The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1913-02-21

| Niooiooippl lOIllIo llU efCSpllOIl
. this rule. A small percentage {
this County cannot be profitabl
farmed owing to the fact that it i
what is known as"o ,erlwland On
Of the greatest enemies of the sout
and retarders of her development
the land shark" who procure
this worthless land for "a song an,
| induces the trusting and unWar,
to oinvest their savings therein witt
that avowed intention of. maxim,
their home there on as farmers.
While truthfully portraying The
productiveness Of the farming land,
of Mississippi, asa whole, ane
displaying maps and plats upoT
which his lands appear to gooc
advantage, the SHARK fails tc
acqllaint the prospective purchase
with the fact that at certain seasons
Of the year, the land ,heis selling is
partly or entirely submerged or so
wet as to render it useless for farm.
ing purposes Indeed it is not an
uncommon ,occurance for him to
loudly proclaim that the land is
"hign", using to Support his claim
figures showing the number Of feet
above sea level the land is located
but carefully retaining from men
tienitag the pertinent. fact. that
surrounding land has a much
greater altitude which makes his
ground low by comparison. The
'defrauded purchaser of such Ian d
comes, sees. and is conquered. In
the majority of cases he shakes tn
mud from ii is disappointed feet and
departs whence he came, breathing
maledictions on the South and all
that is contained therein. Thus,
has one who among US to make his
home, and to take part in the
upbuilding of our community and
state, been cheated and turned
away. The perpetrators Of such
frauds should be prosecuted to the
full extent of the law. But litigation
is expensive. The vctimis, almost
without exception, person of less
than moderate means who, eveT|
he may be cognizant OF hls'1
right to sue for recovery, hesltates
incur the risk entailed by instltuting
legal proceedings. So the shark
S left free to continue his ,nefarious
Ealing. Ia
Wouldgnot a part Of the money
spent by the various commercial 4
bodies of the South for booklets, 1
1emo lstfatings, exhibitions, ju-
,kets, etc, bring fully as much or
more desirable publicity to thelatent
of our undeveloped lands
S expended in prosecuting these
eeches who fattensat the expense
If innocent homeseekers and every
,onest resident and property owner
n the South? Such a course would
end to discourage the promoters OF
hese questionable transadtions and,
strictly adhered to-, would RID the1
.olmtry of the dishonest real estate
gent and the evils. which follow ind
lis trail. /
The average man, however, is
,onest and such a man or Companyl
# men lending time, energy and
apital to the promotion OF any
agitimate and desirable colonization
,roiect which insures to the colon
st productive lands equal in value
o the investment he makes, is a
,enefactor to the state and commun-
" concerned and should have the
upport and encouragement of all
ood citizens. /
At the same time, it iSplain to bel
cen by all thinking people that at
empts by prioate parties to -devert
immigration to the South or to any
ther location, in the main, fail to
ring results in keeping with the
mount of effort put forth. This is
ardly surprising when it is re-
rendered that that these different
are competing and there
pre- do not work in complete har-
,eny with one another. Ii
Ii would therefore, appear, that.a
otent agency impartially interestedS !,
, all the undeveloped tillable la4dfi
,ithing the state, working to ths4I
ole end of converting it into farms
nd homes for the honest, indus
rial agriculturists; an agency. in. .