203 
 97 
 PV 1 
 
 The ©Id South and the INW. 
 
 A SPEECH 
 
 Delivered in Charleston, South Carolina, November 20th, 1885, at 
 the Opening' of the Industrial Exhibition by 
 
 C0LJI1SWITMR 
 
 Chief of the Bureau of Statistics, 
 
 Treasury Dept., Washington, D. C. 
 
THE OLD SOOTH AND THE NEW. 
 
 SPEECH 
 
 OF 
 
 Col, Wm, F, Switzler, 
 
 Chief of the Bureau of Statistics, 
 
 Treasury Dept., Washington, D. C. 
 
 Delivered in Charleston, South Carolina, November 20th, 1885, at 
 the Opening" of the Industrial Exhibition. 
 
 Statesman Office Book and Job Print. 
 Columbia, Mo., 1885. 
 

 D.ofD, 
 
The ©Id South arid the Jizw. 
 
 Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : 
 
 In rising to respond to the call which has been made upon me 
 for remarks on this occasion, I trust there is no indelicacy, but man- 
 ifest appropriateness, in my acknowledging the pleasant courtesies 
 and distinguished honors which have been tendered me by Mr. 
 Courtiiay, the Mayor of Charleston, and by Dr. Rose, the President 
 of the Agricultural Society, and by other public-spirited citizens, 
 among whom I may mention Dr. Horlbeck and Rev. Dr. Vedder. 
 
 I do not however believe, and shall not for a moment suppose, 
 that these marked testimonials of respect are designed for me per- 
 sonally, for, personally I am an utter stranger to the people of 
 South Carolina, but that they find their inspiration in the regard 
 you entertain for the Government and interests which, for the time 
 being, I represent and am here to promote; a Government which, 
 my fellow-citizens, whatever may have been at any time your 
 views in regard to it, your representatives in the Federal Conven- 
 tion of 1787 — Rutledge, Butler, and the two Pinckneys — iuded to 
 establish, South Carolina the year after it was ordained being one of 
 the nine States which ratified the Constitution which that Conven- 
 tion adopted. Moreover it is worthy of perpetual remembrance that 
 during the war of the Revolution, 1775-1783, South Carolina fur- 
 nished more than one-eighth jpflMPk of the entire American 
 forces which acheived our independence, although at that time her 
 white population was only four per cent, of the population of the 
 old thirteen. States. I repeat, that no difference what at any time 
 may have been your views of the object, structure and function of the 
 Constitution ordained, or of the wisdom of the laws of Congress, it 
 is now the universal judgment of the people of your State that this 
 is their Constitution and Government, and the Government and 
 Flag of their posterity forever. 
 
4 THE OLD SOUTH AND THE NEW. 
 
 During the bloody and fratricidal war through which we so re- 
 cently passed, unfortunate divisions and embarrassing complica- 
 tions existed on every hand, but let us thank that beneficent 
 Providence, who, at all periods of our history held the American 
 Republic in the hollow of His hand, that hence forth, North and 
 South, East and West, and from the Lakes to the Gulf, and from 
 the rivers to the sea, we are one people, with one ancestry, one 
 Constitution, one Flag, and one Destiny — an indestructible Union 
 of indestructible States. 
 
 In a letter to the Honorable Mayor of Charleston, who so 
 kindly tendered me a welcome to this historic City, I announced 
 that my visit had no political significance whatever, but was purely 
 official, and the better to enable me to discharge the responsible 
 trust in connection with the foreign and internal commerce of the 
 country, imposed upon me by the present National Administration 
 at Washington. 
 
 When, therefore, I saw in the newspapers that the widely- 
 noticed and very creditable industrial exhibit South Carolina made at 
 the New Orleans Exposition would be reproduced here, I resolved 
 to attend it, believing it would prove to be that which I have found 
 it, an epitome of your agricultural and manufacturing industries, 
 with many beautiful specimens of the handiwork of women, and 
 one of which you have good reason to be proud. Your State is 
 the book. This exhibit is the index— the table of contents. 
 
