The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1897-09-10

u.aUou about double our white pop
u'au1l. aud ytl she ha Fifteen times
ls many white criminals in hoT pris.
oua and what IS worse than am,
mv brethren, 7is Of ihm arc
women just ponder over q aud, like
the prophet. exelaim GLOW are the
mighty iullcnf Only one white wo-
man Boo the iaila OF chaiugaugs of 0eor-
gi1 and 1ls in the Puritan state of
New England What shall we DO
about itY What can we do2
but this rs not all that the census
teila Iu addition 20 this vast army
% prisoners, Nasachusela has zoo
juvenile prisoners, whiIo New York has
1876 and Ohio $50 Then there nre
over 5000 raupers IN Che four states.
besides The thousand. that ere iu
private benevolent institutions How
iu the world do those states nap north
supper. such "a vast army of criminals.
Taurars, tramrs and non-poluccrs?
$50 wonder they want protection and
pensions; mo- wonder they pluuder the
public treasury They are obliged 70
do 81. Ninety per cent of alI the
money that goes into 1t comes ont into
their pockets in some way on other, and
still they are not happy; they want
the other ten.
But what is the relative condition Of
the common people Of the sections?
How about homes and mortgages aud
debts? II is the common people who
constitute a state on a nation. They
support II with their labor and defend
IL with their arms. In numbers they
are as 500 20 ! of the aristocracy.
They all deserve TO have homes
homes of their own, unencumbered
A home means more than shelter IL
means roses and vines and shade trees
and fruit Ask the poor renter who is
bumped about from place TO place
| every year. Ask his wife and daugh-
tiers what they think of home. The
census puts down 80, 500 white fami-
lies in Georgia who have homes, and
/ says that 96 per cent OF these are paid
\ for and have no eEeumbrance. Virginia
has 81 per cent paid for; Mississippi
and South Carolina SO per cent each.
Massachusetts has I75, 200 families
owning homes, but 81 per cent of them
are mortgaged New York has 400,
900 homes, and Al per cent are mort
gagged; and the compiler says that
more than 80 per cent of all the home
encumbrance of the United States is
in the north Atlantic and north cen
trail diyisions-only Az per cent is on
the homes Of the South Atlantic states.
The mortgages on Massachusetts,
homes amount to Sl02, 948, 1856. Just
think of it-ponder Illuminate over
it-over one hundred millions of debt
against the common people of one lit
tie state having about double the white
population of Georgia. Can they ever
pay it? New York is but little better,
having S245, 900, 900. In fact, the
whole north is covered as with blan-
ket by debt, and the millionaires are
the owners Of it. Debt! What hard,
unfeeling word it is. My old partner
was won't to say it has harder ALTER
alive following, viz: debt, duns, death,
damnation aud the devil. Is it any
wonder that such opponents as Debs
and George aud Coxey rise up and
plead for the people--the common
peope--the toilers who have no homes
at all? Is it any wonder that strikes
are made and the people carry blood
in their eyes and desperation in their
hearts? Put yourself in their place,
if you can, and then you will feel as
they feel
But, while we sympathize with
them, and pity them, let us be CRATE
ful that we live in this southern land,
and are in the peaceful enjoyment OF
) so many rich blessings May the
good Lord preserve us from THEN
crimes and their debts is my prayer,
Bill ARP ia Atlanta Constitution.