The Rise of Cotton Mills in the South Part 4

Conscious of his New England milling and insurance interests, it is likely that Edward Atkinson felt the South, which he had tried to help, distrusted him. And though the fact of his connections, coupled with a manner of addressing himself to the Southern people at times unfortunate in its seeming superiority, and tendency to become impatient and didactic, might easily have led the section to regard him with enmity, it is to be remembered to the credit of the Southerners that they showed as great charity for his, as they regarded them, short-comings of judgment, as they held in esteem his friends.h.i.+p and constructive co-operation. The vision which the South had caught rose superior, in almost all cases, to any pleasure to be found in taunting those who differed in view, especially when so much was owing to a man as belonged to Mr. Atkinson. His position is one of the most important in the whole history of cotton manufacturing, not only in the South, but in this country, and it is the most dramatic and pathetic. He stood virtually alone after the exposition had run a few months, protesting impotently against a new state of things, every development of which seemed to cry the lie to his objections. His very antagonism lent impetus to the current setting toward cotton mills for the cotton estates. And, to make the sting even more poignant, instead of looking upon his opposition to Southern cotton manufacturing as representing a cla.s.s of jealous industrialists at the North--and many things there were to lend color to such a belief--the South was appealing over his head to New England capitalists to come down and help erect factories.[168]

How Southern sentiment had grown beyond Mr. Atkinson's purposes for the exposition is to be seen in the words of A. O. Bacon, speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives, in welcoming a party of South Carolina legislators and their friends to the Exposition three months after its opening: "This exposition--marks an important epoch in the industrial history of the country. It has aroused the South to the value of new enterprises and of new methods of labor; it has awakened the North to a realization of the boundless resources and enormous industrial capacities of the South. It comes at a most propitious moment, for the South, in sympathy with the quickening energies which excite the continent, is even now trembling in the initial throes of the mighty industrial revolution that surely awaits her. A great change is about to come upon us. 'In the fabric of thought and of habit' which we have woven for a century we are no longer to dwell, and a new era of progressive enterprise opens before us."[169]

The place of the Cotton Exposition in furthering the cotton mill campaign, already attained to a healthy start, is seen in this from Clifton, S.C.: "It is to be hoped the Atlanta Exposition will not take all the enthusiasm out of our capitalists and enterprising men,[170] but that it will only tend to a greater and more steady development of our resources. There are new families coming in constantly (to the Clifton Mill) and the cottages as far as completed are occupied, and still they come."[171] And again: "A good work has been done, the benefits of which will be felt in every part of the country. The New South takes a fresh start at the Atlantic Exposition."[172] Here also is evidence of the very fortunate juncture at which the exposition happened to fall. The show did much for the South irrespective of its exhibits; indeed, before a shovelful of earth was turned, a real service was rendered. It proved to the people that they could organize and exert a force in common; the South was less individual from that day. It demonstrated besides that the South had resources and possibilities worth presenting to the world. Once the exposition was opened, three distinct influences were brought to bear in carrying forward the work already begun. The people of the South were shown for the first time as a whole the implements of cotton manufacture, capitalists in general were introduced to the opportunities of cotton milling in the section, and, in visualizing and making more than ever evident the industrial future, less effective reflex from the ultimate proposals of Edward Atkinson and others of his belief was afforded once for all.

The very day of opening, the exposition greeted crowds of visitors with these words from Daniel W. Vorhees, of Indiana; "There is a far higher remuneration than has ever been given by cotton yet in store for the laborer, the manufacturer, the South and the entire country. In the midst of the cotton plantations themselves there is a career for manufacturing development such as the world has not yet seen. With coal, iron and timber in perfection and inexhaustible, and water power everywhere, by what rule of political economy should the Southern people send their cotton, at an expense always deducted from its price, to distant sections and foreign countries to be spun and woven? If the manufacturer in Great Britain, transporting his cotton from India and the United States, can realize substantial profits, why may they not be realized here...? We have seen the manufacturer of New England, at a long distance from a productive base of supplies, turn a sterile country into the seat of culture, refinement and wealth. Why shall not the South put forth its energies and reap the same and a far greater reward? Here the cotton grows up to the doorsteps of your mills, and supply and demand clasp hands together. The average exportation during the last ten years, from these wonderful fields to England and other European ports, has been over 3,000,000 of bales per annum; while to the mills of New England and other Northern states another million have (has) been annually carried away from your midst, and from the best manufacturing region on the globe."[173]

