Palatka daily news. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1919-1994, 1919-10-21
HOW SOUTH'S GROWTH
HAS Been HELD BACK
LOGICAL SUMMING UP BY c. s,
UCKER
Section Just Beginning to Recover
and Will Outstrip West in
Development


in developing her resources were
discussed at the Chamber of Com
merce last evening by c. s. Uker,
executive vice-president of the
Southern Settlement and Develop
ment Association. He has made an
exhaustive study of the problem and
gave a very clear explanation Of the
many causes which have held back
this section of the country while the
rest of the United States has been
going forward.
Mr.. Ticker stated that the present
situation could only be explained by
reference to the history of the
country. Back in colonial days the
countries of Europe all tried their
hands at settling the country and
when they were through the mother
of colonies, England, owned them all.
During the natural course Of events
these colonies became an independ-
ent nation and from that time on
development had gone on along the
same lines as before the revolution.
The small farmers had settled in the
North and the landed gentry of Eng
land had come South.
No Equal in History
Those who settled in the South,
by the use of slave labor, built up
the most perfect agricultural struc-
ture in the hitory of the world. They
had a monopoly in cotton and they
lived like lords. The small farmers
from the old country settled in Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois and other agricul-
tpral states. The government had
millions of acres of virgin soil.
This was given away in lots Of 100
acres to all who would live on it for
five years The result was that the
people of Europe who came to this
country went West to get the free
land. The land of the South was all
privately owned.
The Civil War wrecked the struc-
ture which had been builded in the
South. During the time of the West
ern rush for land the great railroads
had been built from the East to the
West and when the immigrant came
to New York he was taken to the
West. There were no roads run
ming to the South and the steamship
lines from the old country did not
end at any of the Southern ports.
After the Civil War the South under
went ten year of carpet-bag rule.
The people of this section of the
country were so discouraged that
even to this day they are wanted to
live in the glories of the past and mt
the hope of the future.
Psyeology of Situation
The speaker dwelt upon the psy-
sociology of the situation. He said
that these great trans-continental
railroads wanted business. They
sent maps to Europe with the South
ern States marked black and advis-
ed the newcomers not to go to the
South, but to go West, where the
free land was located. The result
was that the home-seekers were
taught to believe that the West was
the only place where homes could be
found.
The South has never known the
value of advertising and does not
have sufficient faith in itself. He IL
lustrated this by saying that plant
er in Mississippi had told him that
land around him was selling for a
certain figure and that he would
take a certain price for his own
acres. When asked if he would not
sell for less amount if he could
get cash he replied that he would be-
cause the others were getting more
than their lands were worth. Mr..
Ticker declared that this lack of faith
in the South by the people who live
here was one of the greatest draw
backs to the section.
Millions of Vacant Acres
In discussing the present situation
the speaker stated that there were
now about 260,O00,000 acres of pub
lie lands and that they were mostly
poor lands because they had been
picked over for years and years.
Against this he said that there were
over 300,000,000 acres in the South
which had never been touched. This
land is known as the Atlantic and
Gulf seaboard lands. They reach
from Maryland to theRio Grande.
In the early days the cities were
built along the South Atlantic and
Gulf coasts where the rivers emptied
and where boats stopped on their
way to the hinterland. The vast
coastal lands were heavily timbered
with long leaf yellow pine. After
the timber of the lake regions had
been cut away the wood cutters be-
gan to saw the pine trees for the
purpose of building homes in the
great West. The result is that there