Handbook of South Carolina; resources, institutions and industries of the state; a summary of the statistics of agriculture , manufactures, geography, climate, geology and physiography, minerals and mining, education, transportation, commerce, government, etc, etc
South Carolina. Dept. of Agriculture | Watson, Ebbie Julian, 1869-1917
•^t^ s'' ss iiCT ..ocg^ - 5-- w :"^ •S"l 00 g o 1 «D r- '- 515 g ■99an^ •jaquinK •»IJT»S 15* •jaqomK ln^idBO 'B^aaoi ss gSS*2 C»QDf-iO»'<«<QD'<«<«0 giiis§§iigi§§3§§ss §g SS^'^|S5'-g«g2«?:3BS*'a* ••* ^1 II 5 :tS 2 : S a Hi Chapter XII Commerce, Transportation, and Immigration and Emigration It is well-nigh impossible to touch the general subject of transportation in South Carolina, which is a matter carrying with it the commerce of the State, and the fullest development of the agricultural industry as well, without revert- ing from time to time in anything that might be said to the treatment of this matter by W. L. Trenholm, formerly Comptroller of the Currency of the United States, in the Handbook of 1882, and in his address to the Chamber of Commerce of the city of Charleston on the occasion of the Centennial Anniversary of that organization, on February 11, 1884. ' No South Carolinian ever gave the subject , closer study, and certainly none ^ver viewed the possibilities with more far- seeing eyes. Long before, Mills and others had seen the possibilities and there were earnest, active workers in behalf of transportation development from the earliest days, but each and all of them have always had to fight their way for- ward, owing to the numbers who would not or could not see the desirable and far-reaching results to be obtained. Investigation of the history of transportation in this State shows Henry Shultz, as early as 1821, advocating and endeavoring by every possible means to open trans-Atlantic navigation between Hamburg in this State and Hamburg in Germany, via the Savannah River and Charleston, and actually succeeding in a portion of his plans with the aid of McDuffie and other ifar-seeing men. In effect, there was at that time an earnest effort to bring about the very same thing that South Carolina has been striving for so vigorously in the last few years in the effort to open the port of Charleston to trans-Atlantic navigation without one- thousandth part of the incentive. Duncan Qinch Heyward has been the prime mover in recent years in the effort to bring about this desirable result. His recommendations as Governor in 1004 led to the establishment of a Department of the State Government by the General Assembly, one of the principal objects of which was to labor for the D. C HEYWARD. 476 SOUTH CAROLINA HANDBOOK. reestablishment of the commerce of the State, the restoration of the business of her seaports, and the upbuilding of her agricultural, industrial and commercial interests. He has been an earnest advocate of all measures leading to the open- ing of the South Atlantic seaboard to trans-Atlantic service, realizing the immense value of the South's dealing directly with the consumer. As Governor, he urged this project; as a citizen and as president of the Southern Immigration and Industrial Association, he has labored earnestly to accomplish the desired end. In all the efforts made by the South Carolina Department of Agriculture, Commerce and Immigration to accomplish this purpose he has rendered invalua- ble aid. His successor in the high office* of Governor, Martin F. Ansel, has likewise taken an active interest in the effort to accomplish such excellent results as must follow the permanent establishment of such service, and during 1907 personally attended the National Rivers and Harbors Congress in Wash- ington. Navigable Territory. — South Carolina's coast line is about 196 miles, and its nature is such as to make an inland waterway for navigation purposes not only possible but profitable. The river systems likewise afford excellent navigation with proper attention and care, to the very heart of the State. In other words, steamboat navigation is possible for full 5,000 miles of shore and inland ways. These very conditions had a marked influence on the choice of locations by the early settlers of the colony. No effort will be made to trace the history of the effect of watercourses upon the original Indian tribes, though there was such an influence, which is instantly apparent to the reader of the history of the early settlements. J. D. DIAL, MISS SARAH J. CUNNINGHAM, J. F. FAMAEY, CHIEF CLERK. STENOGRAPHER. CLERK — INTERPRETER. Office Force of Department of Agriealtnre, Ckmimeroe and Immigration. Early Efforts, — As early as the spring of 1682 the Colonial Assembly is found making provisions for the construction of roads. The history of early road building in South Carolina is of rare interest. In 1707, referring to the water transportation. Gov. Archdale wrote that "Charles Town trades near one thousand miles into the continent." Early in 1700 at interior points on the Savannah and Congaree, and other rivers, forts and trading posts were established and much business was done, it going largely to Charles Town. » Natural Heads of Navigation, — The early road and bridge building legisla- tion began in earnest in 1737. Up to 1750 all South Carolina's white people were Europeans who came by sea to America and went to the interior setUe- ments by boat. Hamburg, Granby, a point near Columbia, and Camden, a point near Cheraw, were the chief interior points of settlement— jcach beins at the natural head of river navigation in the State. Above the line made by these three points, as Mr. Trenholm points out, and as the historical facts substan- tiate, in the year named, began to arrive people from Virginia and Pennsylvania, who settled in what is to this day known as "the up-country." These people came and were followed by numerous others after the defeat of Braddock in 1755. Thus were laid the foundations for the wide difference of opinion, thought and action that until recent years existed between the people of the COMMERCE, IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION. 477 "low country" and those of the "up-country.