The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1905-08-10

SENSlB[ TALKS 10 THE FARMERS
Governor Hayward, Pres. E. D. Smith,
DR.. w. J. Spillman, Mr. E. j. Wat
son and Mr.. Hyatt Made Addresses

/ ueSual WAS aS NciI dlttHGcu dS
meetings usually are III Columbia. 1t
has always been remarkable that peo-
pie of this community are not much
given to attending gatherings of Va
riOuS kinds. but there were about $50
people present and tor over four
hours they sat through the exercises,
interested in every word
The last speech. that of Mr.. E. d.
Smith, president Of the South Caro-
lima Cotton Association, made mark
ed impression and although the crowd
had been talked at for over two hours
when he commenced, yet Mr.. Smith
held them almost cntranced for an
hour and half, and even then they
were not tired.
There was another speech which
made marked impression. that of
DR.. W. j. Spillman, agroStologiSt Of
the department of agriculture. DR..
Spillman is a great friend of the south
and to the south. His remarks were
full Of heart interest in the welfare
of the south and while he makes no
attempt at oratory. yet he has mes
sage to bring and the story tells itself
in such way that it goes directly to
the thinking apparatus Of his audi
tors.
Mr.. Smith s purpose was to tell the
assembled farmers that they have Il
monopoly, that they should control
that monopoly by managing the mark
citing and be free men. and that by
the inpouring of more capital to the
south through better prices for cotton
there should be a more general diff
fusion of education to make the peo-
pie stronger and the country better.
On the other hand DR.. Spilman, by
holding up the ogre Of the boil weevll
endeavored to warn the farmers
against giving over their entire farm
to otton alone, for calamity may come.
There were several good speeches
made. Governor Heyward eycelled
himself in the graceful manner i'll
which he opened the meeting and Mr..
W. A. Clark offered some very
thoughtful suggestions in his address
of welcome. Mr.. +. H. Weston, see
retary of the South Carolina Cotton
Association, gave an interesting dis
cuSsiOn of the cotton warehouse plan
and Mr.. f. j. Watson, commissioner
of agriculture, immigration and COM
merce had an array OF statistics which
showed the advantages of South Car
olina as compared with the rest of
the United States. The same money
invested in South Carolina that is
invested in soil elsewhere would pro.
duce results more remunerative. Mr..
Hyatt made a very thoughtful speech
in a few words, as others had
said about all that he intended to
say. AS usual, he told some ance-
dotes to aid in digesting the solid
facts which had been psescnted.
Governor Hayward by invitation
called the meeting to order. He ad-
dressed few words of welcome to
the farmers and others present. He
felt very much like General Grant,
who was told by the little boy that he
could not 60 to Richmond, because Lee
was there; he could not go to Peters
burg because A. p. Hill was there; he
could not go to heaven because Jack
son was there. There was only one
other place for Grant to go-there
were no Confederates there.
The first of the regular addresses
was made by Col. F. H. Weston, see
retary of the South Carolia Cotton
Growers Association. whose subject
was Cotton Warehouses.
DR.. W. j. Spilman followed Mr.
Weston. The secret of the power of
this man over his audience is the fact
that he speaks out from his heart that
which he feels and knows. 1t is a
talk of successful specialist to peo-
pie whom he would have try new
ways to broaden the sphere and scope
of their work
Mr.. Smith, who was then presented
by Governor Hayward, began one of
the most remarkable speeches in the
history Of this movement, although he
showed the evidence of fatigue from
speaking in many places lately. He
began by referring to the fact that al
though "differsifcation" is being
preached by the advocates of that
creed, yet they do not tell us how to
market the stuff after it is produced
He referred DR.. Spillman to the condi-
ton Of affairs at Chadbourne, n. c.,
where the farmers had diversified and
had prospered until this year when
they had produced a little too much
and at the critical time there was no
transportation facilities. Then the
farmers of Chadbourne dumped into
the streams nearby thousands of dol
lars worth of strawberries because
they could OF get them to market.
From this he made the deduction that
while it is a good thing to diversity
yet it is well to restrict the diversifi-
cation to the mere raising of enough
to supply the needs of ones own fam
lily. Put the rest into cotton Judici-
ously.
In regard to the tardiness with
which this movement has been coming
OH, he said that right after the war
there was no money in the south. The
northern banker loaned to the south