 The Laws of Congress make it the duty of the Chief of the 
 Bureau of Statistics, or to more tersely and intelligently define it, 
 the Chief of the Bureau of Commercial Statistics, under the direc- 
 tion of the Secretary of the Treasury, to prepare and publish for 
 the information of Congress and the Country, a report on Internal 
 Commerce. What portion of our extended domain should be the 
 special subject of this report, is largely within the discretion of the 
 Chief of this Bureau. In determining my duty in the premises I 
 was greatly embarrassed, for it will be seen at a glance that such a 
 report could not embrace the whole country, or even the Missis- 
 sippi Valley, and that, therefore, a smaller subdivision of it must 
 be selected for special consideration. On examining the reports of 
 my predecessors in office I found that the Southern States, includ- 
 ing of course the State of South Carolina, had not, in respect to 
 their industrial, commercial, educational and transportation in- 
 
THE OLD SOUTH AND THE NEW. 5 
 
 terests, received special attention. I was, therefore, not slow in 
 determining- that this group of States presented a very rich and 
 inviting' held of investigation and development; and, therefore, I 
 determined, with the consent of the Secretary of the Treasury, to 
 occupy it, and to make it the subject of a special report. 
 
 This group of States, and, notably, the State of South Carolina, 
 is replete with historic interest, and with industrial and commer- 
 cial importance. Within the boundaries of this group are exclu- 
 sively confined productions without which our foreign commerce 
 would be comparatively small, for without cotton and the multi- 
 plied forms into which it is manufactured, and sugar, rice, to- 
 bacco, and other leading products of their soil, the United States 
 could not aspire to be the fourth commercial nation of the world. 
 I have mentioned the historic interest which centers in South 
 Carolina— an interest which will be the subject not only of the 
 statelier utterances of prose, but of the music, of poetry and song 
 during all the ages which are to come. 
 
 Were this an historic occasion, and the circumstances propi- 
 tious^ and [ had time to speak and you time to hear, I might be 
 indulged in recalling some of the more prominent and instructive 
 events connected with the colonization and development of your 
 State. I might be indulged in wresting from comparative oblivion 
 the fact that in 1670, (129 years after the discovery of the Mis- 
 sissippi River by De Soto, 50 years after the landing of the Pil- 
 grims, and 62 years before the birth of Washington), a colony of 
 Englishmen landed at Port Royal, which is now situated in Beau- 
 fort, the most north-easterly county of your State, and a region 
 famous for the production of sea-island cotton, and there made the 
 first permanent settlement. Previous to this— as we are told by a 
 recent valuable report by your State Board of Agriculture— several 
 unsuccessful efforts at colonization had been made by French and 
 Spanish expeditions, but accomplished nothing except to bestow 
 upon the province the name of "Carolina", in honor of Charles IX 
 of France. This was, in fact, the beginning of the settlement and 
 founding of the City of Charleston. 
 
 A glance at the map will show that Port Royal, although it 
 had a magnificent harbor, was too near the Spanish settlements 
 and their allies, the Indian tribes adjacent, for the peace, safety 
 and permanency of the Colony, and within a year thereafter Col. 
 
6 THE OLD SOUTH AND THE NEW. 
 
 William Sayle, the agent of the Lords Proprietors, and the Com- 
 mander of the Colony, determined to remove further up the coast, 
 so that there should be intervening between the colonists and their 
 enemies the several bays, rivers and estuaries which indent the 
 coast of Carolina, between Port Royal and the present location of 
 Charleston. 
 
 These colonists selected a spot on the west bank of the Ashley 
 River, about three miles above the present city, and called it in 
 honor of King Charles, "Charles Town." It was soon, however, 
 found that the shipping facilities of this location were insufficient, 
 and, therefore, by degrees the inhabitants of Charles Town moved 
 lower down the river to establish themselves nearer the sea. The 
 peninsula of land formed by the confluence of the Ashley and Cooper 
 rivers, and then known by the unmusical name of "Oyster Point," 
 was low and marshy and cut up by numerous creeks, but there 
 was sufficient high ground on the Cooper River side to afford room 
 for a settlement, and by 1677 there were enough houses built upon 
 it to need some designation, and the new settlement was called "Oyster 
 Point Town." Three years afterwards, however, a large majority 
 of the colonists moved to this spot, the present site of the city in 
 which we are assembled. The seat of government was formally 
 transferred to it, and the name was changed to "New Charles 
 Town" — both the "Oyster" and the "Point" being consigned to 
 history. Two years later the old settlement was virtually aban- 
 doned and the new one became the only Charles Town. It was 
 then made a port of entry, and in 1685/1 Collector was appointed — 
 an anti-type, I suppose, of Mr. Jervey, your present Collector of 
 Customs. It was not however until the year 1783, rendered not- 
 able in American history because of the termination of the Revo- 
 lutionary War and the declaration of peace, that the City was in- 
 , corporated by the Provincial Legislature under its present shorter 
 name of "Charleston." 
 