So, even from the opening of the exposition, matters had taken a decided turn toward cotton manufacturing for the South. After the fair had been in progress three weeks, Mr. Atkinson and a committee from the New England Cotton Manufacturers' a.s.sociation came down for their initial visit. From Mr. Hemphill's letter to The News and Courier[174] it is clear that the New Englanders appreciated most those parts of the exhibit which had to do with "ginning and preparing." Still considering all cotton manufacturing to belong to the North, just as all cotton growing belonged to the South, the verdict of the party on this first inspection was: "Nothing ever happened in the history of the country to prove so adequately the ident.i.ty of the interests of the cotton grower and cotton manufacturer as this exhibition." Thus were visitors coaxed to examine into the increased efficiency and profit which lay in sending clean Southern cotton to Northern manufacturers.

Soon the situation demanded more drastic handling. Edward Atkinson, in a set speech on the exposition grounds, stated his position clearly: "You have depreciated every crop of cotton you have made at least 12 per cent.

by want of care and attention in ginning, baling, pressing and caring for the cotton between the field and the factory. You can save half your labor and add 10 per cent. to the value of your crop if you will use the new tools and machinery here on exhibition and heed the words which I now speak.

"The Southern planter and farmer has no knowledge, as yet, outside of the sea island district, of the merits of a true roller gin. Clark's cleaner has just been introduced and is only known within narrow limits.... Now, I am going to touch a tender subject--cotton manufacturing.... I have never taken the ground that there were any climatic difficulties in many parts of the South. The real difficulty is that the margin of profit is very small on a very large capital, and unless you can work, in the long run, on a very small margin you cannot succeed. These times are no criterion.... May I say that the true preparation for success in cotton manufacturing must be in knowing how to save the fraction of a cent....

You cannot spin cotton when you do not know the difference between a cent and a nickel."[175]

The reception with which Mr. Atkinson's theory met is seen in an editorial comment on his December address: "The future of the South is described with great power in the ... speech of Mr. Edward Atkinson at the Atlanta Exposition.... Mr. Atkinson is misleading only when invincible prejudice keeps him from seeing clearly, and even Northern newspapers admit[176]

that he is wrong in his belief that cotton manufacturing, on a large scale, will not pay in the South. The speech otherwise is suggestive and instructive."[177] In a review of an article by Mr. Atkinson on "The Solid South", appearing in the International Review for March, 1881, William E.

Boggs, of Atlanta, wrote: "If one so sincere as Mr. Atkinson in the desire that the South shall flourish can so misunderstand the Southern people, what must be the mental condition of those who have prejudice without good-will? Mr. Atkinson is the father of the Atlanta Exposition, and is, in his way, a true friend of the South."[178]

There was one more condition precedent to the erection of cotton mills in the South. The people of the section might come to a determination to set up schools, run telegraph and telephone lines, construct railroads, stop political quibbling and back-biting, and, above all, inst.i.tute manufactures as the surest release from a condition calling for the strongest action; they might turn themselves wholeheartedly to the building of cotton mills, calling forth every native resource and ingenuity, enterprise and sacrifice, and these would avail much. But the task was so huge in its proportions that sooner or later it must cease to be a sectional matter, and not only was this necessary, but it was proper that it should be the case. The North must be called upon for help. If there are two facts in the building of cotton mills in the South which stand out head and shoulders above all the rest, they are that the Southern people, impelled by inner forces, undertook the work, and that when it became apparent that outside capital and advice were needed and could be had, these were welcomed gratefully.[179]

There were certain forces which made for a national mind in the South--certain external influences aside from the reasonings of the choicer spirits. These bound the North and South together, and helped to make possible the augmenting of Southern energy and resources by Northern capital and experience.

