The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1908-04-23

Mr.. Ii. r. Keith Gives Some Reasons
Why He Thinks State Law should
BE Enacted.

| WY me AhbnAs saAIe tAaN should
| BE Enacted
Editor Caucasian: Pardon me for
calling the attention OF the farmer
and well wishers Of the progress OF
our State to the importance of the
STOCK or no fence Law, as IL will soon
De time TO begin to make selections
Tor our representatives. Our State
VIII be advanced or retarded Just In
proportion to the class Of men who
we send To represent US, If we are
wise in making our selection. we will
prosper in proportion. IL we leave
this important matter to the ring
sters and peanut politicians, we will
suner as we have In the past.
What we need is men who are hon.
est and will dare to do their dut,
and there Is nothing that they can
do to advance the interest of our
State more than to give US a stock or
no fence law for the entire State. II
is well known fact that the scrub
by cattle, and piney woods rooters in
those counties which they are per-
mitted to run at large do not bring in
revenue enough to their owners to
pay for keeping up their fences
around their farms, to say nothing
of the timber, the young forest that
is destroyed, besides when they are
ready to fatten it is worth one of
them to get it SO it can be put upon
the market, then they bring the low
est price.
You will not find any milk and
butter in the territory where the
stock Is permitted to run at large,
and with few exceptions you will find
that the so-called farmers rarely
make enough meat for their own
use, while you will find in the sec
tions where they have stock law, al
most every farmer with his one or
two selected cows, well supplied with
milk and butter, his hogs in his pas
ture or lot keeping fat on as little as
it would take to keep them from dy-
ing if they were allowed to run in the
woods. The former without disease
the latter the distributors of disease.
destroying his neighbors stock with
out reward or profit to his owner.
One of the greatest drawbacks We
are confronted with today in secur-
ing the best immigrants from the
Northwest is our present mode of let
ting our stock run at large. / have
had some of the best farmers to say
that they would not have a farm at
any price where the stock is permit
ted to run at large, as the expense
timber with his stock liable to catch
disease from those running at large
made the expense too great for farm
ing to be profitable. 1t is only an i'm
aginary evil in the thoughts of those
who thing it would work hardship
upon the poor man to prove this let
any of those who doubt it go into a
territory where they have the stock
law and see if they can find any one
who would go back to the old style
of letting the stock run at large, and
l am sure they will be convinced that
it is all imagination when they thor
oughly Investigate for themselves.
If we are given the no fence law.
in ten years you will see all of our
waste places in the sandy belt of our
State with a growth of long leaf pine
that will be capable of producing tur-
pentine and rosin by the patent box
system that would bring the owners
more revenue each year than the
land would bring today upon the
market, besides it will help to re-
store our seasons which are becOm-
ing a serious problem, owing to the
fact that it is either too wet or too
dry, caused by the destruction of the
forest by careless timbermen often
followed by fire for the benefit of a
few cattle that is not worth what is
destroyed by such abuse on few
acres of land, then comes the piney
woods rooters to nip in the bud as
we'll as root up and eat the tap root
of the young pine which completely
destroys it.
AS it is at present those counties
that have the no fence law are dis
criminated against and are put to ex-
pense to keep up the fence between
adjoining counties, and if they wish
to ship out any beef cattle they have
to overcome opposition because they
come from a section where the stock
is permitted to run at large and to
| avoid this discrimination it is to
every county's interest in the State to
work for a general no fence law
throughout the entire length and
| breadth of North Carolina.
Respectfully,
B. F. KEITH.