Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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MR. GADSDEN TELLS OF SOUTH'S PROBLEMS. Has been to Europe to Study the Emi grant at Home-Discusses Condi tions, Prospects and Need of Agricultural Settlers His Suggested Col oUization Plan At the annual meeting of the State Press association at the Isle of Palms, Mr. P. H. Gadsden, president of the Charleston Consolidated company, who bad been sent by Mayor Rhett to visit European countries and there to make an investigation into immigra tion. conditions, was called upon for an address. Mr. Gasden had already made a report to Mayor Rhett, which was published in the Charleston pa pers, but was not given much public iLy throughout the state and the mem bers of the State Press association were very much pleased at his broad ly intelligent discussion of the situ ation. He told of the need of labor, the need of immigration, the need of more liberal labor laws and finally of a population which will buy and build up farm lands, which are now being bought vety largely by negroes. He spoke as follows: "While the history of the immi gration movement in this state is fair ly wel known to you all, a brief re view of it at this time will serve a useful purpose. The question of im-i migration was first brought to the at-] tention of the public of this state by Mr. D. C. Heyward, then a candidate for governor; subsequently, in Janu ary, 1904, Gov. Heyward, in his an nual message to the general assembly, developed his ideas as to immigration. "By reference to that message it will be <seen that the recommenda tion of the governor to organize an immigration bureau in this state was based almost entirely upon the idea that such a bureau when established was to devote itself to the introduc tion into the state of home-seeker and settlers. Following. the recommen dation of the governor the general assembly passed an act which vas ap proved on Feb. 3, 1904, establishing a department of immigration and pro viding for the appointment of a com T missioner. Section 12 of this act provides: 'That with regard to agri cultural interests under this act, it shall be the duty of the commission er to secure those immigrants who desire to pu'rehase homes, become citizens of this state and build up ag ricultural interests.' "The original purpose, therefore, of the establishment of a bureau of immigration in this state, and the pri mary one, was to encourage home seekers and settlers, and with that end in view the bureau commenced its ope1fations and succeeded in intro ducing in different parts of the state quite a number of Scotch and other immigrants who became citizens of the state and owners of land. This * process was necessarily a slow one. Just at this time the supply of labor in the cotton mills of the state became so scarce that the Cotton Mill asso ciation of the state appointed a com mittee to supplement such supply by immigration from abroad and ap proached the commissioner of immigration with and offer to supply the necessary funds to pre pay the passage of cotton mill opera tives that were needed in the state. "Realizing that the introduction of home-seekers and settlers, while a natural and proper line, was necessar ily a slow one and appreciating that by the assistance of the cotton mills a large number of immigrants could be introduced into the state at one time, the commissioner accepted the offer of the cotton mills and went abroad for this purpose. The Wittekind's Trips. "You are familiar with the two trips of the Wittekind. Following the arirval of the Wittekind on her last trip, the business interest of the State, through the South Carolina branch of the Southern Industrial and Immigration aissociation, determined t-bat it was the part of wisdom to send three commisioners to Europe for the purpose of making a study of the con ditions underlying the immigra.tion question and placing the movement, if possible. upon sound business princi ples and on a permanent basis. The commissioners appointed were Ex Gov. D. C. Heyward, Commissioner E. J. Watson and myself. Unfortunately for the interests of the state and the particular interest of the immig:a tion question Gov. Heyward was pre vented from going and Commission er Watson and I went to Germany on the 12th of April. "Upon my return I filed a report with the mavor of Charleston. setting out the re%ults ot my inrestigaltion and( givin" my co)uelus1ous on1 the cen not attractive to them as compared with the wage scale obtaining in oth er parts of the United States, and see ondly and equally important, we were not prepared at this time to handle white European labor. I further re ported that, in my judgment, our ef forts should be directed to the intro duction of homeseekers and settlers, and, with this end in view, we should organize colonization companies to provide for them and take care of them. "From letters that I have received since the publication of my report I have been led to believe that what I must