The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1906-04-12

A prominent Mississippian recent
~ referred to one Of the wealthiest
men Of the state as -FOUR uncrowned
king" and he is being lambasted for
such reference. Said prominent cit
izen may not have been far wrong, al
though not on account Of the man g
wealth, but what he was doing with it.
Mississippi is full Of uncrowned
kings and hundreds Of them are work
ing land on the shares or engaged at
day labor. Wealth should never be
the pedestal upon which to set a
man above his fellow men, but rather
what he is doing to deserve the pfau-
dts OF the people. The writer knows
personally men who own a quarter
section of land, work it themselves,
wear hickory shirt during the week
and are not only uncrowned kings
but good samaritans, and the whole
catechism of what man ought to be.
On the other hand, men of great
wealth are depressing the poor, doing
nothing for charity, church or any
thing else and are hardly fit to be
termed knaves. Let us hope that our
grand old state will never crown a
man because he has garnered large
lumber of dollars, and that, too, by
exceedingly questionable methods.
Every man is free and equal, guar
anteed by our Constitution and let
Mississippi be the last state in the
union to attempt to take away or add
thereto.
There are some several Mississip-
lans who are not satisfied to let we'll
enough alone. Two companies of en-
terprising citizens are engaged in the
attempt to make the bowels of the
earth yield up petroleum. At Barnett
near Hattiesburg there is claimed to
be something tangible to show for the
time and money expended. A nice
flow of crude oil is reported and the
well capped for fear Of bringing in
gusher and blowing the derrick and
well tools into the air. At Money the
well has gone down some several hum
dred feet and hopes range high. Oper-
atoms have been temporarily suspend
ed at Laurel and Enterprise, but will
likely be renewed during the spring.
1t is not at all improbable that rich
deposits of petroleum and gas may be
found by some Of these prospecting
parties. The belt which contains this
mineral at some depth evidently pass
es through the state and it is quite
likely that it will be tapped if the hole
is made deep enough.
A member of the legislature in
writing to his home paper said that
great number Of the members had not
the ability or the inclination to do
good and sufficient service for the
people. While this may be partially
true, the larger part of them have,
and some of those whom this particu-
lar member referred to, are likely
more efficient than he. Half dozen
members might block legislation and
cost the state thousands of dollars in
delay and loss of time and at the same
time accomplish no good for their con-
stitutients. A very good rule for the
people to observe in selecting legis-
lators is to pick men that you would
have manage the affairs of your coun-
ty or community 1t is pretty safe
to assume that if they could manage
smaller matters to an advantage, they
could also do good service for the
state.
The Mississippi division of the
Southern Cotton Association is being
strengthened every day and will be
in better shape for the campaign this
year than last. The value of this or
"a nj zation IN dollars and onntr to Tho