** It was a perfectly natural dif- ference. The "up-country" settlers undoubtedly did most of their trade with their kinsmen and friends to the North, and it does not appear that until after the Revolution there were any material business relations between the two classes of early settlers of South Carolina. The following from Mr. "Is it the persistence of some occult natural law of trade, is it fate, or is it simply accident, that has wrested from Charleston the control she once had of the Greenville and Columbia, the Blue Ridge and the Laurens railroads, and thrust them into the hands of Pennsylvania and Virginia? However this may be now, there is evidence that as soon as the settlement of the upper country developed itself, the Provincial Legislature at Charleston were diligent in passing Acts for the establishment of ferries and the construction of roads to connect the new settlements with the capital. It appears from a careful com- parison of these Acts, that many of tnem failed of their purpose, for the same roads and the same bridges were over and over a^ain ordered to be constructed, and frequently new commissioners were appomted at each repe- tition of the legislation.** No attempt is here made to trace the road construction operations of the early days. It suffices to say that just after the Revolution every effort was made to unite all the people by proper arteries of transportation. First Navigation Act. — The first act relating to navigation was rather a weak one, passed in 1778, looking to the opening of the Wateree river; another act was passed in 1785, equally as ineffective, to open all navigable waterways to practical usage. In 1786 there was an act incorporating the Santee Canal • Company. The next year there was an act relating to the navigation of the Edisto and Ashley, and chartering a company to open the navigation of the Catawba and Wateree rivers from the North Carolina line to Camden. Gen. Thos. Sumter and John Rutledge were among the incorporators of the last named company. The idea was to accomplish this navigation by means of dams and locks. Like action was taken in the same year as to Lynche's Creek, Clarke's Creek and Black Creek, the inhabitants to do the actual work. In the same year an act was oassed to form a company for the opening of the Broad and Pacolet rivers, the act being almost in the exact terms of the Wateree- Catawba act. These few instances show that the people of the State during this period were beginning to realize the advantage of proper transportation facilities, and were bending their energies to that end. Drayton, in 1802, in his "View of South Carolina,'* gives a valuable v^itome of the transportation facilities of this period. The Santee Canal. — It is recorded that about the time the advantages of utilizing water transportation began to be realized, bales of cotton were thrown in the river above Hamburg and allowed to drift to that point, that rafts car- ried all kinds of products to port on the navigable streams. This all led to an earnest effort to establish water communication between Charleston and the upper portion of the State, having its culmination in the chartering of the Santee Canal Company, with the purpose to connect the Santee and Cooper rivers. In 1792 the work was commenced and after an expenditure of $750,000 it was completed in the middle of 1880. It had 13 locks and was 22 miles long. The summit level was 69 feet above tide level and though for more than 30 years it served a splendid purpose, the suppy of water on the summit was so bad that it finally was abandoned. 478 SOUTH CAROLINA HANDBOOK. Before Railroads. — Mills describes the period prior to the advent of railroads in this way, setting forth fully all of the means of water transportation that had been provided at that time. This is more fully dealt with under the subject of "River Service." Trans-Atlantic Navigation. — Why it is that the people of this section have rested content to make no general effort to secure the magnificent advantages that must necessarily follow the establishment of trans-Atlantic passenger and freight service to and from Europe is one of the economic mysteries of the South. At rare periods able men have striven for the thing — something mean- ing more than almost anything else, but history shows that on each occasion there has been a lack of united effort, a perfect content to deal in the marts of the world by paying tribute to men having no other interest than to keep the producers domg the same thing year in and year out, decade by decade, half century by half century. Even the advocacy of a man like Geo. McDuffie failed to obtain the support that, had it been given, would have perhaps made the South of today far and awny greater than the North of the present time. Let us look for a moment at the records of a rare opportunity lost at a time when permanent results of greatest value might have been attained. TWO BELGIAN IMMIGRANTS ON A FARM NEAR COLUMBIA. The Efforts in the 30* s. — One of the most interesting documents relating to the history of transportation in South Carolina was published in Augusta, Ga., in 1837, under the title of "The Origin of the Town of Hamburg, S. C, America, Founded by Henry Shultz, July 2, 1821." This document contained a copy of the Act of the Legislature of South Carolina of 1835, incorporating "a company to open a direct trade between Hamburg, America, and Hamburg, the Kingdoms of