The Anderson daily intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson, S.C.) 1914-1915, 1914-06-03
MUST ELEVATE NEGROES
TO PROTECT THE WHITES
W. W. Loug Farm Demonstration Agent Points Out Need of
Raising Blacks From Shifless Class to Thrifty Tenants
Would Establish Long Lease System

lncn promise to use them, and thus
the negroes have sold the materials
; furnirled them and have kept the
mCnry.
The Real Solution.
Rut believe there is solution TO
fliis problem and not Il very dilfclilt
lone either. Let us lease land to the
NEGRO for term of say. five years.
making binding contract with him
10 permit him to stay on the land for
this length OF time. without any in
crease in rental. provided he will plant
winter cover crops. and use other soil
building methods which must be set
:or.li In the contract. Make nagrec-
mcnt In the contract further, that at
the end OF five years the tenant will
have the option of rc-renting the land
Tor another term Of years at reason-
! able increase in rental. I.believc that
If the farmers of the south will do this
! il will benefit our lands and increase
the community wealth To an extent
impossible now for lis to estimate.
But having rented the land to him
! on equitable terms and having made
provisions which will permit him to
become Il good farmer and our lands
stroy what we have done by refusing
to let him have money except at a
ruinous rate OF interest? II the white
farmer rises in arms against the man
who wishes to charge him 10 and y
per cent. for money. what must BE- the
feeling of the negro who has to pay
the enormous rate which the majority
of our people are guilty of charging
, him? 1t is little to be wondered that
he does not care to do anything to in-
prove his landlords place. Such usage
is not calculated to make men feel
, kindly toward those who use them So.
Money Question IL Factor.
Let us therefore make up our
minds once and for all time that an
essential step in solving the negro
tenant problem is the changing of our
system of loaning him money and let
us give him money on the same terms
oil which white farmers receive il.
These are the two main steps, leas-
ing land for term of years, and let
ting the negro have money cheaply. As
for our fourth requirement, that of
treating the negro fairly and honest
! ly-wlcn we have educated him. given
him a reasonably permanent tenure on
our soil and dealt with him equitably
In lin; ncial matters, we shall be able
to cla! Il with reason that we have full
| filled this fourth requirement.
Before concluding my discussion of
this question, wish to say, and be-
lieve 1t 10 be directly germane to the
tenant problem In its larger phases,
that am very strongly opposed to ne
! gro ownership of land. AS I said
when began, am not discussing this
| matter from the broadest point OF view
| but purely from the standpoint of the
white mans best interests. The owner
| ship Of sand Is the very basis and
! foundation Of this and all other civil
izations. III the negro is allowed to
! continue to acquire it, nay, If he con-
tinue to be diven to acquire land by
tenant system that offers the small
present system and those who oppose
est possible gain the devotees OF the
negro education may then we'll fear
! social equality.
Mere nwn Lands.
In the state of Virginia in 1910, 67
per cent. Of the negro farmers owned
their own laYas, the increase in ne
, gro ownership being 81 per cent from
1900 to 1910. In the "a lidewater
! counties of Virginia. negro land hold
ings have increased In 80 years from
about 5000 acres to i21, ,465 acres. The
total acreage of lands In Virginia
owned by negroes in 1910 was 1,629,-
600 about 10000 owned their own
| farms. The percentages for other
| states may be even higher and in some
cases probably are. Figures from
| tyu0 hnr 20
ehat 1t is no mere possibility that faces
ts, but an actual situation.
The negro knows that the acquisi-
tion of land is the surest way for him
to raise himself to the level OF the
white man. If he does not know it
his leaders know 1t, and instruct him
in the ways that he should go. We
find, for example. that Booker T.
Washington and other leading negroes
are constantly urging upon their peo-
pie the importance Of buying land
Furthermore, you will find that when
a negro buys piece Of land, as gen.
eral thing, he will starve himself and
his family for years In order to secure
a clear title and pay off his mortgages
he will lay for land with willing
Hess and persistence that he shows
in no other tranaction. And when he
has acquired The land, he will not lei
itu go. This tenncity is going to b,
nne OF cur future troubles II we con.
time TO sell him land.
know that many people consider
me hopelessly inconsistent when they
4 hear me, OH the one hand, plead foi
education and fairer and more homes
treatment Of the negro, and. on the
other hand set myself UP in opposi
tion to the acquisition OF any land b,
the negro. They will argue that It II
impossible to make first class. tenan
farmers OF the negroes without in
spring them with q desire to owl