 Leaping over more than a century of stirring "incidents by 
 flood and field," embracing the chrysalis and colonial period of 
 the state, I shall be pardoned if I further digress to say that each 
 page of the revolutionary history of South Carolina gleams with 
 evidences of heroic devotion to the great truths, to which, as a 
 nation, we owe our freedom, and with an eloquence and states- 
 
THE OLD SOUTH AND THE NEW. 7 
 
 raanship which render the fame of her orators and law-givers 
 immortal. 
 
 The blood shed and the bravery displayed by your heroic army 
 under Gen. Benjamin Lincoln in resisting to "the death" the in- 
 vestment and conflagration of Charleston in 1780 by Admiral 
 Arbuthnot, Sir Henry Clinton and Col. Tarlton; and at King's 
 Mountain, Eutaw Springs, Ninety Six, Saunder's Creek, Cowpens, 
 and on the High Hills of Santee will never be forgotten; and the 
 fame of Marion, Greene, Pickens, Clark, Lincoln, Whipple, and 
 Sumter, (the latter called by Lord Cornwallis, "The Carolina 
 Gamecock"), and the heroic exploits of Rebecca Motte and Emily 
 Geiger, emblazon the Revolutionary history of this Commonwealth, 
 and to-day constitute a part of the rich heritage of proud memo- 
 ries vouchsafed to us by a noble ancestry. 
 
 But this exploration into the annals of the past, how partial 
 and incomplete soever it is, and interesting and inviting as it may 
 be, must cease, because, among other reasons, I appreciate the fact 
 that it is a divergence from the true line of thought which brings 
 us together. We are assembled not to disclose or investigate the 
 early history of South Carolina, and of Charleston, but rather to 
 enter upon the contemplation of themes of greater present 
 interest to you and the people. What ought to be done, what 
 within the range of human agencies can be acheived for the in- 
 dustrial, commercial, educational and transportation interests of 
 Charleston and of South Carolina and the whole South? What 
 processes of logic or law, what exertion of brain or muscle, what 
 leadership or power of the press, or outlays of capital and employ- 
 ment of labor can soonest and most cheaply and successfully 
 quicken the currents of public enterprise, and place more securely 
 within your grasp the marvelous possibilities which soil and climate, 
 and mine and river, and inlet and ocean beckon you to acheive? 
 
 I am forbidden by the proprieties of the occasion and by a 
 want of time from entering upon a discussion of these important 
 questions; but I will be pardoned for saying that the cultivation, 
 manufacture and exportation of cotton is one of the great para- 
 mount, material interests of the people of South Carolina. It is 
 not their only interest, but it is one to which they have given 
 much attention, and in the rapidly developing future, will, if they 
 are wise, render more, not only by improved processes of culture, 
 
8 THE OLD SOUTH AND THE NEW. 
 
 but by increased acreage devoted to cotton (above your 25,000), 
 through the subjugation of their large forest-wastes to the use of 
 the planter. 
 
 That cotton is an interest of great value to them is attested 
 by the fact that there were exported from this city alone during the 
 last fiscal year 340,000 bales, or 158,500,000 pounds of this staple, 
 worth in "spot cash/' more than $17,500,000. 
 
 It cannot be questioned, therefore, that even the history of 
 the production and exportation of this leading staple will be of 
 enduring interest to the people of this Commonwealth. So be- 
 lieving, I am tempted to glance at it and to say that according to 
 reliable history,(*) the first mention of cotton by any writer 
 is by Herodotus, about 450 years B. C, and that the culture of 
 cotton was first practised in India. It is not however known, 
 for history furnishes no means of ascertaining the fact, when 
 or by what progressive stages of discovery and invention cotton 
 was first utilized by man. 
 
 There is no authentic record of any cotton being manufactured 
 in Europe before the tenth century. 
 
