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THE WEEKLY CONSTITUTOR, DECEMBER 13,1*81
AT THE EXPOSITION.
FACTS AND INCIDENTS OF THE DAY
NOTED.
The LutMt Crowd 8inee the Opening???The City Com*
forteblv Filled???The Proceeding, of the Na
tional Cotton Planter*' Convention???
The Spccche, of the Oeeuion.
Forward bus tK-en their watchword and forward ita-
been their mateh. under the l>!exeings of home role
and home government. until they have reached an
elevated position. from which Uiey point you to
there exposition balls, to this city's marvelous
growth, and to Georgia's steady progress as an a.>
your wise counsel and in vour en-
thusiastie feelings, in the efforts tve
have expended. The presence at this exposition
and at this time of so large a body of men???, thriftv
in their pursuits, representative of their classes
I and patriotic in their desires for the advancement
snranee to the people of the north and the south. I and prosperity of the whole people is an event of
the east and the west of the life in die i grand significance, and has properly challenged the
old state yet. To . tin.* evidences of attention of the best progressive minds of the eottn-
this vitality, not only In Georgia, but in other try. The union here to-dav, so long hoped for and
It must lie a son roe of the greatest pride to
those public spirited men who put their mon
ey and energies to work to give the sotitii her
first great exposition to contemplate the suc
cess of their efforts. One does not have to be
a eitir.cn of Atlanta nor of the south to appre
ciate the scope and greatness of the enter
prise. That man must lie indeed dead to ev
ery impulse of patriotism who cun walk
through the buildings and grounds at Ogle
thorpe park and sec what is there to l*e seen???
the enormous collection of America???s product
and the thousands of visitors who have come
from every quarter of the country to sec
them, and not l>e moved to a feeling of the
greatest enthusiasm and pride. As for us
the people of Atlanta???there can be no
bounds to our enthusiasm when we know
that our city is now the centre of attraction
for all the American people, and that the
eyes of the whole people are turned toward
her. The name of Atlanta is ??????in the mouths
all men," and her praises
sung by tongues innumerable. Well
may we be proud. We have
been visited by the high and
the low of the whole country, ami Wlmt we
have shown them is in every way worthy of
the whole peop???e. The exposition is univer
sally pronounced the greatest exposition of
American prjducts ever made either in this
or any other country, and as such should l*e
seen by the people of all sections. .
National Cotton Planter*'Convention.
THK ISTKItKSTISO PROCEEDINGS WITH WHICH THE
GREAT EVENT WAS INAUGURATED.
The National cotton jilantera??? association assem
bled in Judges??? hall at 12:30 p.m. A great many of
them were accompanied by ladies, and there was
also present it large number of siieclators, including
many planters from this and adjacent states, who
were not active members of the association. These
combined to make the assembly oue of the largest
that has gathered in Judges' hall during the ex|M>-
sition???not only the largest gathering, but one that
was more nearly representative of the great indus
tries of the country, as connected with the cotton
interests of America. There were representatives
from nearly every one of the cotton producing
states, as well as distinguished manufacturers of
cotton machinery and textiles from the leading
C intent of the cast.
Director-General Kimball called the assembly to
order and briefly welcoming ttiem, explained the
programme that had lieen arranged for this long
expected and significant convention. In conclud
ing he introduced Governor Colquitt, who was to
make the welcoming address.
Governor Colquitt, on rising, was greeted with
applause and spike ns follows:
"Mr. President: As i stand here, commissioned
by the authorities of this exposition uiid by the
state ef Georgia, I wish to declare that I have never
undertaken a task of welcome in which my heart
was more interested than it is upon
the present occasion. If, In welcom
ing a guest, we nre to consider his
diameter, who is there, in all the earth, who is
more entitled to welcome and distinction anywhere
limn those who produce and???those who handle this
great staple???cotton. What mi amazing history is
connected with it. licginning in Kill was the very
first inti ination we ever had of it in English history.
In 17M including a period of eight or ten years,
there were but seventy-four bales of cotton all told
sltipped from this country to England. The first
cotton manufactory in this country was built in
17s7, in tlic little^town of Beverly, Massachusetts,
and from that day u> this its progress anil its devel
opment have been wonderful, oven from the
Arcadian days of which the jioets like to sing,
w hen the maid was at the spindle and the weaver
at tile to,>11) and both sat blithe mid gay-
yea, down to tills period when almost every rill
and every river, instead of listening to the song of
tile spinner, is loud witli the hum of the wheel and
machinery. These wonderful steps have been
made year after year until to-day, when you come
to compute the multiform relations that this staple
hears to the commerce of the W'orld, it is fully
enough to amaze the statesman and the httmanita
riau. Uism how- many lields has it set labor to
work, in how many shops has it started the busy
wheels of industrv, upon how many railroads is it
furnishing the freights for transportation, upon
how many seas, uniting together continents 6u
almost evetr wave, do you not ii tin ships bearing
the cotton products or manufactured goods?
It is stimulating the industries of almost
the entire earth: it is the almoner of progress:
It is the almouer of employment, of peace and it
w ill, in its relations to our industries und our de
velopment, cement in fraternity, in union and in
love the once dissevered tlcments of society in this
country. [Applause,]
l*sec before me many of the planters of the south
and I see gentlemen from the distant stales, from
those that have been so distinguished in enterprise,
in skill, in invention and improvements in ma
chinery. They, as well as many of us at home,
have been in the habit of regarding these plain and
industrious planters os mere clodhoppers
of the earth. Just a word here in
vindication of these plain, unpretentious men.
You will pass through these exhibition halls; you
will gaze lit wonder and amazement upon the skill
and ingenuity of these contrivances and machines
for the manipulation of this product and contmst
them with the old-time machines tlint were so hanl
atnl so slow in their processes. While we give all
credit to these men of genius, at the same time let
us not underrate these simple, plain, hard-working
men of the country or their achievements* 1 invite
von gentlemen, who have been given to labors of
enterprise and improvement, to walk out on tills
plat of ground and witness that these cotton plant
ers of the south have brought this wonderful pro
duct to the very highest development of which it
apia-ars capable. [Applause.] When you eonte
to contrast it with the products of Egypt,
Brazil and other eountrieshere placed on exhibition,
von and I alike will agree that distinguished credit
is due from both of us and all of us to these plain,
unassuming gentlemen of the country. [Applause.]
We have exhibited here to-day a spectacle that
has never before been wiinessed in this orany other
country. You, gentlemen engaged in manufac
tures, have been in the habit of meeting in conven
tions, and discussing those measures which
would contribute to your best interests and
those of the country- These planters have been
meeting in their states and county societies and
conventions and discussing what pertained to their
employment. But never before has it been written
that the manufacturer* of the implements and
machinery of an industry have come together with
tlie employers and producers In a common sympa-
thy and union for their mutual interest. (Applause.)
They are here to-day to take each other by the hand,
to look into each other???s faces and to discus* as one
brotherhood what is best for their common welfare.
