The Magnolia gazette. [volume] (Magnolia, Miss.) 1872-current, 1899-06-03

Y brought hlm from a condition ut
/ poverty and encouragement into
Z a condition Of thrift and prosper
I ity. His fields are cleaner ana
ais fences straighter; he has bet
ter wagons and horses. more
COWS il the pasture, pigs iii TILL
/ pen and chickens IN the barn.
yard his house is painted; his
children are more neatly dressed
and happier looking, and his wife
| wears brighter face This II
an actual illustration from real
life and is only one incident out
Of many that could be cited.
The Atherton settlement, which
this farmer found source Of
cash supply, contains about SEQ
people, and he is only one 81
many other farmers who ex-
change farm products for cash
with these people. Then there
are eleven other milling settle
ments in Charlotte similar to the
Atherton. Each Of these popu-
lous centers creates a demand
upon the farmers which they find
it profitable to supply. Take the
individual case of the farmer
which has been given as an illus
tration and apply it to the sew
eral hundred farmers within
reach Of the cotton mills, and the
benefits of the mills to the farm
ers will be realized in a most
forcible manner. do not know
of any better way in which to
answer the question, Does the
cotton mill benefit the farmer?
do not want to be understood
as making the claim that the i'm
proved condition of the farming
community SO apparent in the
vicinity Of the cotton mills is due
entirely to the mills, but / do
claim that the cotton mill is the
chief factor, the principal con-
tributor to the prosperity which
has recently overtaken the South
crn milling communities. This
prosperity is in evidence on all
sides Of Charlotte, and the same
is the case in adjoining milling
towns. The Odells, at Concord,
can show you farmers now who
ride sulky plows and drive to
town behind blooded horses who
used to plow a bull and hoof it to
town. DR.. John McAden car
tell how, since the cotton mills
started in CASTOR county, the en-
tire farming community has been
enabled to secure a good finan-
cial standing as the result Of hav-
ing had a market opened to them
for their products, and that in
the vicinity of the mills at Me-
Adenville there are fewer debts
among the farmers and fairly
good supply Of money on hand.
This, some may say, is the
testimony of millmen, and they
may object to accepting it on
that score. Then there is still
more convincing evidence, and
that is the courthouse records,
where the liens and chattel mort
cages are shown. That is an in
dex that cannot be questioned,
and it sustains the claim of the
cotton mill as the friend Of the
farmer. The county records in
the courthouse in Charlotte indi-
cate a steady Improvement in the
condition of the farmers. There
is not only a decrease in the
number of crop liens and chattel
mortgages recorded, but those
filed for registration are for
smaller amounts in the aggre-
gate. This is as good an indica-
ton as could be desired that the
farmers are getting out of debt,
and think 1T has been satisfac-
torily demonstrated that the cot
ton mill is playing a very i'm
portant part in the bringing about
of this era of prosperity in the
agricultural community.
The farmers in sections where
there are no cotton mills are be-
ginning to see the benefits of !
these corporations, and, as a re-
suit, they have begun to do a lit
tie thinking for themselves. They |
are fast reaching the conclusion |
that the hum of the spindle is
sweeter than the voice of the poll |
itician, and that it is better for
them to build cotton mills than to
waste their substance on the dem |
agogue. AS result, community
sentiment is undergoing a rapid |
change. The disposition to fight
corporations is giving way to a
determination to build cotton
mills, and this means that the
South has at last found the road