Prussia, Denmark, Holland and Sweden, Europe." and also con- tains the details of a visit of a representative of the Governments of Hamburg and Prussia sent to South Carolina to investigate the possibilities of the undertaking. The pamphlet contains other letters in regard to the enterprise from men like George McDuffie, gives the proceedings of a convention for the carrying into effect of the project for direct trade between Southern ports and Europe and contains most interesting data in regard to the Hamburg Specie Bank. Notwithstanding Gen. Wade Hampton (I) had twice before failed in the effort to erect a bridge to connect tne States of South Carolina and Georgia at Augusta, the Legislature of this State in 1813 granted to Shultz and to Lewis Cooper a charter to build such a bridge. The next year another charter for the same purpose was granted the same men. The project was looked upon as something visionary. In 1816, after accomplishing the bridging of the COMMERCE, IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION. 479 stream, which had up to 1836 stood firm for 23 years, Shultz again astonished the natives with the project of building a wharf at Hamburg. He accom- plished this 20 years prior to 1836 and then proceeded to build the town of Hamburg, concerning which he wrote in that year: "My town has not only been built, but has wrested from Augusta that South Carolina trade of which she had possessed herself and even wins from her every day fresh portions of that of Georgfia," The Legislature granted Shultz later $50,000, and with $15,000 of this he put a boat upon the Savannah river, opening direct steam navigation between Haniburg and Charleston. This undertaking was successful and within two years six other boats were embarked in the same trade — ^"The Commerce," "The Hamburg," "The Edgefield," "The Pendleton," "The Au- gusta," "The Henry Shultz/' and "The Maid of Orleans." At the first com- pletion of the Hamburg and Charleston Railroad some of these boats ceased to operate, their management becoming alarmed. In a short time, however, they returned to service two for one. Shultz remarks: "Experience has shown that though passengers may prefer railroads, merchandize prefers the rivers." At TWO CF THE NEW COMERS — A BELGIAN HAYSTACK IN REAR. this time the population of Hamburg was about 2,000, and about 35,000 bales of cotton was being handled annually. Important in its bearing upon the ques- tion of early transportation was the formation of the Bank of Hamburg, with a half million dollars of capital, in 1822, which bank, in 1835, h^s in i(s vaults over $300,000 in gold and silver and was, so far as known, the only specie bank then in operation in America. It was about this time (1831) that John McLean built his railroad in the town of Columbia, but it did not succeed, proving useless. Failure also followed the effort of Blanding and others to build in 1833 a railroa4 from Columbia to Branchville, and the same fate fol- lowed the effort in 1834 to construct a railroad from Edgefield to Aiken and one from Edgefield to Hamburg. It was during this period also that the State made appropriation of about $2,000,000 for a system of internal improvements, chiefly m the building of canals and other undertakings of like character. All this was in process while Shultz was succeeding with his undertakings and led to the chartering of Shultz's cherished undertaking of opening trans-Atlantic navigation, connectmg the interior, via the port of Charleston, with Europe, his company being known as the "American and German Trading and Insur- ance Company." 48o SOUTH CAROLINA HANDBOOK. McDufhi's Advocacy. — ^As bearing direcUy upon the undertaking projected at that time and upon almost the identical undertaking of connecting the Euro- pean markets of consumption with the cotton belt through the port of Charles- ton, which has for the last two years been so vigorously pushed, the following official document from George McDuffie is of exceeding interest: "Executive Department, "South Carolina, May 20, 1835. "Whereas Henry Bhults, the Founder of the Town of Hamburg, in this State, has projected a plan for opening a direct commerce between Hamburg in Europe, and Hamburg in America, and has requested me, as the Governor and Command-In-Chief of the State of South Carolina, to certify such facts, and express such opinions, in relation to his capacity, public spirit and usefulness, as may enable all persons inter- ested in the new branch of commerce contemplated, to form a correct estimate of the credit due to his statements, and of all the weight to which his opinions are entitled, touching the premises: Now, therefore, I do hereby make known to all whom it may concern, that the aforesaid Henry Shultz, is, in my opinion, eminently distinguished for enterprise, sagacity, nerseverance and public spirit, qualities of which numerous monuments, equally benencial to the public, and honorable to himself, furnish ample testimony. Amongst these may be enumerated the Bridge across Savannah River, so constructed as to bid defiance to the floods, an achievement often attempted before, but never successfully, and which has greatly benefitted the commerce of the two States; the Wharf at Augusta, highly useful to that city ; a line of Inland navigation between Hamburg and the city of Charleston, successfully established by his perseverance, as It was projected by his sagacity,' when it was generally deemed impracticable, and which has greatly promoted the prosperity of the State; and finally, the Town of Hamburg, now standing upon a solid foundation, upon a site which he found a quag- mire, in which between thirty-five and forty thousand bales of Cotton are annually brought to market. This Town standing at the head of the longest Rail Road in the world, and