What makes these differences? It certainly is not because the South is deficient in natural resources, in fertility, in climate, in access to the world's markets, in the enterprise of its business men. What is the reason for this discrepancy between the resources and the output of the South? Some of the Southern observers insist that the North is made rich through its manufactures. In order to eliminate that condition the comparisons in this chapter are all with Western and Northwestern states (Vermont being included simply to equalize the numbers); some of these states, as the Dakotas and Oregon, are very similar in their conditions to the purely agricultural and timber states of the South; in other states, such as Indiana and Wisconsin, there are large manufactures, which, however, are no more significant in proportion than those of Maryland and Missouri. The Northwestern states have more manufactures than the Southern, but they have more of everything, which indicates industry and prosperity. The obvious reason is that laborers in the South, both white and colored, are inferior in average productive power to Northern laborers; and the obvious remedy is to use every effort to bring up the intelligence, and the value to the community of every element of the population. While the proof sheets of the foregoing chapter are passing through their revision there appears in _Collier's Weekly_ for January 22, 1910, an article by Clark Howell of the _Atlanta Constitution_ who makes, in italics, the statement that "_the trend of Southern development is incomparably in advance of that of any other section of the continent_." The opportunity to apply the cold bath of statistics to such torrid statements can still be taken, by adding to the tables in the Appendix some figures for 1907 and 1908, and even 1909, together with some generalizations based on figures not included in the tables. For example, the figures for public school education in 1907 show for the ten seceding states 78,000 teachers against 153,000 in the corresponding Northern group; school property to the value of 19 millions as against 41 millions; annual revenue of 24 millions as against 90 millions. The rich state of Texas, with 18,000 teachers, is balanced by the Pacific group with 28,000; its school property of 15 millions by 64 millions; its annual expenditure of 7 millions by 25 millions. Even the richer border state group of five communities, and an average daily attendance of a million school children, has school property of 48 millions against 86 millions in the corresponding Northwestern states; and the school revenue of 21 millions must be placed against the revenue in the corresponding group of 38 millions.