Columbus Democrat

Cotton Manufactory at Jackson
There seems to be a disposition manifested by our capitalists to establish a cotton manufactory in this city The peculiar advantage of a location on Pearl river, where immense and inexhaustible supplies of wood can be obtained at a very trifling cost, is well calculated to bring this enterprise into notice. Swamp lands extend for hundreds of miles along both sides of the Pearl, and are subject to private entry. Should we be as fortunate as Louisiana at the present session, which obtained a cession from the general government of all the swamp lands in her State, Mississippi may, at the next Congress, come into possession of all these valuable lands, and she would no doubt dispose of them at less than the present price of $1.25 per acre. Our opportunities of shipment by river and railroad to the whole Mississippi valley, would be undoubtedly of great value to a factory at this town; but there is a constant demand for coarse manufactures in the country immediately surrounding. In an area of fifty square miles, we have, at the smallest estimate, a white and slave population of fifty thousand souls. This population would consume all the manufactures which one company could furnish, with the largest amount of capital usually invested. Our country population is wealthy. The lands are in a fine state of cultivation, and their owners are not involved in debt. The penitentiary has commenced the manufacture of cotton on a very limited scale, and it is plain to see from their operations, that the supply wanted for this market is far beyond our anticipations. It cannot be less in value than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and were a factory established, the demand would increase.
The expense of manufacturing at Jackson must be small. Provisions sell very low, and labor is equally as cheap as at Augusta in Georgia, where there are several mills, Columbia, in South Carolina, or Tuscaloosa, in Alabama. The raw material is at our door. We would be able to manufacture a better fabric than the Lowells, because we could afford to put more cotton in the square yard and make a wider web. The article turned out at Tuscaloosa compares favourably for fineness of thread with the Northern cottons and excels them in width and weight.
We are informed that the right kind of management can be obtained at the North, and the investment made to yield the first year, twenty per cent. Such has been the result in several late enterprises. We can see no reason why a sufficient amount of capital should not be subscribed by our planters and merchants to establish this enterprise at an early period. There is much in getting the start of other localities. If the investment shall be made before any similar establishment is built up in the State, our success will dispose capitalists hereafter to try the same place and thus increase the number of factories. Several of our planters have invested in the stock of cotton manufactories on the river—paying their shares in cotton. A similar plan might be adopted here. We hope that those of our citizens desirous of engaging in this enterprise will make a test of our public spirit by holding a meeting at an early day for the organization of a company. The capital required is necessarily optional in amount. A factory may be commenced with ten thousand dollars, or with any amount up to two hundred thousand dollars. Sixty thousand dollars would establish a factory equal to any west of the Alleghany mountains. Miss.