communicating directly and dally with the emporium of the State, will furnish great advantages for foreign agents to purchase Cotton directly from the market, Instead of purchasing it from speculators In New- York, Philadelphia, and else- where, encumbered with numerous Intermediate expenses. "Additional facilities will bo given to the commerce of the place by a Bank, which the Legislature will readily charter. If application is made for It. This town has been built by the enterprise and indefatigable perseverance of Henry Shultz, under the fostering care and patronage of the State of South Carolina ; and in the progress of Its establishment, Henry Shultz, has had large pecuniary transactions with the State, which have all been satisfactorily and finally adjusted. "In conclusion, I take occasion to express the opinion long entertained, that the extension of a direct commerce between the Cotton growing States of the American Confederacy, and the Continent of Europe, consisting of an exchange of our staple for the manufactures of the Continent, would greatly conduce to their mutual prosperity ; and to express the hope that a native of Germany, now a citizen of South Carolina, may be the instrument of rendering an equal benefit to his native and his adopted country, by opening a new channel of commerce, founded upon the principles of friendly reciprosity, which the State of South Carolina has always cherished, in ner intercourse with foreign States. I' have directed the Seal of the State to be impressed on this document. "GEO. M*DUFPIE. "By the Governor. (Seal) "Saml. Kingman, Deputy Secretary of State." Equally as strong a document bears the signature of Wm. C. Prestoii. Other distinguished men of the time signed documents as to the opportunities that would follow direct export and importation of products through the port of Charleston. The Legislature chartered Shultz's company in 1835 with a capital stock of one half million dollars and in 1837 Edward Delius came as the bearer of dispatches from the Governor referred to above, receiving a warm welcome at Hamburg, Col. Brooks of Edgefield presiding at the reception. "The Charleston Mercury," of May 15, 1837, receiving the news of this event, said: "In the present midnight of commerce, such intelligence as this is like a ray from the morning star, telling of the coming dawn. It was shown at the time that the South had the same seas and could use the same ships as the Northern ports and that the Northern ports did not have at their doors one half of the products the markets needed in Europe that the South could and did furnish. It was said, "going to the North to buy cotton and rice would be like coming to the South to buy ice." Action in 1837, — In the fall of 1837 a convention was held in regard to this undertaking in which among those representing South Carolina were George McDuffie, James Adger, W. Barnwell, and others. George McDuffie was chair- man of the committee which submitted the report that was the action of the convention. This report was exceedingly interesting. The committee said that the conditions were such that it was timely for the staple growing States to be transformed from a state of commercial dependence, "scarcely less re- proachful to their industry and enterprise than it is mcompatible with their sub- stantial prosperity." "There never was presented," the report continued, "to the capitalists of the South and Southwest such an opening for profitable enter- prise and they are invited by the most powerful considerations to improve it" The report said further: "Now that the fiscal operations of the Federal Gov- ernment have been so greatly reduced and the field of competition fairly open, COMMERCE, IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION. 481 if they should still look on with listless apathy, while the mighty current of our own peculiar commerce is Rowing literally b^ them, to nourish distant cities and fertilize the barren hills of distant communities, we must then acquiesce in the judgment which the world will pronounce, that we deserve our destiny." "But the committee indulge the confident belief that such reproach will no longer rest upon us. The public spirit of our people has been roused into action ; they hare been awakened to a sense of their condition, and all are prepared to co-operate in their respective spheres, in the great work of throwing off the shackles of our present colonial condition and establishing our commercial independence upon a lasting foundation. "In concluding their report the committee cannot but express their strong conviction, that the success of this great movement towards the emancipation of the staple grow- ing States from their commercial trammels, will depend more upon individual, sus- tained and supported by an enlightened public opinion, than upon any measures of legislation, however important these may be. The business of direct importations must be commenced at once, for if the present occasion is permitted to pass away unim- proved, one equally propitious may never occur. The committee recommend the con- vention to adopt the following resolutions, in furtherance of the views expressed in the foresoing report : "Kesoived, That in the opinion of this convention, the present conjuncture in our commercial affairs is eminently propitious for the establishment of a system of direct importations, through our Southern and South-western cities, and that we are called upon by every consideration of Interest and of patriotism to throw off the degrading shackles of commercial dependence. "Resolved, That with a view to induce public spirited capitalists to embark in this business, the people of the staple growing states be recommended to give public mani- festations of their determination to encourage