The Nashville globe. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1906-193?, 1917-03-09

America, but it was not ID use I'M
North America until the European
emigrants began to colonize in Ameri-
can, and then it was cultivated III
very small quantities as yard and
garden flowers, and afterwards very
small patches were cultivated for
home consumption, such as the house
wife might with her fingers clean
the lint from the seed and by hand
cord and twist it into thread. 1t
began to be shipped to England eai-
ly in the seventeenth century in very
small quantities. The New England
people built the first cotton mill In
1888 in the state of Massachusetts,
but if you will allow me to digress
just little, cotton, more than any
other product, | believe, was the in.
strument in increasing slavery in the
United States; hence, that course
that enslaved or increased the en-
slavement of the Africans in the
Southern part of the United States
dated from the period of 1893 when
Eli Whitney produced and patented
the first cotton gin, showing that
rom that date Negro slavery began
to increase. By 1896 more than ten
million pounds of this fiber was pro-
duced in the South This rapid in
crease continued, which caused ra.
p'd importing of African slaves, as
tbey seem to lie best adapted to the
cultivation of this plant in warm
climates, and as this was a staple
particularly adapted in the South,
the slaves were brought Southwark.
In 1901 South Carolina led all the
Southern states in the production of
cotton. In 1850 Alabama took the
lead. Mississippi led from 1860 to
1880. Texas stood in the lead in
1880. OF course South Carolina,
Georgia, Alabama Mississippi, Louis
lana, Texas and Arkansas became
the principle cotton states. Tennes-
see and Oklahoma came in for a
share, hence, as l am speaking to
you today as Tennessee farmers, l
desire to say to you what the captain
said to a stranded vessel in the
mouth of the Amazon river where
all on board were perishing for wa
ter, he signalled them, LET down
your buckets where you are" |
would like to say to the farmers of
West Tennessee, LET down your
buckets where you are and produce
this wealth-giving fiber In paying
quantities. The soil of West Ten
nessee, if properly handled, stands
ready to produce this fiber in such
quantities as will fully repay and
make its owners wealthy. Looking
back just a little, cotton was not
the paying product that the South
hoped or expected during the days
of slavery, but this was not the
fault of the soil, the fiber, nor the
slaves. Bad management must bear
the blame. Warm climates produce
laziness with the master, therefore,
he turned over the entire manage.
ment of his farm to the superinten-
dent and the overseer These men
in many instances were ignorant, dis.
honest and lazy. The slave, being a
slave, had no interest in the output
of the product and knew nothing of
its wealth-producing faculties. AT
the outbreak of the civil war in
1860 England was almost WIDELY de-
pendent upon the few Southern slave
cotton states for its industry. Dur.
ing this famine cotton rose in Eng
land to an almost prohibited price
1t was common thing for Ameri-
can cotton in 1863 and 1864 to sell
J as high as $1.50 per pound. The
, prediction was that when the Negroes
we're emancipated Southern cotton
would decrease to such an extent
that the world would have to look
elsewhere for it's supply; but, like
all other predictions made by those
who were opposed to the Negroes
emancipation, this prophecy failed,
and by 1870 the world was convinced
that Negroes could produce more
they had done as slaves. hence, today
we are producing three times as
much cotton in the Southern cotton
belt as we were producing the day
that Lincoln issued his famous pro-
clamation of emancipation.
At the present price of cotton,
there is no reason why each farmer
should not own his own home, cul-
tivate his own soil and live in lux.
ury; but if we are to continue the
use of the old poor mule or horse,
the worn out and broken plow starve
the horse, it must be expected that
our families are to remain living in
the old dirt floor and mud dobbed
log cabins and our children grow up
in ignorance. What the farmers
need today is fat, strong, teams
modern, improved plows, scientific
fertilization, scientific farming, we'll
built and well-ventilated homes for
our families, good barns foN our
stock, modern, up-to-date schools for
our children and sacred, consecrated
churches for our families. I do moi
altogether agree with the old adage
EARLY to bed, early to rise,
Makes Zone healthy, wealthy and
WISE"
but | rather believe in the old Ma
/. sonic idea: Divide your twenty-foul
hours into three equal parts; eight
! hours to work, eight hours for rec
reation and eight hours for sleep
: The eight hours spent in the LONE
with the family around the firesidt
reading up-to-date magazines, goOj
books and the latest and best weekly
journals is as equally profitable ant
: perhaps more so than the eight hours
, that are put in in hard work and as
, to the health and strength, l know
J the eight hours of sleep could moi
= be better spent. Yes, if the maste,
) in the days of slavery could produce
t cotton, pay for the slaves, hire the
I overseers, buy land, teams and tools
and live comfortably selling his cot
/ ton from five to ten cents per pound
y if the farmer of today would properly
| till his soil, properly fertilize it, HI
could grow much more wealthy THAI