Oh, would It not be well If some commercial high
priest could stand up here to-day
and bless this union with the injunc
tion, "tv hose hands are here joined together, let no
man put asunder.??? [Applause.] And how much
belter still if we could have a tnpartite agreement
and have the transnortersof the country join with
us in this union. But I will not be led away into
that discussion. My task is a very simple one. It
is to bi<l yon welcome to Georgia and to these
grounds, which I do with all the heartiness with
which I can utter the word. For never before with
more solemnity and more cordiality have 1 bid any
body welcome to tlie homes, the hospitalities ami
hearts of our people. [Applause].
Colonel Thomas Hardeman, of Maeott, president
of the Georgia state agrieiiltu ml society, next was
Introduced and spoke ns follows:
Mr. President and Gentlemen: Having In person,
in the city of Memphis, tendered your body an in
vitation to visit the cotton exposition, 1 fell sensibly
the compliment conferred upon me. when those in
authority delegate*! to me the pleasant duty of wel
coming you to these exposition halls, lit so doing
I shall use no flowers of rhetoric, no studied meta
phor, but in simplest English express tlie gratifica-
lioti your presence affords and the well wishes of
all, for your pleasure, your comfort and edification.
As the representatives of that great industry which
underlies our national prosperity, I bid you wel
come to an exposition inaugurated to enhance its
Interest, to enlarge its usefulness, to improve its
economies and maintain its pre-eminence. In the
name of the planters of Georgia. I bring you word
of welcome and of cheer: in the name of the man
agers of this great southern enterprise I extend to
you.a cordial greeting: in behalf of the citizens of
Atlanta 1 welcome you to Georgia and to Georgia's
capital city. To what other place could Georgia
extend so cordial a greeting to those who come to
see her condition and mark her progress as to this
city, where in the dark and Woody days of revolu
tion. they read their fate by the light of its con
flagration, ns bursting shell and booming ramton
knelled their fortunes and their hopes. If they
cite you to the |>ast with sorrow, they point you
with satisfaction to the present aud exultantly fore
shadow the glory of the future. Lingering in the
shadow of her groat misfortune until the smoke of
revolution had disappeared and the storm of fac
tion hail been hushed In the calm of peaceful pur
suit*, her people bade adieu at last to Egypt and
began their march toward the good land that is be-
southem state* collected here, 1 point you with
pride and gratification. Tlie south I know has been
charged with inertness, w ith love of ease, with in-
difference to progress in ail that gives prosperity to
al>eople and ttorition to a state, 1'ardon me, my
countrymen, jf in my love formyowu, my southern
land, I deny the "soft impeachment." Consider
thoughtfully the condition of the southern states
after the close of theininsueeessfal revolution. Two
thousand millions of dollars worth of property
swept suddenly away, lands fearfully depreciated,
commercial communications destroyed, the labor
system of a century overthrown, farms desolated
and fenceless, immense portions of their territory
made "a wilderness of wreck," industries paralized
by the exactions of governmental bureaus, politi
cal anarchy reigning during the turbulent days of
reconstruction, idleness and vagrancy characteriz
ing the new Civilization in its sudden transformation
to iroedom, vibrating between military, provisional
and reconstruction rule, and tell me, true men of
my country, if the south d.ies not challenge
the admiration of mandklnd by her efforts in the
rehabilitation of her fortunes and her states from
the universal wreck that engulfed the one and
bankrupted the others. And who in all these
trials and revolutions have suffered mo e than the
agriculturists of the south, yet with no help but
their efforts and no fortune but their industry,
they have toiled on, struggled on. now cheered by
hope, then widened bv disappointment until to
day, wilh no protective duties from government,
they are. in tlie language of l'enclt Koxe, tlie hand
maid of commerce mid the parents of manufac
tures, furnishing cargoes for our ships, paying for
our imp* nations, supplying a large part of tlie
world with clothing, ami i:i the progress of their
march, laying the inundation for future prosperity
in the south that will enrich her with its fruits and
gladden her with its blessings. In this progressive
march Georgia has been in the foremost rank
adopting liersei , as early as government iuterfbr-
ence would permit, to the changed condition of
her civilization and her industries by
unceasing effort and untiring will,
she is working out successfully
the great problem of tier destiny. Emerging from
the war with a loss of over $810,000.00(1 of property,
reduced ill Is*Si ton taxable digest of $146,000,000, in
a decade of years she hud increased jiiy-.iWO.POij,
and to-day possessed of every element of wealth
and advancement, she is giving promise of a bright
and glorious future. The census inform* us of
continued prosperity, of Increased productiveness,
of development in manufactures and mines, of
multiplying industries, of growth in commerce, in
imputation and in educational facilities, which
sneak eloquently of her eapaeilies and advantages,
iter agricultural aud mineral resources are bound
ed only by legislative economies uud constitutional
restrictions. In her mountains and hills are gold,
lead and copper, coal, iron uiid granite, kaolin,
iniingiinese and marble, inicu, nickel and zinc, and
other miuerals that compose tne great catalogue of
her undeveloped wealth. In the culture of her
great staple site has increased from -100,000 to *00,000
bales, taking rank as the second state in its pro
duction. lit manufactures, iter growth has been
healthy, taring now the eighth on the list
of manufacturing states. Though many
of her mills were destroyed during the
war, she has now factories in operation
in tweuly-seven counties, with a capital of $7,000,-
000, consuming 7s.ooo bales of cotton, and giving
employment to 7,000 operatives. Many of these are
paying handsome interests upon the investment,
encouraging thereby, the building of others on a
larger scale in the state. Notwithstanding many
of her chann* 1 of commerce were broken up, if not
entirely destroyed in her late struggle, she has
now over 2,800 miles of railroad in running order,
and many more under construction, thereby show
ing the confidence of capitalists in her future de
velopment. impressed as her citizens are with the
importance of the universal education of her (am
ple???every yenr evidences an advance movement
in this noble cause. With four male, a dozen
female colleges and one college for colored people,
with four agricultural schools and many private
institutions of learning???out of a school imputation
of 4-10.000 site is educating in her free schools,
about 300,000 children, of whom over 100.000are
the children of our late slaves, showing an increase
in ten years from 42,000 whiles and 6,000 colored to
the number above mentioned. What state would
have done more with solittlc mcansat hercotnmaud-
She lias done -much, yet she is determined on a
higher civilization ami a further advancement, tor
she feels tlie need of more free school houses, more
factories, more small farms and more people inter
ested in the labor of the country. She knows her
advantages, und she intends???God willing???if in
vaded by others, to work out to a successful issue
the great problem of material prosperity. With a
climate of unsurpassed salubrity, witli a varied and
productive soil, with her northern belt uusur-
K issedin mineral wealth: an interior >ieldinga
,ir return to the husbandman in the cultivation
of our great staple; witli a southern section capable,
if developed, of supplying tlie nation with rice and
ship stores: with waterpower in proximity to our
cotton fields, unsurpassed by I.oweii or Full river:
with about fourteen dailies and a weekly press in
nearly every county in the.state that would do credit
to any people ns educators in science mid morals:
with an intelligent and homogeneous population,
Georgia offers superioritidm-ements to those seek-
' ing comfortable homes and safe investments. To
t this Georgia???the old Georgia of my fathers???proud
1 i * of her past, not ashamed of her present and eu-
thusiasrtcally hopeful of her future. I welcome you
??? to-day; The old state, like other states of the south,
suffered the throcscfdissolution.but she did not die
Heath comes not to states???they arc immortal.
