French Broad hustler and Western Carolina Democrat. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1915-1916, 1916-05-11
The Risen South---lt's Re.
sources and Opportunities

f. The, essay reproduced below was the
winner, in the contest at the Second
Annual County commencement foi
which. the author. Miss Mary Loee
English, was awarded a medal gtve1
by. the United Daughterszof<the Con-
'~ifederacyS Of this county. za7H
The history OF the ante-bellum South
is one of great interest TO all readers
5 for no section of the United States has
contributed so many great men to ouI
country. It held the leadership in ma
tional affairs and some of the greatest
services rendered to our republic were
by Southerners. George Washington
led the armies by which the indepen-
dence of the United States wa won
Patrick Henry's eloQuence inspired the
establishment of national liberty
Thomas Jefferson drew up the Declare
ton OF independence. James Madison
is rightly called the Father of the
Constitution" James Monroe was the
author of the Monroe Doctrine, long
the International platform of America,
and a S~outherner, John Marshall,
planted the federal constitution upon
the foundations upon which it shall
remain to the end of time.
The South's social structure was
supremely. aristocratic. The chief
characteristic of the people were: love
of liberty; open-hearted generosity.
straightforwardness and intensity Of
purpose. They possessed great wealth
Eobtained almost entirely from the cul-
iitivat1on Of the pine plantations work
ed ByNslaTeS ~S"E%tyzr 9ct@ -.
The wal between the States exhaust
ed her financial and ruined her agri-
cultural resources. Her loss in men
is estimated, sat $4,000, 0e0, 000, and
the plantations, and the countryis
pride, were left in ruins. The war
left her crushed by death, her money
worthless, railroads torn up, and with
no capital to develop the resources.
Reconstruction" was worse than
the war; many ~emigrated, masters
were reduced to poverty while the
slaves susurped their places. But,
Phoenix like, she rose from the ashes
stronger, greater better,-out of
ruin she fought her way to the marV-
elous prosperity of today. She woke
to the fact that nature had endowed
her with lavish gifts-giving her a
range of natural resources covering
everything needful for Industrial &C
tivity and human sustenance. With
these natural gifts of soil, temperature,
Ia nfall, coastlines, n~avigable streams,
mineral, forest and agricultural re-
sources, she laid the sure foundation
of the wv and Greater South.
Soil is the foundation Of prosperity;
if unfertil, agriculture is impossible
and without agriculture there can be
no lasting civilization. The south con
tains, some of the finest soil in the
world, aided by a fine growing temper
ature and sufficient rainfall; no Euro
pean country is comparable in variety
or products of soil.
She has an advantage over other &c
tons of the country in the coastlines,
which extend some 3,0O7 miles. No
part O fthe world has better naviga-
bic streams. In the United States
there is a total of 26,41O miles, of
which the South owns 1925 miles.
The Southland is boundlessIy rich
in mineral resources. The coal and
iron industrial once confined to Penn
i~sylvania now extend Southwark. Ala
bama is called the heart of the worlds
icoaI region; The South now totals
81 ,957 square miles of rich coal fields,
while Great Britain and Germany to-
gethr have ony IL 500 square miles.
+ The South is prominent in forest re-
sources, owning practically fifty per
cent of the nations remaining timber.
Her pine forests are yielding the
wealth that Maine and Michigan once
,monopolized. The chief naval stores
of the continent are here, Savannah
being the chief world market. The
South is practically the remaining
source of hardwood, and has displaced
the great lake States. as the seat of
lumber industry. The manufacture OF
i furniture and interior woodwork is a
we'll established industry.
In some respects the worlds great
est industry is cotton manufacture,
Honorable William Kelly said, "The
development of the South means the
enrichment Of the nation This is
certainly true for. if the Southern cot
: ton industry should be DESTROYED the
business. lifeof England, France and
Germany would receive a death blow,
Thls industry absolutely depends on
the South; for she holds the worlds
monopoly on cotton. Between 1894
1905; she. increased tHascotton nind1es
from $4,000 to 9.,,205;e00 and the eon-
sumption f cotton ffT her mills from
1000 TO- 25a63,QQ0 bales Cotton 4
also the foundation Of TWO great and
growing. industries-the cot-ton-texfIe
: md the cotton-seed crushinr indus.
IEles. Statistics shows the rate ina
ssne a4StAA. !. I.