The times., 1900-12-26
DIXIE'S MERRY YULBFIDE
The South S First B0untifuI Christ
mas in Many Years.
The Influence of Two Years of High
Prices of Cotton Being Felt The
Money From Sale of Crops Adds To
Holiday Mcrriment-Plante Now
Lenders Instead of borrowers.

money been so plentiful in the great re-
gion south of the Mason and Dixon line
The average Northern shopper Otter
gauges the enjoyment of his Christmas by
the amount of ready money he has at his
disposal, and to him the present season is
not much out of the ordinary.
But for the millions who live in the
south half of the United States from Caro-
lima to Texas the Yuletide season of the
century year Will go down into history as
the first since the pslmy days ''befo' the
wah,' when money was plentiful enough
to enjoy the festivities unhampered with
a thought of the cost, and unrestricted by
| the bonds of economy
Two seasons with enormous cotton
crops. the great agricultural staple of the
South, and two years of high prices for
the product is the factor responsible for
the prosperous condition of the Southern
States. Tens of millions of dollars have
been brought into that region by this con-
dition of affairs, where formerly the
amount could easily be reckoned in the
hundreds of thousands.
| The small farmers and the negroes who
are not as progressive or as enterprising
as their Northern brothers. and who have
been learning through adversely ever since
| the war how TO care for themselves have
! after their seasons labor, found a balance
/ on the credit side of the ledger, and this
| surplus is now being turned into a gigan-
tic Christmas fund now being spent in
| every city of the South. The country is
| undergoing a wonderful metamorphoSis.
/ Dwellings begun before the war and never
! touched since that time are being com
pleted. Many small Southern towns have
progressed SO little in recent years that
| the building of new house was an un-
! usual occurrence and was regarded as an
/ evidence of wealth.
A Southerner who arrived in the city re-
Gently from a trip through South Caro-
| lima, Georgia. Alabama. and Mississippi
| said that the new roofs on houses, new
pickets on the fences, and the new lumber
used everywhere in repairing the old and
weather beaten buildings made the coun-
try appear as though it had passed
through wonderful transformation.
THE South seems TO be just coming out
of Rip Van Winkle sleep said he yes
terday, land the more you travel about
the greater is your conviction that money
as money has never been more plentiful
in the whole history of the South. In the
olden days the masters of the big planta
tions were rich. and spent layishly, but
the greater portion OF the people were
without means and dependent. But this
year everybody has money. ! stood in
store in little town of Georgia last week
when a colored man OF about fifty came
IN. He had on most dilapidated pair OF
shoes, bur carried his head high. Walking
over 10 the storekeeper, he said: L want
to get dat pair a pants over dar. Use been
a-watchin dem pants for nigh onto TWO
months now, boss an Use got de money
10 pay for 'en. never had real stylish
pair in my life befo' and I'm jest a-goin
to get dem now. How much you say2
Seven dollars? Boss. dat's heap money,
bur done got il. and I'm agoin to have
dose pants. My shoes? Why, what diff ence
do my ole shoes make? Can't ! go bare
foot and wear dose pants if | wants to?
Dey don't need muffin else, dem pants
don't And away the old man went the
huppiest darky in Georgia. for he had his
first real pair of trousers at the age of
fifty.
"Of course it is easy TO guess how he
came by the surplus 81. He had good
crop of cotton and got more for this
years work than he has for any two since
the war. The women are the same way.
The towns are doing the biggest kind of
land Office business. A colored man with
money is the best spender there is. Ey-
cry railroad has had more than it could
do getting goods from manufacturing CEN
tres to the distributing points. Every va
riety of merchandise has been in demand.
Houses have. in some cases, been almost
completely refurnished. Carpets, rugs,
fancy tables rocking chairs. and now and
then a piano. AT one town in Alabama a
storekeeper sold six planes this fall and /
his yearly business is generally limited to
two or three. Ornaments are having
great sale and fancy dress goods are be-
ing bought in great quantities. Looking
over the stock IN trade of the average
store. II seems as though every article
of pronounced pattern or brilliant color
had been shipped out of the North to sup
ply the demand that has grown up during
the past year or eighteen months.
And of course articles of food are hav
ing an enormous sale The average negro
has lived on something besides corn and
bacon this year. and now its Christmas
time he's indulging in all kinds of fancy
dishes. Heretofore square meal was
luxury. But the storekeeper has had TO
cater to more refined tastes this year and
noth hing short of the best has supplied the
demand
"One would have to be familiar with
conditions of living in the South TO ade
uuately appreciate what is going on down
there today Take families of half dozen
people living on 81 or SO a week and sud-
denly give s. and SO and you can see what
would result. The actual prosperity has
been nothing short of this doubling of
incomes. Why I came across case after
case where a small planter has sold this
years cotton for more than double tie
price of his land. In Texas planter
bought 1000 acres of land year and a
half ago Out of two crops OF cotton he
has paid $50 an acre for his land and still
has cotton enough left on hand to pay for
planting and raising a third crop.
"rhe stories that are told of the sums
received for cotton and cotton seed the !
past season make one think of the Elon- |
dixie riches. So far this season about |
Z, 600, 600 bales of cotton have been sold, |
and the amount received is between $780, |
600 600 and 1856, ,000, GOO. In four months |
the Southerner has obtained more than |
he usually does in a whole year. and ev,
erywhere you go you see that he's spend |
ing it, Not but what the savings banks !
are getting their share too. They never |
have had so much money TO loan. Only |
d few months ago it was proposed 10 |
start a movement creating credit sys- |
TEN for planters. whereby money could |
be advanced on the growing crop and |
thus prevent sacrifice by forced sales |
to meet expenses.
This year those who want to buy the |
products of the South are experiencing |
difficulty in making the |
holder sell at all. He is not only not a |
borrower. but he has money to lead.
'T have made tour of the South |
about this time every year since 1854, but
never came back to New York with such |
memories as / have now. You have no |
conception of the size of a 500 bill, but |
many a Southern negro never saw one
until this year. And so l say of all the |
good times throughout the country there
ire no happier ones than those now fall
ing TO the lot of the South"