 Before the discovery of the Mississippi River, and about the 
 year 1536, the cotton plant was found growing in the country 
 drained by that stream, and in Texas, but the experiment of its 
 culture was not entered upon in the United States before 1621. 
 It was first valued as an ornamental plant and cultivated in gar- 
 dens or nurtured in boxes or pots. 
 
 It was not until after the revolutionary war, that cotton in 
 the United States was cultivated with a view to export, and one 
 of the interesting facts connected with its early history on this 
 continent is that the first exportation of cotton occurred from the 
 port of Savannah in 1784, just one year after the declaration of 
 peace. This export consisted of ten bales, and we have the testi- 
 mony of authentic history for the statement, that the sailing vessel 
 upon which these bales were carried to the port of Liverpool, was 
 detained in that port and the Captain of the vessel arrested by the 
 municipal authorities on the charge of attempting a fraud upon 
 the public; the charge against him being that it was impossible so 
 large an amount as ten bales could be produced in the United 
 States. 
 
 (•) Johnson's Cyclopedia. 
 
THE OLD SOUTH AND THE NEW. 9 
 
 Observe what we have accomplished in a century: 10 bales 
 exported in 1784; 3,969,568 bales exported in 1885! Computing 
 each of these bales to be five feet in length, this number, laid end 
 to end, would form a continuous line nearly four thousand miles 
 long, or from Philadelphia across the ocean to Antwerp, or from 
 New York to New Orleans and return, and would cover an area of 
 nearly 1,500 acres. 
 
 A year after this initial export, the culture of short staple cot- 
 ton was commenced in the United States, and in 1795, 1,000,000 
 pounds were exported from this city. Since that time — as we 
 learn from the authority already cited — the use of cotton, which 
 previously had been limited for the must part to the hot climate 
 where it grew, has been marvelously extended, so that at present 
 it constitutes not only the entire clothing of a large majority of 
 the human race, but it has become a part of the material in which 
 the people of all lands and languages are clothed, excepting, per- 
 haps, the most debased and savage races of mankind. 
 
 I have here a tabular statement showing the total production 
 of raw cotton in the United States, by years, from 1821, which is 
 the first year in respect to which we have official data, to 1884; 
 and also the exports of cotton from 1791 to the present time. The 
 total production in 1821, was 430,000 bales; in 1884, 5,646,441 ! Our 
 agricultural experts predict, that notwithstanding the ravages of 
 the cotton worm in some of the States, and of unfavorable weather 
 during the months of August and September, the cotton produc- 
 tion of this country for the present year will reach 6,500,000 bales. 
 In 1791, we exported about 190,000 pounds, and in 1826, which 
 was the last year the exportations were reckoned in pounds, 
 204,500,000. The year preceding our civil war, our exports of cot- 
 ton reached 3,126,867 bales, and the year immediately following 
 the close of the war (1866), 1,552,457- We have no official data 
 of the exports of cotton during the war. 
 
 Our largest export was in 1883, namely, 4,626,808 bales. In 
 1784, ten bales; in 1883, more than four millions and a half of 
 bales ! 
 
 These interesting and suggestive statistical facts verify the 
 statement that the reign of King Cotton in this country is unbrok- 
 en, for His Royal Highness continues to furnish the most valu- 
 able article of export, so far as the aggregate amount sent abroad 
 
10 THE OLD SOUTH AND THE NEW. 
 
 is concerned, furnished by our country, the total quantity of the 
 manufactured article for the past fiscal year footing up the incal- 
 culable and marvelous weight of one billion eight hundred and 
 ninety odd millions of pounds! 
 
 But cotton is not by any means your only interest or the only 
 valuable production of the soil of the South. Sugar, rice and to- 
 bacco, and corn and other cereals, and fruits in great variety, are 
 successfully cultivated, and are receiving more attention than at 
 any time in your history; but I have not time to discuss them or 
 to summarize the statistics of their production and value. They 
 will receive due attention in the report I am preparing to make to 
 the Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 But there is a wider and even more encouraging view of the 
 progress of the industrial, commercial, transportation and educa- 
 tional interests of the Southern States. This progress has attract- 
 ed attention in all parts of our country, and in the United King- 
 dom, and on the continent of Europe. Distinguished economists 
 and statesmen, and the conductors of newspapers and other period- 
 icals have summarized and discussed this marvellous progress and 
 have developed its beneficent influence on the prosperity of the 
 people and the institutions of the country. 
 