and sustain Importations through their own seaports. ♦ ♦ ♦ "Resolved, That it is a sacred duty which the citizens of the Southern and South- western States owe to themselves, their posterity, and their country, to give a decided preference (where the terms are eoual) in procuring their supplies, to our merchants who carry on a direct trade with foreign nations. "Resolved, That a Committee be appointed to prepare an address to the people of the Southern and South-western States, setting forth the advantages and practicability of carrying on a dirct trade with foreign nations — exhibiting in detail tne extent of their resources. "Resolved, That as an introduction to a direct importing system at the South It is indispensibly necessary that the crop of the present year should be directly exported by Southern merchants and planters, and that to effect this object the Southern bank- ing institutions should lend such aid as they safely and conveniently can." "The Charleston Courier," of June 6, 1835, and "The Charleston Mercury," of September 21, 18^5, gave the strongest reasons why such trans-Atlantic service should be established. "Thf South Carolinian," of June 30, 1835, likewise strongly endorsed the project. "The Georgia Press" also urged prosecution of this undertaking with great vigor and commended the South Carolina Legisla- ture for the aid it had given to its projectors. John S. Jeter signed the legis- lative special report of December 16, 1836, endorsing in the strongest possible manner the effort to merely put in operation the natural laws of trade. The War's Effects. — Things drifted along after the efforts of Shultz had failed for lack of combined support until civil war came and with the Civil War were ended, until very recent days, any hope of getting trans-Atlantic freight and passenger service opened to the South. Charleston's imports and exports have steadily dwindled, though there is at this time some slight recovery. There has seemed to be a general willingness on the part of the people of the State and the city of Charleston to let this condition prevail, with occasional spas- modic proclamations that the condition was due to discriminations — which proc- lamations may, perhaps, have been for the moment true. But the underlying cause has been and is today the same as that named by McDuffie — inactivity — the contentment with existing conditions, a willingness to let well enough alone, when by the expenditure of a little energy and money the desirable result could have been obtained. The Latest Effort. — In 1906-7 the Department of Agriculture, Commerce and Immigration, with a full knowledge of the experiences of the past, moved vigor- ously for the making of Charleston the kind of port she could be, and by reason of natural advantages she should be, but the same conservatism has followed, and as this is written the desired result has not yet been finally obtained. This situation has been disappointing, but it is yet deemed one for which a solution may be found and in the end the desired result, with all that it means, achieved. The State Department has in several forms laid the door of "opportunity" open, and at present the last possible effort perhaps for some years is Deing made. If this should fail it will not have been the fault of the State Government. Railroad Transportation. — In railroad transportation wonderful headway has been made during the last decade, particularly the last ten years, but this is dealt with separately. It suffices to say that South Carolina has thrown no ob- stacle in the way of such advancement, and today the State is a network of . railroads,, doing a business their projectors little dreamed of when the lines were constructed. 31— H. B. 482 SOUTH CAROLINA HANDBOOK. The Key to the Situation, — In the matter of transportation today the whole key to the situation^ so far as South Carolina and the South are concerned, is the successful opening of trans- Atlantic freight and passenger service; if this be accomplished very little else need be a source of anxiety to the city of Charleston, the State of South Carolina or the Cotton Belt States. There is every incentive for the accomplishment of this desirable economic end, and there is but little to be lost in case of failure of eflForts — if anything. Therefore, those whose interests are paramount are meeting the situation squarely, energetically and with indefatigable perseverance, and trusting that so great an achievement will be attained during 1908. The Opportune Moment. — It is unnecessary to deal more generally with trans- portation matters at this stage, for the ocean steamship, coastwise shipping and railroad situations are touched upon more completely and in detail in what follows. The whole key to the situation is, as already said, in the successful establishment of trans- Atlantic freight and passenger service to th^ South- Atlan- tic States through the port of Charleston. With the internal improvements now contemplated there is no reason; if trans-Atlantic transportation be obtained, why the State of South Carolina should not be as great a beneficiary of such service as the Eastern States have been, for physically the port of Charleston to the actual navigator of a steamship is today a more desirable port than New York. She is nearer from the open ocean to dock— only 30 to 40 minutes to dock against several hours at New York — ^and the harbor can carry any ship at 32 feet of water at high water. That Charleston is the best port on the South Atlantic coast, since the jetties were put in, is unquestioned, and it only remains for this port by her own natural advantages, coupled with the activities of her business interests, to claim her own. ■N * 1 Trans-Atlantic Service * At this time the ports of South Carolina are not enjoying