The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1914-06-19
OPENING OF The
STATE CAMPAIGN
SPEECH OF HON. L. J. BROWN.
ING, CANDIDATE FOR COY.
ERNOR, DELIVERED AT
SUMTER, WEDNES-
DAY, JUNE II.

In offering myself as a candidate
for the highest office within the gift of
the citizens of my native state, it is
only fit and proper that should state
to them, at this, the first meeting of
the campaign, my political affiliations.
l am Democrat, believing with all
my heart and mind in the principles
of this great party as formulated by
jefferson and practiced by Woodrow
Wilson. In state politics l know no
faction, being willing to take that
which is good and for the upbuilding
of our state, no matter from what
ource it emanates, but let it be dis
tinctly understood that there is not
coat-tail in South Carolina strong
enough for Lowndes Browning to
swing to. l am not the candidate of
any faction, clique, ring or newspa-
per; the views I shall express are my
own-arrived at after careful study
and painstaking research. l believe
| the changes 1 shall advocate will be of
great benefit to our state, and if
fail to impress them upon my fellow
citizens it will be on account of nv
lack of ability, and not because of the
fallacy of the ideas. You see I am
only plain farmer; have not made
my living by my jaw, but, since was
seventeen years old, I have been ac-
lively engaged in farming.
The duties of the governor are
largely executive. The legislature
makes the laws; the judiciary inter-
prets the laws; and the executive de-
partment, of which the governor is
the head, enforces Cor executes) the
laws. My experience as a member of
hn fotn I g., -.
two years of which | was chairman of
the Ways and Means committee, gave
me fair knowledge of the practical
problems of state government, and in
measure, put me in a position to un-
derstand the duties and responsible
ties of the head of the executive de-
partment. No avocation requires
more executive ability than does farm
ing, and no training could better fit a
man for the discharge of the respon-
sible duties of this great office, than
successful career as a farmer.
1t is upon the labor of the toiling
millions on the farms, and in our
shops and factories, that our great
civilization is founded. Yet it is the
farmer and the wage-earner who first
feel the effects of unwise legislation.
and, in the past, prosperity has been
slowest to knock at their doors. There
fore, it behooves the government to
foster and protect their interests by
constructive legislation. Thank God.
under the wise leadership of our great
president, we of the farm and of thg,
shop are about to come into our own.
But such has not been the case in the
past in regard to the national govern
ment, and our own State government
has done practically nothing along
this line. What are some of the con-
ditions now?
Plan for Farmers to Own Homes.
Our towns and cities are growing
at very rapid rate, considerably
more than the normal increase. Where
does this excess come from? We have
practically no immigration, and we
reed not cry over that either. If not
from immigration it must come from
the farms, the back country. What
Goes this portend? You know no city
can grow larger than its trihutar
territory will support and permanent
ly prosper. The white population Of
our rural districts is at a standstill.
1T was thus from 1900 to 1910, and
the same conditions continue today.
If this constant drain upon the rural
communities continues it means dis
aster, not only for the rural sections,
but for the over-grown towns and
cities. So the business man of the
city, as well as the farmer, is vitality
interested in the upbuilding of the
country districts.
We have today 10000 white tenant
farmers in this State. Who will gain
say the fact that each one of these
would be more valuable asset to So
ciety, were he a farm owner? He
would be fixture, naturally he would
take greater care of his land; he
would have a better home, better
barns, better stock and better tools.
His family would enjoy many more of
the comforts of life; his lands would
enhance in value and necessarily he
would be more valuable citizen.
How can the tenant farmer be helped
to become land owner? Let the
State lend him on longtime twenty
years-from 81 900 to $4,000 to buy a
home, let the interest be low, actual
cost to the State, say to 1-2 per
cent-for 1T is home owners and not
profits the State is trying to get. The
first three years require him to nav
the interest only, during the other
seventeen years let him pay the debt
In equal annual instalments. The
purchase is required to make this his
home, and should he move, be reauir
ed to sell to some one who will make
home there. To secure the money
for these loans, the State could sell
coupon-bonds bearing a low rate of
interest, for its credit, and not that
OF the purchaser would be behind
them. These bonds would then have
world market, large amounts of out
side capital would be brought into our
State; all lines of business would feel
the effects of this great increase of
money and be greatly benefited. The