The progressive farmer and southern farm gazette., July 09, 1910, Page 485, Image 9

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

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tenth of the land producing farm crops can not
maintain as good schools, build as fine roads, or
establish other public institutions for the pleas
ure. profit and comfort of Its citizens, as where
all the land is yielding largely to clothe and feed
tho nation.
We need men with some means and much in
dustry who will buy land, give it their personal
attention and build comfortable rural homes, but
before these will come in large numbers there
must come a change over public sentiment as
represented by the most prosperous of our white
population. The farmers with small means who
are going by the thousands each year Into the
Canadian Northwest are not going there because
of the climate, for their preference for the Can
adian Government, nor because of the rich and
fertile lands alone. They are not going to the
cold climate of a foreign land in preference to
the hospitable Southern climate of their own
country, for nny other reason than that the spirit
which always attracts Immigrants calls them. It
is that spirit which says to the desirable citizen:
Come among us, become one of us. share fully
with us the rights of American citizenship, and
Join hands with us in developing and building up
our common country." The desirable immigrant
responds only to the call which assures him a
full share and equal part in all that constitutes
the life of a prosperous and homogeneous rural
people. There must be no "strings” to the prop
osition, no reservations, and no assumption of
I rior or superior rights on the part of any class
or part of tho population.
Some Features of This Issue.
DON’T LET the stubble lands lie idle. Even
If you can't plant cow peas or soy beans,
there is yet a chance for other crops. Read
what the K4itor-ln-Chlef says on page 479 and
Professor Lloyd’s article on kaflr corn on page
489. •
Then there is Mr. French’s first article on the
making of permanent pastures. Every farm
should have n permanent pasture; and if half the
energy that is devoted on many farms to fighting
the grass were devoted to feeding it. there would
be more money in the farmer’s pocket.
We must get rid of the cattle tick, too, to get
the most out of these pastures we are going to
make, as well as out of our legume crops and corn
crop and cottonseed meal. This is one great
work that we must do in the next decade, and
every farmer who does his part In It can look
back with pride to the achievement when it is ac
complished as It is surely going to be. Let’s
buckle down to It and move the Quarantine line
south a little every year. If you doubt whether
It will pay you to help, turn over the next leaf
and see what tho cattle tick costs you on one
count alone. Next week another charge against
it will be made.
Professor Mnssev's "Farm Work for July” did
not R<*t to the office in time for last week’s Issue;
hut It has lost none of Its timeliness. Timeliness
Is also the characteristic of our Horticultural and
Poultry departments, of our Health Talk, and of
Miss Rausch's splendid article on women’s insti
tutes. And the seasonableness of that graceful
little poem on page fi, is beyond nil question.
That was a splendid story Henry Carey told in
last week’s Issue. Hero Is a boy thirteen years
old and weighing 70 pounds who ran a two-horse
cultivator and did good work, while men—grown
up men weighing twice as much—say they can’t
use two-horse cultivators successfully. That’s
one advantage of being a boy; boys are not afraid
to learu things uud some men are.
It will be u great day for the South when there
Is a general recognition of the fact that upon the
fertility of Southern lands the permanent pros
perity of the South must be builded.
f “ What’s The News?” I
Bt CLARENCE POE.
The Week's Happenings.
THE TWO VETERAN United States Senators
who died last week. Senator McEnery, of
Louisiana, and Senator Daniel, of Virginia,
will both be succeeded by comparatively young
men, Senator McEnery’s successor being the pres
ent Governor of Louisiana, Hon. Jared Y. Sanders,
while it is almost certain that Senator Daniel’s
successor, will be ex-Governor Swanson, who re
tired from office only last January. Both Mc
Eenery and Daniel were distinguished Confederate
soldiers and their deaths leave a very small num
ber of Confederate veterans in either branch of
Congress.
• * *
The Greater Georgia Association is planning to
raise $200,000 to advertise the resources of Geor
gia, mainly in the West, with a view to getting
desirable immigrants for Georgia. None of the
money will be spent in Europe. Many good farm
ing sections in Georgia are sparsely settled, in
Wayne County, for example, there being only
twelve inhabitants to the square mile as compared
with eighty-five to the square mile in Illinois. It
is gratifying to see the general recognition of the
fact that the Farmers’ Union has been right in
opposing immigration from southern and eastern
Europe, and all classes of the South will now,
doubtless, get together under the leadership of
President Barrett, as well as the business men of
the South, and get the sort of Immigration we
really need—thrifty, enterprising, English-speak
ing Americans from the North and West with
whatever immigration from England, Scotland,
Ireland. Germany, etc., that may come South.
• • •
Mr. Bryan is back from his European tour, and
when asked at Quebec whether or not he would
be a candidate for President again, gave an equiv
ocal answer: "How do I know? Much depends. I
never discuss politics outside of my own country.’’
