The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-03-01
Letters to The Editor.
EMIGRATION AND
 IMMIGRATION
Relative to the Prosperity of thu South.

Relative to the Prosperity of the South | Editor The Advertiser.
 | It is indeed interesting as well as m | structive to study the relation or em'- | gration and immigration to the prosper
 g as of the sGeah in l the two words used incorrectly even by | persons who know the meaning or each. | Without giving their definition VIII re- | late an instance which recently came | under my observation that clearly Illus. | trates what Is meant by emigration ana l immigration in the common acceptance | of the terms.
 | While seated in the beautiful waiting | room of the handsome depot in Nashville. | Tenn. admring the artistic decorations | and watching the crowds of heterogeneous humanity hurrying to and rom the | trains. my attention was directed 10 q l family who. seemed restless and afraid | they would not catch their train which | was not scheduled to leave for an hour or more. I consoled them by saying that I they would not be left and upon inquiry I found that they had sold their home In | Tennessee and were going to Oklahoma | Territory to live They were emigrating | from Tennessee. Nearby sat gentleman who was dressed iu heavy apparel snd hearing our conversation remarked that he had recently left Oklahoma Territory | and had come to Tennes.se tn search or a home. He was an immigrant. Here | then sat side by side an emigrant and an | immigrant-the one going out of the State and the other coming into the State in | search of a home.
 l have been impressed more than ever | in my travels within the last few weeks ] through several Southern States Of the i emigration going on. There was not a | town in which I stopped, rom NashViiie | to Pensacola, where l did not find some persons moving away and I am glad to | say others were moving in to fill up the | vacancies. I am not prepared to say | whether this emigration is on the in | crease or decrease, but was led to think | of the probable causes and wondered why anyone would want to leave the South today with so much in her favor. | There are always some who are looking | for the gold fields just ahead and would never be satisfied not even in the Garden of Eden. Then the drones and dead beats. backbiters and chronic kickers ought to emigrate either to colder or hotter climate for they are a curse to any community. It would be interest ing an1 profitable no doubt to consider the local causes of emigration, but nay
 space will not permit 1t now. Suppose you stop aud think who are those that have left yo,r community within the last year and try and get at the real cause of their departure and see if there Is not rem | edy for no community can afford to lose more people than come in and hope to progress or increase in population. The question. of emigration is Of vital lmpor-
 tance, to every property owner and pro- gressive citizen.
 Again. why should any young man seek fame and fortune today in the West when better opportunities lie all around him in the South? There is much in the words of Solomon that prophet is not without honor save in his own country, and doubtless many worthy young men would have become useful and wealthy had they left their home surroundings nd hsx xyhn q the making of a boy to be placed upon his ow., resources alone in the world or thrown among strangers, but IL IS not necessary to go to California or to Colorado rather go to Alabama or to Arkansas and seek your fortune. The words of wisdom will apply with equal truth and the advice of the wsest men of tooay is no longer go West but go Soutn and grow up with the country. There never was time in the history of
 the States when the opportunities were so great as now for the ambitious poor as we'll as for the capable rich young man in the South. The cities, the coun- tfy. in fact, every community has a place fo- the man of good character. The farm, the furnace and the factory need the best boys in the land for the future prosperity of the Southland depends largely upon her boys of today. Ed l ucate and encourage the boys to help de- velop the wonderful resources of the South and I think emigration will grow Deaull1ullS leSS edCn. year, especially among those best calculated to benefit 1 and most needed to build up the waste | places in the South.
 Probably there is more interest being manifested in all parts of the South in immigration than ever before and the in terest in Southern opportunities is stead | fly on the increase throughout the North, East and the West Indeed, the eyes of the whole country are turned Southward and looking intently upon her rapid strides. As the years go by old en- emies pass away and new friendships are formed and other conditions exist and different results are obtained. The South is now coming to the front with leaps and bounds. Eight years ago when I first became interested in Southern immigration 1t was a difficult matter to even interest people in any part of the South because of certain prejudices then common | throughout the more Northern and Vest | ern States. Now and then I would find | one who seemed anxious to learn more about the different Southern States and | it was really amusing to see how few peo- pie seemed to know that there was any | difference in soil climate or products be- | tween Florida and Tennessee. So. not | only had to get them interested but to tell
 them where they should go. Now, the l interest does not have to be created | but already exists and the prospective | settler need only be told where to go. | Northern emigrants make fine Southern I | ing after. The annual value of an aver | age settler in the South or immigrant 1 from the North is $1 GOO. That is to say. | that the family will make and spend that | amount each year on an average, hence l Is worth that much money to the com | munity and to the State. Of course the | teacher, the preacher, the doctor, the | lawyer, the merchant, the mechanic, the | farmer, the railroad, In fact every pro- | fessional and business class has been | benefited by his presence. Then is 1t not
 a paying business for any community to l engage in the enterprise of immigration. l I heard while in Florida of a county 1 Leon) which spent $2500 one year for a | supply of literature descriptive of the | resources of that county and paid cap l able man to look after the distribution l and encourage immigration. It is reported | that there settled one family for every
 | & thus expended and the authorities very | wisely concluded to repeat the eXperi- ment. Was not this a most profitable enterprise for that particular county and | arek there not other counties and com l munities that would like 90 make sim | liar investment? If so. I have several | thousand names of prospective settlers 1 which might be of great value to those | interested. l would like to see societies | organized for local improvement and im- l miyrdt'On purposes in every county in | Alabama. With immigration will come mo.e peopl', more money and more in- | dustriN E. C. Robertson. | Dickson Tenn.
 Untaxing Beer and Tobacco.
 Rockford Ull) Star.