The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-10-06
WESTERN METHODS
As Suggestive for Southern Immi-
 grafton.

grafton.
 Discussing the vitally important ques- ton of immigration to the South The Manufacturers Record of Baltimore in this weeks issue says:
 Referring to the facts presented last week showing the trend of immigration to the South. The Macon Telegraph says: While The Manufacturers Record makes out case for encouragement and hope which we all welcome. it does not compare with the tide of homeseekers that for forty years and more has been flowing in great waves to the West. The fact that the presence in the South of the negro has turned to the West this tide can no more be obscured or plotted out than The Manufacturers Record can level the Rocky Mountains by proclana- tion.'
 The Telegraph misapprehends the slt- uation. The tide of immigration to the West was not due to the negro in the South. Immigration to the West was due to many causes, with which the negro is not in any way connected. The vast territory of the West. with its virgin prairie lands. the cheapness of these lands. the freedom of a new country from social barriers and restrictions of a settled community. with every man judged not by his family connections. put by his
 
 most attractive field for men who wanted to work and to carve out destiny for themselves. But greater than all these was the fact that the enormous land grants. aggregating hundreds of millions of acres of fertile lands. given by the Government to railroad builders, could only be made profitable by deveIoping im- migration. The great financial powers of Europe and America were united in the nunnrGhtp nf r0ad0 nd af millions of acres of land. If settled up these lands meant enormous fortunes to the railroads or their owners. and hence these financial forces were concentrated in the mightiest immigration campaign the world ever saw. Millions on top of millions were spent in Europe and Amer ica to picture the glowing promise of the Western Fl Dorado. Every hamlet in Europe had q paid agent working in con- nection with Western railroads and Eu- ropean steamer lines for immigrants. and the man who decided to come to America was furnished at a low cost with a ticket from his home direct to hls intended des- tination in the West. Tn all of this vast work the negro question was an inconse- quential clement. except as 1t was mag nified In unseemly agitation, for the rail- roads and the steamship lines were work ing for the development of their lands in
 
 their own traffic The South. by reason of the war and the wreck and ruin fol- lowing 1t. by reason of the fact that ex- cept in Texas there were no enormous areas of land to he given as bonus for railroad building. could not secure the at- tention of the forces which absolutely dominated the movement of population from Europe to America.
 This was one great factor against the ofp iy,,va f1 al PpNp the North and West were the exaggerated fear of social ostracism. the dread of living in old community of settled social castes and political views contrary to the free spirit of the West the long years of Southern poverty cOntrasted with the abounding activity and prosperity of the mighty Western empire after tie war. the high price of land in the South as com pared with the virgin prairie land of the West. where. under the hocI .otead law every settler could secure 16o acres of good land and then every settler in the West was constantly working to bring his friends and kInfolks to his section-all these factors united to keep the tide of immigra tion moving Westward. During the early days one Western road Is said to have spent over $1.00O.0O0 year in ad- vertising States advertised heavily, and kept up splendidly equipped immigration boards; counties, towns and trade organ izations advertised and worked night and day for settlers. Tn these facts arc found the reasons why immigration has for for ty years poured into the West Now tho tide Is turning South. and if States and municipalities and railroads will for five years spend as freely and as wisely as did the West in working for immigration, the negro question will cut but little flg- ure in holding back the tide which will sweep over our land. but spasmodic work and expenditures with the expectation of immediate results. whether put forth by railroads. by States or by individuals, will be energy and money wasted.