Tlie old monarch of tlie forest, stript of her foliage
by December's blasts, his limbsdismamled. hi. life
fluid dormant in winter???s cold embrace is not dead,
but will grow into beauty again when spring calls
forth his buds atnl foliage, but in his spring time
robes, he will be the same old monarch, that in
nakedness defied the temi>cst and tlie storm. .*o
with Georgia, animated with new bo|>es. with new
energies, with new puriorses, with new sons stand
ing around, she is but Georgia, the wreck of her
fortunes and the grave of her dead. The Georgia
of 1S81, the Georgia of 1812. the
Georgia of 1776???one of the old thirteen,
who, with the sons of New England, spilt their
blood to give us civil liberty and constitutional
government. To that Georgia, one of her humblest
sons, welcomes to-day the tillers of the soil, God's
true nobility. But this welcome would he incom
plete, this meeting would be unsatisfactory, did 1
not, (though this duty has been assigned to anoth
er) welcome also tlie coworkers of the agriculturists,
the manufacturers of the country, for so closely
identified are you I might say you are one family,
eachdcpendcntupontheother. 1 have looked wim
patriotic anxiety to this meeting, for there is not in
any history of the past an epoch from which so
muny important lessons and influences will flow as
from this meeting. The producer aud the manu
facturer meet here face to face to consult together
for their respective interests. Mutually dependent,
they should act in sweetest harmony, each guard
ing with sacred fidelity the best interest of the
other. Welcome then, gentl* men, to these cxi>o-i-
tion halls: welcome, ye sons of New England; wel
come, representative* from the key stone state:
welcome, ye men of tlie great commercial metropo
lis ; welcome, eitizeus, from the young hut great
west to Atlanta and to Georgia, aud I hope in your
sojourn with us, in your social intercourse with our
yet so timidly predicted, of the manutacturers of
tlie country with the planters and producers of our
greatest staple, is a cheering promise of future sym
pathy between them and of the combination of
those intelligent counsels and concurrent efforts
that will prove beneficial to both branches of this
great industry. [Applause.]
This meettug to-day is a national convention of
the practical statesmen of America???of the men
whose training, education and prcdilictions have
well won for them distinction as the most progress-
veand profitable producers of the earth???and of
the men whose quick perceptions, whose inventive
genius and whose skill and industry have made
them the spirits moving within the wheel that
weave the vtart* and woof of American prosperity.
[Applause.] That their deliberations in this first
congress of their combined interest will attract
widespread attention and give to their proceedings
universal importance, goes without saviug. The
eye of every intelligent planter in the cotton region
of America, as well as that of every inventor and
machine builder in the country, is turned upqn this
convention to-day atnl every line of your deliber-
itions, if they nre??? wise, intelligent and progressive,
as I know thev will be. will be read throughout the
length and breadth of the country and canvassed
for fresh suggestions and new impulses in all tho
fields of labor where cotton enters as an element.
[Applause],
In this convention it will be possible for you gen
tlemen who are so well skilled, technically and
practically, for the dual labor, to not only discuss
what is here shown theoretically, but from prac
tical observation, and this fact is alone sufficient to
give to your deliberations a value such as has at
tached to those of no labor convention, no indus
trial congress and no national exposition everbe-
i'ore held on American soil. [Applause.l The man
ufacturers of the north here assembled may listen
with confidence to the facts and experiences con
nectcd with cotton culture that fall from the lips of
these practical and eminent planters: and these
planters in turn tnay learn many novel and valu
able facts concerning the manipulation of their
crop, its preparation for market uud its manufac
ture. Out of these mutual deliberations it will be
possible for those who attend them, or hereafter
study them, to extract practical decisions upon all
the lniaite 1 questions that attach to either branch
of our cotton industry. The great objects tif thi:
exposition, grand as it may be in extent and won
derful as it may appear in an industrial sense, are
really on trial before this convention, it will
be for you to say whether all the results expected
front it shall be accomplished. Whatever you
shall pronounce gthol and valuable will be im-
E licitly accepted as such, because that verdict will
ave never had an equal lit influence lit this
country. Whatever you shall pass by will lock the
approval of the best body of jurors that has ever sat
in any country to puss uiom the merjts of processes
and productions belonging to any industrial in
tercst. (Applause.)
Saying tltis much, it remains only for me to reit
erate to you iu tlie name of this exposition, the cor
diality with which we welcome you within its
gates. We feel honored by your presence, we
feel that the occasion will be dignified
by your deliberations, and that the improve
ments and revolutions which may follow in any
of the'branchcs of cotton culture, manipulation, or
manufacture, will have grown out of our success in
gathering here these multitudious objects for judg
ment, and the intelligent, indisputable dectsious
you may pass upon them. [Applause.] We have
here combined in this common work, that is to oc
eupy you for the next four days, the nerve, the wis
dom, the bone and sinew, "the salt of the earth??? of
this southern country, and the sitrewd,conservative,
ingenious, investigating minds of the north, who
have converted by their skill and patient indus
the crude wealth of your fields into the rid
jieople. the opinions formed will insurea closer fel
lowship. and you will be convinced that there [s
security here for property and personal rights: that
we have provisions for the maintenance of pttblie
morals and for general education, and become im
pressed on your home return with the conviction of
the importance of preserving friendly relations
with a people you have so little understood.
To those seeking mvestmentsamong us, we say to
you cordially, come. We will meet you with a
frankness and welcome worthy of you and our
selves. To such as you would have came to you 1
say eonte. We have a good climate, good resources,
good society, good laws, good government here???
peaceful government, fertile days of reconstruction
and its enmities are over; let the nation rejoice.
The carpet-bagger is dead. Let all the people ex
claim, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken
away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.??? Come,
then, and shareottr destiny. Come, feeling we arc
your equals and you are the peers of the best of us,
and you will be welcome, tiirtce welcome among us.
And now. sirs, as a fitting conclusion to this inter
esting union, in this common industrial temple of
our country, and our whole country, with the em
blems of our states around and freedom???s banner
over us. permit me. sir. as an humble priest among
the middlemen, to join together in holy union the
two great industries of the country, invoking upon
yon the blessings of heaven, and earnest in the ex
pression of the nope that the union now formed
mav be os beautiful as the snow-white fields of the
south, :is lasting as New England's granite hills.
Colonel Hardeman???s address was interrupted by
frequent bursts of applause and by peals of laughter.
It was one of the inimitable efforts of the colonel,
and as such, greatly aopreciated and admired.
Director-General Kimball then arose and said:
Mr. President and '-entlemen of the National
Cotton Planters' Association: In the name of the
managers of the international cotton exposition it
aft'ords me peculiar pleasure and is a matter of the
greatest pride that I speak a welcome to you on this
occasion. The International cotton exposition was
organized to accomplish grand results for the peo
ple and prosperitv of the south, and the main ob
ject that inspired its management in all those
labors which nave culminated so successfully to-
dav was the bringing together within this
enclosure for the observation, instruction and
assistance of the planters all the implements, m i-
chinery and products ti.at i??ertain to the cotton in
dustries of our union. We have from the first mo
ment kept constantly in view the accomplishment
for the first time in the history of the world of that
necessary object. Aud we believe that no effort has
been spared upon the part of the management or
its friends to encompass it successfully. Whatever
measure of success in that direction we have at
tained is not for me to adjudge, but we leave that
for you tosav afteryou have iully and intelligently
examined w'bat is here gathered in your name aud
for your interest.
