The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1908-12-03

ss,ssSsssstt se.sssl,.
HhSs Ar6 - i(en to me To the note
worth y ~ recnrs oi the town. af AIonn,
Rasou In Mississippi, stopped q
Mound nafoa a year ago while gdih,
'ft6nfNouith fitfsf-s---+ERentys yxNf
hgo tNiE paSSs wac a wilderness. SNos
a thrfsinK and prosperous town 'ha,
Nbeen built, with a. thriving an,
! nrospSkcas country found about; an,
every man in the town, Ryery mar
in thSoountry round abSut, 'iS ,
! coloresS man, In the Planters Jour
nal ofMemEhis.sT enA.. a wkate man ).
paper, there is q description in al
! issue of couple IF years ago OF
Mound Bayou under the heading OF
"rhe most remarkable >town in the
South. Na;sThisapaper describes how
the town has been founded. popula,
ted and managed purely by men OF
the Negro race. II Is. n thriving
growing town of 1000 people. There
is not saloon nor vicious resort
of any kind in the town. There are
some 5000 people on the tract of
land Of which the town is the center.
This tract includes about forty square
miles. all OF, lit owned by the colored
peopts themselves Ten thousand
acres of land are in high state of
cultivation. There is q big cotton
crop. and in addition the colony pro-
duces four-tifths OF the corn and hay
1t needs, with many hundreds Of
horses. mules, cattle and hogs. In
the town itself there are six churches
and three schools. There is bank
with capital stock of $4,000,
which does thriving business. The
assessed value Of the land in the
town itself is nearly. $4,000. There
are sawmills. gins. blacksmith shops,
bakeries; all without a white inhabi-
tant in the neighborhood. =. The
people are prosperous and singular
~ iaw-ebiding. Their white neigh
bors have treated them we'll. The
county sheriff employs colOred man
to act in the town in the capacity
of deputy sheriff; and the railway
and express company have colored
man in their Office since the depot
was established in the town: while
the board of supervisors appoint
colored road overscers The town
has forty-four mercantile and bust
ness houses, big and little, of all
kinds, which do an aggregate arr
nual business of about six hundred
thousand dollars. Surely such
showing by an exclusively colored
community means very much for the
future of the colored race OF course
the founders Of the community were
picked men. Nevertheless it is an
object lesson full of hope for the
colored people and therefore full OF
hope for the white man is almost
as much interested as the colored
man in seeing that the latter rises
instead of falls. Mound Bayou has
taken the lead in establishing the
mississippi Negro business sLeague.1
Its members are mot coneent with
taking care of the Fbusiness intefests1
Of the community. They have re=3
Gently sent out a circular addressed
to the Negro farmer, the circular
being signed by Mr. Charles Banks,
the president of the Business League.
This circular concludes with the
following admirable advice: See, to.
it tRat yonr potatoes are wen Housed
for the, winter. XIII enough meat
to not he forced to call on the mer-
chant SO early as in former years,
and instead of SPENDING all the
money you have cleared from your
crops during circus, festival, and
Christmas times, or visiting places
from which you moved the year be-
fore, instead Of spending your money
for things that profit you nothing,
II you have no land, begin to buy;
if you have land apd are not out Of
debt deposit your money in some
good bank and prepare to meet your
obligations when due; if you have
land and are out of debt, buy more
or invest your money in some good
securities, or beautity your farms by
building good houses, barns and fen
Of hogs, COWS, horses and mules and
buy better grades. Purchase up-to
date farming implements whenever
practicable and learn to make your
crops AS good and as easy as the
ideal western farmer. When the
Negro farmer can measure up to
what ! have above Indicated, he will
be a happier and more useful citizen
and his white friends will delight
to have him in the land"
MIR. Knapp Of the Bureau OF Plant
Industry Of the United States De-
partment Of Agriculture, three weeks
ago secured a number Of copies Of
this circular because he regarded
the advice as so well put, so sound,
and 80 timely that ne wished to cir
culate it as far as possible: The
people Of Mound Bayou have done
admirably for themselves; they re-
fleet credit upon the whole country
and above all, they are performing
an inestimab1e service for the color
Il