The Washington herald., 1917-10-22
South IN Position to Make
Rapid Headway, Says u
Holland.

80 NAliic AAdS~hs
II not surpass, any other section OF
the country with respect to indus
tries, and could at the same time Sc
cure abundant energy for the opera
tion of railroads, highway trolleys and
for lighting purposes.
George w. Perkins also delivered an
address. in which he called the at
tention OF the business men of the
South to the fact that the economi-
cally sound principle upon which sue
cessful industry is based is represent
ed by cooperation, coordination and
a new and satisfactory cooperative
spirit between those who work with
their hands and those who work with
their heads.
Suggestion Yields Results
Partly as a result of the suggestions
which were made at this business con.
gress OF the men Of the South, re-
markable advances in Industrial ac-
tivity have been made, especially in
the utilization of the water power OF
the South. This inexhaustible re-
source has made Il possible to estab-
llsh a long chain of cotton manufac-
turing plants. which. as a whole, bi-
sect North Carolina and penetrate
South Carolina and Georgia.
Now the government is to establish
In the South a great plant which will
reflect the achievements OF men OF SCI
ence and research, who have at last
taught the lesson whereby nitrogen IN
vast quantities may be taken from the
atmosphere.
1t was thought expedient by those
who have the interests of the South
~Na -.
he held in New York. in this month of
October. a convention entitled. The
Southern Commercial Congress" 1t
may seem strange that the great
forces which are now in cooperation
working out the possibilities of the
South. so that In due time that sec
ton may become as pre-emlnent from
an industrial standpoint Of view as IL
has been from an agricultural point
of view, at least in the production of
cotton and sugar. should have made
choice OF New York as a place TO-
holding a commercial congress devot-
60 to the interests Of the South.
New York and the South.
Nevertheless. it has been well known
to Southern leaders that New York
capital has been furnished in almost
unlimited amounts TO aid in Southern
development. There is no section in
the country whose industrial advance
has been more closely watched or
more encouragingly stimulated by men
of capital OF New York than his been
the case of the South.
One OF the foremost bankers of New
York, when speaking some weeks ago
of the amazing advance of the South,
an advance which began a little over
thirty years ago, said that the time
was not distant when, by reason of
her industrial development. which was
progressing sympatheticaily with her
agricultural development. the South
will have secured, through the new
wealth she has created, all the capital
needed Cor the advancement OF her in
dustries and agriculture. That has
been, to some extent, an experience
of the farmers in many parts of the
West, and especially in the Northwest.
Notwithstanding the magnitude of the
crops this year. much less money has
been sought by borrowing from the
banks for financing the crops from
the harvest fields to the markets than
was formerly the case. The farmers
are beginning to finance with their
wv Accommodations llOiAl
try.
Amazing Prosperity.
Richard II. Edmonds. editor of the
Manufacturers Record at Baltimore,
who is recognized as perhaps the lead
ing authority upon industrial and ag-
-ricultural conditions of the South. re-
Gently stated that the money value of
the agricultural products harvested in
the South in the year 1917 is approxi-
mately 5000. .0OO. 900. and that is nearly
greater than the money value of the
crops harvested last year.
If this estimate is correct, and there
is no doubt Of its accuracy, then the
money value OF the harvests of the
South this year is fully equal to the
money value of the crops harvested in
the Northwest and in the great grain
producing States.
Mr.. Edmonds says that this agri-
cultural activity is well balanced by
the industrial and railroad advances
which have been made in the South
during the year. It was expected that
this would be a special feature of the
addresses and discussions at the
Southern Commercial Congress in New
York City.
AIobilizing industry and infusing en-
ergy into Industry. so that it is put to
its proper speed, has been in this year
of 1917 especially conspicuous of the
South. Every mining enterprise, ev-
cry furnace, every steel plant. and al
most every cotton mill in the South
is crowded to the limit of its capacity
and its ability to obtain needed labor,
while lumber interests are having in
creased call for their output, and ship
building, which is running far into the
hundreds of millions of dollars, is in
progress. From one point of view
there is no longer any exclusive or
purely local industrial section in the
'United States. Every industry, wheth-
er upon the Atlantic. upon the Pacific,
in the valley of the Mississippi or in
the South, is, under the stimulus and
leadership of the Federal govern
ment. rapidly becoming mobilized and
in a sense centralized.