The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1909-11-25
PRES. FINLEYTO FARMERS
Sees Great Future For the Farmer
and Pleads Against an Unfriendly
Attitude and Unjust Verdicts
"A r,ck Dn1

AtSituue ana Unjust VerdlctS
Against Railroads-The Railroads,
the Farmer. Manufacturer and
Miner Need to Stand Shoulder to
Shoulder.
Salisbury, \. c., Special.-in ali
address 2t 4 meeting OF farmers in
Salisbury on November Il President
Finley, of the Southern Railway COM
pany, took n very optinisti6; view ~
the future of agricultare@n ~
ern States. He begsni bSls -
No one can look fpEW4iN 1fhr'
future with greaf Tide, ii
Lealt the farmer "a, 81 my 6pinion
bErs Is no area q equif sxtent in
The world where the agricd ttfral out
look Is better than in QUE Southern
States"
He directed attention to the de-
pendence of all the peoples of the
earth upon the farmer for food and
clothing, tracing the causes of periods
of low prices for farm products in the
Nineteenth Century in large measure
TO the opening up of extensive areas
to agriculture and expressing the be-
lief that such relatively rapid increas-
es III the supply of farm products in
the future were not probable. Show
ing by comparative statistics the rate
at which the demand for cotton goods
is increasing, he expressed the belief
that I'VE may look forward to n time
III the not distant future when the
world will call on the American cot
ton planters for 20,000,00O bales an
nually,' while, at the same time,
there would be an increased demand
at home and abroad. for cotton seed
products. Yet he did not counsel the
growing of cotton 10 the neglect Of
other crops, but advised tlat the i'll
cerased production needed to keep
pace with the demand of the world
should be secured by more intensive
cultivation and by the growing of 9TH
er crops with cotton.
Speaking from the viewpoint of one
In touch with the relations of supply
and demand affecting different com
modities i'll the United States and in
foreign countries, Mr.. Finley. with n
Wow to making suggestions of practi-
cal value, emphasized the opportuni-
ties i'll the South for the production
of grains. hay, fruits, vegetables. live
stock, poultry and dairy products,
giving special attention to the market
opportunities for Suothern grown
cabbages, Irish potatoes, and sweet
potatoes. He showed that farmers in
some localities in the South were
shipping these products both to North
ern and Southern markets and were
finding the business so profitable us
TO warrant increased production.
referring to the dependence of ag-
ricultaral prosperity on supply ana
demand, he pointed out that the con-
ditlon most favorable to the farmer
Is one in which widespread prosper
lty prevails in our own and other
lands,H and that ability to reach Il
market was equally as important as
the existence of the market. The
farmer, therefore, had vital interest
in the highways from his farm yard
to the markets of the world. After
referring to the Importance of good
country highways, Mr.. Finley pointed
out that the interest of the farmer in
good roads extended bevond the wag-
on road from his farm to en- indus
trial or shipping center. and embrac-
ed all the railways and waterways
over which his products moved to
reach the final consumer. Pointing
out That adequate transportation
facilities were essential to increased
production and that the present rail
way facilities Of the South were now
little more than sufficient for meet
ing present demands. and were rela-
lively less than those of some other
parts Of the country, Mr. Finley
said:
''It is manifestlv to the interest of
tins section that the railways. as in
strumentalities of transportation,
should be built mp and strengthened.
Even superficial glance ut those see
tons which are most prosperous will
demonstrate that their prosperity is
largely based upon the perfection of
their transportation facilities. Those
producing communities which have
the easiest, quickest and most reliable
ways to market can sell quicker and
more certainly, and thus possess
commercial advantages over COM
munities less favored with means of
transportation.
"It is, therefore, short-sighted in
any community to permit any other
section, by a larger, more stable, or
more conservative policy, to stimu-
late and encourage, TO a greater ex-
tent than it itself does, the develop
ment Of transportation facilities. To
the extent that any community per-
mits this, il surrenders to its rival the