• • «
The most striking recent political event was
the action of the New York Legislature last week
In refusing to pass the Cobb Direct Nomination
Bill. This was one of the planks on which Gov
ernor Hughes was elected, and he made a vigorous
fight for It during the regular session of the Leg
islature. Failing then, he called a special session,
mentioning this as one of the three subjects to be
considered. Ex-President Roosevelt sent a tele
gram heartily supporting the Cobb bill, but it was
rather defiantly Ignored by the New York Repub
lican bosses. The following brief .explanation of
the Cobb bill Is given by the New York Outlook:
"The principle of this bill Is comparatively
simple. The voters of a party themselves di
rectly choose, by petition, their party com
mittees. These party committees, besides be
ing responsible for the conduct of party busi
ness, are also responsible %r suggesting party
candidates. If for any reason any candidate
they suggest, or ‘designate’ (as the word Is),
Is not satisfactory to any considerable number
of party voters, another candidate may be
suggested by these voters, and the choice be
tween the suggestions for nomination can
then be decided by the whole number of the
party voters concerned. The final choice,
therefore, comes directly upon the party
voters; but preliminary work must be done
by the regular party committees, and may
be done by any group of volunteers.”
0 0 •
President Taft has signed the River and Har
bor Bill under protest, and It Is to be hoped
that In the future the whole subject of river and
harbor Improvement will be considered with ref
erence to the general needs of the country and
that the old “pork barrel” methods will be aban
doned. The Public Building Bill is not much bet
ter, and it Is significant that when Mr. Sulzer, of
New York, demanded the roll called on this meas
ure, only five members favored a record vote. On
this matter the Statesville Landmark comments
as follows:
“The reason these five members received
such scant sympathy was because the ma
jority of the members had a personal interest
in the case: the bill carried money for their
districts and the appropriation, demanded by
their constituents, would help to popularize
them with the people. Of course, 50 to 75
per cent of the money appropriated for pub
lic buildings isn’t really necessary. As a
business proposition the Government can bet
ter afford to pay rent in many of the small
town, where the postofflce is the only Fed
eral business to be transacted; and the mem
bers who secure the appropriations know
that, hence their refusal to go on record in
voting for the bill. But it is not a matter of
business. The people have been educated to
expect their member of Congress to get
something eut of the Treasury for them, and
his usefulness, his worth, is measured not by
ability or by statesmanship, but by the size
of the appropriation he can secure. That is
why public building bills, river and harbor
bills, and other similar bills, swell to enor
mous proportions. The members of Congress
are drawn together by mutual interests—in
answer to a so-called public demand, mind
you,—and they stand by each other. So it
goes, and the appropriations swell into bil
lions at each session. The limit will be reach
ed some time. Let us hope the reaction will
not be disastrous.”
* * *
There are now four candidates for Governor of
Georgia. Attorney-General J. C. Hart has enter
ed the race, and the fact that he has resigned his
office indicates that he will make a vigorous fight
to carry away the honors sought by Joseph M.
Brown and Hoke Smith.
* * *
A large number of Southern cotton mills are
shutting down. A dispatch from Spartanburg,
S. C., June 30th, said: “Mills in South Carolina,
South Carolina, and Georgia will close down until
ihe 12th of July. Out of three million spindles,
two and three-quarter millions have signified that
they would join in the curtailment which will in
clude at least a month in all during the summer.
The movement will mean a cutting off of from one
million to two million pieces of cloth, or one
tenth of the output.”
Mr. B. F. Keith, of Wilmington, N. C., sends
us a newspaper clipping telling how in his county,
the trucking industry has been built up and form
erly cheap lands greatly increased in value. Just
across the river in another county where the soli
is as good the lands are still lying idle. This
difference is attributed largely ,to the stock law in
the one county and the lack of it in the other.
Would-be truckers find the razor-back hog and
the scrub cow two very difficult forces to contend
with, so they simply go where they are protected
from these marauders.
A Thought for the Week
TO LEAD in the cause of peace no one of thflH
great nations is so well circumstanced as th^H
United States of America. We are remote
in distance and separated by oceans from other
nations, so that if one of them were to attack us
it would be fighting at long range, and it Is ob
vious that such fighting is most exhaustive and at
tended with the least probabilities of success. Of
course, the same rule would obtain against us
were we to undertake an aggressive war, but an
aggressive war assumes no desire for peace. In
a defensive war our location is a great defense.
In the second place, our resources of men and
material are such as to almost guarantee against
any attack. Whatever advantage might enure to
any nation by reason of its larger armament would
be only temporary in its nature and would soon
be exhausted by the enormous resources of this
country. In the third place, no nation is in such
a financial condition. Our debt, compared with
that of other great nations, is small, and if we
had not been foolish enough to squander money
in ironclads and army we might now be a nation
without a debt.—The late Judge David J. Brewer
of United States Supreme Court in address June
12. 1909.