The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-07-12
NEGROES ARE NOT EFFECTIVE
Southefn Railway is Solving the Problem.
Mr. RisAaras Is DRinsiag Many Good Fsreagnsrs Tn a,A Cslenising
 EA~A h, the Various s&ei States.
BY 4. ,. STOPPER.

Washington. July l1.-(special.)- The question of immigration in this country is one that promises to be Of unusual interest to the business men and farmers of the Southern States durinGs the next deca1e, .. It is conceded on all hands that there is not sufficient reliable labor in the South to pave the way for the develop ment Of its resources .-at should take place within that period. And there is constant complaint that even now 1t is dimcult to secure enough labor to prop erly save the crops
 Only the other day, Henry Lissber- ger, prominent broker of New York city was here. just after an extensive trip through the South. During hts stay in Dixie. Mir. Lissberger says he paid particular attention to condition on the plantations. for the reason that 1t is to his interest 70 do 50. owing to the fact that he 2, many business
 transactions with firms in tat part of the country.
 Down 6outh," he remarked, lon all sides heard the one complaint-there were not enough laborers to do the work. It seems that the negroes as a rule fall short of filling the rsauire- ments. A cotton dea.er told mo that if he paid negro S3 a day the man would work one day in the week: if the pay was &l.60 . day. he would work
 two days perhaps. and if T. he might work three days, while if he were paid only 50 cents day. a full weeks work could be obtained. The negro
 flocks to the city and does not want to live in the country. He ould rather work for 50 cents in the city than 12 in the country"
 Southern Railway Work. The Southern Railway Company maintains in this city . very important establishment known as the Land and Industrial Department Its manager is M. V. Richards. A great deal of money is spent annually in securing desirable
 settlers in the states of the South through which the companys lines run. It 10 also the business of tho depart- meat to attract capitalists who plant
 factories of all sorts In the South.
 Within the pc st five years over 1000 factories. large and small. have been established. The progress made by hundreds of these factories has been truly remarkable.
 Mr. Richards commenced when only lS years of age to work with North western roads in attracting immi- grants. He was born in lows, But as his parents had gone there from Shenandoah county. Virginia, he con- siders himself more of Virginian
 than Northwesterner. In addition to the hard work performed by him here
 in separate building the company rents for the Land and Industrial Depart ment Ar. Richards makes a great many trips through the South He is a fore ible speaker. and Is called upon from time to time to address agricultural and commercial Associations in the South. His most notable addresses during the past years have been at Mobile and Knoxville.
 MT. Richards is a firm believer in having the farms of the South cut up. His contention Is that an owner of land can do better with 100 acres than with 800 if that owner only half culti- yates his possessions. To sell off some of the land to thrifty and energetic set tiers, he maintains, will enhanc. the value of what the original owner TO- tains, the community will be benefited. and in other words where ten farms are operated in a locality where only two or three formerly were kept in order, conditions will be generally im- proved.
 Small Farmers Needed.
 The aim of Mir. Richards and his as sistants Is to induce as many small farmers as possible to buy lands in the South. They are also trying to sc- cure large number of laborers from the European countries to como to the United States and hire themselves out to the planters. believing that 1t will not be many years before most of these people will have homes of their own.
 It Is well known hero that while the Southern's Land and Industrial De- partment will not miss a chance to sell big farm to a rich man from the North or West they are not specially hunting for such purchasers. As one of the head men said if a rich man in. vests from $6o,000 to $10O, ,0O0 fin a farm or plantation in Virginia. North Caro- lima. Alabama or Tennessee and ba. lot of property and cash behind him in