Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1907-05-18
immigration and NOxubee County.

One can hardly pick up progressive
paper these days without seeing some
editorial, article or letter on the advan-
tages of immigration to the South.
Here only in the civilized world is there
any large amount Of good land in a
healthful climate that is lying idle for
lack of men to work it and make its
produetiveness available. To get so
good land elsewhere a home-seeker
would have to go to some country or
section whose climate is rigorous or
enevating and malarial, or so far re-
moved from populated parts of the
world as to cut off its settlers from all
the refnements, conveniences and ad-
vantages of civilization, including the
nearness to markets.
We do not know what proportion of
land well worth cultiyating is lying idle
in NoXubee county but we do NOT be-
lieve that it is exaggeration to say that
at least one-third of the good arabic
land in the county is not under cultiva-
ton. And the consequent loss is not
only that of the owners of such land
Every man in the county loses by this
state Of affairs as well as the county's
own exchequer.
This is not good political economy
from any reasonable standpoint, any
more than it is economical to run a
thir.y-horse power engine at only TWEEN
ty horse because it may last longer in
the long event. That business-be it
mercantile, professional, agricultural
or manufactured, individual or corpo-
rate, whether it be private or public
is most wisely and proftably managed
and best conducted which is run at its
full working capacity,
We believe that Mississippi as a
State, is overwhelmingly in favor of
encouraging immigration to her lands,
provided the immigrants are of the
right sort. And no county in the state
is more vitality interested in this move
ment than our own NoXubee, because
no county has more potential wealth in
her borders, no county has greater
powers Of development and growth.
Some counties have more timber the |
delta counties have more fertile soil,
and still other counties have better
railroad facilities. But take Noxubee !
with her soil fertile enough to res
pond adequately generously would bet
ter describe it):to cultivation; withItim-
Der enough and to spare; with a climate
far superior to the Delta; with natural |
resources that will last a thousand years |
longer than those of the pine timber
region; with the certainty that, so soon
as her development warrants it, rail |
road transportation will be knocking |
at her doors for entrance; and with a |
citizenry that would predominant and |
govern and control no matter what new
element is introduced take Noxubee
with these advantages and these quail
ties and develope her full resources and
no county in Mississippi would quite
equal her.
Having these advantages and oppor-
tunities, the question before our people
is-what are we to do? No one will
advocate increasing our negro popula-
ton, so we have two courses to choose
tween, ~ to await the slow process Of
natural increase of population or ~ to
induce a good class of immigrants to
come here,
A review of the condition of the
county for the last twenty years shows
how slow will be the natural growth
and more important still is the fact that
by this process the negro will still
greatly predominant in our population,
Natural growth will preserve the rela-
tive proportion of the races, while i'm
migration of the right sort will produce
in Noxubee what an increase of white
population has done everywhere in the
South which is a betterment of condi-
tons economic and social, an increase
in material prosperity and freer life
e th, Co.,, t,-,,,