New Britain herald., 1916-04-15
The New South.
(Troy Times.)

The announcement that preparat' ions have been begun for 8 big ex. position to be held at San Antonio, Tex, in 1918 is of interest, and will signify to many persons a very daring spirit on the part of the projectors of the enterprise. There has been widely prevalent feeling that the ex- position business has been overdone. Yet it seems that the affairs at San Francisco and San Diego, Cal, last year proved that profitable patron age could be secured. The success of those shows" appears to have stimulated the men who are behind te San Antonio undertaking, and they have entered upon the work with great zeal and enthusiasm. The Cali fornia expositions will be copied in some features, while in various re- spects there will be departures from previous procedure. For one thing there will be no effort to secure aid from the national government. The men who have enlisted in the move ment will be responsible for the entire expense.
 In fact. the San Antonio exposition is to be a Southern undertaking, and there Is little doubt that if carried out as projected it will afford an inn pressive revelation of the wonderful material progress made by the South within the last few years. The plan is put forth at a time when this advancement is most in evidence. The time has passed when production in the South was confined almost ex- clusively to a few staples cotton of , course being in the lead, with to- bacco also prominent. The South is going in for diversified agriculture, with such conspicuous success that last year the total value of the farm crops in that quarter was S3,6OO, OO0,- 900, of which $2,85O, O,000,000 repre- sented diversified crops and $750.000,- 900 cotton This in itself showed that though cotton continued to be Of great account, other products far sur passed cotton in importance. The figures have additional significance, for 1t is seen from them that, while agricultural products throughout the entire United States in 1915 indicated a gain of s526, 900, 900 over 1914, more than $317,00o, 900, or sixty per cent, of the gain was Tn the South, proving that section to be going ahead agri culturally faster than the remaining portion of the country.
 This, however, Is only one phase Of development in the South. It is well known that manufacturing Is expand ing at a remarkable rate, while num- erous natural resources are being utilized as never before. Southerners themselves recognize and rejoice over the extraordinary changes that havo occurred Trade papers publish many interesting communications based on the statement that "cotton Is no longer king" and that new era of produc- tiveness in all lines has set in. This assures general prosperity, increase In the value of farm lands, growth of towns which are industrial centres and a thorough quickening of activities. The San Ontonio exposition, if car ried out along the line indicated will represent what Is truly a "new South economically speaking, and the display made Is likely to give additional i'm petus to the development already un- der tremendous headway. To organ ize and finance such an undertaking will be a task of no little magnitude. especially at a time when the worlds attention is so occupied with other weighty matters. But if the scheme twins out" 1t will be fresh proof of the vigor and resourcefulness of tho South and also a spur to the rest of the country.