The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1892-03-11
GOV. rILLmArs HEwBERRY SPEECH.

that he hni no strength 70 waste, ne ttfrtsu
into his subject without much preliminary
distinct voice. His sppearan"e zoe s~e-..a
with considerable cheering. lie spoke as
follows:
am just out Of sick bed. Yesterday
was the first time i'm ten days have been
out Of The house: aud but tor fear that you
would have come here to hear me to-day
and gone home disappointed, l would not
have come.
am always glad 10 respond 10 the call
Of the citizens OF Any county to confer
with them on any subject that concern
the public welfare. ! hnve teen invited
here to discuss the agricultural outlook, the
condition Of the farming interests and other
kindred topics bearing on agriculture.
;cu.ture is the basis of oil wealth; the
has. on which oil society rests. | arn toli
that am not expected to touch on politics.
The subject for discussion is II dry one, but
moro important than politics, because it
nffects every individual and household.
Advice IT superabundant. Every man is
ready to give advice on any and all occa-
sions. But few take 1t. AS Shakespeare
says: al can easier tel twenty men what
is good to be done than to be one of the
twenty to follow my own teaching.
We ore confronted with n gloomy cond-
tion. Never within my recollection Ger
tuinly never since lS55-hns thcr been II
more gloomy prospect. have heard often
that In 1S4S md l8i9-whcn | was n baby
in tia snrndlae-tbf,o-was~n sprjlar Go'vGtjop.
But other things were different then, aud
the people were more able to meet the low
price Of cotton. Then nearly every plant,-
ii"n was self-sustaining We bought very
httc necessnries-we produced them--all
except sugar, salt. shoes for The negroes and
one or two other articles. We have re-
vcr.cd the condition then EXISTING, we hnve
changed the economy OF farming, aud now
VIC devote our energies largely to producing
one crop, TO buy nearly everything we are
compelled to have.
The present condition of reproduction,
or the raising OF too much cotron-more than
the world will or can Cousurnc--wns seen by
mo seven yours ago, and predicted toy me in
speech ut Bennoltsvill". And | then SCI
about 10 effect change by public Discus
sion Of the subject.
What has produced this revolution There
are several causes that have fostcred
encouraged and almost driven us 10 tho cul-
tu'c OF cotton. One cause is the lien law,
which bases credit on n fu urc crop. II has
placed tho honest and tho dishonest on tho
tame footing, the Intelligent and indusri-
Gus alongside tho ignorant AMI lzy aud
Inns compelled the raising of II large cotton
crop. Formers and renters contract for &c
much cotton. Our Legislation is largely
resp 'nsible for this condition
The effort TO make cotton to pay for every
thing else, on The renting sysem-espccnliy
where tho negroes rred"minntc---bruugh
about the demand for the stock law. IL was
claimed thnt VIC could not make ANYTHING
out OF stock, and that tho fences were too
expensive to cnc'osc them. | was an ndyo-
ca'c Il the no-feucs law, and believe il is 4
blessing. IL did not ncccssitatc doing nw,y
with stock, but that was largely the practi-
cal result; and therefore II caused moo
nuGtlon to be givon to cotton culture. We
turned blessing into II curse, because our
people do not know that by summer pasture
and hy cotton seed meal or cotton seed in
winter, we can produce beef as cheap ss the
west, You have read this many u time, but
rnsscs out of your mind and you forget it,
l have raised hogs and kept u strict account
Of their cost, and they cost me less than to
buy them,
Our syrtem of farming has brought nh
inci cnsed use of CONNER cial fertilizers. We
pay net cash over So .O0O, 900 a year for fcri-
lizers. Our lands are subjected to cotton
culture year after year. 1hcre is no rots-
ton OF crops, no preservation Of the humus
OF The soil, and our hilly lands arc washed
into thousand gullics. The production Of
h,me manures has come to he almost n lost
art among us.
"c kill grass nine months in the year
a;d then lots of us buy Northern hay. /
""nt propose to lecture you. | don't
nways follow my own advice.
Forcsccing this condition of the farming
interests, and others have struggled to
bring The farmers 10 think, and to this end
have secured the establishment of n college
-Clcmson-w diversified industries may
tc taught. But the college being still lin
the sweet bye and bye" what are we to do
no" The way appears to mo u he plain
IL needs no conventions and no mass meet
'nSS tn point out the road. We certainly
pro luce more cotton than the ", rll will buy
ai icmunerative prices iOiis. Whether sp,c,l-
ulnt"n and financial deprcssiyn have any
thing To do with the pricc--.anI | believe
they are partly responsible the price OF
cotton row is less than 1t costs to raise il.
If we raise cotton at cost Of cents aud
sci It "tG, aud don't raise our own food
products, AMI then starvc, it is our own
-f:ult.
But they say the people are in debt, Will
II pay debts TO raise cotton nt II cent pound
moIc than it can be sold for. 1t is non
SEN" - czfcc: i.
Nicd't obained too easily is partly re-
spons'h:c for the condition of affairs. lv
tempting farmers to go into debt No"
crctI Is not 20 easy. pcopic with money
Will must only these Who vii pay it back.
|! Tic cople don't raise their own proyi-
sions starvation is inevitable That is the
long AMI the short and the whole ui IT,
IhH condition OF raising too much GOTTEN
caused by the lien law and the stock law
has brought half The lend undcr. control of
men too ignorant to lun any plantatior AMI
has tEnde our people forget that t they don't
worl: days in the week there can be no
surp!u'. The three moatEs between plant.
ing a:i gathering. which should br spent
III !EI,irg manurcs and refairin. nad c can
ing nr are givcu up by hall the lcop!e to
rioli"g. toolishneSs and idlcnc,s. We have
got Il DC more industrious aud make our
r.:ons 1T home. There is no use talking.
II l. as sure rs = and = make t.
WHIT about the financial side" MANY
Oe 1--we and | agree with then. that ths
low price of cotton is influenced by two c,u-
acs b'siies over production. The dcmoneti-
zui II Of silver and the conduct Of our tinan-
cia system i'll the interest of Wall street.
y c arc being used ~ hcwcrs Of woyd and
drawc"S OF water 10 make Il few mcu richer
while we sweat day IN md day ont w.,