I desire to vou, Mr. President, especially, and to
your association, to tender the fullest and mast ear-
. _ nest thanks of the exposition for the aid you have
joud Jordan-that goodly mountain of Lebanon." both been to us, by your advice, iu
templating the genius of our institutions and the
vital force of our republic. De Tocquevilie de
clared: "There will then come a time when there
will be seen in North America one hunnred and
fifty miilionsof men, equal among themselves, who
will all belong to the same family, who will have
the same point of departure, the same
civilization, tlie same language, the same religion,
the same habits, the same manners, and among
whom thought will circulate iu the same form and
e iiint itself in the same colors. All else is doubtful;
ut this is certain. Now. here is a fact entirely new
in the world, of which imagination itself cannot
grasp the import.??? Unchecked by war, ami defiant
of all disaster, this republic has increased in popu
lation at tlie rate of a million a year during the last
decade, rivalling now every country in the world
e ceept Russia, and attracting to her shores vast com
munities of people front those crowded and impov-
orished nationalities. Thriving states and populous
cities spring up here like magic, ???ilte products of
new und fertile lauds are borne to the great centers
of trade, which are created everywhere by the ne
cessities of a teeming population. The civilization
which is advancing with such rapid strides from
sea to sea is iudeeil a civilization of thrift, intelli
gence ano morality. Prosperous industry is here
the pioneer of education, the cultivated farm aud
the profitable mill preparing the way for the libra
ry aud iyceum, tlie school house and the meeting
house. Conseiout of the responsibilities and duties
which attend them wherever they go, and proud of
that individuality which freedom bestows upon
every man who enjoys her influences, this aspiring
and industrious people of ours has endowed
schools and colleges on every band, has established
more than seventy thousand churehes.has provided
places of worship for more than twenty millions of
worshippers, and has church property valued at
SAW,000,000. Y'ou will pardon me, I am sure, if I
rehearse to you once more at litis second assembly
of cotton planters of the south, iu convention which
1 have considered it to be the duty of the agricultu
ral department of the I???nited States to encourage in
every way in its power, that wonderful develop
ment of industry out of which this
mental and moral and religious culture
has grown, and from the encouragement of which
in one of its most important branches you have
assembled in this thriving business emporium of
the south, which has risen from its ashes with new
life and vigor to enter upon a career of prosperity
commensurate with this great industrial era', into
the forefront of whose advancing columns she has
sprung with courage and resolute determination.
[Apnlause.] I would avoid this repetition of an
astonishing aud encouraging array of figures were
it possible to present iu any other way a picture of
which every American ought to be proud, and
which naturally belongs to h proper delineation of
the relations which American industries bear to
each other, iu their united efforts for American
power aud prosperity. In agriculture the growth
of our country has been astonishing, and accounts
for that vast internal and foreign commerce out of
which has grown so much of our financial success.
It is not necessary to go back a half century, or
even 25 years, to obtain the most gratifying evi
dence of our progress in the work
of tilling the soil. But starting in 187U
at which time we had reached an enormous pro
duction in proportion to our population, and mak
ing our comparison with the returns of 1SS0, we
may learn what can be accomplished in a single
decade by a people constantly increasing in num
bers, and occupying new lands. In 1*70 tlie amount
of cotton produced tvas 4,352,317 bales; in l.stiO more
than 6,000,000. In 1*70 the amount of Indian corn
raised was 760,940,54'.'bushels: in 1*S0, 1,754,449,4:*)
bushels. Ill 1870 the wheat crop was 2*7,745.626
bushels: in 18*0, it was 459,607,043 bushels. In 1*70
the crop of oats reached 2*2407,157 bushels; in 1**0.
istry
lit
luig*
treasures of our commerce. [Applause.] Biddl
you welcome and God speed iu your work, I now
have the pleasure to turn this meeting wholly over
to you and to ask that you will conduct its
deliberationsas may seem to yon fittest to the in
dustries, the commerce and the patriotic spirit of
our common country. (Applause.)
Director General Kimball then gave way to Colo
nel More head, president of the association, who
culled the convention to order and introduced tlie
respondent on the part of the association.
Ex-Chief-Justice H. F. Sim roll, of Mississippi,
then delivered, in response, a most interesting ad
dress. Judge Simroll is at present oite of the
largest plantcrson tlie Mississippi river and isaboul
60 years of age. Iieisa Keutuekiau by birth, but
for 40 years lie lias been a resident of Mississippi
and at one time chief justice of that state. In au
dition to his planting interests he has a lucrative
law practice at Vicksburg.
He commenced his address by expressing his
gratitude for the hearty welcome that had been ex
tended to his people and the association by the
representatives of the expositon. He referred to
the birth of the National planters??? association, and
said that it was the result of a necessity of the
times and essential to the interests of the planters.
He spoke of the mission of the association and
what it had accomplished, and gave some interest
ing statistics on the growth of the cotton industries
und interests of the southern states. He lamented
the absence of cotton-picking machin
ery, and proceeded to show that
cotton picker was essential to the final
triumph of cotton, aud that it must comegMd thqr
'then it did the production of tire staple {nNenfrai-
ch would be increased to fifteen million bales per
annum. He then proceeded to show where the
manufacture of cotton must in the end find a home
and, referring to tlie fact that the south is rich in
iron for tlie manufacture of the machinery, coal
for the fuel or water-power for driving tlie ma
chinery, witli the staple at hand and unparalleled
transportation facilities, he asked what could pre
vent the manufacturers of cotton goods from seeing
that in the south alone was the proper place for
them. He referred to the hculthfulncss
of our section of the union and to the numerous
advantages of our excellent climate, which is free
from the rigorous weather of the more northern por
tions of the country. He made an eloquent
reference to the general feeling that
now pervades the country and said
that if the exiiosition could have been held before
1859 there would have been no civil war. tor the
jieople would then have been made to know etich
other as they now do. He |??tid a glowing tribute
to the exposition. In one portion of his speech he
made a plearing reference to. the com
bination of " circumstances which
suited in bringing the negroes
the Foiled States. All new countries, he said, were
more or less unhealthy places for white men to live
in. The negro could stand the sickly sections of
the country, and the all wise Providenee, lie said,
who guided everything, landed the negro in
America as a slave. He went Into the swamp
of tlte south and developed her and being proof
against the unhenlthiness of the country, he did
not sutler. But when the object was accomplished
and the -south presented a pure aud healthful
climate ready for the home of whites as well
blacks, the mission of the slave was
accomplished and he became a free man, having
worked out a better condition for both race's. Hi*
speneh was a most interesting one and was listened
to with close attention. The speaker was frequent
ly interrupted with applause.
At the close of Judge SimroU???s address President
Moreltead made a few remarks iu reference to the
business of the association.
Mr, Crandall, of Louisiana, moved that a com
mlttee of one from each cotton growing state be
then api>ointed as a committe on credentials. Tlie
motion prevailed aud the president appointed the
following gentlemen as the committee:
Georgia???L. F. Livingston.
