The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1913-10-07
THREE COUNTIES
HEAR WASHINGTON
TALK TO FARMERS
Negro Educator Also Heard
With Interest by Many
White Citizens on
Farm Topics

Tuskegee Institute for Negroes has just
completed tour of portions of Macon,
Russell and Barbour counties to see the
condition of the negro farmers and the
relations between the races and to offer
advice to members of his race for the
betterment of their condition and to bring
about friendlier relation between white
and black people.
Leaving Tuskegee institute Saturday
morning in an automobile, accompanied
| by four instructors of his school and Rev
| A. f. Owens, director of the theologi-
cal department, Selma university, Selma,
| Ala, DR.. Washington delivered addresses
! to a large audience assembled at Mag
noia, Macon county, and spoke to $500
negro farmers at Hurtsboro and 1000 at
Scale. Russell county, and delivered his
| closing address Sunday afternoon in Eu-
faula, to 60o0 persons, including about 500
white people of the city. Owing to the
| immense crowds gathered to hear the
leader of the negro race, it was neces-
sary for the meetings to be held in the
open. One address was delivered in the
courthouse at Scale. but it was found
necessary for DIR. Washington to repeat
his address from the balcony of the
courthouse to more than 1000 persons
shut out from the building.
He was introduced at Hurtsboro by
Mayor Wheeler Williams, at Scale by Mr..
f. NJ deGraffenried, county superintend-
ent of education, and at Eufaua by
| Mayor C. G. Mercer.
| Among other prominent white men who
heard DR.. Washington and applauded his
address were Mr.. G. S. Davis. Mr.. ]. A
| Ellison. Mr.. W. T. Harbuck, Rev. II. 7.
Strout. Mr.. w. II. Banks and N. l.. Davis
of Hurtsboro; Judge II. r. Benton, county
solicitor Waddell. DR.. W. B. Prather
Sheriff T. G. Bush, Senator E. II. Glenn,
| Mr. W II. Holland, and others of Scale;
Senator George III. Dent, Senator Robert
Mouletrop, Capt. S. II. Dent, Mr.. Harmon
Lampley, Mr.. Hugo Schoss, and others of
| Eufaula.
| DR.. Washington said among other
| things:
"The fall months are perhaps the most
| important months of the year for our race.
This is the season of the year when you
receive the money for the years crops.
In many cases, you have been without
any large sum of money for Il months.
The temptation at this time is for you TO
spend your money foolishly. or thought
| lessly-money which you have had to
work hard to earn during the year. /
beg each of you to consider whether 1t
would not be wiser for you to do without
some of the things which you think you
want when you get your money from
1 the sale of cotton and put a part of IL In
the bank or invest it in the improve
| ment of your lands. or homes, or IN
| buying stock or something that will stay
4 with you. Do not yield to the temptation
| to spend your money. which you have
| worked SO hard for for 'gugas, cheaI
| candy, red ribbons, useless bugeies oil
| whisky.
| MANY of our people are so thoughtIess
that they spend the money received from
| the sale of their crops soon after get
| ting ii, with the result that they have
| to begin borrowing soon after Christmas
| in order to plant their next years crop
| md have to borrow in order to buy In
| many cases. all the bread and meat that
/ he family consumes simply because they
| have not learned to save the money which
| comes into their hands. You should re-
| member now, that July and August will
| come next year as they have come this
year. and you will find il increa sngly
| difficult to get someone to advance money
TO you. The white people throughout the
| south have about concluded that we have
l
| ourselves and they are tired of advancing
money for US to raise our cotton crops
as if we were SO many children
| From another point of view the fall
| months are the most important; in many
| cases in the past after we have har-
| vested our cotton crop our people VIII.
should be working, remain idle until time
to begin breaking up the land in the
| spring for another cotton crop. This is
/ a In In ~ ba
| can have something growing in his gar
/ den or on his farm every month in the
| year. Instead of stopping work when
] the cotton crop is gathered and spend
| ine the time in idleness, the time should
| be spent in repairing fences, opening
| bitches or whitewashing or painting
around the farm. Grain should be plant
| ed and above all, family root crop such
| rs rutabagas and turnips should be plant
! ed We should spend our time In 1ais
| ms care OF the stock, poultry. etc The
| farmer who occupies his winter months
\ IN this way is the farmer who will be
successful and independent. No business
| man can succeed who works only hail
OF the time, neither can the farmer
1.-THE average colored farmer In Ala
! bama works only about $50 out Of the 1865
days in the year. AS long as we make
this mistake we will continue to be poor
Just as soon as the cotton crop Is gath
cred begin to plan for the next year.
As | have above stated, you need not
put all of your money in the way that
| have mentioned, but be sure to put some
of your money so that you can get hold
OF portion of 1T in the spring and UNI
mer when you will need 1t badly.
| The farmer who spends his fall and
| winter months in planting and caring
for his grain and root crops and live
stock Is the kind of farmer that is
| of service to his community because he
produces wealth. and is the kind OF
| farmer who. when he sells his cotton
crop, does not have to send his money
out OF the county to be used in pur-
chasing grain and meat. The farmer
| should have something on his farm or
In his garden which he can sell every
week in the year Every time the
farmer goes to town he should take
something to sell. no matter how small
i or insignificant IL may seem TO be- In
this way you will get into the, habit of
| having some money every week, instead
of one or two months OF the year.
TO illustrate why we remain poor
| in such large numbers in so many OF
the counties of the south, | call your
attention to the following list of farm
and garden products which have found
being imported into Russell and Bar
bour counties: Cabbage from Virginia
and Florida, canned peaches and peas,
from Georgia and Maryland, canned to-
motoes from Virginia and Maryland,
canned corn from Illinois. Indiana and
Missouri. beans from Georgia, Ohio and
! Indiana. beef and pork from Chicago
corn hominy from Indiana, butter from
Illinois, pickles from Georgia, New
a md oh ieray