The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1914-12-11
SHOULD WE STIMULATE OR RE-
STRICT THE GROWING or
COTTON?

The letter that we print today from
Booker t. Washington is very ex-
cellent and timely one from his view
point, and the viewpoint of those who
agree with him, but rather than re-
strict the cotton acreage, our own
opinion is that we should stimulate
the planting OF just as much cotton as
it is possible for us to take care of,
for it seems clear to us that just as
soon as the wars in Europe, Mexico
and Japan are ended cotton is going
to be very much in demand, and If we
have enough of it on hand it will make
the south rich beyond the dreams of
avarice.
The cotton fields c. the south today
are vastly richer in our opinion than
the gold fields of Alaska, and. will
prove far more remunerative to those
who will undertake TO exploit them.
Suppose that the farmers of the
south had continued planting cotton
during the years of the civil war the
same as they did during the years
just preceding it, how rich would have
been the southern people after that
struggle!
They would have been so rich, in
deed, that they would have scarcely
felt the loss of the emancipated slave.
Then, again, why should not the
south make heroic efforts to manufac-
ture her cotton into the finished pro-
duct? She could then reap a double
advantage out of her great staple.
Why is it not possible for the peo-
pie of the south to manufacture her
great staple into fabrics the same as
it is done by the people of England
and New England?
A great opportunity is now present
ed to the southern people. Will they
be wise enough to seize it?
The south holds within the hollow
of her hand the greatest monopoly
the world has ever known. This is
legitimate monopoly-one that has
been given to her by the God of ma
ture.
The south does herself a grave in
justice when she sits idly down and
permits others to reap the larger ben
efits flowing from it.
Her ambition should be stirred and
she should be girded to action by
the example of Germany. Germany
proper is scarcely larger than Texas,
yet within the space of forty years
she has girdled the earth with her pro-
ducts. Germany raises no cotton,
and compare the south's immense
seacoast with that of hers.
Germany is almost nemmed in
from the sea, while the seacoast of
the south stretches from the Chessa-
peake Bay to the mouth OF the Rio
Grande, and the completion of the
Panama canal adds to her coastal OPP
portunities.
If Germany could have changed
places with the south she could cas-
lily have rid herself of her military
establishment and made herself mas
ter of the commerce OF the world.
How did Germany make herself
what she is? Not by sitting down.
folding her hands and talking of hard
times. She exerted every fiber of her
being. She used industry, skill and
frugality. Her students and her
scholars burned the midnight oil
From all sides and all directions her
people were fired by ambition. Made
in Germany" became a national slo-
gan. Fields were scientifically culti-
waited, gradually shops were estab-
lished and great ships were launched
and her industrious population went
out into the four corners of the earth
in search of trade and secured II.
What is possible for one nation is
possible for another. And as the
south has been favored by the God
of nature as no other nation, II she
fails to make the most of her oppor-
tunities she will have only herself to
blame.
God has placed in her hand a great
talent. If she does not measure up 10
her responsibilities, if she sleeps over
her opportunities. if she proves sloth-
full and buries her talent in the
ground, history will repeat ITSELF God
will hold her responsible as he did the
"slothful servant" on a former occa-
sion.
The south should bestir herself.