 Among those who have made valuable contributions to our 
 store of knowledge on this subject, I mention with pleasure the 
 conductors of the Baltimore Manufacturers' Record, the New 
 Orleans Times-Democrat, and your own distinguished fellow-citi- 
 zens, F. W. Dawson of the Charleston Neivs and Courier, and Col. 
 W. L. Trelholm. 
 
 Gathering important facts and reliable statistics from each of 
 these sources, and summarizing them in the briefest possible form 
 consistent with justice to the immense interest involved, I state 
 on their authority, that since 1879, the South has added 11,000 
 miles to her railroad mileage, the building of which, added to the 
 investments in old roads and their improvement, foot up but little,. 
 if any, short of $500,000,000. 
 
 Elaborate tables are given of the comparative values of prop- 
 erty in the South in 1879-80 and 1884-85, which show that in 1880 
 the total assessed values in the South were $2,184,208,505, while 
 in 1885 they were $3,076,514,435, showing an increase of 
 
THE OLD SOUTH AND THE NEW. H 
 
 305,930. South Carolina advanced during the same period from 
 $137,237,986, to $158,703,000 of assessed values. 
 
 The production of corn has increased from 334,000,000 bushels 
 in 1879, to 498,000,000 bushels in 1885— a gain of 165,000,000 
 bushels— and of oats, from 42,000,000 bushels to about 70,000,000 
 bushels, while of tobacco, fruits and vegetables, the grasses, &c, 
 the increase has been equally as satisfactory. In the raising of 
 hogs and live stock generally, the same wonderful progress has 
 been shown. 
 
 In 1880, the total crop values of the Southern States amount- 
 ed to $549,850,000,. and in 1885, to $669,077,000, showing the re- 
 markable increase of $119,227,000— an increase of 21.68 per cent. 
 In 1880 the value of live stock was $326,378,414, and in 1885 it is 
 $562,916,258— an increase of 72.47 per cent. 
 
 The cotton mills have increased from 180 to 353, and the 
 number of spindles and looms from 713,989 and 15,222, respect- 
 ly, to 1,460,697 and 27,004— a gain of about 100 per cent. Cot- 
 ton-seed-oil mills, that in 1880 numbered 40, having a capital of $3,- 
 504,500, now number 146, having a capital of $10,792,450. 
 
 In 1880 the South made 397,301 tons of pig iron; in 1884 it 
 made 657,599 tons— a gain of 260,298 tons. Three states— Vir- 
 ginia, Alabama and Tennessee— that in 1880 produced 178,006 
 tons of pig iron, in 1884 produced 481,744 tons— an increase of 
 303,738 tons, or 9,500 tons more than the net increase in the 
 United States, the production in the whole country outside of 
 these three states being less in 1884, than in 1880. 
 
 This is a very remarkable development, and one which is 
 worthy of special note. It would seem to justify the opinion ad- 
 vanced by many intelligent gentlemen of the South, that the South 
 will eventually lead in the production of iron. In verification of 
 this view, I am idebted to the Hon. Lee R. Shryock of New York 
 City, Ex-President of the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce, for the 
 opinion that no such ores as the great specular and brown hema- 
 tite of the States of Alabama and Tennessee, and the magnetic of 
 Missouri and Kentucky are to be found anywhere north of the 
 Ohio river. It is very true that the Lake Superior Region 
 furnishes good ores, but the supply is comparatively small, when 
 compared to the immense deposits of the states named. As to 
 pig iron, it is an interesting fact that the Old Briarfield Furnace of 
 
12 THE OLD SOUTH AND THE NEW. 
 
 Alabama made during the war the pig iron for the Confederate 
 Government; and some from Buffalo Gap in Virginia, that was cast 
 into heavy guns at Richmond and Selma, were so tongh and mal- 
 leable that it was almost equal to the best bloom or hammered 
 iron. Nothing short of heavy charges of gunpowder or dynamite 
 would explode these guns. Over fifty captured from the Confed- 
 eracy were sold at auction at Salma by the United States Govern- 
 ment; they could not be broken, and the buyer had to remove 
 them intact at great expense. 
 
