The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1886-08-25
TfLLlIAN'S DAY.
The Agricultural Moses In Nc,ybcrry
IA Grcnt Day for tho Farmers
--AbStrnct OF the speech.

Tillman to Newbcrry has been paid.
On last Friday farmers from every part
OF tho county began to come into town
ut al carly hour and by ten o'clock
there must have been about three hum
drcd present. At nine O'Clock Mr.. Till
man came with Mr.. John ~. Duncan,
stopping at the Crotwell Hotel. At
twelve the crowd repaired to the fair
ground where a small stand had been
erected Immediately in front of the
building. The seats OH the piazza and
the benches placed OH the ground were
already well filled when Mr.. Tilman,
MIR. II. II. G.. Hunter and Mr.. j. Nj.
Johnstonc assembled the stand, and in
tercstcd spectators continued 10 arrive
for some time afterwards. III the fewest
possible words Mr.. r. r.. C.. Hunter,
county organizer introduced MI Till
man, and Il moment later the Agricul-
tural Moses stood before his wandering
flock. Those who had never seen him
now saw before them an ordinary look.
ing man Of medium size and Of not very
prcpoSScssing appearance. lie carried
under his arm II bundle of ncwspaDcrs
and pamphlets which he placed upon
the plank in front Of him, and then the
speech began.
70 some ears Mr.. Tillman'S introduce
ton smackcd somewhat of cgotsm but
the listener forgot this when he became
more Interested in the speaker and in
the plain, earnest way in which his
thoughts were presented. After eN-
planning briefly what has been known
us the farmers movement, or the Till
man movement the speaker plunged
boldly into his subject and for
was listened to by almost every one
present with close attention. Tie fol-
lowing j. an abstract of the address
We hear great deal Of talk just now
about the treatment Of farmers by our
Legislators. The farmers are ignored and
their rights trainplcd upon. The trouble
with them is that they do not think.
We put our friends in Office because
they are our friends and for this reason
only. Now, government requires train
ing, and we should study to choose the
man best fitted to fill III oflicc-u man Ct
courage and manhood, and not vote for
him simply because lie is our friend.
The government needs reform. Agitate
the issues now before you, and elect
representatives VINO you are sure will tlO
your Will when you send them to Colum-
bin.
But came here TO talk about an ag-
ricullural college and agricultural re-
form. What is the condition of thr
farming interest in Newbcrry County?
Ii | have heard alright you are more
prosperous than some Of your sister
counties and this is something to be
proud o.. But your ignorance is shown
Oh all sides. Some OF you claim bc
progressive farmers, but the large mass
Of y"u are following in the rut made by
your ancestors, bound 10 the Old ways
-
Idiots. have been an idiot myself.
several years ago | was wearing out land
to make cotton grow. | had lost the art
OF ma ing money as 4 farmer. thought
was making money, and | w;S spend-
ing it upon my land to increase its pro-
du"livcnrss, but i'm the end found Chat
10th the money | had made and the
'"nd were not equal in value to the Or
i@inal land. | was an idiot and [ dis
covered it within the last four wears.
| discovered that ! waS Il fool and did
not kn0W how TO farm. why? Be-
calisc | was Ignorant. Ignorance is the
cause of ali OF troubles. 1t j. true that
some Of us arc WaSteful, cNtravaoant,
lazy, aH'S | am onc Of them. In think
ing how to cure these evils began TO
study agricultural education. discoy
cred that it was necessary to unite
>Cicnc" and common sense. We are
n"w in transition period. The old
system OF labor is disrupted; it must
have passed away even if slavery had
rcnaincd with us. Now we have cot to
change our system or western c0mprti-
tion will drive us to the p0or-lousc. In
the vast empire Of the west, towards
which y steady stream of cmgrants is
setting, the acreage in cotton is yearly
increasing. We must plant less cotton
&nu more SraSS-Wc must raise stock,
This Is hard to do on account of our
conservatism. 1t must be demonstrated
in each county hat it can be done. How
is this TO be done? Must each man solve
the problem for himself? If you pro-
pose to follow this path to The end the
millennium will dawn before change
comes; and before it comes western
competition will have crushed us as
Mh@at is crushed between the upDcr and
neither millstoncS.
| have made the charge that in our
lcGislat ion farmers have been ignored
Let It's see if this is true. In 1862 Con-
%rcSs appropriated to this State 30, 900
acres OF land for the establishment OF
fund, the interest Of which was to sus-
tain school Of agricultural and me-
clahical artS--not "HtccrSiy. In South
Carolina the Radicals stole this money,
ana he Democratic Legislature IN 1876
found on its hands an unfuliillcl com
tract made by their Republican pre-
d'ccs'" ""s. In order to carry out this
contract $4,000 was appropriated and
lhr interest on this amount (lbout
81 900 was divided between the South
Carolnn College and Clatin Univer-
~iiiy; Thc school dragged along for
while and failed. In 1882 the I,rrisla-
!n'c OF South Carolina, composed main
~ OF graduates OF the South Carolina
College, passed an act to reopen the
college. An appropriation was made TO
supplement- the land scrip aud the col
lrgc was rcopcncd. IL was called the ar-
and mechanical college for tic
purpose of getting the money of the
farmers. 1t was agricultural and me-
chanical only in name. What board
was put in charge Of it,-who were the
trustees? II. S. Thompson, W. ID.
McIver, McGowan, Coward,
!'''iSt, lintSon, Rion, Caldwell, Bland
mo. BDNI. Sm0ns Mo Mnst.r J,j