The Kemper herald. (Scooba, Miss.) 1875-1908, 1905-03-09


dustrial publication with the home Of
flee at Meridian, is neatly printed
and well edited sheet. It's field OF
usefulness is only limited by the lines
of the state and the writer expects
great good to be accomplished. Un-
der tile caption, "Greater Mississip-
pi," the following splendid article
appear on the first page of last issue.
Mississippi is today at the apex
of her achievements and consequent
prosperity; the development OF her
chief sources Of wealth has not been
partial or one-sided, but whole, well
rounded, complete; the past three
wears has marked great uplife, en-
bracing every interest, business and
calling; and every class has shared IN
the benefcent bestowment OF COM
mon prosperity. The farmer has made
money: the merchant has enjoyed
brisk trade and made good collec-
tions: the banker is satisfied with his
dividends, while the manufacturer IN
every line has booked all the orders
that he could fill at satisfactory
prices. These healthy material con-
ditions have been reflected in a hap
pier social condition, evidenced IN
more comfortable homes, bigger and
better churches, longer school terms,
better school houses, equipped with
hotter furnishings and better teach
ing.
''This happy and prosperous con-
dition is not due to any fortultlous
circumstances or discover of any new
source of wealth; there is in it all,
not the remotest suggestion OF the
western boom, but it is, on the other
hand. the logical result of compelling
causes that had been silently gather
ing strength through years of adver-
sity; it is the embodied triumph OF
the courage and faith and fortitude OF
a brave and loyal people who clung
to their birthright, meagre as it SEEM
ed to be, and transformed it into the
precious possession that is theirs to-
day.
Some southern communities have,
at intervale, during the past quarter
of century, blazed forth in daz-
zling glare of prosperity that but
deepened the shadows of adversely In
which our people were painfully work
ing their way toward the light; and
now and again we would hear voice
from these luminous heights chiding
us for our lack of enterprise, our un-
progressiveness, our inaptitude in
seizing and improving present oppor-
tunities; we did not yield up our In
heritance for the glamor of the hour.
The Mississippian believed in the cap
abilities of his soil, his forests, his
pastures and his streams to furnish
forth a resplendent estate when their
resources were developed; and while
he offered every legitimate inducement
to outside capital, enterprise and In
dustry to come and help and hasten
this development, he did not proffer
his estate in fee simple, for the price
of an evanescent splendor, nor did he
yield up to the stranger to be exploit
ed for his own enrichment. He had
faith in the ultimate realization OF
his abundant wealth and with patience
perseverance and hopefulness labored
constantly toward that day, which
happily now, has dawned and he has
a right to rejoice in the rich reward
that has come to him.
"On every side are seen the tangi-
BILE results of this patient labor and
steadfast purpose. The frame farm
house occupies the site of the ancient
cabin of logs; the smoke house is full
of home grown meat; the cribs are
full of corn, and sleek cattle browse
on every hillside; there is music in the
parlor and books upon the shelves;
the children are at school and my lady
goes visiting in her own buggy.
"In the cities and towns Of the
state the signs of a like prosperity
are even more manifest; electric lights
and water works, undreamed of luxu-
ries in the past, are now regarded as
necessary equipments for every town
out of the village class; a population
of thousand justifes the establish
ment Of bank, and there is not a
town anywhere that is not reaching
for larger manufacturing equipment,
The graded school system, rounded out
with a high school, is the common ed
ucational provision, while every am
bitious village not on railroad, has
one chartered to its gates, and is firm
" resolved to build it,
ssIn the lumber region, land once
only valued for stumpage, is now be-
ing sold at good prices for agricultu-
raj and horticultural purposes; truck
farms and orchards yielding rich re-
turns are multiplying around every
Meridian has organized company
with half million dollars capital to
build the largest and most complete
cotton mill in the state. Meridian has