regular trans- Atlantic steamship service of any kind, either freight or passenger. Tramp steamers come and go from the State's splendid ports in a desultory way. For the past three years every energy, particularlv of the State itself, has been applied to the effort to open the port of Charleston. Two experimental steamships have been sent to Charleston by one of the greatest steamship companies of the world — the North German Lloyd. One came in the fall of 1906 and the other in the late winter of 1007, the "Wittekind" being used for both sailings, and attract- ing international attention because of the economic importance of the under- taking, which was supposed by many to be due merely to the immigration side of the problem. At present negotiations are pending, negotiations in which the State, the city of Charleston and the railway lines are all interested, that it is confidently expected will within a few months result in the establishment of a regular service of this kind, bring Charleston to the fore as the central export and import port of the Cotton Bdt Section of the United States, and stimulate every industry in the State from mountain to seaboard. It seems almost incredi- ble that after Charleston harbor had been improved by the Federal Government to such an extent as to render it one of the most accessible, if not the most accessible, ports on the Atlantic seaboard, that no determined effort should have been made by any of the interests concerned in the State to get a regular trans- Atlantic service established. When the State Department of Apfriculturc, Com- merce and Immigration was created in 1904 the full realization of the need of vigorous action in this regard became apparent, and for three years past the Department, with the co-operation of all interests, particularly the textile manu- facturers, who will scarcely reap the permanent benefit as much as the business interests of Charlestpn and those engaged in the production of agricultural products, has not ceased for a moment its efforts to accomplish the desired end. Commercially the possibilities can not be calculated. Without comment attention must here be called to what has been stated of the efforts prior to the Civil War, and to the extracts given below from the centennial address of W. L. Trenholm, delivered on February 11, 1884, to the Chamber of Commerce of Charleston. As Mr. Trenholm says, "wherever there is a human need to be served, wherever human labor or the bounty of nature has added another unit to the world's products, either she speeds the caravan, the ship or the train, and there the mustering band is found supplying the want of one with the superfluity of another." In the case of Charleston, though she is the natural port, inactivity and the upbuilding of artificial channels of trade in the East have robbed her of her inherent prestige and day by day, hour by hour, this deprivation by artificial means is becoming greater because of contentment with minor achievements, which mean something for the present but nothing for the future. In 1884 Trenholm wisely said: "Here, upon this little stage of South Carolina, nistory is ready to present to you scenes illustrative of all phases of commerce, from its simplest form of barter to the complex system, which brings into play the railway, the telegraph, and the telephone, the steamship and the compress, the subtle forces of credit and speculation, the potency of capital and the regu- lative influences of competition." He goes back to the early colonial days and tells of the time when the new settlers conducted a petty traffic with the Stonos and the Westoes, when the traders brought their products to Charleston on pack horses, — ^a commerce abounding in adventure, a commerce that promised to make Charleston the foremost American port Trenholm traces the development of this commerce to splendid pro(>ortions, and severely and properly rebukes the apathy that pre- vented the making of Charleston the foremost port of America. He says that at times this apathy to natural advantages assumed the appearance of actual hostility. He traces the splendid development that occurred between 1739 and \ COMMERCE, IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION. ^S 1754 — the period when Shultz was so earnestly at work with the support of Gov. McDuffie. Then he says: ''During all of these years,, notwithstanding its Immense agricaltnral deTelopment, South Carolina made no progress In manufactures or in navigation ; her lucrative com- merce built up no ship-owning Interests at Charleston, attracted no banking capital, nor did It develop any other permanent institutions subsidiary to its maintenance and extension. ''Compared with Boston, New York and Philadelphia, Charleston was, in 1771, the principal point in America for the export of domestic products, yet In each of those cities commerce was then making a permanent home for itself by building up struc- tures which have borne the vicissitudes of war and peace during more than a century, while here nothing seems to have been solid, nothing has endured more than a genera- tion or two, except what has been rooted In the soil and identlefld with agriculture.