The age-herald., 1899-06-21
CONDITIONS
 IN THE SOUTH Industrial Commission Continues
 Investigation POLK BROWN OF GEORGIA Struck Ia Telling Blow in
 9stimony PRESET IF THE NEGRO RACE One Las e of Lack of Development
 in Southern States.
One Los e of Lack of Development
 in Southern States.
MIR. LovEJoY OF HAwKINsvILLE
Spoke Particularly of Relations of Lo. cal Merchants and Farmers-The Cities Are Being Built Up
 at Expense of Country.

Washington, June 20.-The industrial cons mission today continued its investigation of the agricultural conditions of the south. MT. Polk Brown. of the Agricultural so- ciety of Georgia SAs the first witness. He agreed with MT. aarrett, who testified yes- terday that the condition of agriculture in the south was more depressed than 1t had ever been. More people were blowing barefooted and barebacked than ever before.
 He agreed with the late Henry Grady that the fault was not with the soil or the climate, as many claimed, was 1t entirely with the tariff. One of the most prolific causes of the trouble was in the fact that cotton was practically the only crop.
 Another cause, he asserted, was that the education was not sufficiently practical. It should teach people to do manual labor. So far as the colored race was concerned, there was opening for them in the trade or the professions
 Education Not Practical
 MT. Brown dwelt on the presence of the negro al the special cause of the want of development of the south. He regarded him as retardlng the industrious, moral religious, social and agricultural develop ment of the section. and he felt that if he were absent a better class of labor would take their place.
 The more the negro was paid the less efficient he laborer. MT. Brown wanted the race separated from the whites and colonized either in this country, or elsewhere in the interest of the southern states. But the race Is non-progressive and indisposed to adopt new methods and new devices. The great obstacle in the way of development of manufacturing in- terests was the want of money.
 MT. Brown advocated diversified crops, recommending that each community should raise sufficient of everything to meet it's own demand.
 Merchants Not Prosperous
 At the afternoon meeting the corpfnittee listened 70 a statement of MT P. Fl. Love joy, merchant and planter of Hawkins vile, Ga. He spoke particularly of the re- lations of the local merchants and the farmers. The merchants themselves had not been prosperous for several years. They were compelled to make the majority of their sales on credit, and had to take mort gages upon the land of the farmers if they had any or on their crops if they had no lands. Many of them were not able to give collateral of any value and to such men sales were made on large margins of profit
 we size a man up.' he said, "and if he is good we will sell to him a small margin. If he is a hard case we take what he has and quit"
 He said that freight rates from Georgia to New York were about twice what they were from New York to Georgia. The large cities were evidently being built up at the expense of the country. Even the water melon crop was unfavorable.
 we have found that in shipping melons we pay the freight" he said '"rhe ya4l- roads cut us out of profit in that businessss