The progressive farmer and southern farm gazette., June 11, 1910, Page 421, Image 9

About The progressive farmer and southern farm gazette. (Starkville, Miss.) 1910-1920

Image provided by: Mississippi Department of Archives and History

                
WHAT I SAW IN THE MIDDLE WEST._IV
CLARENCE POE.
MUCH as 1 HAVK said about the significance
of what 1 saw in the West, I am still con
vinced that the biggest lesson our Southern
farmers can learn is from what I did not see. And
for the purpose of emphasizing this negative
teaching of Western agriculture, I am going to re
peat and emphasize some of the things I have al
ready said that I did not see in this progressive
and prosperous agricultural section.
J*
It has .come to my attention that one of my
leaders has objected to this summary of things I
did not see ns "a reflection on the South.” And
this leads me to say that there is hardly anything
else in Southern life that makes me so exceed
ingly weary ns Just this attitude toward every
frank criticism of Southern conditions. What I
said about the criticism of Dr. Stiles some months
nge Is as appropriate as anything I could say in
reply to this critic of mine, and I am going to
reprint herewith the paragraph I published at that
Iline.
"It Is high time, anyhow, for the South to
get over this morbid and babyish sensitive
ness about the publication of every satlstical
fact that doesn't please our passing fancy.
The true Southerner, the man we ought to
honor and follow, is the man who looks an
unpleasant fact squarely in the face nnd sets
about getting a remedy. In Heaven's name,
let's have done with our quack, popularity
hunting doctors and leaders who tell us there
is nothing the matter with us, that we are
the greatest and happiest people on earth,
and that all we need to do Is to keep on for
ever In our old ruts of Illiteracy, undeveloped
resources, and out-of-date farming methods.
I,et us rather follow the doctor nnd the leader
who loves the South with all his heart, but
who loves her too well not to use the knife of
criticism and reform upon the cancers that
are sapping her economic life and general
well-being.’’
Jft
In love for the South I yield to no man living.
If I have any master passion. It Is the desire to
make my life of some service to her and her peo
ple My father fought In her nrmles. and I pity
the man who does not respond to the patriotism
of Senator ('armnrk's eloquent declaration: "I
was born of that land; I was nurtured at her
bosom, and to her every drop of my blood, overy
fiber of my being, every pulsation of my heart, Is
But how are we going to serve the South? Cer
tainly It will never he by playing the ostrich and
hiding our heads In the sand in order to keep from
seeing fnrts as they are The miserable flatteries
that the Southern people have tolerated so long In
a certain type of politician and demagogue make
me wonder sometimes If Dante was not right af
ter all In putting flatterers In one of the lowest
hells along with thieves un I forgers. If you are
going Into training to struggle for the mastery
with some powerful nnd musculnr wrestler, that
man is not your friend who flatters you with a
thousand lulling compliments nbout your strength
and your superiority over your opponent, and how
needless It is for you to fear opposition. Your
real friend is the man who tells you the exact
truth about the strength of your rival, who tells
you how necessary it Is that you put yourself In
the very best of training, on the very nest of diet,
nnd who urges you day nfter day to avoid every
weakening and debilitating influence, who encour
ages you. Indeed, for every well-meant effort you
put forth, but who never lulls you Into n sense of
ease and false security that would only ruin you
in the end.
If I know my own heart, It Is this sort of friend
I wish to be to our Southern tanner ioih, ana i
hope I shall always be too true to them to flatter
them Ah one of our Tennessee correspondents
said the other day: "My heart goes out to all
Southern farming people The prosperous and
enterprising ones I admire, and the poor and back
ward ones I sympathise with even more than 1 ad
mire the rich anti prosperous." Hut the host way
to help both classes Is to spur them on to doing
ns good work as that done by farmers anywhere
on earth.
With so much said In explanation of my atti
tude, let me turn now to some comment on some
"f the things I said in the beginning that I did
not see.
I.
• Haiti | nan no cabins. We cannot hope to get
- I
thrifty and progressive tenants on our Southern
farms until we provide a better type of houses for
these tenants to live in.
II.
I said that I saw no gullies. The farmers in the
W est keep the lands filled with humus, keep the
land growing something all the year round, and
so it does not wash away. We must grow winter
co\er crops in the South, and we must also use
more soiling crops and more stable manure, there
by getting humus into the land to hold the soil to
gether. Commercial fertilizers furnish no humus.
Hefore many years land is going to become too
valuable in the South for anybody to let it wash
away. Hut the difficulty is that great areas are
already ruining before that time comes.
III.
I said that I saw no forest fires. Our careless
ness with regard to forest fires in the South is al
most a disgrace to our people. If a man by his
carelessness started a fire which burned up your
smoKe-nouse or barn, you would raise a great
disturbance, but some worthless vagabond may
start a forest fire that will do damage equal to the
value of a dozen smoke-houses or barns and noth
ing 1b ever done about it. Timber is becoming
scarcer and scarcer every year, and our farmers
must begin to realize that the timber crop is just
as valuable and Just as surely a money-making
‘ crop.” even if it does grow more slowly, as any
other crop. The thing to do is to begin putting
these men who are careless with fire behind prison
bars. A few of them wearing stripes would teach
a very valuable lesson.
IV.
I said that 1 saw no big plantations. The hope
of the South lies in the breaking up of our big
plantations cultivated by shiftless, unintelligent la
bor and the development of a great democracy of
thrifty and Intelligent white farmers, owing their
cwn homes. In saying white farmers, I do not