Mississipjii???William M. Worthiugtou.
Louisiana???J. \V. Castleman.
Arkansas???Marshall Keys.
Alabama???S. C. Marks.
South Carolina???E. K. Mclvar.
Florida???Joseph Voyle.
Texas???Mr. Oliver.
Virginia???R. S. Saunders.
Tennessee???J. D. Milburu.
North Carolina???N. Dumont.
The committee retired to one of the rooms of the
executive department in Judges??? hall, where the
credentials of visiting delegates were received.
The meeting then udjourued to convene at the
capitol in the hall of the house of representatives
at 7:30 p.m.
Dr. Loring'* Address-
Yesterday the Hon. George B. Loring. United
States Commissioner of Agriculture, delivered r
masterly address before the National Cotton Plan
tens??? association at Judges' hall, which we publish
in full below. No words are necessary to commepd
the address. It speaks for itself. It should bet rt . a ,i
bv every man under whose eyes it falls. Dr. Loring
said:
Gentlemen: The rapid growth of American eu
terprise constitutes oue of the most important mid
interesting chapters in the history - of civilization.
Tlie stories of discovery and conquest, of cornmur
eial adventure and military power have charms
which more prosaic occupations are not expected
to posses*. And yet they all sink into insignifi
cance before the recital of the steady and triumph
ant march of that vast army of busy and devoted
to is of iudustrv who have cleared the land and
opened the mines, and chained the water falls, anp
stretched the great highways of travel and trans
portation over valleys and through mountains,
and created churches and schoolhouses
organized cities and towns, and fed and clothed
and educated themselves, aud have filled the coni-
???merce of the world with the products of their toil.
??? The chosen career of the American jieople has been
a career of peaceful industry.and their acltievmenfs
on this field have won the admiration of the world
from their infancy to their years of maturity and
strength. More than three quarters of a century
ago, Sheridan exclaimed in the house of commons:
"America remains neutral, prosperous and at
peace. * Turn youreyes to her: view her situa
tion. her happiness, her content, observe her trade
and her manufactures, adding daily to her general
credit, to her private enjoyments and to her public
resources, her name) and government rising above
the nations of Europe with a simple, but command
ing diguitv that wius at once the respect, the confi
dence, and the affection of the world,??? aud cou
ture products was nearly one hundred per cent in
these ten years. And in the last year of this de
cade from 1*79 to 1*80, out of this vast increase of
our crops and products.our cattle export rose $13,0 )0-
000 to ??14,000,000: corn from $13,000,000 toS50.00U.000;
wheat trom ??167,698,000 to $190,510,000, iteiir from
$05,000,000 to $45,000,000, cotton front $209,852,000 to
8245,534,391 [applause], beef from $7,000,000 to $12,-
000,000. lard from $28,000,000 to 835,000,000, aud pork
from $5,000,000 to $8,000,000 annually.
Mark, also, the growth of American manufactures
in half a century. In 1830 the amount invested in
cotton manufactures was a little more than $40,000,-
000. The number of spindles was a million and a
quarter. The number of males employed was 18,-
539, and the number of females was 38,937. The
amount of cotto.* used was 77,759,316 pounds. Fifty
years have passed away, and the number of spin
dles has increased to 10,769,147. The amount of cot
ton used in 1880 was 793.240,500 pounds. The num
ber of persons employed is 181,628. And the amount
of capital invested In mills aud subsidiary work
is more titan $225,000,000. Of our woolen,
manufactures the statistics are more
the number of hands employed was 21,343, and the
value of the product was $20,69(5.699. In 18*0 the
value of woolens, worsteds, carpets and ho- iery prt ???
dueed was $231,5*7,671: the amount of worn used
was 187,616.605 pounds; the wages paid amounted
to $45,959,012, and the total value of the material*
used was $145,141,798. Tne product iucreased from
1870 to 1880 nearly 10,000,000.
In 1870 the silk productions of the United States
in manufactured goods were valued at $12,210,662:
in 1880 nt $31,410.463.
Fifty years ago the shoe aud leather industry had
hardly a national reputation. In 1870, however,
there were 4,237 tanneries in the United
States employing 20,781 hands. using
fa weanitnl , of $42,720,505, paying in
UM[R9r $7,931,416 annually; producing leather
valued at $86,169,883, using more than $9,000,000
worth of bark, nearly 9,000,000 hides and 9,664.000
skins. There were also 3.085 currying establish
incuts, employing 10,000 hands, absorbing $12,000,-
800 Capital, and producing$54,191,167. There were,
moreover. 3,151 establishments for the manufacture
of boots anti shoes, employing 91,702 hands, with a
capital of $37,519,019, paying iu wages$42,504,441 an
nually, using $80,502,718 worth of leather, manu
facturing boots valued at $50,231,470, and shoes
valued nt $93,816,203, with a production valued at
$146,704,000.
The growth of the iron and steel industry has
been equally remarkable. In 1810 we produced
but 50,000 tons of iron, and our largest steel fur
nace could yield but 1.500 tons annually. In 1*30
tlie product was 165.000 tons; in 1810, 315,000
tons; in 1S18, 800,000 tons: in I860,
1,000,000 tons. In 1880 the iron and
steel woorks of the United States produced
7,265,100 tons as against 3.655,215 ill <1870. The capi
tal invested was $230,971,884, the number of hands
employed was 140,978; the wages paid amounted to
$55.176.7X5. and the value of all the produets was
8296,557.685.
And let me say here in passing that no man has
ever seen such admirable illustrations of the min
eral wealth of any section north, south, castor west,
as is to be seen here. They at e so remarkable ana
so represent the industrial resources lying along
the lines of the great railroads of the south, that 1
hope to secure from the managers of the several
.roads a promise that the entire exhibit of these re
markable resources shall be transported to Wash
ington, and I propose to make it a part of my busi
ness as commissioner of agriculture to erect a build
ing devoted to it. [Applause.]
lit the manufacture of machinery the ???apitnl in
vested has increased from ??15.000,000 to $40,000,000
in twenty years, aud the annual
value of the product is more than $10,000,00(1.
The aggregate annual product of the manufactur
ing and mechanical industries of the United States
is now more than six thousand millions of dollars.
Of this vast product less than two hundred millions
are exported. And of the $9,000,000,000 produced
bv agriculture less than ten per cent is ex
ported. On the self sujiporting power of the
American people, and of the mutual relations ex
isting between our industries, we cun dwell as
Americans with tlie most profound satisfaction.
[Applause]. ??
I have alluded to the producing power of the
American people, but in order to understand the
relations widen exi*t between our industries we
should not forget our consuming capacity also. Of
tlie $15,000,000,000 produced by our various indus-
triesmearlv $14,000,000 ooo are consumed at home.
