The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-10
SUMTER COUNTY FACING PROBLEM Coming of the Weevil Will
 Mean Revolution MONEY IS PLENTIFUL County Has 2S,699 People, 1000 of Whom Are White-Many Land
 owners Are Now Will
 ing to Sell
MONEY IS PLENTIFUL
By WALTER HARPER

By WALTER HARPER Yesterday l outlined a rather gloomy prospect for the black belt of Alabama following the arrival of the cotton boil weeyil
 The people of Sumter county, mer- chants, landowners and bankers, admit that they are up against most serious proposition. The merchants and bankers tell me that credit Is easier this year than ever before. Extensions are'liberal and everybody with credit of any de- gree has money. The abundance of mon ey is given as the reason for this condl- ton.
 But with the boil weevil camping in the cotton fields of Sumter next fall and winter ready to attack the growing crop next year all this will be different. It matters not how plentiful money may be the bankers or merchants will not extend much credit on an uncertain cotton crop. Sumter county, like most of the black belt counties, needs people-white people. White farmers can grow cotton in spite of the weevil. Negroes cannot. They are easily demoralized and the average negro tenant never provides for a year ahead
 This year promises to be prosperous one. The cotton crop of Sumter should be very large and prices high. The negro tenant, who with the assistance of his landlord lays by a surplus and produces enough provisions to carry him through next year, stands a chance to weather the first shock of the invading pest.
 The population of Sumter county is 2S, 699. Of this only 1000 are whites. Most of these live in the towns and villages. The negroes are on the plantations. The main road from Livingston to Gainesville runs through the heart of the finest aAri- cultural section in this county. The dis tance is r miles. Not one white man lives along the way.
 This is a fair example of the conditions that exists over most of north Sumter
 Some of the more optimistic of the business men and landowners are sit ting as steady in the boat as they can, hoping that something may happen to ward off the blow Some even express the hope that the government experts will discover some remedy whereby the weevil may be exterminated. Others are just waiting to see what will happen"
 can see but one remedy: More people to take active management of the farms, grow more stock and feed stuff and ap- ply advance methods in the growing of cotton.
 But where are the people?
 We cannot bring them by force.
 Most of the large landowners in this section are now ready and willing to divide their lands with progressive new settlers, but it Is getting late in the day. The boil weevil will be here this year. To build up thrifty and intelligent citi- zenship requires years.
 The conditions that have existed in the cotton belt between the large land owners and the freed negro is the result of the war and habit
 The war caused a revolution in agri- culture in the south The boil weevil is working the second revolution. Nothing short of the weevl or war could ever have changed the condition that has ex- isted for the past 40 years.
 The planters formed the habit of land 
 encouraged in the habit of tenanting the lands and depending on the landlord and the merchant. The landowner cared only for his rents. The negro has been satis- fled with hand-to-mouth existence.
 He expects to move in the fall and takes no care of the land for next years crop. He takes from it all he can and puts nothing back. He learns nothing ex- cept through imitation and can cope with no new problems.
 So here Is the condition:
 The lands are as sterile as continuous crops and careless cultivation can render them, the tenant knows nothing of inn proved or scientific methods and the weevil will be here next year.
 It will take people-white, scientific farmers, to solve the problem. There are good farmers in the west and middle west that are ready and anxious to mi grate to a new country that has the eli mate. the variety of soils and the many other advantages that Alabama has to offer.
 Alabama can get these people if the proper methods are adopted. We must not only tell them or the advantages we have but we must prove 1t to them When they come seeking homes we should be able to show them what we have to offer.
 If a homeseeker wants alfalfa land. somebody should be able and ready to give him the information desired; where such lands are located, their general con- dition and prices.
 A number of the large landowners have expressed a willingness to subdivide their lands for the settlement of white far mers. They admit the impossibility of continuing the old system of cotton growing with the negro. For number of years the negro has been drifting from the plantations. Labor is already most serious problem. The boil weevil promises to complete the desertion of