Just as the International Cotton Exposition at Atlanta lent impetus to the sectional furtherance of the cotton mill campaign, so the shooting of President Garfield, his lingering illness through three months, and his death, occurring at approximately the same stage as the exposition, may be thought to have done much in preparing the way for receiving Northern, and, indirectly, European capital into the South.

"This (the South) is a region where manliness is held in superlative honor", said the Charleston paper so often quoted, "and a.s.sa.s.sination is loathed for its cowardliness even more than it is abhorred as an offence against law and society.... There could be no doubt then that Guiteau's dastardly act would be heartily denounced--and there was reason to look for some special indignation on account of the exalted official position which Gen. Garfield holds. It could not have been foreseen, however, that the outburst of sympathy and condemnation would have been universal in its manifestation, affectionate in tone and National in spirit. South Carolina does more than reprobate a.s.sa.s.sination. The people of the State, the whole people, resent the deed because the victim is the President of the United States, the Chief Magistrate of our country.... The process of reunion has gone on with a rapidity which few appreciated. All the elements of cordial friends.h.i.+p and of national good-will were there. It needed only the threat of a common misfortune to give shape and voice to the recreate but st.u.r.dy love of the Republic."[180]

The following appeared with the announcement of President Garfield's death. "In the history of the United States, President Garfield will be remembered as he whose nomination by the National Republican Convention strangled imperialism in its cradle, and as he whose a.s.sa.s.sination was quickly followed by an outburst of sorrow and sympathy which manifested to the North the true nature of the South, and do more than the arguments, the prayers and the common intercourse of thrice five years to bring together the peoples whom war had made separate. By the shedding of blood the North and South were sundered; and through the shedding of blood they are united.... In his wounding unto death pa.s.sed away the alienation, the estrangement which prevented this country from being truly one, although men and millions had made it in appearance indivisible."[181]

Railroads, both because they allowed sentiment to become solidified in the South, and afforded great currents of intercourse with the North, were of first importance. And in the railroads, with the encouragement they gave to manufactures, and the stability they lent to trade in furnis.h.i.+ng a strong commercial backbone,[182] appear early hints of the unifying force of Northern capital itself. A railroad, in which Northern men chiefly were interested, which proposed running up the James River Valley to Clifton Forge, was hailed by Richmond as bringing new prosperity. "We welcome the Northern gentlemen who are to co this invaluable work for Virginia, and we trust and believe that they may never have cause to regret the investment of their capital here. Every such investment is a new band around the States of the Union binding them more closely together."[183]

CHAPTER IV

_CAPITAL_

In the chapter on the conditions precedent to the erection of cotton mills in the South the attempt was made to show how the stage was set for the actual building of factories. The impulse for manufactures, and especially cotton mills was traced through its several more or less definite periods of development. The first of these was the recoil from the Hanc.o.c.k-Garfield election; the failure of the South's determined hopes for the success of the Democratic candidate, which would mean, it was thought, freedom from political insult and economic servitude, and an opportunity to wreak vengeance for the wrongs of radical rule, virtually marked the death struggle of the old exclusive social philosophy as the animating force in the South. This had been bred by the ante-bellum regime, called into concrete trial by the civil war, and intensified in character through each year of Reconstruction, and through each year proven more untenable.

The questioned election of 1876, when Tilden was thrown out under circ.u.mstances peculiarly galling to the South, set the section as a unit and unalterable for the next four years in a pa.s.sionate and dogged resolution against all odds to make a Democrat president in 1880. When Hanc.o.c.k was beaten in a fair fight by Garfield, the South was thrown prostrate; devastated by the war, pillaged and ridden in Reconstruction, to gather all her forces for a final defiant stand and have her last poor hope dashed was tragic. But this very extreme of bitterness was the South's salvation.

The leaders, with remarkable accord and almost simultaneously in all quarters, after recovery from the first inescapable shock, rallied to the situation like heroes, and called their less valiant brethren after them in a new resolution to build up another South founded on democracy and a purpose to employ every material resource for the building of a foundation which would bear the weight of the different structure that had to be erected.

