Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1912-03-07
ALIEN LAND OWNERSHIP

problem OF alien ownership OF amos,
and her legislature is engaged in an
effort 10 to pass a bill limiting or pre-
venting this privilege.
Mich can be said for and against
such a measure. To prevent QUIZ
siders from owning land in the stale
would have the effect OF keeping out
money" and that is looked upon as a
great calamity by those who have
lands which hey have been holding
in ~indIeness, and which they would be
prevented from selling at a big profit.
Mississippi lands are in a big demand.
No better investment can be made
a; prevailing prices. Dollars sunk in
Mississippi lands are not buried
talents, They are sale, secure and
sure to increase in number. Mere
ownership is profitable, without regard
to use or development, Those who
have held lands which cost them a
triAe can nov sell them for large
sums, and The competition between
outside and home purchasers, while
not affecting the values. will enhance
the prices at which they may be sold.
For the lew who own land which
they want to sell, a law prohibiting
alien ownership would be an iniury,
from a financial standpoint. These
will fight the proposition bitterly.
Laws. however, are made for the
many, at Ieastin theory, and should be
made for the many in fact, and a
law prohibiting alien ownership, as an
economic proposition, would be Of
benefit to the many. Lands held by
outsiders as an investment are in the
dead hand or mortmain. They are
never improved. Like much vacant
property held in cities, they are held
until a congestion OF population
crowds in and develops surrounding
or contiguous territory, and enhances
their value. They are withheld from
use, The price is put beyond the
reach Of those who would clear them
up and till them.
Alien ownership abolished, prices
would 90 down, actual settlers would
come and purchase, develope and till,
and values would 90 up. A decline
in price would injure the pockets Of
the few who are holding these lands
Tor speculative purposes. An in
crease in values resultant from the
cultivation of the soil, would benefit
all the people Of the state. If there is
any virtue in the ~postulate, the
greatest good to the greatest number"
the choice should not be difficult to
make. 1t resolves itself into a ques
ton of conflict between the interest Of
the many and the interest Of the few.
The land question is becoming
acute in Mississippi. Much Of the
lands OF that state are held by out
siders, who are Withholding them from
use against the day when the timber
on them will be more valuable, and
the lands themselves in greater de-
mand Tor cultivation. Of late lands
in cultivation have been purchased in
large tracts by outsiders, and at fancy
prices, The owners of these lands
were benefited, but the many will be
injured. Alien ownership means that
these lands will be cultivated solely
Tor pro6t-and profit alone will be
considered. This means no roads
no schools, no churches. no develop
ment, Only 10 make the lands pro-
doce as much as possible will be the
~o)iec,, and the profits will be sent
out Of the state to the alien owners to
be spent elsewhere. Like suppurat-
Ing pus, the drain and outflow from
this unhealthy system will weaken
the eotire body. 1t may enrich the
alien owners, but it will make Of the
actual occupants and users-the real
M s~sissi1pians, who do the voting and
who are concerned in the spiritual
and aesthetic upbuilding of the state,
as well as in its material develop
ment-merc Gibeonites, hewers oil
wood and drawers Of water for I'M
seen foreign lords.
The state that. lives at home and
which belongs to its " people is