The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1907-02-16

1t had been turned over to film to use
in planting his crop, and he had at
once converted it into a vehicle with
which he was more familiar. The
terms under which land was sold to
these people provided that they were
to be given employment at daily
wages, IN so far as possible. and that
half the money thus earned was to
be paid them in cash. and half to be
applied to the debts incident to their
transportation I happened to be
present one payday, and witnessed
an incident which of itself stamped
the word failure on the enterprise:
A group of Italians who had been
engaged in *day work came to the
office and demanded all cash for
their weeks earnings. 1t was in vain
that the interpreter pointed to the
clause in their contracts, printed IN
duplicate in Italian and English,
which provided for only half cash,
and reminded them that time and
again they accepted payment accord
ing to its terms Their leader was
a great broad-shouldered. blue-eyed,
and fair-haired giant. He would lis
ten to neither reason nor argument,
and finally, with gestures which all
present understood, in a burst OF
I,
building on Sunnyside' if their de-
mands were not complied with. One
or two of the plantation managers
were present, and they offered to dis
pose Of the matter at once, if only
given permission. But the office
management took counsel with Off
cials higher up, with the result that
full payment was made, and disci-
pine and order nopelessly impaired.
Space forbids an enumeration OF
all the troubles which beset the situa-
ton. But the management could not
be charged with failure to provide for
the general welfare of the commun-
ity. Several miles of railroad were
constructed, connecting the various
parts of the property. A school was
built and Catholic sisters engaged to
teach the children of the colony A
church was provided and a priest en-
ployed to look after its spiritual
needs. On Sundays a church train"
was run, to convey worshipers to
and from their devotions, and during
the week school train, morning
and afternoon. gathered and redis-
tributed the children who attended
school. There was sickness, it is
true, during the process of acclimat-
learned to properly take care OF
themselves. But there were also
Italians in nearby towns who told
the colonists that they were being de-
frauded and imposed upon, and these
whisperings did their part in breed
ing discomfort After Mr.. Corbin's
death policy of drift was pursued
The shoemaker and the tailor and
the tinker removed to places which
furnished a better field for their &C
Invites than a cotton plantation.
Some of the colonists returned to
Italy. Some went off to nearby plan
tations, in Arkansas and Mississippi,
and became tenants and purchasers
of land, upon which have grown 9TH
er groups of peasant farmers Some
went to another part of Arkansas,
and founded the flourishing town of
Tontitown, of which the Italian Am
bassador has written glowingly in
certain Italian magazines. Some re-
NAMED. The ranks thus thinned
were filled with negroes, and thus
was developed an opportunity for
making the fairest test with which I
am acquainted of the relative emrits
and efficiency of the negro and Ital-
ian as growers of the staple which
contributes most to the maintenance
of our favorable balance of trade.
A Fair Test of the Two Races
1t was in 1893 that the Corbin es-
tate entered into a business agree
ment with Messrs. 0. B. Crittenden
& Co., cotton factors. of Greenvile,
Miss, under which that firm assum-
ed entire charge of the property
For the first time since Austin Cor
bins original purchase the business
OF planting cotton on Sunnyside was
in the hands of practical cotton plant
ers, rather than under the control of
very excellent civil engineers FROM
New England and the North. When
Crittenden & Co. took charge there
were SO Italian squads on the place,
with 200 working hands, cultivating
1900 acres of cotton. There were
zo3 negro squads, with 600 working
hands, cutivating 1000 acres of cot
ton. At the end of 1905. after eight
years, the cotton acreage had in
creased to 5000 acres OF this we
find 900 acres cultivated by SO negro
squads, with rs working hands,
while 10Y Italian squads, with 500
working hands, cultivated 5000 acres.