The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-07-24
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Colonel d. Wyatt Aiken delivered an
| agricultural address in Winnsboro', on the
4th OF July, in which he told his audience
some nome truths about the causes OF The
poverty Of the agriculturists OF the State
Amongst other things, as reported by the
Winnsboro' NeacS, he said:
"About the beginning of the present year,
he was commissioned by the State Agricnltu-
raj Society to canvass the Slate 10 the interests
of the society, and of agriculture generally,
but as vet had received little or no encourage
ment In hls abors, although he had been
travelling four months, and had visited nine
counties In the State. There seemed to be
feeling of unrest and dlsqulet wherever he had
been, which operated very strongly against
any Improvement in the general character OF
the country, and the universal cry appeared
to be poverty. The question naturally arises,
| why are our people 30 poor. There are GER
tainly assignable reasons for it, and amongst
these might be first mentioned ignorance or
lack of intelligence among the laboring classes
The benefits and advantages Of liberal
education are not properly appreciated oy the
masses. His experience and observation was
| that there aoas more ignorance generally IN
South Carolina than in any other State he had
travelled through. He knew of farmers In this
county, running four or FIVE ploughs, 'oho
don't kno,o the name of the county newspaper,
or the fact of there being paper published IN
the cou1ty In his efforts to secure subscrlp-
tions for agricultural papers, the inVariable
reply was, I am no book farmer when the
truth of tho whole matter Is that the man who
doesn't study agriculture as science is
veritable old togy.' Many persons read agri-
cultural works, but not with q view to sthe
benefit to be derived from them, and the great
difficulty in the way OF agriculture succeeding
under our present system Is that our people
don't think of it, don't study 1t, don't read
about it as science, and can't bring them
selves to realize that 1t is scence. Until
they awake to steh reality, they will always
be poor, and can never make farming sue
cessful and remunerative calling"
These remarks do not apply with full
force to the low-country, but we believe
them to he true as q general proposition.
Fhera 10 NJ =aeobs that, compared with
the rest OF the Union, the number of -
paper readers in South Carolina is lamenta-
bly, small. The population OF the State is
7O5, 900, and there are six daily newspapers,
three in Charleston and three in Columbia.
Il IS not the mere number OF the news
papers, however, that we object to. A
paper like THE News can just as we'll supply
twenty Thousand copies day as ten thou
sand. The truth is, that the people do not
read, as they should, the newspapers which
are published. This is the cause OF Infinite
loss to the State. Tho newspaper is the in
structor Of the day;it is more potent than
pedagogue or professor. Unless he read
live newspaper no citizen can properly dis
charge his duties towards his family and to-
wards the State. A wise man would as
soon shut out the light Of day as deprive
himself Of his newspaper. The delays and
difficulties OF the mails have doubtless much
to do with the slow spread OF newspaper in
fuence; the small means Of the whites and
the ignorance Of the blacks must also be
taken into account. But much more could
be done than is done; and We advise every
citizen Of the State, who knows by expert
ence what is the value OF newspaper in
quickening the faculties and ripening the
brain, to set to work at once and persuade
his neighbor to subscribe to one OF the ex-
celent papers published in this State. When
men read newspapers freely, they rise above
personal and class dictation and think and
act for themselves. The frauds Of the Ring
would have been impossible II the blacks
had conned the colums of the press; the po.
litical and industrial progress of the State
would have been ten-fold what it is if every
white adult regularly read bright, liberal