The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1899-02-01

Dakota, Kansas and Nebraska. purely
agricultural States. Again, the high
est value in dollars of the farm pro.
ducts per acre of cultivated land Is in|
the States eff Massachusetts, Rhode|
Island and Connecticut, New York
and New Jersey. and Eastern Pensyl-
vania, the respective seats of the high.
est type of manufacturing towns and
cities.
Twill call your attention to another
virtal and germane proposition to our
discussion. 1t Is this-that the only
other region competing with the above
six States in value in dollars of the
farm products per acre of cultivated
land is the Gulf section, which pro-
duces fruits for the market. / would
be trespassing upon the patience of
my reader were I to further amplify
subject which is plain to the point of
demonstration.
DIvERSIFICATION
If such is the case, then our true
source Of prosperity is the diversifica
ton of our crops and the location of
railroads and manufactures among US.
The question then arises, How can we
succeed in this economic progression /?
BY earnest individual effort much will
be accomplished. but in great enter
prises similar to the ones we have dis
cussed individual enterprise is of small
moment. The first thing that the
South will have to realize is that the
old ideas must 20. I speak plainly,
because love the South. The farmer
must 20 into the legislatures untram-
meled with the old narrow ideas. He can
control the legislature of every South
ern State. He must open his eyes to
the fact that he is the virtual king of
Southern politics that he holds obso-
lutely within his hand the law-making
of every State in the Southsfrom West
Virginia to Florida, and he must be
the one who will mark out the line of
change broad and clear. He has al
ready accomplished much. I bow my
head to his vast endeavor since the
war, but much has yet to be done.
NO FEAR OF coRPoRATIoNs-THEY
ARE A CoUNTRY's SALVATION.
Let hin, go into the legislatures of the
South and do away with the old bug
bear of fear Of corporations and corpor-
ate power which has been at all times
the fear of the farmer. The fact must
be looked at that the only way to get
these industries into the South is by
broad, liberal, open-handed and far
reaching legislation. Let him adver.
tise to the world that the South will
offer the most liberal laws for the
location of railroads or corporations.
I do not mean that the farmer should
bow his neck and shackle his hands at
the behest of the corporation, but I
mean to say that the best and quickest
way of inviting railroads and incorpo-
rated capital to the South is by allow
ing the most absolute liberality to cor
poration- and ofproviding absolute fl
nancial safety In order that
these great works may be carried
on successfully. -, The statutes
of the South are filled with all
sorts of crude legislation, binding up
corporations of every kind with all
sorts of restrictions. This ,frightens
as we'll rs hampers capital. Among
others, "no municipality shall lend ils
credit or its aid to any corporation by
nop-taxation or otherwise. ""makinv
corporators liable as members of part
nerships," providing that suit may
be brought against incorporators who
were stockholders at the time Of the
dissolution of theincorporation," " "that
they shall not exist longer than ten
years" providing that there shall be
no limit to the amount Of damages a
Justice may find" "one-half Of the
stock must be paid up in money" mot
allowing the corporation to buy or .ell
land," "limiting its maximum to ST.
0O0, ,OOO," "that many corporations can
only be created by special act of the
legislature" These narrow provisions
are some that occur to me at this time.
We can Gever become a great manu-
featuring section so long as we hamper
the legitimate operations of capital
and advertise to the manufacturing
world that our laws will impede them
in their work.
GREAT INJURY RESULTS FROM ILL
BERAL LAWS.
7 will be pardoned for an example.
was interested with large mum Der
of people from the North, who had
purchased great property in one of
the Southern States and who proposed
to build railroad which would cost
two and one-half million dollars. The
money was subscribed and arrange
ments were completed. They found
out that the only way to build the rail-
road was to 60 to the legislature of the
State, then in it's last days, and lobby
through bill giving them authority
to build the railroad. They attempted
1t, and one of the powerful men in the
legislature was interested in another
enterprise nearby, and he defeated this
matter, and one Of the most magnifi-
cent sections of the South today lies
silent because of illiberal laws. I
speak in all sincerity, and may speak
an unpalatable truth, when l say that
one cf the chief oppositions to our sue.
cess as a great manufacturing and
diversified farming section is that
without intending it our laws have
been constituted in the fear rather than
the love of corporate enterprises. Let
us remove this barrier by liberal legis-
lation and invite the railroads and
manufactures to our midst. 1t will
not come except by incorporated capi-
tai.
RAILROADS THE FARMERS BEST
FRIEND.
Mere natural advantages will not
suffice. With the liberalizing of our
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