The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1945-09-06
THROUGH
HAZEL
EYES
~ HAZEL sRANNoN

ing publications since June through
a series of advertisements sponsored
by the Mississippi Agricultural and
Industrial Board designed to attract
new industry to the state.
Reprints of these advertisements
appear in this issue on page 3.
Director John T. Kimball, of the
Board, heads a well-planned and
intelligent campaign to enlist the
interest of money and industry in
the upbuilding Of our state and the
economic elevation Of our people
from the present standard.
We are aware that many people
are tired OF hearing about Mississippi
being the poorest state in the Union
and that sort of thing. These are
the people for the most part filled
with false pride and an unwilling
ness to face unpleasant facts. They
are disloyal citizens in that they re-
fuse to face facts and try to correct
existing evils.
Mississippi has come out Of the
mud and made wonderful progress
in the past ten years considering the
circumstances. But what are the
circumstances?
We are an agricultural state with
80 pei cent of our people living in
rural areas. We are members OF that
GROUP (half the farm population OF
the u. S. living on southern farms)
which produce only one-fourth OF
the total farm income of the nation.
Twenty-Five per cent of the nations
population living on farms gets only
seven per cent of its national IN
come.
Our Mississippi Forms Are Not
Productive Enough
Our corn yield is about Is bushels
an acre whereas Iowa two years ago
had an average of SIS bushels. We
brag about our progress in dairying'
and we have made progress, but our
average production per milk COW
is only one gallon per day. Milk
travels all the way from Wisconsin
across u state and through 1t to
market centers here at our very
door. Cheese, cooking oils, lard,
meat and every kind of processed
food is imported from other states
The cotton we grow in u Mis-
sissippi fields is ginned and the SEEDS
crushed here. But the value OF raw
cotton in cotton products is only N
percent of the value of the finished
article. If our people are to prosper
they must have jobs processing the
raw products of Mississippi. we
must have the mills to spin ana
weave the lint into finished cloth, 10
dive it. We must have the factories
TO manufacture the cloth into finish
ed garments.
If our raw lint Is worth only tn
per cent of the value OF a cotton
garment we must in justice to u
people get in on the processing thai
lends 921a per cent value to same =.
otherwise our people of Mississippi
and the south will remain exactly
where we are . virtually colonial
people whose chief job is furnishing
raw materials to the eastern INDUS
trial empire of the United States.
Now our Mississippi crude oil Is
being shipped from the state in tank
ears and refined in adjoining states
where these states collect taxes on
same. Freight costs Of shipment oth
WAYS is added and it comes back to
us higher in cost than it would be
If refined at home. At this time there
is only one refinery IN the state.
The same holds true of all our
minerals, forest products, cotton
seed oil.
The industrial picture of Missis'
sippi as far as the past record is con
cerned is even more dismal than the
agricultural record.
Mississippi is next to last, forty
seventh in the Union, in the amour
of manufacturing wages paid out
Our part of the national total is only
3 percent. A table showing per
capita income of eleven southern
states lists Mississippi at the bottom.
Thus we have a long way to go If
Mississippi citizens are to ever en-
ioy the benefits which come from
full employment at jobs using our
natural and our lands to
full advantage. We can never hope
to enjoy the income. educational ad-
vantages, health and sanitation stan
dards. of other sections OF the coun-
try until we get off our colonia
basis.
u:~L.1l ord hic uprkprS are