The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1903-08-31

and stock. Or on the basis of a rental
in money or in cototn. BY industry and
economy, a number Of the negroes have
been able to buy land and mules OF their
own. but the great majority remain rent
ers or croppers today. A large number
even of those who own their farms are III
a chronic state of debt to the merchants
who furnish their supplies. These mer-
chants require this class of debtors to
plant a given amount OF iand III money
rron and they often employ inspectors
10 see to 1t that the crops are hep' IA
adeouate cultivation Thus they make
snre that the debtor will be able 10 settle
bic account in full or III part when the
avon is sold. In good years the farmer
is able to pay off his current debts ana
mans has a surplus left on hand But
when crops are bad OF prices are low
MORTGAGE must usually be made IN or
do. 20 secure the advance of supplies loI
a,other wear \ second year OF fallufe
n,ov .stao dish the merchant as an uh-
willing landhoider. and the DEBTOR as MS
tenant.
penting or Cropping But Temporary
The present system OF rentihs or crop
n,n, can be but temporary. Under II the
nesro is superintended in but nan
hearted way. Whenever he lalS tc ia1Se
= GOOD crop and to sell 1t at Sooo price,
No involves his landlord ana ms cfeul'ois
with himself in a common emparraSS-
mcnt. Furthermore, the average negro
cannot maintain himself as an lhuepeh-
dent farmer. because his ignorance IN
dolence and instability prevent MN from
managing his own LABOR III an eiiie'e'''
way. ,,o
The most promising solution lor tne
problem is the reestapilshlheht VI 'n' oi.
plantation system, with Some iorih Va
fired labor instead of slave labor. The
whole tendency of American INDUSTRY 10
coward organization for more efficient
management 1t is dead loss lor
Good manager to have no managing 10
DO IT is also dead loss for laborer
who needs management to have no man
ann,,ant The most successful grain
farnos in The west arc really plantations,
where GREAT gangs of men and machines
work under a single direction. A system
of small farms in the south would De an
unnroftable reaction from better SyS-
tom, in the past 1t would be lessenlng
or the net output in the staples and IN
he grain. meat and dairy products IL
is necessary to bring southern industry
in agriculture as well as III manufacture
ing to d modern progressive basis; ana
the plantation system seems to be the
most efficient for the purpose
| For the last thirty five years the most
progressive men in the country districts
| OF the south have peen moving to nearby
towns or 10 the northern cities IhlS
is disastrous to agriculture and a reverse
tendency should be set at work. uhoer
the present regime a hundred schools OIL
agriculture and darying would do little
good for the farmer boy now goes to
college only in order to leave the farm
for good Efficient managers can be al
tracted back to the soil only by some
arrangement which will offer promising
opportunities for management. A ne"
plantation system must offer profitable
and attractive careers to well equipped
men or the pine thicket and the sedSe
field will continue to be conspicuous fed-
lures of the landscape in the cotton beit.
wasteful methods will continue IN use
and the southern farmers and southern
merchants will ever lag behind those OF
the north and the west The colleges of
agriculture in Wisconsin, Nebraska ana
California have demands always pouring
in for twice or thrice as many luen as
they can equip 10 fiji the attractive po-
sitons which are offered upon the large
farms in need of managers. In Georgia
the college of agriculture has for decades
been without students, because the sys-
tenn of renters and troopers and small
farmers has prevented the rise of any de-
mand for agricultural managers.
Model Plantation in the South.
/ Yet there already exists a tendency
| for betterment in the south There are
several colleges of agriculture, like that
| OF Tennessee, which are drawing far
number of students; and the prosperity
OF these schools indicates that the soil
| is efficiently demanding number OF
| trained managers. Model plantations are
| to be found here and there, which are
most attractive as patterns. There are
! planters in the Georgia cotton belt, foi
| instance who have conquered the dlsln-
tegrating tendencies, and who at this day
conduct large plantations upon the Ole
| system of management. but with
hired labor. A few of these planta-
! tons are survivals from the ante
! helum period. Others have been organ
| lied as new enterprises by men of naturI
or inherited ability for plantation man
agement
am acquainted with a gentleman, horr