Words unfamiliar in the South were heard on every hand; in this proposal of "real reconstruction" notions as novel as they were salutary were involved. Communication between States and parts of the same State, by railroads, telegraph and telephone; schools, churches, diversification of crops, deepening of harbors and rivers, munic.i.p.al pride and civic reform were urged; it was demanded that politics and political wrangles be dropped forthwith, and that the section set about the course of material advancement as the only method of a.s.serting rights against the North, and the only means of bearing her share of the national burden.

In the canvas of resources which this impulse brought, cotton mills were pounced upon as affording the readiest and most permanent instruments of success. It has been seen how platform and press and people concentrated their interest and attention upon the "cotton mill campaign", every new factory being hailed as another banner lifted in the fight. Two great impelling motives were patriotism--either local, state, sectional or national--and humanitarian considerations. These were held up in the plainest view of all, and impressed unceasingly. It was as a means to an end that cotton mills were argued for; their advocacy was grounded in the most splendidly fundamental beliefs and aspirations.

Descending from these lofty ideals, the practical inducements to the building of cotton mills as they were brought before the South and the country at large have been pointed out. It was shown that over and above all others stood out prominent and unquestioned the fact of the presence of the raw cotton. Proximity to the material of manufacture was felt to const.i.tute the chief invitation to go into the textile business in a systematic way. But there were other arguments used, running out to great length--of these the leading one was an abundance of cheap and intelligent if untrained labor crying for employment, and this has been dwelt upon in its phases. A store of unused water powers, favorable freight rates, low cost of living, suitable climate, the supply of inexpensive fuel, and the innumerable gains to the community were made the grounds of advocacy of cotton mills. Estimates of the expenses of erection, maintenance and operation of hypothetical factories of all sizes were worked out in elaborate detail, the saving over manufacture of cotton in New England or in Old England being remarked at every juncture.

It is a nice problem to determine how far these advantages possessed or thought to be possessed by the South were aired as a result of deep-lying motives of patriotism and philanthropy, and to what extent they were themselves the exciting forces behind the crystallization of these motives. Did these superiorities of the South come to light mainly because the South had made up its mind to remake the section, or did the South enter upon a course of development because it possessed certain outstanding advantages? To strike a balance here would be an interesting speculative venture. But, however, this may be, it is reasonably clear, as has been previously pointed out, that when it came to putting their money into cotton mills, capitalists, North and South, acted usually upon the a.s.surance given them in the physical a.s.sets obtaining. To the extent that general impulses placed in public view definite, concrete and tangible reasons why cotton mills could be made to pay dividends, the undercurrent was indirectly responsible for the erection of the factories.

It is not the purpose of the present paper to set out in any detail the unique resources of the South, either as they const.i.tuted the magnet for capital directly, or reacted through the general cotton mill campaign to swell the tide making toward a new character for the section. They deserve separate treatment, especially since they occupy so central a position and have such sensitive contact with the other forces present. Whether, however, physical advantages existing at the South crystallized out of an original philosophical impulse, or operated, more or less unconsciously in the Southern mind, to induce that impulse, it is perfectly clear that the movement for the building of cotton mills in the South originated with the South, and that at least contemporary with the attraction of capital, went an advocacy of the establishment of cotton factories that was consistent, permanent and practically universal.

From the very nature of the movement, Southern and in most cases strictly local capital was first appealed to, both by the actual projectors of the mills and the public organs which interested themselves in the enterprises, and local capital was the first offered. It might be questioned whether outside capitalists, perceiving in the Southern manufacture of cotton a favorable field of investment, did not come in as a result of the publicity of the cotton mill campaign, without waiting for either solicitation from the South or proof of the success of the new plants erecting in that section, but it will be shown that, as a matter of fact, this was not the case. At the time the South felt herself to be isolated, cut off from the national life, discriminated against by Congress and the country at large. In the beginning and in essence continuing to the end, the building of cotton mills was a sectional matter. It is not to be said that outside capital was an afterthought with the promoters of the Southern cotton mills, but every circ.u.mstance surrounding the movement, and every instinct of the hour, argued for the exhaustion of native resources before help should be sought from without.

