The Colfax chronicle., 1903-11-21
FARMER AND PLANTER.
THE LABOR PROBLEM.
Complaint of the Scarcity of Labor
on the Farms of the South
is Quite Gcnerhs.

The complaint of scarcity of labor
Is heard on all sides. The farmers of
Inc south are feeling this scarcity
more keenly than any other class. The
reviews, magazines and the daily news
papers are all giving us learned es-
says on this subject. They assign
many and varied causes and suggest
very great variety Of remedies. There
Is more CT less truth in each and all
Of these; but we have as yet seen no
discussion of the case with which we
fully agreed. The scarcity of labor
which is so keenly felt by the south
eru farmer has come from several
causes. = or long time there mas
been steady flow of white labor
from the farms to the cities and towns.
Recently there has been such a strong
demand for colored labor to build rail-
roads, street railway lines, to run saw
mills and turpentine factories; work
upon the streets and other public works
of cities and towns, that steady
stream has set in from hefarms. While
many have gone directly to take jobs,
! very, very many have gone just TO iol-
low the crowd. This latter class has
filed all offs the cities and towns TO
overflowing with idlers and vagrants.
Higher wages andScity attractions have
drawn thousands away from farm life.
The result will necessitate higher wag-
es on the part of the farmer. And
: when he pays higher wages, ne VIII
have the right to demand better sery-
ice.
So we see that this may not prove
to be altogether injurious. IL 1t Should
result, as it ought to DO, in inaugural
ing a better class of labor, it will IL
che end prove great blessing. If 1t
should open our eyes to the fact that
absentee ownership is one of the great
est evils now existing in farm life. Too
much farming is done at long taw. In
dividual men own too much land. Ii
these large farms were broken up and
sold in small parcels, the country
would be greatly blessed. Every land
owner is a better citizen because nc
owns land. Hence the more land own
ers we have the better citizenship W.
will have.
Then let these land owners use The
best farming implements. Let then
learn to do more and better work b.!
the use of more brains and better ma
chinery. Let them sow down larg'
part of the country to grass, get liy'
stock to eat this grass. With bette
implements cultivate the remainder II
better style, and make larger yield pc
acre. In this way larger crops can b.
made at much less cost, and Wit
many fewer hands. These land owner
can do great deal of this work them
selves, and become largely independen
of the moving tide of shiftless labor.
But we can not discuss fully thi
question in this article. We desire T
say, however, that the above all goe
to show the necessity for better edu
cation on the part of the farmers. w
do not need to bring in the coolie labo
as suggested by a Georgia farmer. Sue
labor might make cotton, but 1t woul
not build up the social mental nor mora
nature of the country. They woul
bring with them worse race probler
than the so-called negro problem. Fa
better educate the southern white bo
to higher and better farming, tnan in
troduce any such low element anon
us.-Southern Cultiyator.