The Kemper herald. (Scooba, Miss.) 1875-1908, 1903-05-21
SUGGESTED-A PLATFORM
COLONEL WEBB REVEALS THE INNER
WORKINGS OF THE INFAMOUS
PROTECTIVE TARIFF.

EsoNDALE, MISS, May 10, 1908.
Editor KEMpER HERALD:
N Having had to turn the last
one OF my sons the little one, as
the negro mill boys call him)
loose TO have a case of measles, |
hired young colored boy" jim"
to take his place. Jim and me
were plowing along side by side
last week, when Jim stopped his
horse and said: Look here, boss;
you amt gwine to plow Friday,
Sth O May, is you?" 1 said yes,
Jim, must plow; Abe Lincoln
didn't set me free when he set
your dad tree. | then tried to
get jim to take my farm and at
tend to everything like l have to
do, and hire me and give me
three meals a day and $3.50 a
mouth, like [ am giving him.
jim listened and seemed to be
ready to take me up until / men
toned that be would have to
stay at home Saturdays and Sun.
days and look after things, and
allow me to quit when | wanted
to aud go fishing or to sth of
May dinners, etc. When [ got
to that part of the trade Jim
k ic k ed out, "No sir, boss );
couldn't do dat"
have been thinking the mat
ter over and / have come to the
conclusion that jim has the best
hob, and he is not as well fixed
as ne might be. And looking
back | now see that few years
after they freed Jin's dad they
began tightening the screws on
me.
| read a conversation said to
have taken place between Gen.
Sherman and his brother John.
way back in the SOS. The
general was in favor OF confisca-
ting the Southern lands and
Furnishing the Southern leaders,
but his brother John said ''No,
General, that won't do; it would
give US bad name abroad. We
don't need those lands; we don't
know how to raise cotton. Let
them keep the lands and we will
see who gets all the profits. Just
turn them over to me and listen
to them howl when | begin
screwing them up in the wise. |
will make them wish they had
never been born"
So the General turned us over
to John and the civil authorities,
and the first thing they did to
"Old Blll' was to charge him
dollar a gallon tor allowing him
to make his own peaches up into
good peach brandy, and charge
him a big price on his tobacco.
Ot course he howled but they
didn't care-they seemed to like
to hear hlm howl. But as soon
as "Old Bill found that this was
all going INTO the public treasury
to help pay them tor whipping
him, he didn't grumblo much.
They had a hard time and heap
o. trouble before they did the
job, anyway.
But not being satisfied with
collecting money that went into
the treasury, they began to en-
force what they called protec-
tive taritf-that is TO say, they
began to allow the Northern
manuiacfurer to pocket all the
profit tnat "Old Bill" could pos
slbly make raising cotton. They
began pocketing a part OF the
price OF every nail he used, every
knlie, every plate---the tin pan
he used to wash his face in-in
tact, nearly everything he ate,
drank or wore. They have kept
this up tor the past thirty odd !
years aud they have become rich
and powerful. Their dollars are
like the sauds OF the sea, while
"Old Bi:l' has become poor and
miserable. Bpt he still keeps
pecking away, raising their cot.
ton. They have gotten him
down mighty low, poor old tel-
low; a lock OF iron, grey hair
sticking out through the top OF