The Washington weekly post., 1899-06-20
AGRICULTURE In The SOUTH
In Worse Condition Than Ever Gs.
fore in COuntry's History.
Vice President of the Georgia Stat. A.
rieuitnral Society Before the Ipd,.
trial ialCommissiob-Sone Very
Damaging Legislation.

The Industrial Commission rss -.
What changed It's plan for tha Ua-. -
sub-commissions during tho
months by revoking its order se- --.
p0intment Of special comm.esss-. ..
Nestisate the elevator trust and --a -r.-
ing industry west OF the N.-s.s-.--s Do
and instead OF authorizing all ,h. rs..-.-
suo-commissions TO sit during Jg-. .-r
August Under This arrargsmt.- .r.
ricultural Commission siU take .--, .e
elevator question. going 10 the Narttv....
ern States FOR this purpose. ana rrs ,r.,
ing Commission viii 20 Yves f1r r-a 49,
pose of looking into the conditions 49,.
ing mining in that region. The latter ..,r
mission viii hold It's first meeting in M
yer on the l2th OF July. The Sub-.arr-..
sion on Manufacturers will make a ts--
Of New England during the summer
James Barrett. Vice Presidar, Of ~,
Georgia State Agricultural Society Vss
the only witness before the colam.s,.--
yesterday He spoke upon the agr..l.-g.
raj conditions OF the South. saying -rsv
were worse to-day than they had eve
been In the history OF the country lie
said the cotton interest was especially de-
pressed. prices last year amounting 10
little over I cents a pound. At this ur.-o
a man could not save himself II ne Ds..
wages amounting to more than 8
month. Planters generally pay about s.
a month for wages. and at such rates
they could not prevent loss If they rereiy-
cd less than 5 cents per pound
Mr.. Barrett said that nine-teuthG Of fha
cotton grown was mortEageI before it
matured. Rates OF interest and commis-
sion were high. ami the merchants were
gradually coming into possession Of the
land.
The banks charge 10 per cent. for money
for three months time He advanced the
idea that the national bank act had done
vast damage in Outlawing real estate as
security for money loaned 10 these banks
and that all told this act was to the South
the most damaging legislation that hal
ever been enacted.
The witness said that nearly all the
plantation labor was done by negroes, ami
that there was practically no immigration
because of the CheapnesS Of labor and the
social conditions. The railroad rates were
such as to render II impossible to longer
make watermelon growing profitable. and
the same was true Of other garden prod
uCts. The railroads are both the daddy
and the nanny Of the trusts" he as
serted.
Nh Barrett said the census of 1890 had
shown that Augusta, where he lives, was
the most iliterate place in the jGiteI
States, and he thought the fact was due
TO the presence Of too much politics ir the
schools.
The first witness to be examined when
the Industrial Commission resumes it's full
session here in September will be Mr. T.
c. Boyle. editor of the oil City Derrick
of Oil City. Pa. His subject will be "In-
dustrial Development and Evolution In
Transportation of OIL from a Historians
Standpoint" Mr. Boyle Is probably the
best posted man in the oil region on the
history of petroleum from its discovery
to the present time, and he is expected
to give the commission much interesting
information. based on actual statistics
His paper, the Derrick. has been an au-
thority in oil matters for over quarter
of a century.