 I have recently seen the statement, that the cost of making a 
 ton of pig iron in Pennsylvania is about $22; that the quality is 
 not so good as the iron manufactured at Birmingham, Ala., and 
 Chattanooga, Tenn., and that at these places, pig iron can be pro- 
 duced at $11 per ton, and sold at a profit at these figures. It is also 
 asserted that the actual cost is only $9 per ton. Whether these 
 statements will be verified by more thorough investigation I am 
 not able to say. 
 
 In 1880, 6,048,571 tons of coal were mined in the South, and 
 in 1884, the output was 10,844,051 tons. 
 
 The amount of phosphate rock mined in South Carolina in 
 1880, was 190,000 tons and the capital invested in the business was 
 $3,493,300, while now the capital is over $6,500,000 and the 
 amount of rock mined largely over 400,000 tons. 
 
 But these are the great interests. There are many other 
 small industries all over the South that even more strikingly ex- 
 hibit the new spirit which has come over that section. A great 
 many local enterprises, such as wagon, chair, broom and furni- 
 ture factories, fruit canneries, flour, grist and saw mills, plaining- 
 mills, wire factories, potteries, marble and slate works have been 
 established to manufacture articles heretofore .brought from the 
 North. There has also been an increase in value in the manu- 
 facture of the articles into which lumber enters, of $12,700,000 in 
 1885, over the valuation of 1880. Taking in all the branches of 
 manufactures the valuesare: For 1880, $315,924,774; and for 1885, 
 $445,656,000. The total valuation of the South, expressed in dol- 
 lars and cents, now is $3,076,514,435, as against $2,184,208,505, in 
 1880. This shows an annual increase of productiveness of $300,- 
 751,466, or about 30 per cent. 
 
 Summing up the amount of capital and capital stock repre- 
 
THE OLD SOUTH AND THE NEW. 13 
 
 sented by new manufacturing and mining enterprises in the South 
 for the first nine months of the present year, the Baltimore 
 Record says these aggregated $52,386,300, and distributes them as 
 follows: 
 
 Alabama. . .■ $5,854,000 
 
 Arkansas 500,000 
 
 Florida 1,237,000 
 
 Georgia 2,052,000 
 
 Kentucky 14,005,000 
 
 Louisiana 1,955,000 
 
 Maryland 6,107,800 
 
 Mississippi 571,500 
 
 Nortli Carolina 2,543,000 
 
 South Carolina 592,000 
 
 Tennessee 2,300,000 
 
 Texas 2,280,000 
 
 Virginia 2,735,000 
 
 West Virginia 9,644,000 
 
 Total $52,386,300 
 
 Lastly, but not by any means least, are the educational inter- 
 ests of the South, in respect to which it is mentioned that, in pro- 
 portion to their means, the Southern States are now spending 
 more money for education than any other section of the country. 
 On good authority it is stated that the ''amount appropriated for 
 the Southern public schools to-day is $10,243,857, and that the 
 schools have an attendance of 3,011,766 pupils.'" (*) 
 
 This hurried summary, imperfect and impartial as it necessari- 
 ly is, presents an encouraging view of the recuperative energies 
 of the Southern people, desolated and impoverished as they were by 
 the civil war, and affords an earnest that, unless retarded by un- 
 wise legislation at home or at Washington, they will not only be- 
 come self-sustaining, but the exporters of large amounts of raw 
 material and manufactured goods to other States, and to Mexico, • 
 Central and South America, and to Europe. 
 
 (*) It is learned from the recent message of Hon. Hugh S. Thompson, Governor of South 
 Carolina, that the number of pupils enrolled in the public schools of the State during 
 the year just closed was 178,023, of which 78,45S were whites and 99,565 were colored; the 
 average attendance was 12-2,093, of wiilcii 55,651 were white, and 66,429 were colored. The 
 number of teachers employed was 3,773, being an increase of eighty-nine over the num- 
 ber employed during the preceding year; and the number of schools was 3,562, being an 
 increase of eighty over tae number in operation during the year 1883-84. The length of 
 the school term was three and a half months, a decrease of a half a month. The total 
 amount of funds available for school purposes during the year 1883-84, the latest period 
 for which reports are attainable, was $515,580.38, of which $441,599.37 was collected dur- 
 ing the year, and $73,931.00 consisted of unexpended balances brought forward from 
 previous years. The total amount expended was $428,419.41. 
 
