The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-02-20

Hutrh tue negroes tnem8eito9 nave subscribed about half of the money. There is now nine months school in
 Macon. At some of the schools farms have been started which have been worked by the farmers with the assist ance of the pupils and In this way money enough to complete the build fngs and prolong the school terms has been obtained. M At Sweet Gum the school farm rais- ed bale of cotton .on a four acre strip. The farmers have rented eight acres which they propose to farm next year for the benefit of the school Sam Baker. of Fillmore County, said
 that he had not been to the conference tor six years. Six years ago. when he
 came here he had s2 in his pocket and
 he was out of debt and he felt pretty
 well off. but what he had seen nad made him dissatisfied. Since that
 time he had purchased q tract of land and had a home of his own and now
 ne felt entitled to speak and 90 he had come back.
 s. T. Porvo. a farmer of Montgomery County, said he had paid for eighty acres since last year. But he reported that there was no school house in his community yet and school was held in the church. He promised that be- fore the next Conference he would do something to get school building.
 I. D. Poo another farmer from Banner. who claims to own 201 acres, says that he ''stocked one of his farm houses for school building"
 Nearly all the farmers reported that their neighbors were buying farms
 Joe Parker of Kowaiiga said that within a radius of five miles of his home there were thirty three negroes who owned their own farms. Similar reports were received from other parts of the state Indicating that there is constantly growing class Of thrifty negro farmers. %
 Lewis Gilbert of Prospect. Tenn. has 150 acres for which he has been paying s38 an acre
 ]. D. McDuffie, of ocaia. Fla, is the owner of 64z acres from which he ship ped sixty-five car loads of canteloupes and watermeions last year. The previ- ous year he shipped 10i car loads. he said The conference gave him severe cross-examination but he seem ed to understand his business.
 J. N. Sanifer. of Ethelsvilie, Pickens County. who always comes to the con. ference with something new from his community. brought handsome homs- spun blanket this year which he said his wife had spun from woil grown on his farm. He also had goat yoke ot wnicn ne presented Washington a
 One of the most interesting incidents of the session was a short address by J. H. Dfliard, the general secretary of the trustees of the Jeanes fund, a sum of $i.00e.o00 which has been given. ths interest of which is to be used to aid the rural schools. MT. Dillard was for merly dean at Tulane University, New Orleans. He is virginian by birth however, and has been all. his life. as he said himself in the schools.
 ''Dr Washington has told you.- he said about my work '.It Is an attempt to improve the rural districts. There Is new movement in education sweep ing over the country. It means that We must try to wed academic culture to work. That is true of the white people just as much as 1t is true of the l blacks You must get together and or ganize to help carry on this work"
 At the conclusion of the session. a series of declarations were adopted: sent by Secretary James Wilson of the Department of Agriculture at Wash ington, were distributed among the farmers so as to encourage them to diversity their crops and raise their own food supplies; and an old-fash- toned Southern barbecue for the re- freshment of the delegates was served them before starting for fhciF homes.
 The declarations urge the negroes to | own property: to improve farming fa- l! cilities: not to pass good business op- portunities; to educate their children: ] to keep before the negroes high stand | ands of morality; gratiflcation at the | movement. and a practice | of the elemental virtues.
 Tomorrow the Workers Conferencee | will be held. The discussions will be