Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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MADE A LIVE TALK HOW MAY CAROLINIANS ENRICH RURAL LIEE PLAIN TRUTHS STATED ? CI lire nee Poo, Kilitor of the Progressive Farmer, ami Publicist, Took to the Conference for ''omiuoii <jioo<l, A Message to Coiumonwealth lluiltlers. Clarence Poe, editor, author and publicist, of Raleigh, brought to the Conference for the Common Cnrwt Wednesday, at its lirst gen?ral session a "Message to Commonwealth Builders," the burden of his address being, 'What Must We Do to Develop a Great Rural Civilization in the Carol mas?'' Mr. Poe has been editor of The Progressive Farmer since 1899 and chief owner since 1904. In his address 011 the subject "What Must We l)o to Develop a Great Rural Civilization in the Carolinas?" Clarence E. Poe, spoke, in part, as follows: What must we do to develop a great rural civilization in South Carolina? This 1 take it is the main problem confronting us at this conference for we must realize that if we are to develop a great civilization in the Carolinas at all, it must be a great rural civilization. In both North and South Carolina over 80 per cent of the 1910 population was rural; less than 15 per cent of the people were in cities. Let me come then direct to my point and say what in my opinion are the things needed?after the moral foundation is laid?for the full development of this rural civilization, i should say that we must? 1. Recognize tht paramount importance of this rural development and of all productive and constructive effort in State-buildinc. 2. We must have a great predominantly white population, and with \ neighborhood or social units composed of a homogeneous people. 2. They must be home-owning and educated or trained (both old and young) to a high degree of efficiency and productivenes. A. They must aim at the threefold program of "Better Farming lfetter Business, Better Living " laying especial emphasis on co-operation f since the dovlopment of social powei is our greatest lack. 5. This co-operation should manifest itself mainly in local or neigh borhood enterprises (conducted or the principle of patronage dividends and "one man one vote") a.id shoulc embrace co-operation in buying, pro ducing, marketing and rural credits 6. The agencies chiefly required ii carrying dut such a program are: (a) A better school system, wit! longer terms, compulsory attendance and with text books and teaching es peoially adapted to farm life. (b) More white immigration an< the grouping of whites and negroes ii separate neighborhoods as fast a public sentiment and reasonable leg legislation can act. (c) Plans for helping .vhlte ten ants buy lands and for encouragin; home ownership. (d) In each county a farm demon stration agent, a county superinten dent of schools, a county health offl cer?each employed his whole timehacked by a local paper and a count fair, wholy devoted to community dc velopment. (e) In each township a Farmers Union and a Farm Womans' Club, t encourage neighbors to co-onerat in every plan for business, educatior al, or social improvement. Encourage Productive Uabor. Now let us glance very briefly ? the various planks in this platforn In the first place, I say that if we ar to have a great rural civilization tli State and the schools must recogniz the importance of such a develoj ment and must shift their emphas from the less important work to tl: moro important work in building u a Commonwealh. They must recoi nize the fact that we have to-ds throughout the South too few mc who are creators of wealth and tc many who are merely traffickers i the wealth that other men are crea ing. When I was in Japan I wi struck with the fact that the old .Ta anese ethics give the farmers moi honor and a higher social rank the the merchant or the banker?the th ory being that the farmer is an actu creator of wealth, a man who actual adds to the store of the world's rlch< > while the merchant and the banke honorable In the degree that they ai needed for their purposes are neve theless essentially traffickers In tl wealth that others create instead i creators of wealth. I honor our merchants art,! lawye and bankers?T would not stir up ar class feeling?but must we not adm the soundness of the Japanese rea onlng? And when we put face to fa< with tho fact that tho Carolinas a reported two of three poorest Amei can States?with a per capita weal of $414 In South Carolina and $41 in North Carolina against a $1,3" averago for tho whole Unite 1 Stat ?must we not also admit that n all our hankers, lawyers, and mr chants can redeem us?simply b _ '"-Afc ? - - - - - - - . ? cause these businesses do not create wealth? We need lawyers, bankers, and merchants, of course, but the trouble is that here in tlie S. nth?in Mr. it. Beverly Herbert joined Mr. Tate in opposing any such resolution. Col. Aldrich finally withdrew his motion and the resolutions a3 presented by the committee were then adopted, a measure perhaps all over the country, ,but especially here in tlm South where foolish and ruinous ideas about the "dignity" of physical labor still persist?we have just twice as many men in these non-produclvi lines of industry as are needed, ifhile our young men of extraordinary ability and training are neglecting our great creative businesses, such a-* agriculture and manufacturing and all the others. Fiitcoiirago White Immigration. As for my next proposition, namely that to build a great civilization we should have a predominantly white population, I presume few will disagree with me. We cannot bl'n?l ourselves, you say, to the fact that the negro lias nowhere built up a genuine civilization or made any important contribution. .There lias not however been such a recognition of a fact which I think follows as toe night the day, namel/, that the more, largely predominant is the white clement in the make-up of the population the greater the percentage of whites we have in our population, the higher tlie type of the civil zaion we may hope to devlop. There are a thousand things to which you need to give attention in South Carolina, as we in Nolith Carolina, but there is nothing else half so nuch worth your at tout km as increasing the percentage of your white population. In twenty years, if the record of tlie last decade is maintained, you will have over half of you.' population white, but this should not satisfy you. Before that time more than two thirds of your population ought to be white?even if you have to spend tc*n million dollars advertising your resources and inviting thrifty Northern and Western white farmers to come down into what should bo on" of America's richest white commonwealths. Another policy that I regard as absolutely necessary both to retain