consider as a cursory reading I of the report has induced a number of people in the state to believe that the movement as a whole has been a failt re and there is n-o longer any use to continue the agitation of the subject. Why We Need Immigration. "It is for this particular reason that I am very glad of the opportun ity to address you today. I came back from Europe more impressed than ev er with the importance to South Car olina and the South of immigration. It was inevitable, in any great econ omic question as this, that there should be disappointments and even partial failure, but it has been the experience of the world that the sound and sane principles underlying a movement such as this are discovered and followed up to ultimate success. "There has been no change in the original purpose of the bureau or in the discussion of the subject of immi gration. It was originally projected to provide home-seekers and settlers. It was temporarily diverted in the hope of speedily supplying help to our textile interests. In my judgment every dollar which has .been spent up to this time on the introduction of immigrants into this state has been a good investment. In no other way could the subject have been brought to public attention and in no other way could a subject of this magni tude, which promises so much for the future of the south, have been rec ognized by the public as one of its great economic questions. "I think that Mr. Watson as com missioner deserves great credit at our hands in having kept the subject so prominently before the public. The arguments in favor of immigration are both politiel and economit:'?Ai tical, as offering the only permanent solution of the negro question in the South. "Ever since the war, we have re sorted to one expedient after anoth er in the vain hope of solving what we have all been brought to consider as the great negro question. Each one has proved temporary and u.nsuecess ful; the only permanent solution is to make this a white man's country; not necessarily to drive the negro out of the country; for one, I think this would be a mistake. I think that he is a most desirable laborer and his services should be encouraged. But in order to remove the influence which he exercises as being practically the sole labor in the south, we must in crease our white population. This is impossible to accomplish satisfactory by natural methods and therefore it is imperative that we resort to the ar tificial increase of our white popula tion by immigration. "The economic arguments sp rak for themselves. The South, since the war. has been rapidly increasing in wealth. It has built up-a great cotton mill industry and other industrial enterprises and the result is that at this time capital has outgrown labor. The South at a Standstill. "The two factors which go to make up the prosperity of a country are capital and labor. One must b.e as plentiful as the other. Today we are faced with the situation in the South that there is in certain industries, a signation for want of labor. At a time when the cotton mills of this state have never been more prosp~er ous. there are less cotton mills under construction than at any time in the last ten years. This, to a certain ex tent, is true in every department of our industrial life. "Our fanns have been largely drawn upon for wvhite laibor by the cotton mills and other industries at the expense of the agricultural inter ests of the state. One of the results of this has been, as shown by t'he United States census, that the nunter of ne gro farmers and land holders in this state has increased to a very consid erable percentage. eFarms Bought by Negroes. "If the present situation is allow eto continue and the white men are drawn from the farms by inducements f reter rewards in induhttrial een ter the results must inevitably be hat 'ne farm la:nds will be owned by hrounuutlle world inis shown that the culy suecessful way to handle ;uch a question is by colonization, and it is to this point that I particularly ish to direct your attention. 'I think from now on the efforts of our bureau should be directed to the advertisement throughout the .Korth and West and through the va rious countries of Europe, of the ad vantages which South Carolina of fers for the small farmer and the home seeker, both of climate and of soil and that the business interest of ur state should organize local colon ization companies in every county. 