The Rise of Cotton Mills in the South

by Broadus Mitchell

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 constitute 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 assurance given them in the physical assets 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 constituted 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 circumstance 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 canvassed 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 accumulating 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 accumulated in the South, the poor South." The closing remark is significant: "His ... accumulations are but the results of forethought, enterprise and nerve. He has no heavy deposits in bank at four per cent."