Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-04-08
DOWN TO WORK.
immigration Commissioner Gives In
terestine Outline of Plans.

|
| teresting Outline Of Plans.
| BY an act of the South Carolina leg
islature which went into effect on Feb.
| &c there was created in the state a de-
partment Of agriculture. commerce and
| immigration. E. j. Watson Of Colum-
bia, a representative of the new gener-
alton Of energetic young business men
who are the impelling force back OF
| the recent awakening Of southern in
dustries and commercial activity, has
been selected by Governor Hayward as
| the first commissioner Of the new de-
partment.
Mr.. Watson has been in New York
| for several days on business connected
with his office. This summer he will
make trip to Denmark, Norway, SWe-
den and Germany, with a view to pre-
senting the advantages Of South Caro-
| lima as a field for the desirable class
Of immigrants who come from those
countries. Speaking yesterday of his
visit to New York and Of the circum-
stances which led to the creation OF
the department Of which he Is the
head, Mr.. Watson said:
MY presence in New York at this
time is due to the new conditions that
have arisen in the middle south, and
it is no unmeaning errand considered
in the light of the development of the
country. The rapid development of
southern manufacturing and the con-
sequent robbing of the fields Of the
white tenant farmer class, the demon
stration given last fall Of the depend
ency of the cotton manufacturing in
terests on the south for raw material,
not alone in this country but abroad
these and the tendency of the negro
to move to the centres of population
and thence to the east are the three
essentials to be considered.
1T is perhaps a strange and yet not
unexpected condition that the very
rapid development Of the manufactur-
ing industry of the particularly
in my state-should result in injury to
agricultural interests. The explanation
however, is easy. When we went
ahead and put nearly s4O,O00.OOO into
cotton mills, which could only be OPP
Grated with white labor for reasons it
Is not necessary to discuss, we simply
robbed our fields of the white tenant
farmer class and left the agricultural
interests in such condition as to de-
mand the attention Of the state gov
ernment Then came a move Of Sully
and Brown which has revealed to the
whole cotton manufacturing world its
| dependency upon the cotton growing
states of this country, accentuating the
acuteness of a situation already seen
and realized. The farmers Jared well
and they have profited. Now they real
ize their power and their opportunity.
but they find themselves without the
necessary labor. and intelligent labor
they must have. They consequently
want something and want it quickly.
Another phase of this situation Is
the negro question. Our farmers have
always had plenty Of negro labor on
Ikl IL thnt ora
for labor with which to work their
crops. Having lost the white tenant
farmer for the reasons assigned. thew
have suffered the additional partial
loss of the negro farm laborer. This
is due to the fact that the negro's
tendency, in our state at least In the
last few years has been, first, to seek
the larger centres OF popuiatlon ana
commerce. In the cities he finds him
self poorly clad. irregularly and Ill fed
and a natural victim of immortality
the consequent sufferer from diseases
which tend to balance the death and
birth rate. Again, his tendency is to
seek railroad construction camps ana
to move north and east. The exempli-
fication Of this can be most strikingly
found in Washington and Baltimore
and even here in New York, the in
crease in the negro population in the
/
in the last two or three years.
"All of these things have combined
together with the appearance of the
boil weevil in Texas, to awaken the
agricultural interests Of the south to
a realization of the fact that some
thing must be done. The great need
is white settlers from this country and
abroad. My state has seen the situa-
ton, and that is why I am here. Our
| %l,ot ha ho1 1uoaNi1 ~
less an insect to destroy him is dis
covered. is likely to cross the Missis-
sippi at any moment and do what Sully
| has done this year. with the additional
feature that the effect on prices will
be permanent. They know that If the
weevil does come prices will remain
high, and that the danger of the pest
is an element in the situation. Thev
realize that they want diversified and
intensified farming. and. knowing this,
they have succeeded in establishing,
near the heart of the state, diversified
ton farm No. 1. by the Federal gov
ernment, under the boil weevil appro-
| priation.
Further, knowing the need Of intel
| ligent labor, the state has established
| it's department of agriculture, COM
merce and immigration. at the head OF
which I have been placed for four
|
| sirable investments and settlers from
north European and American points
to come to South Carolna-the real
garden spot of the world, possessing
soil and climate producing some crop
the year round. We have thousands of
acres of land lying idle at this time,
and it is the province of the new de-
partment to bring about their devel-
opment.
"The department has been fashioned
upon the best features of national and
state departments of like nature, and
the scope is broad enough to admit of
arise affecting industrial development.
Il am here now to set the ball in
motion toward getting that which we
so greatly need-intelligent white Ia
Dor of Saxon origin. The work, so
far is of constructive character. but l
trust it will be prolific Of genuine re-
suits. 1 am dealing with all having
any interest in the situation that is
attracting attention to the middle south
the southern France of America-and
thus far effectively. I am trying to
see all who are interested in any wav:
| for I feel that those who invest or
settle in South Carolina have bright
future awaiting them. When the
waste places have been populated the
act under which we are operating is
so constructed that we can turn our
attention to other plans of develop
ment as the necessity for them arises
New York Sun.
Dates May be Changed.
Charleston dispatch Of April to
Columbia State: 1t is probable that