It is the home market to which tho American
producer turns most naturally, let his in
dustry be what it may. In fact tlie law of
our ???largest and most widely-dift'used in
dustry, agriculture, is the cultivation
of those crops which are adapted to a local market
and the occupation of lands lying near such a mar
ket. Not yet has this law become universal, it is
true; but it applies to all the older and thickly set
tled sections of oar land, and goes with diversified
industries, wherever they create large cities and
towns. Fifty years ago the farmer was compelled
to seek his market near home on account of the dif
ficulty which attended the transportation of his
crops. But the settling of new and remote lands,
and improved methods of transportation, rendered
the growing of the great staples a necessity, and
corn, wheat and provisions occupied the farmers???
attention, and opened to him remote aud even for
eign markets for hi* gains. This frontier fanning,
however, is but temporary^ aud must be followed
by that systematic husbandry which constitutes the
legitimate business of the American farmer, aud
carries him back to those days
when agriculture was almost the sole
business of the country, and when a farming com
munity was uniformly jirospdrous, when prudent
and industrious. While our large towns and our
manufacturing states, therefore,, provide markets
fora large portion of the products of the iaistures
and grain fields of the west, they also support that
more profitable system which consists iu a careful
cultivation of the soil and in the economical man
agement of small farms. Tlie trade of this home
uiurketto which I have alluded is immense, and
the sources of supply in all their variety form an
interesting topic for consideration.
New England requires about twenty million
bushels of wheat and produces only one and a quar
ter million. New York uses about thirty millions
and grows about twelve. The supply of this defi
ciency comes from the west, from the uhio valley
and the prairies west of the Mississippi and the
Missouri, and costs from forty to fifty million dol
lars in years of good production, but still more in
the present year of comparative scarcity.
To assume however from the fact that New York
goes west for six-tenths of her wheat supply, that
wheat growing is an. unproffuiple industry there
wouidbe an unsafe and unreliable conclusion.
There are eight counties south of Lake Ontario
which yielded in 1879,6,0*6,867 bushels on 327,269
actcs, [or 18.6 bushels j>er acre, a rate more than
lift.'percent, above that of Minnesota, or Dakota,
and somewhat higher than that of California for
the same year. Thus an important part of the de-
ticianev of other counties in New York was
supplied by the surplus grown in the Seneca
valley and ??? its neighborhood. There is another
district lying eastward toward the Hudson, and
south ward toward the Delaware, that finds a great
er profit in the dairy, making a produclion In but
ter and cheese worth fur more than the grain pro
cured from the west. Not only are the home
wants in dairy products supplied,
but a large share of the 120,000,060
to 140,0o0,000 pounds of cheese exported from year
to year is credited to this district, bringing a vast
amount of money from Europe, a part of which
onlv is contributed to the aid of tlie western wheat
growing. Going still nearer tlie seaboard to
Dutchess and Westchester, and the fruitful sand of
Long Island, we find more people and less wheat,
and the soil devoted to market gardening, yielding
under the most favorable circumstances, a grots*
product worth a thousand dollars per acre, enough
to buv a quarter seetion of superior wheat land
west of the Mississippi. In the Immediate vicinity
of New York city the product of market gardening
swells to millions of dollars. Ten years ago the
census reported more than a million dollars worth
in Queens county alone, and tlte present enumera
tion must, when tabulated, show an immense in
crease for tliis suburban district. The neighbor
hood of Boston and Philadelphia, and every other
large city is monopolized by mar
ket gardens, and the country about
Norfolk. Virginia, is mainly devoted to
fruit and vegetables for northern consumption.
The fruits of the country, a perishable commodity,
must be produced as near as possible to the points
of principal consumption. The domestic fruits
alone furnish a trade of large volume and value.
New York city ha* a trade in domestic fruits of
more titan nine millions of dollars: Chicago, which
supplies tlte great northwest, lias about as much:
and tlie other large cities of the country would
swell the total amount to about sixty
million dollars, including the great amount now
sent from our southern latitude. (ould all the
fruits sold in smaller cities and villages be added,
and those consumed on farms and village lots be
enumerated, it is probable, judging by careful de
ductions from available data, that the annual value
of the iruils of the United states would not fall
much below $200,000,-000.
Thus the distribution of farm products is found
to arise from multiplicity of causes. - Soil, climate,
nearness to large cities, prices ef land and labor,
facility for obtaining labor, at required times or
seasons, skill in special industries developed by long
practice, conservative persistence in time-honored
usage, and many other causes serve to distribute iu
patches, large or small, the crops which furnish the
produets of American agriculture.
The great cereal crop of the country, Indian corn,
which is only exceeded by grass in universality of
distribution, eoustitutestuore than 1,700 of the'2,700,-
000,000 bushels of grain of 1879. It is found
in every state and in every teiritpry with one or
two exceptions. Yet tills crop cannot escape tlie
law of s|ieciul local attraction. The three states,
Illinois, Iowa aud Missouri, yield eight hundred
million bushels or 45 per cent of the crop, und only
seven states, including Indiana and Oltio on the
cast, and Kansas and Nebraska on tlte west ever
have any considerable surplus above the require
ments ot home consumption. The remaining thirty-
one states and all the territories produce together
but 37 per cent of the crop, at only the rate of 19
bushels per acre, but halt the ra.e of yield of tin-
corn belt.
The receipts at the seaboard cities for exportation
and consumption including all kinds of grain,
ground and underground, aggregated 352,921,452
bushels in 1879, and 369,559,607 bushels ill 1880. Tlie
whole eastern movement of western gri.iu includ
ing shipment* to interior points on ihe Atlantic
slope, must somewhat exceed 400,000.0110 bushels,,
not more than one-sixth of the total production of
an abundar.t year, and- less than one-fourth of the
lightest crop the most disastrous season is likely to
yield.
The relations which are thus established between
the agricultural and manufacturing interests of our
country not only effect the material prosperity of
the farmer, but they provide him with that social
enjoyment upon which the happiness of an edu
cated people largely depends, and rouses him to
that energetic action which gives strength to ali ltis
powers. The isolation of tarm life incident to
sparsely settled regions is one of tlie trials which
the American is anxious to avoid: and when lie
leaves the outlying farm lytd secures a home nearer
the. haunts of men. He places himself within reach
of the Iyceum and the library, and easy and con-
nient intercourse with his fcllowmett. The com
forts and adornments of bis home are increased:
aud fanning becomes to him an occupation anal
ogous to those branches of business which tempt
me t away from the loveliness of the country to tip
ple c ores and opportunities of tlte town. Tlie tend
ency of the rural population of some sec
tions our country to abandon the
exhausted farms and seek lands nearer a populous
market, is by no means mi evidence of agricultural
decline It indicates rather a disposition to take
advantage of those circumstances which lead to
more active industry and more profitable labor. It
is the same spirit of enterprise which has iuduced
many farmers to abandon general agriculture and
devote t bent selves to special crops, and has lead the
casual observer to infer that the cultivation of tlie
soil was being abuudoued
1 have known tlie statistical returns-oi many evi
dently thrifty aud prosperous fanning communi
ties to indicate a reduction of the products of the
farm and to lead to the supjiosition that because
the cereals and animal products were dimini siting
the lands were deserted. But a more careful exam
ination has always revealed the fact that it was a
change in the industry alone which had taken
place, and that lor those crops which
met with competition from tlte cheap
ami fertile lands of tlie west, had bec.i
substituted the products of the market garden,
with ali the profit which goes with this mode of
manipulating tlie land. As this system extends
and manufacturing cities aud towns multiply the
returns of our farms will be largely increaied and
Ihe average yield of our land |>er acre will be
greatly enlarged. It is the intimate relation be
tween agriculture and manufactures which makes
general farming what it is, and will gmduallv
nuike American farming what it should be. [Ap
plause.!