14 THE OLD SOUTH AND THE. NEW. 
 
 Taking a still wider view, and a glance at the foreign com- 
 merce of the United States, it will be found that although our im- 
 ports and exports of merchandise declined in value from $1,547,020,- 
 316, in 1883, its highest point, to $1,319,717,084, in 1885, a falling 
 off of 14.7 per cent., as the result of the protracted period of com- 
 mercial depression, yet, when we regard it in the light of its gen- 
 eral progress since 1860, we find abundant reason for encourage- 
 ment. 
 
 During the period from 1860 to 1885, the total value of our 
 imports and exports of merchandise increased from $687,192,176, 
 to $1,319,717,084, or 92 per cent. Our imports of merchandise 
 increased from $353,616,119, to $577,527,329, or 63 per cent., and 
 our exports of domestic merchandise increased from $316,242,443, 
 to $726,682,946, or 129 per cent. 
 
 When we compare the value of the foreign commerce of the 
 leading commercial nations of the world, we find that the United 
 Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland stands first, Germany 
 second, France third, and the United States fourth. 
 
 Examining the statistics of the world's commerce, by coun- 
 tries, a distinguished German ec3nomist, (Herr von Neumann 
 Spallart), has recently made a publication to prove that the center 
 of gravity of the world's commerce is gradually shifting from the 
 United Kingdom through Germany to the United States; and my 
 conviction is that the facts and statistics clearly enforce the con- 
 clusion he has reached. He shows, that while in 1868, the share 
 of the United Kingdom in the world's commerce was 24 per cent., 
 it had fallen in 1882 to 19.5 per cent., and that of the total foreign 
 commerce of Great Britain and the Continent in ]868, Great 
 Britain is credited with 34.5 per cent., and in 1882, with only 
 29 per cent. 
 
 In 1868, Great Britain produced 53.6 per cent, of the coal 
 mined in the world; in 1883 only 47 per cent. 
 
 In 1868, British productions of pig iron amounted to 44.1 per 
 cent, of the total, while it was but 39.1 per cent, in 1883. 
 
 Taking next the article of cotton we find that from 1856 to 
 1860, the United Kingdom consumed 63 per cent, of all raw cot- 
 ton produced on the globe, and the Continent of Europe 39.7 per 
 cent.; but that in 1883, the cotton trade of Great Britain decreased 
 
THE OLD SOUTH AND THE NEW. 15 
 
 to 52.3 per cent., while that of the Continent had risen to 47.7 per 
 cent. 
 
 From this showing it is held that the center of gravity of the 
 world's commerce is slowly but surely drifting from Great Britain 
 toward Germany, and that it will ultimately rest in the United 
 States. 
 
 But I must desist from further discussion of these inviting 
 and suggestive themes. 
 
 Fellow Citizens: lam in South Carolina for the first time; 
 and more than this, yesterday morning, from a point near your 
 Custom house, I saw the ocean for the first time, unless, indeed T 
 the logic of your own eminent statesman, Mr. Calhoun, in his 
 Memphis speech in 1845, be true, that the Mississippi River, which 
 I have seen a thousand times, is an arm of the ocean extended 
 inland and lying across the bosom of the Continent. I am here 
 with the knowledge and approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, 
 to advance your interests and the interests of the Southern States T 
 believing that the industrial and other great interests of these 
 States are indissolubly linked to the interests of the Republic. 
 
 I am profoundly gratified to say that evidences greet me on 
 every hand — they are to be seen in this Exposition — that under the 
 influence of our beneficent institutions, and the quickened currents 
 of public enterprise, great possibilities are within the reach of your 
 city and Commonwealth and of the whole South. 
 
 As I survey from this platform the group of States whose 
 shores are washed by the Mississippi, Ohio and Potomac Rivers, 
 or are lashed by the waves of the Atlantic Ocean, or the eddying 
 currents of the Gulf of Mexico, I catch the brightening radiance 
 of a new civilization for the whole country, and behold the rising 
 grandeur of a new South — a new Charleston and a new South 
 Carolina. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 014 366 143 ft •