The Twin City star., 1917-03-03
RACE PROGRESS
IN MISSISSIPPI
Farmers Hold Annual Meeting
at Utica Institute.
STORIES OF SUCCESS HEARD
Principal William n. HoItzelaw In VIC.
orous Address to Representative
Gathering Says South 10 Best Place
For the Colored PeopIe-tisaIth and
Home Owning Discussed.

For the CoIored PeopIe-HsaIth. and
Home Owning Discussed.
By HORACE d. SLATER.
Utica. Miss.-The usual experience
meeting Of former conferences became
this year, 1917. veritable school.
where men and women We'd with each
other in asking questions that would
make their burdens lighter. that would
make their community better and that
would put them all in position to rem.
der better service one to another and
to understand their peculiar problems
day by day. This in q nutshell de.
scribes the thirteenth annual session
Of the Utica institute farmers confer
ence recently held in this town. The
conference lasted two days and was
presided over by William II. Holtz-
claw. principal Of the school The
meeting was attended by several hun
dred farmers from the surrounding
neighbOrhOOds. Many educators. min
isters and other professional and bust
ness men were also in attendance.
Principal Holtzclaw in his advice to
the farmers in the south with refer.
ence to migration to northern centers
was pointed aud vigorous, but he main
tained that the south was the better
place for the Negro. However. he rec
ognized the right Of any individual to
change his residence If he thinks best
to do So =
The declarations adopted by the con.
ference were just as frank as the ad-
dress of Principal Holtzclaw. They
recounted the progress made by the
Negro, congratulated him thereon, but
did not fail in the meantime to point
out the need for the development of
the country round about them, the pre-
ventiOn Of SO much disease, the sup.
preston Of crime and the building Of
home life.
Problems of health. community life
and farm improvement were consid
cred in vigorous manner by the con.
ference. County Superintendent +. NJ
Coleman laid major stress upon the
importance Of agriculture in the life
Of the people. urged larger co-Opera
ton on the part Of the Negro minis.
ters in the large amount of uplift work
the Negro teachers were doing in the
county and told just what the county
department Of education was doing to
help the colOred people in Kinds
county.
The wonderful fertility of the soil
and the varied nature of the yield that
would be possible under intelligent
farming were demonstrated by Pro.
fessor George W. Carver Of Tuskegee
institute in a manner that easily made
him the feature of the conference. Un-
assuming. quite like a farmer in ap-
pearance. he hardly impresses one as
a member Of learned societies that
have for their object the promotion of
science He was the most pronounced
advocate Of diversifcation and Incl
dentally struck the national hegira q
hard blow when he showed what the
Negro farmer could do with the Mis-
sissippi soil the year round. Reducing
the high cost Of living would be an
easy matter If the farmers would raise
a goodly amount of their own stuff.
according to Professor Carver. who
showed how from the velvet bean
bread. coffee. candies and fOodstnff
could be made.
Concrete examples of the influence
the institute had exercised over the
people of the community were afford.
ed by>a number Of talks from farmers
present, typical among which was that
Of r. D. Morrison. who since the be-
ginning Of these conferences had pur-
chased a farm Of 100 acres. had taken
the lead In bis community near Ed
wards and bad succeeded in raising
among the colored people more than
$1,000 with which they had elected a
modern three. room school building.
To this julius Rosenwald added $500.
and lately blacksmith shop has been
erected. Cooking. carpentry and black
smithing were taught In addition to
the common school branches.
Henry Kennard stated that he had
always worked as renter or share
cropper and wanted to purchase a
home. He sought light from some one
In the conference who had succeed.
ed. John Tyner. who had been buying
a home for ten years. told how 1t
could be accomplished and made the
point that 1t was better to be ten years
buying a home than to rent twenty.
as many had done. Sam Field re-
counted an incident that illustrates the