Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1921-08-04
HARDING AND THE SOUTH.

President Harding handed the South
broad-sijer when he gave out the
public statement that the cotton belt
was diseaseridden and faminestricken-
ed and directed prompt investigation
by the Health Department and the
Red Cross. So deeply was he concern
ed about the "pore-south" that he of
fered all the powerful machinery of
the government to go as first aid to
the suffering, paupers. We'd like to
know where he got his "dope' and
what he had in mind in making such
an un-founded statement. We are not
starving by any manner of means.
We have corn in the crib, meat in the
smoke-house, 1asses in the cellar,
butter milk in the spring house, yell
low-legged chickens in the yard, water
melons piled up in the shade, tomatoes
on the bush, beans on the vine, bald
headed cabbage laughing down the
rows, and green corn on the cob. We
have cantelopes by the thousands, and
mush melons a yard long, we have
beef, mutton and kid, and sweet pota-
toes spooning with each other for
more room in the hill, and the doctors
all getting poor because their pills are
unpopular with well folks.
Oh no Bro. Harding can't put that
on us. We've got plenty to eat and
we are well enough to eat it. We may
not be as we'll dressed as we'd like to
be but our merchants have got stacks
and piles of good stuff ready for US
when we get the rino to land the deal.
We've got cotton for all the world,
hogs to sell and cattle to ship and lum-
Der to let. We've got the best pros
pect for corn that we have ever had
and good cotton crop IN the making.
The thing we are short on at this
present writing is cash-old gold,
jingling silver and rustling green
back.
If Mr.. Harding wants to help the
South we'd like little reduction in
taxes first of all. We'd like to have
railroad freight rates cut down at
least one-third. We'd like for the
federal reserve bank, or some other
wall street institution, to loan US some
money at low rate of interest. We'd
like to have a market for our cotton
and other surplus products of the
farm so we could get some money to
pay our taxes and buy US some clothes
and lemonade. We'd like to have a
market for uor cattle and our hogs
and our lumber so that we could sell
them for more than enough to pay the
freight on the shipments. We'd like
to have tariff law that would not
rob the farmers in the interest of the
manufacturers. We'd like to find a
good patriot who would buy our liber-
ty bonds at face value. We'd like to.
have little bonus for our soldier boys
so that they might get back on their
feet and start over where they lift off
when they laid their lives upon the
altar of their country-that the. stars
and stripes might wave beyond the
Rhine.
We just merely suggest these things
to Bro. Harding so that if his investi-
cation finds us up and about he can
still prove his friendship to the South
by giving his attention to some OF
these pressing needs.
RIPLEY SENTINEL.
Brother Anderson, we heartily IN
dorse your sentiments so far as our
needs are concerned, but we do MT
agree with you on the soldier bonus
need. You were doing fine with your
editorial until you inserted "We'd like
to have a little bonus for our soldier
boys Right here you show iacoa-
sistancy; in as much as you are ask
irlg for reduction in taxes. We car
rot reduce taxes so long as we cen-
tinue to make appropriations. We
agree with Mr. Harding when he says
"this country is not in condition to
consider the bonus measure yet IT
would mean bankruptcy to our people.
What we most need now is reduction
of taxes, both Government, State and
municipal. The high rate Of taxes is
destroying all incentive to produce,
hence the millions of unemployed men
and women of our country today. Re-
duce taxes, change the income tax law,
SO as to incourage production, and,