'It is the province of the public man and the statesman to arouse pub lie interest on great economic ques ion and it is equally the privilege nd the duty of the business man to marry them out to a successful issue by placing themb upon sound -b.usi ness basis "All of us realize that it is imprac ticable to enlist the active 'and sus tained interest of people in any great public questien unless it can be plac ed upon a safe business plane which tolds out the promise of a substan ial personal reward. It is this very Eact which has made the colonization plan so successful wherever tried throughout the United States. It not nly solves the public question of the introduction of immigrants into the state, bnt at the -zame tme it returns to the partiee. organizing such a colo aization company rewards which equ al, if they do not surpass, those which :Ntr be cbtained in other business en erprises. What We Need-Population. "Wha- we need in this state is pop alation. With population, we would have more railraods per square mile, more cotton manufactories and more industrial enterprises of every nature. There are hundreds of thousands of icres of goOnd licallhy fertile land whic.h for years have not been plant pln ed. My suggestion ic. that the busi ess interests of esch county organ ize a colonization company on a small basis of say, from $10,000 to 20,000 capital and obtain options on these lands at the lowest possible fi Yure. In order to success, the option price on such lands should :not ex eed $10 per acre. I believe that a majority of tbe;e lands can be ob ttined at from $5 to $6 per acre. They can be sold to a desirable celass of immirants at from $15 to $20 peri acre provided they are sold on easy nd long terms. The Plan Proposed. 'The colnnization company should make a special effort to look after the interests particularly of the first set. ters and see that they are favorably ocated and are given .every possible opportunity to make money.. After this is accomplished it will form a flu. dees for a large movement in that particular locality. Already suc.h a movemet has been started in Aik~ en and Chester counties. 'It is proposed by some of us in Charleston county, shortly to organ ize a. colonization company with a view of acquiring options on practi. cally all of the low lands in Charles ton county. The object of the com* pany will be through the agency ol the county drainage, commission, tc thorouhly dr-ain such lands and make them healthy. It is then purposed to build houses on such lands and invitE immigration. We feel satisfied that such a company so organized and operated on the plans which I havE outlined, will make very handsome eturns to the stockholders and at the same time it will reclaim the ma* laraia lands in Charleston and will give the city of Charlestion one o the riehest back counties which any state of the United 'States en.Joys. ''As an illustration of the possi bilities from such lands, I would call your attention to the growth withir recent years of the trucking interests in Charleston county and vicinity Within twenty years this interest, from a very small beginning. ha~ grown to proportions where the aver age for five years gives a crop worti over two million dollars and the net profit to the farmers of over nirn hundred thousanid per annum. The Drainage Work. 'The low lands to which I havE just referred. are, when drained, equ ally adapted for the trueking inter ests as the lands in St. Andrew's 01 Tung's island. and there is no reasor why such a plan if prosecuted on sound business lines, should not prov entirely successful. both from a pub lic standpoint and from the stand point of the individual stockholder. " There is already a movement or oot bracing eleven counties of this state to reclaim their low, swampy lands by drainage, and this will ulti m;itelv be donle. But the pr-actical qustinH lhas always aisen: what i to h (doe with 5uch lands when they address of this kind. to touch upoi O1ne as)eet of tile question. however. I whie.h it seems to m1e. deserves seri ous considleration at the hands of us all, and that is the necessity on our part of preparing the conditions throughout the state to make them at tractive and satisfactory to the new citizens whom we are inviting. "While at this time we purpose to devote our attention primarily to the introduction of the home-seeker and the farmer, still it is inevitable, that as the movement grows, we will 'broaden out our lines and use our best efforts to supplement the sup ply of labor in the state. Better Labor Laws Needed. "Before we can expect to bring in to this state any considerable number of white labor, it is absolutely neces sary, in my opinion, that our labor laws should be made to conform to a white man's country. Ever since the establishment of this colony, we have been dependent upon negro labor with the result that all of our legislation so far as farm labor conrteast are concerned, has had reference to an inferior class of workmen, and we have enacted legislation which seem ed to be required by the peculiar class of labor which we had at hand. "If we are earnest with this ques tion of immigration, if we have firm ly made up our minds that we pro pose to adopt a course which in sue ceeding generations will make this a white man's country, if we are thor oughly convinced of the propriety of introducing white laborers in our midst, the sooner we begin to set our own house in order, the better. "The conditions necessary for the control of negro labor would not be submitted to for a moment by white Ilabor, aid the first step which we should take, in my judgment, is to reform our contract labor laws and make them conform to states and countries where white labor is invit ed and prosperous. 