Evening star., 1901-08-03
TEXAS IENAN 7 RY
IC saa
Made Up Of People Who Move From
One FARM to;sAnother.
PAYING HIGH ENT,afO TEE OWNERS
In This c|asss,J1s tie Strength of
the Populist Party.
RETURN TO FEUDAL SYSTEM
Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.

Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.
WACO. Texas. August I, 1901.
The thousands Of tenant farmers who till
the rich corn and cotton lands OF northern
and eastern Texas are now casting
about for new locations for next year. A
few OF them will stay upon the land they
for the Texas cotton renter Is a man In
whose breast hope springs eternal, and this
Is well, for hope and large family OF
children are usually his entire capital.
Many years ago the cotton lands Of north
ern and eastern Texas were to be had al
most for the asking, and large areas fell
into the hands Of individual owners. with
little exertion. and at comparatively small
expense. AS Texas developed, and the Sc
cret Of her hidden wealth became known,
the plow advanced acre by acre over the
rich bottoms and low-lying prairies, until
at the present time there are few sections
or the United States where a larger pro-
portion of the arabic land is titled. The
owners OF this land. however, have ceased
TO perform the labor upon 1t. They find 1t
easier ana more profitable to rent their
ground to others who will either pay them
a cash rental or will give them a large
snare OF the crop in return for the use
Of the field.
waco. and in the bottoms Of the Brazos
river there has grown up a very large
tenantry class. 1t is conservative to say
that probably seventy-f1ve per cent of the
pest cotton land is owned by men who live
IN the larger towns and is farmed by a
poor and shiftless class of whites and ne
groes, who, under the strict and unceas-
ing supervision of the owner or his agents,
return handsome profit upon present val
uation.
Nearly all Of the owners of these cotton
lands are men connected with local banks.
large mercantile establishments or men
VINO have retired from business with the
exception of such supervision as is neces-
sary Tor the welfare Of their properties
some OF these men are progressive and
pubic spirited, but 1t Is generally recog-
nlzed that the older generation Of cotton
pianters are men who have seen their
Wealth increase without effort on their
part, excepting the practice Of close econ
omy.
Til1ers of the Land.
1t is with the men who till these lands,
however, that the state is most concerned.
They far outnumber the owners; they fur
nish greater percentage Of the popula-
tion, for the education of their children
the state expends the bulk of it's money,
ana on election day their votes outweigh
from their long season of labor. In the
bottom lands along the Brazos and other
rivers the lands ARE titled by negroes, as
the surroundings are too unhealthy for
ton renters, however, are whites Many
Of them are native born Texans, but Ar
kansas, Alabama, Mississippi and Louis
lana furnish a very large percentage of
these peripatetic farmers.
The cotton planter with 1900 acres of
fertile land divides his property into small
tracts, varying from fifty to one hundred
acres each In size. He fences each tract
builds his small house, barn and a corn
crib. He is then ready, for his tenants
The leases date from January 1 and run
only for one year. Tenants are generally
and the bargain for one farm Is made be-
fore the tenant has harvested his crop
on another. Some OF the planters prefer
that the tenant should furnish his own live
stock, implements and seed, but It Is ex-
tremely difficult to find renters who are
sufficiently well equipped, or have enough
capital to do business after this fashion
In nearly every case the landlord is ex-
pected to furnish everything. not only the
teams, agricultural implements and seed,
but food and clothing for the family until
such time as the crop Is harvested and
sold.
When a planter leases his ground and
furnishes nothing to make crop he re-
ceives one-quarter Of the cotton and one
half OF the corn. II his tenant be DOS
sessed Of an unusual amount OF money,
cash basis. and the owner is paid from
So to 81 an acre in cash. This method is,
Of course, preferred. but the scarcity of
tenants with outfits Of their own and
money with which to rent the land is such
that little effort is expended In looking for
them.
Hard on the Renters.
When the planter furnishes his tenant
with all the necessary live stock, imple-
ments and supplies from the 1st Of Janu-
ary to the selling of the crop in the fall
he gets one-half OF the cotton, one-half
Of the corn and deducts from the renters
share Of the crop money an amount suffl-
Client to pay liberal prices for all supplies
furnished and liberal interest on the
money. The result of this system, which
is generally the one followed, Is that very
few of the cotton renters leave their land
they had when they, went onto Il early in
the spring. They are in constant state
Of encouragement, the future holds little
hope. their children are uneducated and
half clothed, their living is of the sim
plest: In fact, the slaves Of the ante-bellum
days lived In luxury as compared with the
manner of life under which some of these
cotton renters exist.
pessimistio individual, who aocumulates
nothing, hopes for little and is ALWAYS
changing his base Of operations, trusting
to find more fertile land, less exacttnR
landlord or in some other way to Improve
his condition.
The orators OF the populist party have
found In the cotton renter an appealing
example Of the contract between the rich
and the poor. When the cotton In ready
to pick the renter. with his wife. his
daughters and his sons. drag the cotton
sacks through the fields. as did the negroes
in days gone by. When Stump" Ashby
"cyclone" Davis. Jake Rhodes or some
other spellbdnder in the populist ranks at
tends the barbecue which marks the polit-
ical gathering int Texas. 1t needs no won
derfui command pf English to paint pic
ture of wrong OPPRESSION and heart-break-
ing poverty. which gDes straight home to
the cotton renter wha still has within him
a glimmer of hope or sense OF the eter-
nal fitness of tfiingssh For many years a
stock nlustratioH Of the contrast between
wealth and povEtyin Texas was a de-
scriptton of the funeral of the late Sena-
tor Hearst, wftth ancluded a luxurious
funeral train atrbss the continent upon
which the mourrers feasted at Rovernment
expense Againt :thA picture Of alleged
riotous wealth Vas Drawn in sharp con-
trast the funeraf Of the cotton renters
daughter, the young sgirl Of sixteen, dying
Of inanition aftef weeks Of dragging cot
ton sack through tho field, half-staryed
bodily. wholly starved mentally. without
a gieam Of the sfinshine which falls to the
lot of nearly evety Woman, laying down
her burden. sinff5iy tired out placed m a
,tno * effj3h bv hnr oxrr