The Neshoba Democrat. (Philadelphia, Miss.) 1881-current, 1922-06-08


with, and we find 1t showing itself
In most every little Southern city.
No Mississippi has no monopoly
either on demagogues or political
scandal. And / cannot help hut be-
lieve that woman suffrage In Missis
sippi 10 going to have a purifying,
clarifying. "fumigating effect upon
our politics. / have always had a
kind ofheavenly conception oi South
ern womanh0od. and sooner or later,
Mississippi Ia In for q good political
house-cleaning.
Much has been made over the fact
that Mississipp's population h.ls
fallen off. For many years the trend
OF population has been from country
to city. and Mississippi could but
lose In such a shuttle. We are a rural
people to a higher degree than the
people OF most any other state, and
1t is only In our agriculture that we
must look for any great Industrial
developments.
And when we compare our agri-
culture with that OF other Southern
states we make an excellent sho wing.
In 1920 the value OF Mississippi's
farm products exceeded those OF Ala
bama by over $50, 100000 She raised
more cattle in 1920 than either OF the
Southern States excepting, of course,
Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri. The
potential possibilities Of Mlssissip.
pi's agriculture are exceeded by those
OF no other state In the Union. She
has the worlds greatest long staple
cotton belt. Her soils vary, Offering
undreamed Of possibilities In fruit
and truck growing. cerlals, dairying
and cattle. Her rainfall 10 abundant
and well distributed throughout the
seasons, and her climate has never
been fairly advertised to the world.
The surface OF our agriculture has
not been scratched, and In few places
can soil as rich and productive be
had at such ridiculously low prices.
Why bemoan the fact that we are
without great quantities of MINER
ais? Soil, climate, rainfall; there Ii
no greater combination OF valuable
and inexhaustible resources. When
the oil OF Oklahoma and Louisiana
shall have flowed into oblivion, and
the furnaces OF Birmingham are for
ever extinguished Mississippi will
still be feeding and clothing the hun
CRY, naked world. When at Muscle
Shoals, several months ago, learn.
ed that business men In that Vicinity
had agents in Mississippi obtaining
leases to lands having valuable de-
posits Of bauxite, which ia rich In
aluminium. History tells us that
Mississippi was the first Of the States
to mine lead; and while persistent
activities In wild-catting may bring
Ia a gusher, we must, nevertheless,
look to our future In agriculture.
And while profitable, successful agrI-
culture is our predominating prob
lem our political leaders go about
the State blowing about trusts and
combines. and Mississippi has fewer
OF them than any state In the Union.
About S5 per cent OF our people farm,
and yet there are people IN Missis-
sippi, and most OF them farmers.
who are gullible enough to swallow
this menace-of-the--money-power
stuff, while they and their soil, their
marketing. and farm development
are crying for Information and en-.
lightened leadership for putting ag-
ricultnre ona profitable basis. About
the first thing / learned under Taus-
sig, In economics, was that though
the tariff was an important issue It's
Significance had been much exagQer.
ated by Americas two great politi.
cal parties. So we I'm Mississippi
strain ut gnat and swallow Il
camel And then our BIG BUSI-
NESS 1--WE haven't any such thing)
thinks. on the other hand, that IL is
legislated against, and that capital
is driven away, when an honest In
vestigation will show that the laws
OF a number OF states, Texas for in.
stance, are more inimical to capital
than the laws Of Mississippi.
Some wizard 10 going to step into
Mississippi's political arena some
time, informed along agricultural
lines, familiar with the forces that
have enlisted one and one half mil.
lion recruits IN the America Farm
bureau. and posted on cooperative
marketing. that heretofore has been
confined to q few fruit and truck
growers. exchanges. and that has
grown 600 per cent In the last year.
creating rapid changes In the mar.
keting Of cotton and cereals. and
captivats the multit0des with Il new
vision; multitudes that today follow
. leadership Of either this or that