Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/311

ALABAMA. agencies of manufacture are found in close proximity. In the north iron ore is found in the same locality with coal, limestone, and dolomite, making possible a minimum cost of production for iron and its manufactures. The immense forests of the South supply material for the lumber industry, and the production of tar, turpentine, and resin. The numerous waterfalls and rapids in the State supply the needed power for turning the cotton crop into the manufactured product, though the abundance and cheapness of coal has much retarded the utilization of this power. With these advantages must also be considered the lesser cost of living in the South, thus making a lower wage possible. The comparative scarcity of strikes and the absence of labor legislation and prohibition of child labor in the State have served as an additional attraction for capital from the North. The greatest and almost the sole obstacle in the way of manufacturing, especially of iron products, has been the high railway freight rates, which make it difficult to compete with the products of the North. The improvement of the watercourse of the Warrior River, already partially executed, will reduce 80 per cent. the cost of conveying iron products to Mobile, which will result in a large increase of the exports of pig iron to foreign countries, already amounting in 1900 to 113,000 tons, and exceeding those from any other State. The following table for the eleven leading industries shows a remarkable development during the decade in nearly every industry. The iron and steel industry leads. Steel manufacture in Alabama is of recent origin. Alabama iron ores are not suited to the manufacture of steel by the Bessemer process, and it was not until the recently manifested preference for steel manufactured by the open hearth process that profitable manufacture of steel in Alabama was possible. Of the foundry and machine shop products, east iron pipe is the most important, the other leading products being stoves, car wheels, boilers, and engines. While the State was behind some of her sister States in developing cotton manufactures, the progress from 1890 to 1900, which was greater than that for any other industry, leaves no doubt of the future prominence of the State in the production of cotton goods. Fertilizers are produced by a process of combining Alabama cottonseed meal with phosphates from Florida mines. In the following table the comparisons of wage earners, while not exact, are reasonably indicative of the actual facts.

The Alabama and Tombigbee rivers, with their more important tributaries, and the Chattahoochee River on the east boundary, offer excellent facilities for navigation. Railroad construction was very slow in developing, but has made a steady increase in recent years, in marked contrast with most Northern States. The mileage in 1880 amounted to 1843 miles, but increased to 4226 in 1900, or more than half the mileage of the State of New York. There were 7.81 miles for every 100 square miles of territory, and 22.55 miles for every 10,000 inhabitants. Almost every trunk line of the South passes through Birmingham. There is a State Railroad Commission, which fixes rates, but railroads are not bound to adopt them. In case of damage suits, however, the rates fixed by the commission are prima facie reasonable. Mobile is the only seaport, and the chief exports are cotton, coal, and lumber. New Orleans takes the bulk of the cotton for export trade, and Pensaeola the lumber.

On October 31, 1900, there were forty-three national banks in the State, thirty of which were in operation. The capital stock amounted to $3,555,000; circulation outstanding, $1,968,000; deposits, $10,933,000; and reserve held, $3,104,000. On June 30, 1900, there were twenty State banks, having total resources aggregating $7,129,000; capital stock, $742,000, and deposits, $3,489,000.