The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-09-08

At this point there is encountered an in- fiuence which Is not fully realized py tne people of the section, and Is little II st aN appreciated by those of the rest or tne country. The South, as whole, peneves itself to be poor. Its belief in that idea approaches fixity. The, Southerner will account for the undeveloped areas Of his section, for She comparative absence or up- to date methods of cultivation, Tor the lack Of initiative in diversified produc- lion. by ar, assertion of Southern poverty. Admitting the partial correctness Of the sview, there remains the other fact, TOT which an explanation Is easily found. The South emerged from the conditions oi prolonged Civil War in dire poverty. Real nronerty had been destroyed fertile fields had gone to waste, and ready money had been sacrificed or consumed. The South was poor. The men and women of today were the children of that period. Their early days were days of sore trial anu struggle Affluence has come to only eomparativeIy small number. The modest competence, or the comfortable income which has been acquired by very much larger number, has not driven out the idea of poverty which prohibits wloer enterprise Many were nurtured In child hood on tales of former wealth, and many more have heard much of Northern opulence. The very influx of Northern capital and the free expenditure Of money by Northern tourists. have stimu- | lated the idea of the comparative poverty of the South, with the result that much less is done than might well be done to the Southerner's own great financial ad- vantage.
 Among those who have been more fortu- nate than some of their fellow citizens. this idea is dying out This is shown In the large investment of Southern money in cotton mills and in a few other branches of industrial development. But | the old idea semains with many, and | the little accumulation of few thou sands of dollars remains hoarded or Is placed in investment where returns are small but reasonably sure. An active rolling of the dollars to make them accu- mulate more dollars is not a general habit with the people of the South today' | But they really have more capital than they think they have.
 | Two elements contribute to the compli- cation of the Southern labor question;
 very considerable group of shiftless
 whites, locally known in some sections as
 "trifiin'" " and a very considerable group | of lazy negroes. Both can and do exist
 for a year on the result of a few weeks of labor. "A little work in the cornfieid a lt,tle work in the cotton patch, and ar
 occasional odd job enable thousands IT
 both groups to live and bring up family
 to follow in their footsteps. For thi' there seems to be no immediate remedy
 So long as a man does not become an ex pense to the community in which h' lives. there seems to be no way to obfgt him to do more than he sees fit. Int
 unused energy and the utter lack oi
 energy on the part of these groups
 white and black alike is burden whicf inc South now carries No community North, West or South, is entirely free from this element. but the South has 1t ir overabundant measure, and there seems to be no way for the section to rid itseli of the incubus by any summary process. Much would be done for the South II means could be found to send Into that district some hundreds of thousands Of industrious immigrants who would turn her fertile acres into prosperous httle farms. Much would also be done Tor the immigrants if they could be sent there The congestion of an important percent age of our new arrivals in certain locah- ties. notably in our Eastern cities, holds its menace of social and economic evils against which any government Is duly
 justified in protecting itself. The purpose for which these hundreds of thousands oi immigrants come to this country Is Det'
 torment of their social and industrial con- ditions. In no part of our lana car
 those ends be more surely attained thar
 in our Southern area. More than that
 1t Is equally true that in no other secuoi
 can those ends be attained with so htti'
 danger and so great an advantage 10 oul
 national welfare These new people ar'
 needed in the South.