mean any tll-wlll toward our colored farmers, but
it is best for them and best for every interest in
the South that our white population should in
crease by immigration and natural increase until
the proportion of negroes in no State is large
enough to be oppressive. The chief reason why
so many of our white farmers have gone to town
has been a lack of adequate white society in the
country districts. When the farms are smaller
and the farm homes closer together, as they would
be with a great body of 80- to 100-acre farms, the
situation will be materially changed.
V.
I said that I saw no stumps in th« fields. Hav
ing just made a trip through six Southern States
this fact impressed me especially. A stumpy field
means that the farmer must use the most expen
sive labor and tools. The saving that would result
from the use of labor-saving tools and machinery
would soon pay the whole cost of taking out the
stumps—to say nothing of the increase in the
crop from the greater area of land made available
by removing these obstructions to progress and
productivity.
VI.
I said that 1 saw no farm homes unpainted.
With the increasing prosperity of the South there
is no reason why we should not have the same
beautiful farm homes one sees in Wisconsin and
Illinois. The whole farm looks different when it
is set off by a beautifully painted farm home, and
it seems to me that if must make a difference in
the spirit of every member of the family. A
pretty home inspires an atmosphere of pride and
1’lit t I I ll l lit “n wimu win uui fenc j -
certain added dignity but also make everybody on
the place do better work. It is a common say
ing that where a good road is put alongside a
shabby house, the owner of the house is very
quick to make improvements, so as to have his
home in harmony with the good road. And on the
same principle, if a man has a beautiful home he
is likely to begin to improve his farming practice
nnd quit any piddling and shiftless methods that
would be out of keeping with his house.
VII.
I said that 1 saw no one-room school houses.
And when 1 say this I mean also that I saw noth
ing of that indifference to public education of
which the one-room school house is an index. In
(Continued on page 424.)
\ v *
“What’s The News?”
Bt CLARENCE POE.
— ■■ _=J
The Week's Happenings.
HEAT PREPARATION is making for the re
turn of Mr. Roosevelt to New York City,
June 18th. He will be given a magnificent
reception. He has accepted an invitation to speak
in Atlanta this fall in behalf of the Uncle Remus
Memorial Association.
Mr. Roosevelt created a considerable sensation
in London by declaring that England had not been
firm enough jn its government of Egypt. “You
have tried to do too much,” he said “in the Inter
est of the Egyptians themselves. Those who have
to do with uncivilized peoples, especially fanatical
peoples, must remember that in such a situation as
that which faces you in Egypt, weakness, timidity
and sentimentality may cause infinitely more harm
than violence and injustice. Sentimentality is the
most broken reed on which righteousness can
I_ft
Missouri Democrats have started a boom for
ex-Governor Folk for President. He declares that
the issue is government by privilege for the ben
efit of a few, or government by the people for the
benefit for all. He denounces the protective tariff
as a system of special privilege, “enriching a few
by taking from all,” as a degrading and corrupt
ing influence largely responsible for the growth of
graft and corporate dishonesty.
Thomas E. Watson, long Populist leader, an
nounces his return to the Democratic Party. He
says: “Every energy of my heart and soul will
be consecrated henceforth to doing something for
the good of the country, through the Democratic
Party. Stern experience has taught me that no
other method can succeed in the South.”
Gifford Pinchot, who w'ent abroad to meet Pres
ident Roosevelt, has returned to the United States
and will enter actively into conservation work. He
is very much gratified that President Roosevelt is
to speak before the National Conservation Asso
ciation at its meeting in St. Paul the first week in
September.
It iw fAiiornllv holiovori that Sonrotarv Ralllneer
will resign after the investigating committee
makes its report. That the Republican majority
will give him a verdict of “not guilty” is taken for
granted, but his reputation has been too badly
damaged for him to remain in the Cabinet.
The advocates of international peace are very
much delighted over the whole-hearted support
given the movement by President Taft. He de
clares that not only other sources of disagreement
but questions supposed to involve “national hon
or” should also be submitted to arbitration.
The Railroad Rate bill, after being so amend
ed as to win the support of all the Insurgent Re
publicans, ha passed the Senate. The previous day
railroads filed notice with the Inter-State Com
merce Commission of proposed increases in freight
rates ranging from 3 to 31 per cent and affecting
nearly all the North and West.
Dr. Robert Koch, the famous German scientist,
died a few days ago. In 1882 he discovered the
tuberculosis bacillus, thereby demonstrating that
consumption is a germ disease. The scientific
treatment of consumption dates from this dis
covery.
oo scarce is cuiiuu iuiu uve uiuuoauu uaico
shipped out ol' the South to Liverpool are even
now on their way back here to supply the impera
tive needs of Southern mills.
Glenn H. Curtis is much in the public eye by
reason of his recent flight in an aeroplane, going
from New York City to Albany, 137 miles, in two
hours and 32 minutes.
Because of its name, there is interest in the an
nouncement that the battleship South Carolina has
established a new world’s record for big gun
shooting.
The struggle is still on between the Govern
ment and the Insurgents in Nicaragua and in the
latest battles Estrada was victorious.
The New York Senate, by a vote of 16 to 30, has
defeated the proposition to submit the woman’s
suffrage amendment to popular vote.
State Senator Holstlaw of Illinois, has confessed
to taking a bribe of $2,500 given him for his vote
for Senator Lorimer.
Wm. J. Bryan sharply criticises Governor Har
mon, of Ohio, for not favoring a Senatorial pri
mary.
Major Page N. Baker, Editor of the New Or
leans Times-Democrat, died a few days ago.