The Semi-weekly leader., 1921-12-14

49, Souteioa hAOn9 represent n
per cent OF our manufacturing wealth
we are forced to conclude that, II the,
were not 80 bulky and their transpor
tation not SO expensive they would
like all other things grown in Missis
sippi or consumed In Mississippi. be
manufactured elsewhere. It is inter
esting to note that In this state, where
cotton Is overwhelmingly It's greatest
asset. the total value or manufactured
cotton goods for 1919 was IN round
numbers $4,000, 10000 "a smaller
/ amount than was paid by Mississip
plans as income tax to the Federal
government for the same year. Tn ,re
are a score Of towns In the Carolinas
In either Of which there is a greater
production In value OF cotton goods
than in the whole Of Mississippi, and
even during the terrific demand caused
by the great world war, Mississippi
factories in 1919 manufactured 2,OOO..
600 pounds Of cotton less than in 1909.
which year exceeded 1914 by almost
another million pounds.
Possibly the best indication of the
manufacturing strength of a state is
to be found in the horsepower devoted
to that purpose. BY this test, Missis-
sippi had in 1919 more than 5000
horsepower less than in 1909, which
year exceeded 1914 by 10000. In other
words, the worlds need could not
bring Mississippi, in the peak year Of
1919 in manufacturing industries, UP
to the year Of 1909, and the year 1909
as normal year was vastly in excess
Of 1914, another normal year.
The disquieting disclosures from all
these reports Is that in the ten-year
period from 1909 to 1919 Mississippi
has lost in population, in agricultural
development, and in manufacturing
enterprises. It Is time for us to in
quire, why do these losses occur? What
Is there In Mississippi that has caused
such condition so different from that
of every other Southern state? The
main answer, think, Is the almost to-
Tad lack or substantial enterprises In
the state. There were in the state, as
shown by the census report, in 1919,
an average number of wage earners
for the year OF $3.50, of which num-
her more than IS per cent was employ
ed in saw mills. This means that the
wage-earning class Of Mississippi is
practically negligible, and it means
that there is no local market in Mis-
Sissippt for truck growing or poultry
raising. An incident has been related
at each OF the meetings full of tragedy
o. our lot but typical as to every CON-
munity in the state. In meeting near
Bonneville during the summer. on re,
turning to town the speaker met a
farmer with load of as fine water
melons as could be grown, returning
home because he had no market for
them in his town, carrying them back
probably because the sanitary officers
in Bonneville would not permit them
to be~thrown away on the streets. This
is picture Of the whole agricultural
life in Mississippi. Practically the en-
tire states population is producing the
same agricultural products at the same
time, because in the state there are no
cold storage houses and SO few cal.
neries that nothing in the way OF small
agricultural products can be preserved.
It we had highly developed industrial
life such as is developing in every
other Southern state there would be in l
each community large population of
wage earners, consumers who would
afford a constant and steady market
to the farmers Of every community for
all small products of the farm and
garden, value almost equal to the sub
stantial crops. This value would be
surplus value. It would give ready
money td the farmers and would do
more toward enhancing the business
of agriculture and toward making farm
life happy and content than any other
agency which can be devised.
Profit Goes Elsewhere.
II we had these manufacturing In
dustries the state would not be losing
Its population. We can find little CON-
fort. as stated before, from the fact
that our negro population is less than
In 1900, because conditions that
brought the exodus Of the negroes
have likewise brought about the exo-
dus of the white population between
the ages of twenty and forty-five. AS
other parts of the nation develop in
dustrialty, the demand for labor IN
as the demand for labor in
creases. the price paid for this labor
increases; and, as the labor itself
flows in to fill the demand, agricul.
tural life is better because of the great
er market for agricultural products.
These industrial centers are able TO
pay more for labor than either the ag
ricultural or industrial life in Missis-
sippi will justify. Consequently, this
labor is moving to the profitable mar.
kets and it is idle for us to think that
In their moving we are increasing eff.
nciency. These negroes have gone
into the industrial life of the North
and East. where they are receiving
greater wages than they received in
Mississippi, but they are aiding in the /
manufacture of goods which we in Mis-. I
sissippi are buying, and we are conse- I
quently paying for whatever increase
In wages they are earning and what.
ever loss in efficiency may have result.
ed from their removal. In other words,
instead OF using the products Of their
handiwork in Mississippi at the price
prevailing in Mississippi, we are buy.
ing that product from the North and
East at the prices prevailing in the
North and East and whatever profit
there is to the manufacturer leaves
Mississippi and goes to those states.
Identically the same thing Is taking
away our white population. The Amer.
lean boy and girl who have worked
hard and secured an education are
looking about for the most profitable
field to engage their own talents. They
find Mississippi without cities. They