The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-10-24

'S1 ~ W. ~ aZ1Id ~ i Y
nad never produced crops of fruits
because these We're impossible 10 ger
10 d prontabIe market. still lies idle
anu al the same price level as be
Icre the railroads were built. Ir i
rue that many of those who po away
come back home" like the man who
Went 10 Posey county, "Indiany." but
why 90 they go in the first place? In
answer TO that l have already given
You a fair analysis of the average
emlSrnt 5 nature. but now come To the
real cruX OF the whole matter-the
suggestion which awoke his impulse
ana started the train OF action. /,
We're a twice-told tale TO describe the
ways III which the suggestion to go
west is pressed apo the people Of
the south. Their natures are closely
s.uoled and appeal is made to just
'nose qualities in our people ! have
set loTth- 10 ambitious young men
i Is pointed I that their elders are
non-proSressive; that the only CO.
operation they can expect is that
which results only in taking from
them all they possess of means. time
and talent for a trifiing considera-
tlOn or none at all, and that they need
only to go West to be properly APP
preciated and helped forward. The
Western and Canadian railroads en-
ploy the best talent they can find
90 tiSiHS uleH ana pace millions
OF dollars at their command. They
are men who are not mere experts
IN preparing copy" for their adver-
Using. but who dig into the roots
OF human nature and, bv the almost
limitless power of suggestion, design
campaigns which chime in with the
inherent impulses and the circum-
stances OF the people they seek for,
Add to all this the work performed
by the commercial ORGANIZATIONS OF
the West and by a great majority
Of the individuals in the West and
you have an linking of the cumula-
tive power of persuasion which keeps
going emigration from North Carolina
and the other Southeastern States.
When | first set going the "Back
Home movement | ignOrantly sup.
posed that the railroads and all in.
terests concerned in checking the
outgo Of people ron the Southeast
and bringing people into the territory
would heartily join in the work. 1r
behalf Of a railroad I was then con.
nected with l pressed forward a cam.
paign in all the States east of the
Mississippi and south Of the Ohio anc
Potomac rivers, seeking to ginger
up the population both at home and
abroad to a point where the per
sOnal factor would operate in com
batting the work Of the Western anc
odIdoldu Id1IIOdOS, by offensive
tactics in their own territory and de
fensIve in ours. The purpose wa.
BADLY stated in letters sent all owe,
the West and in dispatches repeated
ly supplied to the press Throughout
the United States. The newspaper
Of the South quickly took up tn,
movement and a ready resnonse wa
forthcoming from all the States ives
Of the mississippi; but to my ute
chagrin there was not a dollar in sigh
when I resigned from the railroad t,
give my whole time to the work
had begun. This was a bit d~iscourag
ing, but as God hates a GUTTER. / die
not quit. Since the railroads seemed
TO care little about the
have undertaken to reveal to then
that which they, by inaction, by in
difference and by the a~ntiquated idea.
of those they have charged with tn.
important business Of increasing tn
density Of population on their line.
conference.-the Back Home move
ment-is, in It's very nature, a common
ground for cooperation between
themselves and the public; that al
though the general public has nevel
been interested in Southern immigra-
ton III the abstract, it is concerned ir
this movement. With that urpOs
| arranged with the Greater Charlotte
Club to call a meeting of the com
| AliC Vial wv - ~ OAiN
editors Of North Carolina. and at thai
meeting an Oreanizat1-n was formed
which should, when It gets down tC
business. make known to all the thou
sands who LAY written me from the
West the fact that North Caroline
is progressive enough despite the
heavy losses of her people to array
her resources and her opportunitie:
for homeseekers beside those of any
country in the world, and that W
have gone into the immigration bust
ness.
h time is opportune for the
Back Home" movement; but there is
no time for prophecy. no time fol-
feIicitating ourselves or making prom.
iseS of what we are going to do. Their
is time only for work, not for wish
ing; for action instead of theory.
w. D. ROBERTS.
Asheville, n. c.