The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1906-03-16

wealth nor even then unless method
are devised TO prevent waste and t
increase efficiency in every direction
The Prophecy OF Nautilus.
A century ago, one Nautilus, startet
the world by depictine the horror.
which would some day come fro
over-population. His theory was thu
the number of human beings increased
much faster than the means of
subsistence; hence, that disaster
must come in the natural course OF
events. II was not given him to foresee
how vastly the means of subsistence
would be increased through the inyen,
ton or labor-saving machinery, the dis
coyery of new crops and methods of
cultivation, and the improvement OF
the means of distribution.
So that many of the present-time
writers, having in mind the advance
OF science, speak in no little deroga,
ton of the teaching Of Nautilus as
narrow and grounded upon ignorance
or the vast, ever-unfolding resources
OF the world. Nevertheless Malthus's
warnings were not entirely unjustified,
and as applied to ourselves it must be
conceded that the thoughtful people OF
the United States have no more urgent
business than to make broad outlets
for surplus population upon the soil
and to train the rising generation so
that 1t will know how to make the
best possible use of natural resources
now wastefully employed or altogether
neglected Necessity, the prolific
N In mill u
continue to place in our hands new
tools which will multiply our power of
production; trt If we would escape
grave trials and hardships we must do
thoroughly and well the work which
needs to be done in organizing pros
perity for our people by means of
rural settlement.
The rural settlement, and all that
this term involves in its broadcast az.
division of land into
smaller farm homes, sufficient for the
support of a family from the soil, the
Investigation Of crops, and their ut
most cultivation and the improvement
and breeding up Of plants so that they
will yield their greatest product, the
utilization of every waste and unpro-
1uctive acre-in short, the settling OF
he entire country into small rural
homes, SO that each family shall own
/ piece of land from which he may
secure a living for himself and his
amily-this is the work than which
here is no more important question
,efore the country to-day.
The Empire of the South.
Now all this is merely Introductory
o discussion of the opportunities for
Domestic expansion in various parts of
ur great country, and of the need of
rivate and public enterprise in maxi
ng these opportunities available for
he masses of men, First of all, let us
0ok at that great empire which lies
etween Mason and Dixon's line and
he Gulf of Mexico. and, for the most
art, east of the Mississippi River.
A native of New England and
ltizen of the Pacific Coast. | never
lilly grasped the truth about the
outh until through travel, | saw and
anne to know things as they are. /
nee thought of the South as an old
ountry, vastly interesting because of
S historic associations, running back
, the earliest English settlements on
lis continent, but practically deve-
ped to the limit of its normal
rowth and possessing resources in
,rior to some other portions of the
MON, especially to those of the Far
lest.
The truth is something very differ
1T. In an economic sense. the South
a new country, with immense re-