*' With a clearness and degree of accuracy that is rare Trenholm traces the his- tory of the commerce of the State after the Revolution, and tells how it was restored by the merchants of Holland, speaking of the visit of John Adams to Amsterdam. He severely condemns legislative blunders, which he says are 'inevitable in dealing with purely business or commercial matters." In 1788, he says, the people of the State neither valued nor respected trade. He severely arraigns the condition of public sentiment, and goes on to show that land was not attaining a just valuation. In earnest language the lack of fore- sight in the matter of the extension of the State's foreign trade and commerce was deplored, and the remarks appl^ with equal force at this hour. He con- demns the lack of judgment of Virginia in refusing to charter a steamship line to European ports in 1837-38. He deplores the lack of representation in the councils of the State by the merchants of Charleston, which he plainly avers was due to a belief that *'it was disreputable to attend to business of almost any kind." All that time out of the 121 business men in Charleston only one was native born. The natural results of such conditions are pointed out by Mr. Trenholm. After treating the subject fully he says: "If Charleston had today all the wealth she has lost from this cause alone (the exodus of men who had made fortunes there) she would be one of the most opulent cities in the United States, and every part of South Carolina would for a century past have been experi- encing more or less of material benefit in improved industrial development and increased value of land." Passing through the othiir periods of State history with marked ability Mr. Trenholm says: "Unfortunately lost opportunities can never be recalled, we cannot get back the wealth that was driven awav from us in so many ways; we cannot regain the relative rank which rendered it possible for Charleston between 1834 and 1860 to have become the chief emporium of the South.' She can never again hope to be, as she might then have made herself, mistress of the trade of all the rich and crowing regions South of the Ohio and Missouri Rivers. Had Charleston merchants in 1884 exercised in the City Council, in the State legislature and among the people the influence to which their public usefulness, their aggregate wealth and their enlightened views entitled them, the channels of a vast Internal trade might have been, once for all time, laid down converging towards her harbor and subsidiary to her commerce. "Robert xT Hayne, among all the statesmen of South Carolina, seemed alone at that period to have grasped the Idea of making Charleston the outlet of distant interior regions ; but alas ! he sacrificed his life In almost his earliest efforts at railroad exten- sion to the West, and after him there was no one to carry out his work. "As has been already said, 1850 found Charleston's prosperity more surely established and more soundly progressive than it has ever been before. By that time several large commercial houses had grown up both in the foreign and inland trade ; nearly all the prominent merchants were either natives of the State or had been long identified with its varied Interests, banks and Insurance companies were numerous and strong, the railroad communications were extending, steamers to Havana and to Northern ports increased the facilities and the scope of trade, while the agriculture of the whole South was lucrative and expanding. Then almost for the first time In the history of South Carolina the commercial element sought recognition in public employments and claimed a voice In the public councils. Between 1850 and 1860 there was quite a sunburst of prosperity, which led to many speculative enterprises and to unwise Invest- ments in distant railroads. Here again was felt the want of that conservative influ- ence which Is always exercised by a numerous body of retired merchants. Under the honest by erring advice of some of our best and most active merchants, the City Council was induced to incur great expenditures and to Increase the clty*s debt in order to aid railroads that were not controlled here, and which, when completed, became at once hostile to our trade. It must be borne in mind that in public matters, the retired merchant Is generally a safer counsellor than the man still actively engaged in business. It Is an even question whether a community does not lose rather than gain by liavlng its active business confined to a small number of wealthy houses or individuals, but there Is no doubt about the benefit of having as many retired capitalists as possible living in any commercial city. "Private Individuals and even the banks were misled by the general prosperity Into many imprudent undertakings and Injudicious Investments ; yet such was the financial strength and good management of our moneyed Institutions that three banks In Charleston passed through the panic of 1857 without suspending, and by 1860 the tide of prosperity was again in full fiow. 486 SOUTH CAROLINA HANDBOOK. "When the war broke out the merchants and the citizens generally gave uncalcu- lating support to the Confederate Government. In 1861 the banks lent to the Con- federate treasury, at 5 per cent, per annum Interest, one-half of their entire capital, and from the beginning until the fall of Charleston all the resources of her chief houses were freely hazarded in importing supplies for the army and other necessaries of war. "When the end came, the accumulations of generations were found to have been converted into bonds and stocks which went out of existence with the Confederacy. "Railroad securities were of doubtful value, bank stocks appeared to be all worth- less, the Insurance companies were utterly bankrupt. Bad a» things were in the city, the surrounding country was literally an unproductive waste. The rice plantations had been generally abandoned and consequently relapsed into swamps; the labor had been removed from them and in many cases the buildings and machinery had been destroyed. The sea Islands had early fallen within the military lin^s on one side or the other, the property in the lands over a large area had passed away from the owners, the labor was utterly demoralized and considered irreclaimable. "Every railroad leading out of Charleston had lost bridges and trestles, on some the track had been torn