The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-02-11
Facing a Crisis
Mclver Williamson Discusses
Conditions in the South

freed and enfranchised has the
south faced Il crisis So grave rs
tlle crisis whicl. she faces today.
II i not what th" boil wrcvii
has done or will DO TO cotton,
for il cotton has ever been a bless
ing 10 the south where nov are
It's fruits Less than Two years ago
Ia" Whole. south from Texas to Viz
.nia WAS selling cotton f"; over
10 cents For wei! over = yr;,! We
have !natlt. painful search for this
boosted prosperity. Without cot
Ton. ii would have been impossible
for th,. curse of slavery TO have
fastened itself upon the south. And
but for slavery. it is inconceivable
that this wonderful south could
today be the poorest part Of our
nation Yet when the boil weevil
strikes down our vanished idol,
We feel that the worlds turned up
side down.
From generation 10 generation
cotton has been our sole reliance,
; We have learned no other aGricul
turc: therefore. the scrappinS OF
this knowledge plus our much be-
loved credit system. IS 10 US a
greater event than the scrappinS
OF lll the navies OF all the world.
Against ollr will we have been torn
loose from our ancient anchorage
and have little idea where ". are
at or what TO do. for we can no
longer Judge the future by the past.
.Added 10 Ill OF this. The great debt
which cotton has devised to US with
her lo"c and detection IS surely SUI
t:cicnt to create an awful vacancy.
Just here is the danger point. that
We lost heart. give up and move to
town.
I. is not so mach what the boil
wcevil does TO cotton. as what We
shall permit him to do 10 Us. That
ing TO every section as we'll as to
every farmer that has fought him
with intelligence. is q fact we'll es-
tabliSilcd. as also is the fact that
the .Gle and ;il:ifrl"s> farmer viii
surely be weeGed out. The one
thing certain is that the remedy lies
+: in our own hands. and that no one
else is going TO get us out OF this
trouble And that TO the farmer
! who fights With industry. intelli
gence and courage Will cone SIC
cess according to his deeds.
Neither should our apprehension
over the boil wervil cause us to
/; overlook the fact that Il general
readjustmcnt necessarily follows
all great calanitics before normal
(, business can resume. and that un-
Ill normal business does resume.
| we can certainly make no advance.
Now. the high prices which We
have had We're in q part OF The war
We saw them in the Civil war, nor
did we see them again for fifty
years.
The farmer has been resumed All
the time he is now thoroughly de-
hatcd. Tt, farmer will get what
outside relief he does get from this
:; def.ation in the prices OF the things
he has 70 buy and frciGhts that he
! has TO bear. For j, does not seem
that the world is in a condition to
give uS hope Of increase in The con-
sumerS price of our produce.
That Europe is not able TO sup
ply her needs. murh less her wants
/, IS evident when We realize tfat
| half OF hcl. wealth has been wiped
! out OF existence as completely as
a ship tha, is burnt in mid-Ocean:
that th.u00.000 Of her ableSt pro-
duccrs have been slain in battle:
! that 10. .0n0 .00n more OF the wound
ed are left a further burden upon
her poverty: that the immense
wealth she has accumulated sine"
the wars OF Napoleon is absolutely
: destroyed For when property is
! burnt UP or blown up or shot up X
! is forever lost and the world is just
that much poorer until it is re-
placed by actual labor and paved
; by economy.
In order. rnat We may realize the
vastncSs OF this property which has
been accommodating for 100 ye;irs.
and the disaster which its sudden
destruction must bring. We men
ton that outside Of her fabulous
preparation. her economic and hu-
man loss plus the indemnify which
! Shs. must Vet ply. that Germany
spent on this WAY eight hundred
! ($S0o) dollars for every one Of her
90. .000. 900 people. while We spent
$50 per capita. S1.15u for each
family. both black and White. $500
600 900 for South Carolina. which
is more than her entire state taxes
since columbus discovered Ameri-
ca.
Therefore. we must not look for
relief from Il return Of the pros
pcrity which we have had. For 4
large part of this We got from
l:urol". Entirely losing sight of
the f;.cl hat those who later be-
came Our allies, We're th"n fighting
our battles as truly as their
! OWN: That their defeat would as
! $ur.dly have meant our invasion
forced by the conquered navicS OF
England. llaly and France. and
thar We TO-DAY would have hecn in
German suhicctior Yet our man
u:acturcrS fooL advantage, OF this
death struggle to c.,,oit "Xnrhit:nt
,t.ir.s f,n. Ihci,. munitions For il