The relation existing between the cotton planta
tions aud the market created by American manu
facturers is deeply interesting^ to this association,
which represents that great brunch of agriculture.
I learn from the cotton movement and regulations
compiled by It. P. Salter, member of tlte New
York cotton exchange, that of the total crop of
1870-71, of 4,352,017 bales, 1,110,196 bales were ??o t
sttmed in theUuited States; of tlte total crop of 1874-75
of 3,832,961 bales, 1,193,005 bales were consumed in
the United States, and of the crop of 1880-81, of
6,605,750 bales 1,938,937 bales were consumed iu the
United States. The increase in home consumption
during the ten years front 1870 to 1881 was 828,741
hales. 1 ltis iiiorea.se is of the greatest importance,
considering the fact that the loss on cotton sold in
the English market i.*lnearly two cents per pound
in freight, port charges and loss of weight on bag
ging, etc., and the average price in 1880-81 in Liver
pool is 6.48 pence, and in. New York 11-34 cents per
pound, tlie advantage of the American market
being nearly two cents a pound to the producer.
This important relation will continue to increase
in value as American manufactures extend, and
tlie home market is cuiatged and will undoubtedly
produce an increase hi the average yield of cotton
pcrncre, and iu the ultimate uniformity of the crop
in the cotton states, allowance being made
for difference iu soil and ciluiate.
This added to a wide diversity
of farming which will lie adopted here, will do
much to develop tlie agriculture of this section, it
is undoubtedly true now that the cotton belt need*
variety of crops ??? to till the vast unoccupied areas
not suited to the cotton plant. [Applause.] Nine-
tenths of the superficial area of these states yield
no production iu agriculture except in a limited
degree in pasturage and w*hk! product*. But three
acres in every hundred are iu cotton whielt occu
pies one-third of the breadth of the land actually
cultivated. The cotton area in 1879 was 14,462,-
438 acres. The area of ten cotton states is 456,000,-
000 acres. The cotton crop is not evenly distributed
in these states. It is almost unknown in tlte whole
mountain system of tlie south, slopes as well as
summits and Unsuitable lands of irigh elevation,
suited only to the products of high temperate
latitudes, mixed farming grain growing, dairy
ing and orcharding. It is grown mostly on
the alluvial soils of the great. rivers,
'thelimestone beltot southwestern Georgia, central
Alabama aud western Mississippi, in general
terms one-tenth of the counties yielding cotton
produce half of tiiat crop. The largest average-
yield per acre, according to tlie census, discloses the
local belts of greatest productiveness as follows,
viz.: The richest cotton land in the state* is on the
Mississippi above aud opposite Vicksburg. The
highest county average* in three stales unite to
prove the superiority of this district: East J "unroll
in Louisiana, Chicot in Arkansas, and Washington
in Mississippi, respectively, stand for the largest
rate of production lit these states and in the cotton
belt, yielding iu 1879 but little less than a bale per
acre.
The second best district is alsoon the Mississippi,
and represent* the best yields of three states: Dunk
lin in Missouri, l-ake in Tennessee, and Hickman
in Kentucky.
In the same way are grouped Cherokee in Ala
bama, with Polk in Georgia aud Marlboro in .South
Carolina, and Richmond in North Carolina.
Nine counties north and east of Raleigh. North
Carolina, scarcely a tenth part of the state, pro
duce half of the crop of that state. An adjoining
district itt southeast Virginia, produces ail of the
crop of that state.
You can readily understand the advantage to be
derived from greater uniformity of yield.
Consider now tlie benefit which the manufacturers
derives from liis free and intimate relations with
the agriculture of tlte country. On the one hand,
drawing his raw material largely from the immense
and various resources of our country???iron, cotton,
wool bides, and. on the other hand, finding si
home market in tlte great agricutural regions, the
American manufacturer possesses opportunities
and advantages hardly . ' known to auv
other country on earth, and illustrating
most forcibly the self-supporting power of our peo
ple. So closely are these interests united that what
effects one naturally effects both. The same policy
which has been extended over our mills ha* been
extended also over our fields, aud the results iit
??? .cli i?? demonstrate its true value. While tho
American manufacturer has furnished the American
turuicr wtut almost all ltis necessary articles, such
us cotton goods and fabrics, boots and shoes, axes,
fork* spades, shovels, hoc*, harrows, pluugn-,takes,
cultivators, rentiers, mowers, wagons, tinware,
??????lasswarc. eheai>er than they can be purchased in
the English market, tlie Amaricatt farmer lias
???d abroad. The traffic is free audteuual.and it is be
tween parties enjoying equal privileges and oppor
tunities rates of interest, wages of labor, taxes, so
cial and civil expenses all being regulated by one
svstent and varying only with -afferent localities.
~\* tlte two great pillars of American industry, ???hey
have received equal consideration from the govern
ment Not on)v is a duty laid on goods of foreign
manufacture, but there is also laid on all animals
eveent for breeding purposes, a duty of twenty per
cent- on wool, from ten to twelve cents
w. r ??? pound, and front ten to twelve
- l M-r cent nd valorem added: on
in -ir from two to five cents per pound: on corn,
???en cents tier bushel: <"> Barley, fifteen cents; on
wheat twenty cents: on oats, ten cents: on butter
???nd cheese, four cents per pound; on tobacco leaf
unmanufactured, thirty-five cents per pound, and
tli ??? vmerieatt fanner may well remember that un-
derthi* nolicv the clip of wool in this country has
Great Britain and Ireland. (Applause.! And these
two great producing industries, engaged in supply-
in" each other with all that enters into the material
comfort and welfare of life at the lowest possible
rite* mav also remember that their products
are ' ??? now??? transported on- American steel
rail* costing $60 per ton, as against $110 per ton,
when furnished by the rolling mills of England,
and with freight rates reduced nccotdingly, and let
me sav vou arc going to make it still better before
y???ur mountains are exhausted. [Applause.]
When these two important and fundamental in
dustries united in the work of developing American
resources it is not to he supposed that they who
laid the foundation of this union, anticipated the
great end radical change which has taken place
since their dav. They could pot have foretold the-
ocean-del???ving steamship, and the land-defying
railroad ???and the time defying telegraph. They
could not have listened amidst the quiet repose of
their luxuriant farms, for the busy hum of great
cities. But they performed their work well in their
dav and generation, and they sot an example of in
dustry and foresight which we may well follow.
\nd i am compelled to believe that they antici
pated the lime when tlie people of this country
would be engaged in mutual indus
tries for mutual supimrt. and u$icn
the twelve millions of people of their day would
become the fifty millions of out own, busy and
consuming in the great commercial and mauutiic-
tu ring centres, busy and producing in the great ag
ricultural legions, each industry leaning on its fel
low aud all united in establishing American sup
ply for American markets nud regulating prices in.
accordance witli tlte wants of American labor, uud
the value of active American capital. [Applause.]