up for miles, none had adequate equipment for even the limited business offering, nor were the means at once obtainable for renewing the worn-out rails and crosstles. In a single sentence. Charleston lay like a wreck on the shore : the region around her was desolate and barren, every prospect was dismal, every circumstance was strange to all past experiences. This was the point of our new departure in 1865. We were much worse ofT than our predecessors of 1783. but. like them, with courage and hope we at once began to make the best of our circumstances : trade revived, new capital came in, the railroads were rehabilitated and agriculture was resumed on the sea Islands and in the rice fields. ON THE VVITTEKIND ON THE ATLANTIC. "Unfortunately these efforts were not allowed even fair play : they were hampered by the disorder of the times, the ignorance and rapacity of military officials, the ever- growing greed of a new order of politicians, the corruption of State, county and municipal functionaries, the degradation of the State judiciary, the demoralization ot labor and the subversion of social order. "Notwithstanding so great an accumulation of obstacles and discouragements. Charles- ton has made, slowly and painfully, some progress every year, and with the growing wealth of this and surrounding States she seems assured of continued increase in population and augmenting business." In summing up, Mr. Trenholm prophetically said: "The practical question which it today most concerns us to answer is, what is the first thing to be done in order to increase and perpetuate the commercial prosperity of Charleston? To that question I venture to propose this answer: Improve and develop the transportation facilities that center here and utilize the geographical posi- tion of Charleston by enlarging the foreign commerce. Commercial knowledge and experience is now so widely disseminated, quick mailb and the telegraph have so changed the methods of business, capital flows so readily and promptly towards any 488 SOUTH CAROLINA HANDBOOK. point offering it special profit with doe security, that the struggle for trade has tended more and more of late years to resolve Itself into a competition among equivalent linee of transportation. • • • **A seaport needs lines of transportation by both land and water; formerly these were separate businesses, conducted distinctly, and the merchants of every seaport, the wharf-owners and transferrers, had to be paid for effecting a connection between the land-carriers and carries by sea. This break in the continuity of the process of trans- portation proper, not only incorporated into the cost of through transportation the transfer and other charges at the seaports, but also tended to make each seaport a market for staple commodities, and to maintain in each a body of merchants dealing in those commodities — a valuable perquisite for seaports controlling interior lines of transportation and the complementary ocean lines. **When Charleston controlled the railroads throughout the State and had banking and commercial capital concentrated here to a sufficient amount to give us monetary command of the trade over a large area In this and surrounding States where capita) was deficient, we could and did coerce business here in spite of the cost of transfer, but when competing ports grew richer and we poorer, we not only lost the business, but in the effort to retain It we broke down every railroad under our control and stood helpless while they passed into the hands of our rivals. 'Uf you ask how the serious consequences of this mistake are to be retrieved, I must say I see no way except by extreme self-denial in respect to charges of all sorts, by bringing the railroads not only to the water, which has been already done, but by continuing them as far as practicable along the whole water front, by devising cheap handling and storing, by relieving trade of every burden, restriction and disability that now rest upon it, bv taking measures to protect shipping and to attract it here, and in every other way to bring our port not only on a level with, but bb much as possible below the level, of its rivals in point of expense, while adding to the accommodations and dispatch of business here. "It will be said, perhaps, that business is only valuable for its emoluments and that there are but small emoluments in what is called through business. I admit that the direct emoluments of through business are small if estimated upon a single trans- action, and It is a natural law of trade that a great volume of through business induces greater activitv and diversity in local transactions and avocations. *'It Is to be remembered, also, that the characteristic feature of trade today, all over the world, is a declining rate of profit upon a growing volume of business, when millions are handled as easily and quickly as thousands were fifty years ago, per- centages must be reduced correspondingly. These general principles necessarily apply to us, but even if they do not, we really have but little choice in the matter, ror apparently either we must make voluntary sacrifices by reducing the scale of our charges or the business we now have will be drawn away from us. "While all possible encouragement should be given to what is called through business, not only for its direct emoluments, but for the much greater benefits that fiow from it, our main efforts should be directed to building up here a great emporium, a market place, a point to which buyers and sellers will find It convenient, agreeable and advan- tageous to resort." He then advocated, with potent reason, the seeking of trade with the West Indies and South America, and export and other business from the Middle West, giving both business and strong geographical reasons therefor. 