The story of how capital was secured for the cotton mills of the South may be commenced with a sentence from a North Carolina newspaper which strikes the key-note: "All questions of domestic economy, and especially those involving the capital of our people, whether in the shape of labor or dollars, will necessarily be canva.s.sed and scrutinized very closely in their bearings on our material progress."[184]

The nature of the appeals made to local capital will best appear by looking at some of them individually.

Patriotism, a consciousness of unity, and appreciation of the dynamic character of manufactures in the South, appear in a solicitation printed on the editorial page of the Charleston News and Courier for capital for a scheme for the development of water power and cotton mills at Columbia.

The enterprise had a peculiarly appealing history, which will be recounted in considering the response of domestic capital. After a summary of these facts, the article concludes: "The work--is one of great magnitude and involves expenditure beyond the ability of this community (Columbia). Nor is the interest merely local, but reaches out to every part of the State. We call, therefore, upon all, from the mountains to the seaboard, to take part in this great central development, involving not only the prosperity of our capital, but, in its ramifications, affecting the prosperity of the entire State."[185]

A week earlier, in a Columbia dispatch to the same paper, Charleston was advised that books of subscription to the stock of the company would soon be opened there, and the argument for investment was placed on more practical grounds: "If the recent subscriptions to factories have left any money in the pockets of the people there (Charleston), it had better be saved for this purpose--a franchise like this is not obtained every decade."[186]

Implying that when the South should make a start in cotton manufacture, outside capital would flow in, but impressing particularly the need for the entrance of domestic interests into the field, a statement of H. T.

Inman, capitalist, relative to the plan to purchase Oglethorpe Park, the site of the Atlanta Exposition, from the city authorities and use the buildings for cotton factories, is striking: "We must demonstrate what we have been saying, that there is money in manufacturing in the South. If we wait for others to come here and do it, it will never be done."[187] The argument that the South had faith in her ability to manufacture cotton profitably, as proved by putting her money into the projected mills, was frequently used in soliciting subscriptions at the North, and more frequently Southerners were urged, as here, to go into the ventures, with the specific reason that by so doing Northern capital would be induced to join in.

Money acc.u.mulating in bank at low rates of interest was often made the basis of observations on the great gain from manufactures, and was pounced upon as evidence of lack of sympathy with the spirit of the time, which was grounded in the deepest needs of the people. In such cases the cotton mill campaign and the gathering of capital as a matter of practical concern usually overlap. An instance quoted in another place is typical: "But with all its (North Carolina's) varied and splendid capabilities it is idle to talk of home independence so long as we go to the North for everything from a tooth pick to a President.... We may look in vain for the dawn of an era of enterprise, progress and development, so long as thousands and millions of money are deposited in our banks at four per cent. interest when its judicious investment in manufactures would more than quadruple that rate...."[188] Several months later the same paper[189] instanced the success of Edward Richardson, of the firm of Richardson & May, cotton factors of New Orleans, in running, in addition to ten or twelve plantations producing 15,000 to 18,000 bales of cotton a year, a nest of factories with 18,000 spindles, 400 looms and 800 hands in the town of Cresson, which he built. He was said to be worth more than $15,000,000--"all acc.u.mulated in the South, the poor South." The closing remark is significant: "His ... acc.u.mulations are but the results of forethought, enterprise and nerve. He has no heavy deposits in bank at four per cent."

This same galling fact of bank deposits lying relatively idle when they might be used to further the plans held so much at heart was lamented in cases where it hindered the cotton mill campaign, or the taking of initial steps toward realizing a desire for a mill; but it was made more galling where a venture, properly launched, stood still because the moneyed people held themselves aloof. In distinction to the position of Newberry, South Carolina, where there were "numbers of people ready to aid in the enterprise, convinced as they are that it will be a profitable investment, but ... n.o.body to take the lead,"[190] was Chester another town in the same State, of about the same size. In February of 1881, after the cotton mill campaign had gotten a fair start, the Chester Bulletin commented: "Just now there is a widespread and deep feeling amongst our people throughout the State to foster the manufacturing interests of the country.

