to raise that cotton.
Other important factors in the
equation were, originally, the
South s poverty in manufacturing
enterprises and it's crudely devlop-
ed mineral resources. Within the
last quarter of century, giant
strides have been made in these
two latter directions. In cotton
manufacturing, especial progress
has been recorded. with other man.
ufacturing industries developing
volumne and diversity surprising
to the Southerner himself.
Equally, tn South s mineral, oil
and natural gas assets have come
into splendid harvest. It's iron
and steel and GRANTEES and marb-
les are almost wholly growths of
the post-belhm period. Where
they are to ultimately lead us, the
most optimistic find it difficult tn
prophesy Meanwhile, as noted
by the Register, our agricultural
system and its financial returns
have executed an about-face Cot
ton for several years has been
bringing a good price, with the
guarantee now apparent that low
priced levels have forever been
put behind us. Diversificatfon
has come into its own, and each
year we are diminishing the tre-
mendous tribute for corn. wheat
and cattle we used to send to 9TH
er sections.
So that with prosperity and de-
veloping in a dozen unexpected
channels merely beginning their
magic expansion. the traits of
economy. of sanity and of re-
sourcefulness. learned in the dras-
tie school of post -bellum adversely,
are operating to make wider the
promise of the years Immediately
before US. Heaven knows, the