The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-05-26
nY WILL. n. STEPHAN.

Selma, May 25.-(Special Corresponu- ha1 tionY Of the half dozen Selma people who were asked to suggest such plan tation for a brief study and a letter to The Advertiser not one Tailed to say something of the fine plantation or State Treasurer J. Craig Smith in West Dallas. Some of them mentioned other pssss pay Something ff ns of the splendid planta- tion of the State Treasurer in the Diack lands, twenty-three miles west oi
 ii required no discernment to find out that Selmians, and for that matter the people of Dallas County, know ol ana 5oas.sd gs1 f 3bev thiS may nHe This single farm is six miles from end to end. East and west from extreme to extreme is stretch of six mifes. tes nsaee meee wage Sas earners, share farmers and thelr Iainig ,is lies No less than five negro churches have been erected witnin tdtidn tne w,thin S4 ifs borders are more than 5000 or the rich and fertile acres of the Biack Belt There are six bored wells S ,ripais rh 1is fty. The owner may stand upon the high hill in the center of this domain 1 a high hill ornamented py eomnlour, ns"r,, 0us farm house and great modern barn that overlooks all the surroundlhs county and look about, but no matter where he stands upon that m nlli hts ne eanI fsnd ends and the land of his nelshDor Oe7
 The negroes who labor daily in the cotton ana the corn of this great Rlack Belt farm would, were they in Africa in the native state of their forefatIhehTis, ITS form an .r,Ps i%Pp0ithl1gf thaf need end n6s fear to . trv conclusions with any of it's rivals. The Negro Workers.
 >taf an entirely different stripe, hom omd work the piantation of MT. Smith. Many of thA AIa have been upon this same plaes rty and hfty systy yyeters' years sem rhsT were 9here When the father of MT. smith. 'rederick smith. also the TreasdSer gf the state , of ., Aia6amadi isssnrsad pf pfae{as,1si ee{dausc,11sio,h. that Is of education as the average negroes r;thyMet,c kn1w it, re"uis' The .place is dotted with. neat white cabins The day of the old cabin or iailine mud chinneysit asSaylng lae WaIYs SiaIY has Bassed for all time oa the smith place., even as 1t is passing upon all other plantations of Alaosma: & she reat Teat aaricuitural section is being shared py fine negroes who labor in the helds. The tariff policy of the EepuplIGiafgn rifg as fk wiiI hring profits to the manufacturer ana through him on down to the meeh5hlcs ,;els Cs and workmen is being exsnPliied Sn on fhe Alabama plantations during these days of agricultural prosperity Ihe negro draws his share of the farm prosperity. The negro Is wearing wear bs,orc pet he is eating better food than he eyer ate before, and he is lving m better houses than he ever occupiled l sg,a peru1ei; io- horer is .doing so well on some other plantations in the State as ne IS on the Smith place. where the necessary ,os os narro labor is felt and where affairs are Administered in a just way that contented labor may be secured, but ffiere Is no room to doubt that even as the white people on Alabama farms have prospered in recent years, so mas 4he conditions of the negroes been ma teria1ly benefited .,a.,.,o,, vooro than 15O negro houses. Every one Of these houses is frame structure with q brick chimney, shIngle rooi an1 tara d five homes for the negroes, who nave 6een accustomed to the old style cab sms with tho reeling, stick ana mua ~kffnneys gaping holes in the log walls eT,d with heavy wooden doors that can not be shut And why should not the negrnes have houses whose coniort , ! Eh0t,ld attract them, when lapor IS such a vital factor in the success or failure of the great cotton producing pl3h'"- { tions? ~ r,,..
 The old rail fence of the snake ana kworm variety has gone the way CT the log cabin on the Smith place, into ob- taivion. It was picturesque, even as the lold tread mill gin house, the wooden Snrew and the Jog cabin were pictur- gesau1, but 1t had to give way to the fusefulness and the economy or the tnodern fence of wire netting. There kare saId to be seven miles of wire fenc- 1n9 on this Black Belt plantation. A i great amount is needed, for the state Ssfreasurer has hundreds of acres .n tnnsturage, to accommodate some oi the finest hfooded cattle in the entire state
 He is a discerning man, IS the state Treasurer, one who looks Tar into the future and who is not given to nunI- ing rainbows or chasing butterfle3. 1T his friends were called upon 10 name the most striking characteristic Of the State Treasurer they would beyond doubt say that it is this solid and prac- fical common sense. Mention IS here made of this, attention Is here 1raWn to this characteristic. for the Sole put- pose of giving proper weight 70 the firm conviction of MT. Smith that this section of Alabama, the Black Belt and fhe prairie lands, are the chosen ana anpofnted places for the successful growing of grass and cattle in the South Here on this great cotton plan Tation where if anywhere else Of all ulaces in the South. cotton should be inc sole and only ruler, MT. Smith has been quietly but steadily working out his purposes on this belief and spend ing the necessary money to mako suc- cess assured ,..
 the Smith place have been steadily ln- ereasing in late years. What they are foday will hardly be a circumstance to what they will be ten years from now.