to the conditions of the market. In the larger mills, especially when owned by a corporation, the establishment must be of sufficient size to command the services of the most competent men, especially in the manufacturing department.
Does it not follow, from all these facts which I have submitted, that the competition of the Southern with the Northern factory, down to this time, has been more theoretical than practical? Is it not yet to begin, if it is felt in any considerable measure in respect to the home consumption of the East, the Middle States, and the West, aside from a very few heavy sheetings which have been sold in our Northern markets?
I must, therefore, again repeat the word of warning which I have so often given to my Southern friends: Beware of the isolated cotton-factory, and also beware of the small corporation; do not proceed upon the idea that, because the factory is near the cotton, it possesses any great advantage. Men who begin in a small way and who grow up with their business, or who have learned it elsewhere, may succeed, as many are now succeeding; but those who subscribe to the stock of an isolated Southern cotton-factory with the notion that a cent a pound or less advantage over the North in the price of cotton will assure success may get their experience at a high price when some other shrewder man buys the mill at a low price. In any event, under present conditions, not less than ten per cent a year on the cost of machinery should be charged off to depreciation. In many mills which I have visited, at least that portion of the machinery was going into the cost of the goods; in some cases without the knowledge of the owners.
Now, as to the future center or situs of the cotton manufacture. If you glance over the history of nearly all the principal arts, you will find that there has been a tendency for them to concentrate in special sections of given countries or states. Where and how such arts may originate may be to a certain extent a matter of chance; but, once established, it seems as if not only the manual skill and aptitude but the mental force of the whole neighborhood adjusted themselves to the special condition of these particular arts. Some one man invents or improves the machine, begins his work in one place, and makes money at it. This attracts attention; others gather in the neighborhood, and presently that place becomes the center of that specific art.
Go to Gloversville, in New York, away off on the high hills north of the Mohawk River: the whole population makes gloves and mittens. The art has existed there for so long a time that it has affected the language. If you are invited out to tea, when you are offered sugar and cream the hostess will ask you if you "take trimmings with your tea."
