The Oxford intelligencer., 1860-08-29
From the Mississippian
The Planters Movement.

THE following, from the Knoxville Regis
ter, We cheerfuy transfer to our columns; and
really we are glad to see that the objects
and purposes of our Bureau are so highly
appreciated by the intelligent and thinking
classes of other States. If our planters, and
farmers, and mechanics from all parts of the
State, would but second the efforts of the
Bureau in that spirit of earncstncss and ac-
tivity which the members thereof, and cspcci-
ally its President, Mr. Hudson, display, how
much might our noble State take the lead in
all the improvements and notifications ofre-
form and progress in agriculture, manuiac-
lures and the mechanic arts now contemplated
throughout the South.
If the day ever comes when we will be
really an independent peope-that is, max
ing all of our prime necessities within our
selves, and importing such things only as
wealth and extravaganza may dcmand-it
must be at the bidding of our agricultu-
raj population. Concert Of action, unity of
purpose, ard cooperation of members among
the farmers of the South, will soon render it
the happiest, the freest and most Independent
people upon the face of the whole GARTH
But if this great labor, this vast interest, is
left to the energy and forethought of few
discriminating public spirits, how long will it
be before ends so devoutly to be wished for,
will be consummatedl Years will find us
and leave us, still struggling upon the very
threshold of action. II, however, our people,
not only in Mississippi, but all the slave
States, and especially the cotton States, will
concentrate their counsels and unite their
means, decade will not pass before We shall
present to the world spectacle the most
glorious and grand in all its elements of sue
cess ever witnessed by free people. We
have reached that period in our history when
something must be done for progress, or our
declension in resources of strength will be
rapid and evident. We need not ask what
will be the fate of those vast tracts of worn
out lands now lying everywhere as useless as
the bills of spurious and broken banks but
what will become of those on which we rely
now, not merely for the articles of our export
cotton, etc, but for bread, the staff of life
They are rapidly falling into the condition of
the former; and unless VIC take counsel to-
gether and adopt systems of experiment, es-
tablish schools of inquiry, gather statistical
records, examine into the past, and provide
for the future, it will take no propbetical en-
dowment TO sec and tell the day when want
and desolation will stalk abroad in the land,
when grass will grow in the. streets Of our
towns and villages, and universal decay spread
all over the land. This is no phantom of
speculative imagination, but the inevitable
results which must follow specific causes. An
improvident agriculture has already ruined
millions Of the best acres Of our soil, and if
persisted in, will ultimately turn the whole
country in a wide, measureless waste. The
same cause will produce the same effects;
and without a change in our modes Of farm
ing, the whole country will soon be like
part now is. Let US then not forget the ef-
forts of our State Bureau to arouse the pub
lie mind of Mississippi upon those vitalmat-
tiers. Every farmer should feel ready to lend
helping band to a cause 50 intimately
blended with our happiness and prosperity,
and wherever convenient attend the State
Fair; and thus give the sanction Of his pre-
senee and the weight Of his counsel to 50 true
and noble cause.