More than a year has elapsed since our people felt beat a pulse of enthusiasm for the home industries. (Reference was here had to the chartering by the Legislature of two mill corporations which attracted almost no subscriptions.) There is money enough in the county to start the hum of three thousand spindles. The large amount of personal deposits in bank indicate too truly the lack of confidence in home industrial enterprises."[191]

It may be well to consider a typical comprehensive appeal for domestic capital. For this purpose a leading editorial in The News and Courier asking support for the Charleston Manufacturing Company is particularly useful.[192] In the first place, this company marked the entry of Charleston into the field of regular cotton manufacture, and the enterprise took firm hold on the interest of the city from this cause.

Also, South Carolina experienced the cotton mill campaign as a movement more highly conscious than in any other State; Charleston was the center of the campaign, as spiritual leader no less by reason of her sufferings than her heroism, and the News and Courier was the mouthpiece of Charleston.

To begin with, the editorial, headed "Everybody's Opportunity", sets forth clearly the division of arguments: "The Charleston Manufacturing Company addresses itself to the citizens of Charleston in a double capacity: _First_, as a means of making money for the stockholders. _Second_, as a means of enlarging the common income, stimulating the growth and increasing the prosperity of the city."

Proceeding under the first of these heads, it is pointed out that the mill will succeed because the management, in the hands of men known for their business sagacity and activity, will be both economical and progressive.

There is no doubt that, along with other appeals to local resources, confidence in the projectors of a cotton mill, as personal acquaintances and men whose whole lives were familiar knowledge in a small community, had a powerful influence. Next it is shown that the profits of the South Carolina mills for the year 1879, probably the last available for citation, warranted a belief that the Charleston mill would succeed, having at least as good a chance as county plants. These profits had ranged from 18 to 25-1/2 per cent. It is explained that steam power will be used, but that it is used in England, and that the trend of the better opinion is toward steam power rather than water power, as being more reliable and capable of better control. The approval of steam by the superintendent of the Camperdown Mills at Greenville in the same State, on these grounds and also because he knew that the Northern mills using steam made larger profits than those using water, is instanced. It is evident that the necessity of employing steam power, instead of being able to use the water power of the interior, was a hard obstacle to get over, for recurrence is several times had to it in the course of the argument, and the great advantages of coastal location are stressed as a counterbalancing consideration.

The favorable facts that the Charleston mill will be able to buy cotton all the year round, and so avoid carrying a heavy stock, that samples and tops may be utilized, that the rates of insurance will be low and water freights nominal, and lastly that no cottages or schools or churches will have to be built, city location avoiding this source of expense to a provincial establishment are recited, and the prospective stockholders are reminded that by State law the whole of the capital invested in manufactures is exempted from taxation for ten years.

On the second account, of increasing the prosperity and welfare of the community, it is shown how every $228 invested in cotton manufactures in South Carolina the year before supported one person, and how when people earn they have something to spend; house rents will go up as a result of the new demand. Besides, the State at large benefits from a new means of support for the people. The very potent argument of the addition to value which manufacturing brings about is next employed. "At a low estimate the value of cotton is doubled by the conversion into yarns." If the Charleston Manufacturing Company uses 10,000 bales of 400 pounds a bale, at 10 cents per pound, $400,000 will be returned to the growers of the raw cotton. When made into yarns the cotton will be worth $800,000. Every dollar of this $400,000 difference, except what will be spent for materials not to be precured locally, will be disbursed in Charleston in wages and dividends. "It is evident that the building of half-a-dozen cotton factories could revolutionize Charleston. Two or three million dollars additional poured annually into the pockets of the shop-keepers and tradespeople would make them think that the commercial millenium had come." The appeal concludes: "In a two-fold sense, then, the Charleston Manufacturing Company is ent.i.tled to support. For the stockholders it will earn money. To the city it will give the life and vigor which nothing short of manufactures will a.s.sure us."[193]