The production of supplies and the existence ot
a market have always created a necessity for a sys
tem of transportation, which constitutes oue of the
cooperative industries of society, ???the modern
methods of transportation by steam, both on land
and water, have given new value to lands, new op-
portuuities to mills, new markets anti values to
crops; and it may In.- safely qgid that tlie addition,
of a powerful and rapid lncansof transportation
has not only given new life to all the old
industries, but has added a new one of inestimable
value and importance. The labor and
expense of exchanging commodities have
been so far diminished in our day
that every producing industry is now able ti>
employ its time and means to tlie best possible ad
vantage. No time is now wasted by the manufac
turer in traveling from his mill to iris market???none
by tlie farmer iu transferring his crops from his
fields to the consumer. No limit is now put to tlie
capacity of the mill, the capital absorbed and the
hands employed by distance and obstacles on sea or
land. The farmer Whose time anti means aud
horses were fully employed iu hauling the crops of
a hundred acres to market fifty years ago, can
now employ his force tit home in increasing the
crop of ten times that area of land while it is har
vested and borne to market by machinery. 1-atids.
which were once useless to the cultivator arc now
brought by rail to the very doors of the
market required by their crops. And not
only is the transporting capacity of each individual
increased but the for e which can be retained for
work on tic land is vastly cnliatu td, as well as the
profit on I he crop itself. When many years ago
tlie railroad from Springfield, Illinois, to the
Illinois liver was opened ii was announced in a
leading newspaper of that day, ???one w> ek before
tlie railroad was finished corn could be iiad here
in auy quantity at fifteen cents per bushel; now
not a bushel can be had for less than twenty-five-
cents.??? With the system of larniitig which 1 have
defined and. the system of transportation which we
possess the producing power of American labor andi
land is almost unlimited. (Applause.
The relations which have been established be
tween these active and vigorous industries t<>.
which 1 have alluded have produced upoa society
moreover a degree of mcmul energy and genera???!.,
intelligence never equalled in any age of the world.
(Applause.) >
In tlie affiiirs of life now a man???s head is consid
ered to be worth as much as ltis hands, the relative
market value of these two commodities
having materially changed since the "common and
current mind??? began to ussert itself and its su
premacy. Mark the amount of intelligence re
quired to manage and run our railroads, the fore
sight prudence and comprehension of the presi
dent, the watchful systematizing power of the su
perintendent, the activity und self-possession of the
conductor, tlie headlong courage of the engineer
who plunges through mountains and overrides val
leys ill his career, the laborers who grow intimate
witli the vast and intricate mechanical forces em
ployed in this great civilizing business, und it is
easy to see why it should demand and create Intel-
ligent labor???an aggregation of untiring intellects
all acting upon eaclt other from the highest to tlie
lowest, in away unknown to slower and more cir-
circumscribed systems of .travel and transportation.
Tlie constant and rapid intercourse of the prcs-
cut day???passage by steam aud commu
nication by magnetism???the subjugation and
use of mechanical forces in all their might
and in all their delicacy, by superior and com-
mutlditig minds, has insj.ired and elevated the ob-
servant uud co-oflenitive masses of men to u decree
Inirdlv surpassed by the training of our public
schools. W hile, therefore, the business of life as
represented by our railroads, and steamships, and
teh giaphs, and mills and improved modes of agri-
demand intelligent labor, it joins hands
witli the schools and does its share of the work of
education, ltefore the incessant acti' ity and ex
tended relations created by all the accelerated busi
ness methods of modern days???-by tmnsportntion,
which opens the. markets of Xew England to the
living products of the i*astuiesof Illinois, and car-
jies the laboier in a day from the localitv where he
is not wanted to the locality where he is wanted???by
machinery, which creates faster than a destructive-
and extravagant |*eople ever can consume, and
casts the punted page broadcast over die land, driv
ing tne distHii and the spinning-wheel into*
seclusion, mid mocking the tedious toil of the hand-
pre.*s. iApplause.J We cannot, if we would, be
come stationary in our habits und deliberate under
our necessi\r??s. [Applause.] To name now is sim-
P???> }?? % we trampled on by the multitude. We must
tia\el by steam, we must semi our wool to the mill,
OU . r ., n .\ ,lk l< - l le " c must know how much
gold there is in California, und silver in Arizona,
and coal tn I ennsylvania. and copper at Like Su
perior: we must read the last message of the presi
dent, the lust debate in congress; we must Know
something about Gladstone and John Bright, and
Gambctta: something about Yorktown and A tiunta???
[Applause.] \\ v must use a steel pen, and a mow*
ing-machiue, and a horse-hoe, und a tedder, and a
In, ! sl exchange photographs with
t ur fi lends, and endanger our privacy with a tele
phone, [laughter] and recognize iu cverv way the
marvellous diligence of man iu his * use
heat and air and earth
ana sea for his own comfort and convenience,
or make up our mind to live in the world as not
VA USt J^heve the relations ot our in
dustries. the combination of industrial forces which
makes modern society what it is, if we would per-
theage lr pan Wel1 a,lc * com prehend the genius of
! * mve given of the relations
of the indu.stries of tills country, one to another, I
na\e not included the numerous occupations which
grow out of the ingenious conversion of iron, wool,
cotton, flax, the precious metals, and minerals, into
articles of use and beauty from the supply of man???s
comforts and the qualification of his tastes. They
iorm an interesting and important Dart of the great
group and occupy a large share of the proli table
* s hy their development
that the great cities are enabled to i??our forth their
-7tV??VJ ou - ???anufactured product. New York, $|:15.-
i vl 'W-AI! w- 1 / VS 1 - 11 ,lf1 e 4 )h ia * 3220,40S.4oS: Brook-
: CMcaSO, $228.440,964; Boston,$118.-
iu 1 / .V??? acc ? rfill ?? to the census retumsof 1S80; and
!,Y,L la , v , e . en f aid toward increasing the
lab ! ,r ir , 1 our ???Bis in forty years Iron?$2.00'
1 J? er V???>V for overseer*; front $1.5u to $2.00 for
second hands; from 92 cents to $1.10 for pickers:
- 1 * 10 for card strippers; from 67
S5?? t S^ 1 ?? , ? p u ??? euvere; and agricultural labor in
^-OO )>er month to $16.00;.
$20.00 anti $2.1.00 with board and lodging,
r . j' 1 conclusion, gentlemen, let me call vottr atten-
fj?" ffiatore of modern agricultural assemblies;
kLwhich deserves special notice and ittdi-
'}a, m: ' ULU ' t m to conduct the business of
w???)" 1 ,-' 5 B'e best light which education can
i???5 " herever the associations of farmers now
the representatives of our agricultural
colleges find an honorable place. The-
RJ^Bcal farmer in all his deliberations now finds
Jim, H ? nc ! l ' tu . rul . teacher by ltis side, readv at all
a j'* him itt the work ot developing ills eall-
J.'JJLVSyjJo 16 . *tandard laid down by all the other
industries for their guidance and
nt ???. fo those teachers let me say that
k! ??? i 0 , an Pfoving agriculture by mental
bredt h'ls- immediate reference to the practical
, the farm, as tne education of the
??? ???if* 1 th< ;. engineer fits him for his
{'"tk in the mill or on the railroad. Tho
ovst agricultural teachers have always kept tho
Lin distinct print!