Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1901-06-20

Mississippi lacked and lacks today, Is
by nature inert. and that those hav-
ing the control or custody Of IL are To
the last degree timid. They saw. with
unerring vision. that In order to draw
capital to Mississippi from the North
and the East. and from Europe. II was
not only necessary to give the usual
assurances for the sanctity OF vested
interests. but also to do something Z
more by way of inducement. IL Is no;
surprising to note that the liberal
charters granted In 1ss2 and 1854 re-
suited In there being within the State
In 1880. more than double the mile
age which had been built in all the
years preceding 1850. to-wit. 2.47l
miles.
The people OF Mississippi saw ft.
In 1890 to adopt a new Constitution.
and have since made laws Hereunder
with respect to railroad and other cor
porations. which are. to put the case
mildly. repellant TO capital. As n con-
sequence. We hnd that In 1899 1.-THE
last year for which the Interstate Com
merce Commission or the Commission
OF the State Of Mississippi have pub
lished figures). there were but 2.7ss
miles Of railroad. The State now ranks
twenty eighth In the mileage Of rail.
roads In operation. the increase during
the last nine years. under the changed
policy OF the State. being 3i7 miles. or
1888 per cent. as against l.3i3 miles.
or 1917 per cent. in the previous de-
cade. Most OF the mileage added since
1880. indeed nearly all of IL. Is now
operated by one or other OF the old
companies.
The Constitution OF 1890 prohibited
the granting OF legislative charters to
business corporations and required
them to be Incorporated under general
laws. The effect has been that since
1890 only eleven railroad companies
have been so organized: eight OF these
seem to have done nothing and the
other three have built about twenty
five miles apiece.
IL you will pardon a word OF criti-
cism from one who. despite his large
and abiding interest In, is not a citizen
OF Mississippi, let me suggest that, in
the making of such laws before the
State had obtained all the
railroads and all the banks and
all the factories which 1t needs.
That such institutions and corpora
tions should be regulated by law goes
without saying. The Northern and
Western States have. however. been
prudent enough to obtain their rail-
ways. their banks and their factories
before legislating against them. They
have not gone out Of their way to
make regulations which have repelled
capital. and thereby prevented and de-
iayed the material development Of
their own resources. To her great and
lasting loss mississippi seems to have
adopted all the restrictive legislation
OF the older States. which now have
no special need TO invite foreign
capital by encouraging the develop
ment OF corporate enterprises.
That the necessity OF attracting for
eign capital into the State is now ap-
preciated by your public men is evident
from the inaugural address delivered
by the present Governor. the Hon. A.
H. Longino. on January l6. 1900. and
from his many public utterances and
writings.
From conversations and correspond
ence with the Governor. am well con
vtnced that he has determined to do al,
tnat nes in his power toward the ma
terial development OF the State. His
recent Good Roads Proclamation" is
in point.
That the cost per ton to a railroad.
OF carrying freight diminishes as the
volume increases. is automatic.
The staple crop Of Mississippi is cot.
ton. OF which about 1S5 pounds Of lint.
and say twice as much more. 37O
pounds, of seed, have in the United
States. been. on the average. produced
in each of the last twenty years. This
yields, all told, sos pounds per acre.
The staple crop Of Iowa and other
Northern States, Is corn, of which
about % bushels, weighing 56 pounds,
or In all 1.400 pounds per acre, are
produced annually.
That Is to say, the potential tonnage
annually grown per acre in Mississippi
Is less than four-tenths of that grown
per acre in Iowa.
Moreover. in 1890. the area of i'm.
proved land in farms in Iowa was
25.42S.s99 acres. as against 6,Sf9,39O
acres in Mississippi.
These conditions greatly and per-
manently restrict the volume of the
local business of your railroads, the
receipts from which form, as is well
known. the life blood Of railroad reven-
ues.
Trafic in Mississippi is further di.
minished by the absence Of minerals Of
all kinds. Irrespective of coal hauled
for the company's consumption, the
Illinois Central Railroad last year car
ried as freight for others, 5,593.676
was produced. and but little of IL was
consumed. in Mississippi. You will bet.
ter appreciate the magnitude of our
coal tonnage when I say that il
weighed greatly more than twice as
much as did the entire cotton crop OF
the United States. which amounted to
9.439.559 bales. weighing 2.377,315
tons.
A knowledge Of the radically diff.
ferent conditions surrounding railroad
business in Mississippi. and In the
Northern States. led us. more than
twenty years ago. to promote the di
versifcation Of crops. by inducing fruit
culture. mixed farming and stock
raising. Attention was also given
from the start to developing the lum-
ber trade. thereby converting the for
ests. which had numbered the ground
from time immemorial. to mans use
and profit.
Other railroads throughout the State
have done and are doing the same
thing.
The results are that wherever
something besides cotton Is raised. and
particularly where standing timber is
converted into lumber and other use
ful articles Of wooden ware, the towns
and hamlets are thriving. roads and
bridges are built and improved, and
the people are prospering as never be-
fore.
Another thing. which has. within the
past ten years, happened, to the in
estimable and lasting good of the State
Is the breaking up of the old custom
OF planting cotton on credit; that is,
OF having the cotton factors of New
Orleans, Memphis and Mobile, find"
(: or finance for the farmers.
Figure 1t as you may, the charges
made by these MISUNDERSTANDING
commissions on buying mules, piows
and supplies. on selling the crop, and
the discounts deducted on notes given
amounted to well over twenty per
cent per annum on the money, or the
money value, actually furnished by