An editorial in the same paper the next spring encouraging subscriptions to the capital stock of the Columbia and Lexington Water Power Company, the enterprise already mentioned, which was opening books in Charleston, urged the two benefits already noticed, profit flowing from physical and economic advantages, and a social gain resulting from the indirect bearings of the plant.[194] The value of the franchise, the offer by the State of more than 146,000 days of convict labor at a low wage, the rebate of taxation on plant and improvements for ten years, and estimated earnings of 17 per cent, on a total outlay of $431,607, or running as high as 25 per cent. on an outlay of $725,000, were held up on the side of material things; in dealing with the gain expected to result to the State at large, the influx of immigrants and the employment of thousands of idle women and girls, already present, for whom it was so hard to find profitable work, were pointed out.

Not unusually, in place of the larger social sense, local pride as such furnished the point of departure in the proclamation of an enterpriser to his fellow-citizens. It is to be feared that sometimes this was made the means of demegoguery, the appeal to local spirit being linked with a disparagement of Northern a.s.sistance merely for effect. Instances of this will appear when the att.i.tude toward outside capital is considered.

The case of Mr. Winn's scheme for Sumter ill.u.s.trates the personal appeal to local pride. It is to be noticed that he reduced everything to an individual and immediate basis. He spoke through the paper of the town, the Sumter Southron:[195] "I am now engaged in getting up a mill of 2,500 spindles at this place. I do not expect to seek a dollar of foreign subscription, but I want our own citizens throughout the county to be interested in it and to help me build and operate it." There follows a description of his findings at several nearby mills which he visited. One is inclined to believe that he paraded the facts to impress his audience in a general way, rather than to appeal to strict business sense. He cites the earnings of the mill at Charlotte, North Carolina, owned by the Oates Brothers. With running expenses of $60, "we have the neat little profit of $155 per day". The Sumter mill could save haulage, and use one-third of its cotton not packed, thus saving in bagging and ties. A concluding sentence indicates his frame of mind: "Will a mill pay in Sumter? Why not?"

A statement of the advantages possessed by a mill already in operation as contrasted with those which would contribute to the success of a proposed mill was a favorite method of argument. Thus the Kershaw Gazette said: "Let us realize that what is good for Charleston in this respect is better for us. (Reference was had to the Charleston Manufacturing Company.) She has to use steam as a motive power, which, in the form of coal, has to be brought long distances and at great cost. We have but to harness the magnificent water-powers which are slipping idly by us, and the thing is done. In Charleston, it is the investment of capital on hand, seeking profitable employment. With us, it will be the creation of capital itself; for we venture the a.s.sertion that one hundred thousand dollars invested in a cotton factory at Camden would develop interests to more than double that amount." The saving of three-fourths of a cent per pound in the freight between Camden and Charleston would in itself bring a fair dividend upon the capital invested, it was said. "And yet Charleston expects to, and will, make money by what she is about to do. Let the people of Camden and of Kershaw County be up and doing in this matter."[196]

These, then, were the grounds upon which domestic and more strictly local capital were solicited. It is proper now to notice with what success the appeals were made.

In the most respectable trade summary published by any newspaper in the South, it was stated in September of 1881: "The industrial feature of the year is the rapid extension of cotton manufacturing in South Carolina in common with other Southern States (naming the plants and the capital invested in or subscribed to each.) A most gratifying feature connected with the establishment of cotton mills in the South is that the great bulk of the capital employed in their operation has been furnished by Southern people. Southern capitalists are putting their shoulders to the wheel....

More than three-fourths of the capital invested in the cotton mills since the war has been subscribed by our own people...."[197]

The conclusion of Mr. Thompson after a review of the rise of cotton mills in North Carolina is interesting: He says that capital for almost 200 mills that grew up in twenty years "has come chiefly from a mult.i.tude of small investors within the State"; again, "The development of the cotton industry in North Carolina is a striking instance of the manner by (in) which a people in poor or moderate circ.u.mstances can establish manufactures." He gives credence to estimates by those he considers best informed that 90 per cent. of the capital for mills in North Carolina has come from residents of the State. "The industry is distinctly a home enterprise, founded and fostered by natives of the State."[198]