The Magnolia gazette. [volume] (Magnolia, Miss.) 1872-current, 1899-01-21

GGlbQEatAlA al l. 4A0 GAAlltNt lS
would never dream that four cent
cotton had covered sixty FIVE
per cent Of our homes with mort
cages and doomed 80 Ier cent cf
our agricultural classes to lives
of unremuneratiye drudgely.
But what is still worse in the face
of so appalling fact the nan who
cannot wrap his wife in ribbon
and silks, drive to church in a
two horse surrey and "shell out"
quite literally to missions and an
orphanage fund, is a miserable
eur who must occupy a second
rate pew and ought to be satisfied
If his more fortunate neighbor
condescends TO bestow upon him
a nod of the head. Such, my
friends, is the nature of one OF
the sins which, Notwithstanding
the false glamour Of our pretended
prosperity. is driving the farmer
70 isolation and ruin, and which,
s'like the worm al the heart, - is
sapping the vitality of every
movement toward reform. A sin
that is ever growing, the sin OF
seeming rather than being. We
only ape real manhood, forgetting
that though the counterfeit may
have the appearance of the gem
uine, it is after all but worthless
wash. Counterfeiting is prac-
ticed as we'll on the farm as else
where. | have known men to
pose for respectable farmers, who
took care to have good crops near
a frequently Travelled highway, !,
while in the obscure corners OF
the field the bull grass g-ew in
luxuriant beauty and the grass
hopper flourished unmolested by
plow or hoe. Such are some oi
the dangers that always lie in the
wake of extravaganza and waste,
and our reform, to be effective,
must be aimed at these habits,
for they, Of necessity, lead to the
increase of money crops, at the
expense of food and forage crops,
and better ey sry effort of the far
mer to rise from abject slavery.
Linked to extravaganza and OPP
Grating as a powerful incentive to
the growth Of more cotton and the
i'll which it entails, is too great
eagerne5s for immediate gain
II you ask what has converted
our whole country into one vast
cotton field, | reply greed, a
too fond hope for quick nd large
returns. Nor is this money itch
a respector OF persons. In every
department Of life, Ia the factory
and in the miRe, on the farm and
behind the counter, the struggle
for the almighty dollar grows
fiercer and more desperate. The
world is just full OF people who
worship at the feet Of the golden
calf, whose sole ambition is the
accumulation OF dollars and cents,
who fondly dream of the day when
they can WELD a princely scepter
over broad acres of smiling plen-
| ty. But this dire malady leaves
its deepest scars on the smaller
farmer. The shrewder merchant
talks the farmer into buying, al
an immense cost, what he could
we'll afford to do without, and as
an inducement, long credit il
given. OF course the suave anc
well disposed merchant will never
drive him to the wall. So the
hapless fellow throws his whole
power into the growing of cotton
He buys his corn of the merchant
lets his hogs and cattle die oI
sheer inattention, and when al
length the day of reckoning
comes and cotton is below the
1 cost Of production, he learns te
his sorrow that the merchant nc
longer wears for him the accus-
toned smile, that his hand nc
longer thrills with fraterna
grip. Deaf alike to the entreaty
and the sobs Of wife and children
| the once kind merchant visits theil
humble cabin, and breathing &
curse upon their embittered lives
bids them join the ever increas'
ling procession Of homeless fami'
| lies. In this magnificent age o
| the worlds history and under oul
| American system Of free govern
4 ment, a government that reliel
for strength and security upor
| the sanctity OF the home circle, j
is an appalling fact that of tbs
total number Of persons engages
| in agriculture not over thirty pc
| cent. own their own homes, ant
chief among the reasons is tn
| fact that in church and STATE alike
I from fhoso hiph in official r,0aitjo,