'I was glad to see that this ques tion had been brought up in the Unit ed States court and that his honor, Judge Brawley, had decided that the act of South Carolina on this subject was unconstitutional. What I would like to see, however, is not that the act should be nullified by the courts, but that at the coming session of the legislature, the general assembly of South Carolina should repeal such act, thereby authoritatively declaring the public policy of this state on this sub ject. ''You can accept it without reserva tion that labor laws framed for an inferior colored laibor can :not and will not be acceptable to the liberty loving and liberty-seeking white man. ''In conclusion, I would urge upon you gentlemen of the State Presss charged as you are with the great re sponsibility of leading and largely moulding the public opinion of this state, to give the matter of immigra tion your serious and patriotic con sideration, as upon the attitude tak en by you will~largely depend the an swer t'o the question: Shall this for all time be a white man's country?'' Education. Southern. Farm Magazine of Balti more for June. Taxation for the support of local schools is the fundamental principle in American education, and any at tempt to obscure that principle is bound to introduce a dangerous can ker into American education. Money raised by local taxes for the support of local schools is more likely to meet the educational needs of the commun ity better .than monsey raised in any other way. Farmers of the country can afford to give'no heed to the specious arguments that, if made ef fetive, will bind the farmers hand and foot to a power in education and consequently, a power over thes indi vid:al that can only undermine the rihts of tlie individual. Trapped. Everybody's. A Boston lawyer, who brought his wit from his native Dublin, while cross-examining the plaintiff in .a di vorce trial, brought forth the follow ing: "You wish to divorce this woman because she drinks?'' "Yes, sir.'' "Do you drink yourself?'' "That's my business!''-angrily. Whereupon the unmoved lawyer asked: "Hiave you any other business?'' Barbecue. The undersigned will furnish a Ifirst class barbecue at Forks school houe on the 6th of July, and will be nleased to have the publice take no tiee and z':vernI themselves accord nl. In addition to a first class din ner futrther'O etert anent and amuse H. F. Counts. Calclwell Ruff. Capital $25;000. The Bank of Prosperit This Bank was established tune. It will so care for your i :ure, and you can have it when join the financial family it will I >f need. It insures you the best Make a ceposit today. E bank account. 4 per cent on money in the 5 Geo. Y. Hunter, President. J. F. Browne, ZT0. 614 The People's I Prosperit Paid Up Capital Surplus and Individual F Stockholders* Liabilities For protection of deposi H. C. MOSELEY, Fresident. M W. W. WHEELER, Cashier. Gi Better a conservative interes1 return when wanted, than a high about the principal. A National Bank is a safe Depc makes it so. Likewise our Boar of prudent conservative managen DIRECT G. W. Bowers. J. A. C. Kibler. R. L. Luther. M, A. Carlisle. J. H. Hunter. J. P. B We allow 4 per cent. per Department, interest p~ Pianos . AND Organs At Factory Prices. Write us at once for our special plan If you buy ether instrment throuh us, you~ staar make,eone Malone Music House COLUMBIA, S. C., For Catalogues, Terms, Etc. THE'EXOHA Main Street, Ne We submit the comparative fig and esteem on the part of a patr< June 14, 1906. Loans $137,193.84 Deosits 52,566.79 A GAIN OF OVER We, too, pay 4 per cent. in J. D. DAVENP( E. R. H IPP, Vic M. L. SPEAR M GEO. B. CROM YOUR B] THE NEWBERRYIF Capital $50,000 - - No Matter How Small, The Newberry I will give it careful atte applies to the men and tl JAS. McINTOSH, President. Surplus $14,000 Prosperity. :y, S. C. to assist you,in building a for money that it is absolutely se ever you want it. And if you >rove your good friend in tim service and convenience. tery forturne has grown/orn a savings Department.' J. S. Wheeler, V. Pres. Cashier. lational Bank y, S. C. - - $25,000 00 )rofits $5,000 00 . . -$25,000 00 tors. A. CARLISLE, V!ce-President EO. JOHNSTONE, Attorney. t on your deposit with its safe rate and A feeling of doubt )sit. Government supervision d of Directors is a guarantee ient. 'ORS: 'W. P. Pugh. Jno. B. F ellers. W. A. Moseley. Geo. Johnstone. H. C. Moseley. Dwers. . annum in our Savings yable semi-annually. - ALL KiNDS Df Plumbig Done on Short Notice J. W. W H1TE NOE DANK( swberry, S. C.. ures as evidence of confidence' >nizing public. June 14, 1907. Loans $195,441.13 Deposits 105,268.18 100 PER CENT. our Savings Department. )RT, Prest. ;e Prest. AN, Cashier. ER, Atty.. L.NKINQ! ~* SAVINGS DANK. - Surplus $30,000 No Matter How Large, Savings Bank ntion. This message h~e women alike. J. E. NORwOOD,