Manufactures At The South

Among the signs of the times, ainong which there are but too many that are depressing, none are more pleasant to contémplate than those which come to us i'rom many sections in the South, indicating a steady increase in the importance given to manufacturing interests there, an increased confidence in the possibility of inaugurating manufacturmg enterprises there on a large scale, and a growing belief, among the better informed, that the true welfare of the South, in fact its future prosperity, depends upon the diversification of the industries of its people, and the consumption of the largest possible proportion of its products within its own limits. There will still be enough for export, no matter how extended these industries may become. for with t,ho crease in manufactures comes large increasa in population, population of the industrious, thrifty and consuming kind, which is just what the South most needs. It must not be 'supposed that we are picturing a future Utopian community to the South which is to make all that is required for its own consumption, and furnish the world, not only with its great staple but with its surplus of ïnanufactured goods. The result of nianufacturing prosperity in the South would bring the bulk of her people into the rank of consumers of somethiug more than the mere necessaries of life, causing a deinand for everything that New Eugland and Europe can furnish, a demand which, so far as the South is concerned, is not a tithe oí what ít should be, coueidering the wealth and oxtent of torritory whioh the name covers. The South has every advantage which conduces to industrial prosperiiv. In many parts water power is abundant and reliable. Everywhere coal is easily attainable at a low rate. Iron and other ores abound. The great staple, cotton, can be raised at the factory's very door, and pass directly froiuthe gin to the pieker. The wool producing regions of the country aro within easy reach. Living for operatives, considering the fertility of the soil, and the cheapness of ordinary labor, ought certaiuly to bo low. The climate is mild, doing away with raany expenses inseparable from life in morenorthern latitudes, and, although there aresections in which malaria and other diseases prevail, the country, as a whole, is favorable to health. One thing, it is true, is lacking,- skilled labor. So it was in Now England wheu our people first turned their attention towards manufactures. But in time the skilled taught the unskilled, and the difticulty was overeóme. So it will prove in the South, where there are vast numbers of poor whites who have learned the bitter lesson that work alone will bring bread, now that the old regime has gone forever ; and, to their credit be it said, thoy are disposed to accept the situation, and work. They are unskilled'in the use of machinery as yet, but with a fairshare of intelligence, and necessity constantly 8purring thein on, they will yet furnish skilled labor enough to make a fair start. Indeed, they have done so already, and reports that come of their succesa are in svery way cheering.