The farmer and mechanic., 1915-10-12

men seeks 10 control all OF its raw |
ihdterlais; such. for instance as in |
IRON and steel. where the large CON
Germs own their iron ore. their lime |
stone. their coking coal and. in some |
.aSes' the railroads which assemble |
lhese raw materials out Of which % |
turn the finished product.
The complete breaking ID 81 tha |
"hole industrial system OF the d.y
me aoandonment OF every big shop.
ne immediate forcing back ~ ayer&
"orkma into mining his own ore
Ihaklns ms own bit Of pig iron or es-
"a hiishing his own machine shon
would scarcely he a greater revoIu-
ton than that which faced the agri
cultural South in 1865
Cotton Money Advanced.
Cnoer the conditions then prevail
ing money lenders advanced agains,
cotton only. They would not advance
a. oollar against grain or livestock
Ihere were two reasons for this Cot
ton was always salable anywhere. and
the money lender had in cotton gilt
edge security which he could cash in
with less trouble than anything else
produced on the farm He was not
! IN position generally TO handle the
| safe or foodstuds. but the world was
hungry for all the cotton he could
| tempt the cotton grower TO produce
| by his advances upon il. Moreover.
| very large percentage of the money
| lenders were cotton factors or com
| MISSION merchants. who had q double
reason for following this policy II
they could keep the planter large or
small, from growing his own food
stuf1s' they would have the profit of
| selling to him all that he required for
the maintenance of his family and the
l feeding of his livestock They thus
"grubstaSed' the planter~by selling
TO him at an eXorbitant figure all food
stuffs for man and beast his agricul-
tural implements and the mules with
which lie worked the land. They ha q
mortgage on the cotton before il
was planted. and, holding this over
the grower, he was compelled to buy
from them at their own prices and on
their terms.
1t was estimated that for many
years after the war the average cost
to the small cotton grower who had
to buy on credit in this way was more
than IS per cent higher than he
could have obtained the same things
for if he had been able to buy 70,
7 cash. And even now the difference i!
great enough to keep the in0ifferen
7 farmer forever poor.
That the South ever survived sucl
e a system and finally pulled itself to
/ gether and worked out of it is a,
:
0 cultural potentialities of this section.
= 1t is true that the small tenan
= farmers, Of whom there are abou
= 100000. are still handicapped b
n such conditions. Their crops ar
: very largely made on advances fror
n the land owner, the local banker Q
= the local merchant. For more tha
: SO years they have followed this sys
" tenn, until it has seemed almost i'm
n possible to break the tenant farmer
II away from the system of raising a
d cotton and buying all Of their food
e stuffS.
:, Small Farmer Handicapped.
The traveller through the Sout
- away from the railway lines can Sc
4 thousa nds Of small tenant houses
/. some occupied by whites and som
" by blacks, without a vestige Of gal
,s den: not a vegetable in sight, not
:; chicken or a pig on the place. Th
8 cotton crop as raised by these peOpl
ir requires less thought. less brain wor
A and less bodily work than any othe
~ important crop produced. And 50 Tn
~ element of the South, which has bee
\ the heaviest burden that il has ha
% to carry--exCept the demagOgic pol
tician, OF which there is g perenni:
crop-keeps on raising cotton al
= buying it's food supplies. The MOI
~ Intelligent pla as difIerentiate
~ from this system Of the poorer tel
,v ants, who to a large extent are
~ ! the more illiterate element, are amor
~ the best farmers in the land. The
"a raise to very considerable exten
~, as the old South did. their food SUI
10 | plies, and they are increasing the
va | production Of live stock as we'll
n of grains and grasses. They kno
70 the farming business as we'll as u
" most Intelligent Western farmer.
~ The more intelligent planters d
81 the ones who are redeeming the agl
o. cultural interests Of the South fro
"a the curse Of "all cotton. They a
- the ones who are diversifying its aSl
&c cultural interests, who are giving i
- creased attention to grains and grass
rs and cattle raising and food Srowln
~ They are the ones who are bulldll
- better homes, who are leaders in mar
on ! activities looking to natcrla! and ed
-" ca1iOnal beIternent OF their countf