The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1906-07-06
WhY Not Join the Organization ?

WhV Not Join the Organization?
The question so often asked shout,
, ring with peculiar force at present
The fate Of the nation depends upon
+ its ultimate answers. The prosperity
Of the common people OF the country
T hangs in the balance with the god o
gold-greed. I'm the answer Is involved
the loyalty Of the American citizen
and the question whether or not We
shall be free and independent people
There sglory and honor at stake and
sentiment the underlying principle OF
all noble effort is arrayed against a
"cold-blooded business proposition
There have been many answers.
Two years ago, the farmers would say:
"you will certainly fail, you will never
stick, etcn Now, since the organiza-
ton has become a factor, controlling
about 10 per cent Of the total dark crop
in Virginia, and perhaps 35 per cent.
Of the finer types, we hear the fol-
lowing songs:
/. The warehouse is good enough
for me. ,. Sell what you have, then
III talk with you. 3. hope you will
succeed, but don't understand how
you expect to win in fight with the
Trust. 4. | am not able; it is a good
thing for people who are able
The first answer is not worth con-
sidering The fellow is asleep and
don't know it; he has tainted at the
very scent Of the Trust. The second
is that Of the shrewd business man,
the conservative man who hasn't taken
the time to inform himself and who
wants to be in the swim and will be
when he joins the Association. The
third is happy and satisfied and would
stop eating if the trust said it was
good for his health. lie evidently
believes that "where ignorance is
bliss it is folly to be wise.n The fourth
answers in an acknowledgment OIL
the necessity for organization and "A
confession Of the sad and lamentable
condition OF the farmer.
II is this answer which prompts me
to write, and to which 1 especially
call the attention Of our people. This |
is the cry Of the great body Of honest |
farmers outside the Association. They
admit that the destiny Of the tobacco /
growers for veal or woe is i'm the /
success or failure Of the organization. /
They say it is the right thing TO do
but they can't afford it. Is it possi-
BILE that a poor man can't do what
he believes to be right? God forbid.
Is the present system Of the distribu-
ton Of wealth right if it places the
masses at the mercy Of the few and
destroys the god-given privilege of do
ing right.
know what It is to be poor. Was
bred and born on a short grass farm
in the backwoods, surrounded by few
of the best environments Of life or the
broadening influences Of civilization,
with the scant comforts Of the log
cabin where anything but ash-cake
and butter milk was as foreign as ice
cream TO a buzzard. Thank God ! am
one Of the common peopleo Of this coun-
try. question the future Of this ma
ton if this class is forever down trod-
den.
Any system which forces a man TO
do wrong is rotten and must succumb.
No handful or set Of men are entitled
to profit at the expense Of the whole
community.
The present commercial spirit which
strives to crush patriotism and curb
the higher development Of mankind is
demoralizing and repugnant to the
institutions Of the South.
1t has a tendency 10 make a man sharp |
and shrewd, intelligent and smooth.
The prodigy Of the thirst for gold is
created and his officers are our person
al friends, but our task-masters, enc
mics to the general prosperity Of this
motto "self-preserya-
ton" They increase our burdens.
They used to furnish straw TO make
the brick, they now say gather your
own straw-saye primings.
The first crop of tobacco l ever
raised drove II miles a dark, rainy
night to reach the market, and after
paying warehouse expenses and the
commissions who sold IL
without my CONSENT / received the
sum Of IS cents for my crop-disap-
pointed, robbed and into the sea Of
gold where mingles the sweat and
blood Of the workingman went the
fruit Of my labor. "Et tn Brute
And thou Brutus who has been reared
on the bosom Of the State seeks 10 de-
stroy her.
Let us rally to the standard Of JUS
tice and line up with our neighbor
who is already on the forming line.
Hark Hear the roar Of cannon in
the clark and bloody ground % which /
is fast becoming a beacon light TO the
nation. JNo. {. HAMLET.
A Tragic Finish.
A watchman's neglect permitted "A