Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1899-05-04
TRUTH ABOUT THE SOUTH
WHY 1T IS THE IDEAL PLACE TO
BUILD HOMES AND FORTUNES.

! The Atlanta Constitution recently
, printed an article from the pen of DIR.
] Stirling, local physician, in which
! he asked why it was that the people
of the South did not make their adj
vantages known to the world at large.
He drew attention to the fact that in
Europe and in the Northern States of
the Union there was widely prevalent
idea that the South was afflicted with
fevers, which rendered it dangerous
for human life. The doctor went on
to suggest that if once this impression
should be removed, there could be no
doubt that a vast stream of immigration
would invade our fields and our waste
places would thus be built up.
To corroborate what DR.. Stirling
said as to the impression held abroad
regarding the South, the Constitution
has received letter from o gentleman
in Wisconsin. which reads as follows:
Editor constitutional am becoming
quite interested in the South, and would
like to ask you few questions regarding
| business, etc;
g. Are business men compelled to give
| long credits?
g. Are the farmers in your vicinity thrifty
and contented?
4. Are rents high?
| 5. Are malarial diseases prevalent there
to any extent2
1 am familiar with drugs dry goods,
| groceries, shoes, furnishings, etc., and
would like to locate In good live town.
| Would be prepared to invest from $4,000 to
| $4,000 in business.
6. Have always heard it preached that to
| 60 South was to become indolent, lazy,
| victim of fevers, and, in fact, all that is
| dreadful in the shape Of diseases to which
| human flesh is heir.
7. Would you think it advisable to come
South with a family in which there are
small children?
1 am tired of our long cold winters.
i. NIcKERsoN.
Wantonia. Wis.
This letter is reproduced in full for
the reason that it comes as a confession
of want of information from an intelli-
gent American, living in State noted
for the intelligence fits people When
such ideas as limited at by the ques-
tons asked exist among the people of
such State as Wisconsin, it certainly
becomes time for the organs of public
opinion in the South to set forth the
facts, so that henceforth no uncertain
ty may linger in the public mind as to
the South, its resources and its future.
The writer of the above letter honestly
seeks information, and should be as
honestly met and answered, which the
Constitution proposes to do seriatim
l. Throughout the South there are
metropolitan cities, of which Atlanta
is fair sample, which rival any of
the cities in the northwest for the |
amount of business done, the field |
covered and the advantages which they
offer to the people of the surrounding |
country for trade and commerce. In |
these cities there ara ranrn anntnd oil /
ness, and in them may be found pros
porous merchants and even million
aires, who, starting at the very bot
tom, have built up until they have
reached the top scale, in commerce and
society The rivalry between business
interests is fully as keen and alive to
the necessities of the day as can be
that in the city of Milwaukee, which
is the metropolis of the State from
which our friend writes.
2. AS to business credits, it is not |
likely that there can be much differ
ence between the conditions in Geor-
gia, for instance, and in Wisconsin. |
In the larger town and cities cash, OF
its equivalent, is the rule, while the |
opportunities for credit to those who |
are worthy of it are abundant. In
the smaller villages, owing to the al
most complete devotion of our agri-
cultural interests to cotton, which is
O crop coming in but once year, q
much larger margin of credit has to be
given. This is condition, however,
out of which the people of the South
have been emerging. Within the last
ten years there has been remarkable
escape from the single crop idea, and
during the present year the revolt
against that idea and in favor of di-
verse interests has grown to such
proportions that the the time is GER
tainly in sight when Southern farmers
will have something to sell every day
in the year, which will bring them
money on delivery. In this connec-
ton it is proper to state that the de-
votion to single crop is not an out
growth of awant of opportunity on the
! part of nature, because in almost
every section of the South everything
can be raised which is now peculiar to
the North, in addition to the great
money crop of cotton. The ideal goal
to which our people are now aspiring
is the ability to supply all human
wants as the first work of the farm,
making the raising of cotton the extra
or surplus work, which will thus be-
come pure profit in the pockets of our
farmers.
8. As to the farmers in Georgia,
they are certainly contented and I'M
deniably thrifty, but they have much
to learn in the line of diversified agri-
culture. They are people possessed
of honesty, character and the will to
work, as soon as they are directed in
the right channels. To people from
the North, where the rigor of the eli
mate is such as to force attention to
| personal comfort. the Deonle of the