our present white rural population and to provide conditions suitable for inviting further white immigration is that of segregatng the races in our rural districts. Throughout the South thousands of white farmers are being driven from their homes hy the growing number of negro farmers around ' them and the consequent lack of an adequate white social life. Wo must develop a public sentiment which will require negroes to buy land and group themselves in communities by indiscriminately sandwiching white and negro farmers together. . advocate this policy not only as vital tc j the welfare of our white people, but for the good of both races. For example, fifty negro families and flf' ty white familes together in a dis trict can only have half as gooc schools for either race as they coulc have if all the hundred families were of one race; and with regard tc churches, libraries, co-operative so j cities, social meetings of vi al civili 1 zation the same thing is tiue. 3 Practical Education. I said in the outset that our great est need is a predominant white pop nlnHnn irrnnnrH In wV?itA mmmnni g ties, homo owning and trained?botl young and oln?to a high degree o - efllciency. I have already referre< i- briefly to the need for making on i- schools practical, ,but tho subjec - certainly demands fuller treatment y The plain truth is that wo are no >- getting out pf our schools what w ought to get out of them, and we ar not going to do so until our Farmers o Unions and other farmers' orga^iza e tions organize a veritable rebellioi i- against the blighting medaovalism o the present system. I saw the othe day, for example, a not unusual bud it get of expenses for an American cit l. school system. It shows that flftee e cents of its every dollar ij spent fo Latin, eleven cents of every dolla :e for French, six cents for Germar and one cent for Greek?a total c is thirty-three cents of each dollar fo 10 these foreign languages, while one ip half of one cent in each dol'ar goe for shopwork and mechanical dral iy ing and less than half a cent fc ;n domestic science?thirty throe time >o as much spent to teach foreign lar In guages that not one boy in a hur t- dred will ever use, as to give trainin is for work that all should use. An p- all this in the face of the fact thj re so eminent a classical scholar as An in bassador James Tlryce in his ne e- hook says that half of the hoys wh al olndv T.ntln nnd five-sixths of tho? ly who study Greek never got ff es enough to get. anything whatevc r, from the literature. re Our farmers themselves, howeve r" are largely to blame. The law pr< ie vides for teaching such practiei subjects as agriculture and hygier and sanitation, but it is doubt fi rs whether one country child in ten no iy studies them. Here is a chance f( it our farmers to come forward ar 8- help a mighty movement along! T,< co them show themselves as progress^ re as a State Superintendent of Educ *i- tion who said to mo the other df th that a farm boy had better stu< 20 health than history and agricultu I 8 than geography if he had to cboos es Let us resolve on these things: ot 1. That every South Carolina far tr- boy over twelve shall study ag] o- culture this fall. 2. That every boy and girl over twelve shall study the health book. 3. That every girl who can shall study domestic science. 4. That three times as many hoys and girls shall be enrolled in corn club and tomato club work next year. Other planks in my platform of rural development dealing chiefly with matters of rural co-operation? are perhaps too technical for a general audience and it is better to elaborate them in speaking to aud'ences composed chiefly of farmers. I do i wlsli tn ninnlmsl'/o funt lirtn'ovm* that while groat results are to be achieved by better methods of marketing and rural co-operation, the South is still a hundred years behind the times in agricultural methods and we must continue to emphasize "Better Farming" along with Better Business." Statistics showed that in 1000 with exactly the same economic system and marketing methods in vogue in both North and South, the North Atlantic States farmer was making $500 more a year than our South Atlantic farmer; and that the average farm worker In the Carolines and Virginia, averaging a horse and a third apiece an dcultivating 22 acres each was earning $181 a year, whereas In Iowa, Indianna and Illinois the farm workers averaeed three horses apiece, cultivated GO acres and earned $GG3 a year. South Carolina of the Future. 1 must also bring my message to ji close without further elaboration ol the agencies needed for bringing about the great results I nave been advocating?first, a Farmers' Union or other farmers' organization in every township and a woman'0 club in every township, each "keeping everlastingly at. it" for these reforms; then a local and a county paper each devoted to community deve.opment; and then in every county three leaders of progress employed for their whole time and selcted for their ability, enthusiasm and expert knowledge without regard to politics. First, n vuuiu; i anu uciuuiisiraiiun ageni working all the time for better farming methods?improved implements and machinery, more horss power better methods of marketing, bettei systems of co-operation and a richei social life. Second, a county super intendent of schools giving his whoh time to the work of bringing ever: teacher and every school and ever: pupil to the highest degree of efllclen cy and carrying on a never-ceasinj ' campaign for consolidation, local tax ation, industrial training, school 1 i 1 > raries, corn clubs, tomato clubs, etc etc. Third, a superintendent o health, giving his whole time likewisi i to a never-ceasing campaign arains disease and all the conditions tha - promote disease. So runs my dream of the Soutl ) Carolina that is to he, the South Car - olina that it is our high privilege t< * help develop, a South Carolina pre dominantly white, predominant!; home-owning, u State of marvelou I productiveness, famous alike fo I great captains of industry and for th 5 high efllciency of its average worker > a State where science and the school " have made labor an art rather than drudgery, and have provided the ap preciation, the leisure and the finan cial well-being necessary for the dc . velopment of a high degree of cultur . and the finest flowering of native gf . niua. Hut her greatest source c ! strength I shall expect to llnd not i f her crowded cities, but in her whit \ country districts, in beautfiul home r girt about with fair groves .and gai I dens, approached by roads equal t any of which Rome ever boas'ed, an t set in communities possessing th 0 scnoois and cnurcnes and iihrarie e and lecture halls and all the eonver ,? iences of modern twentieth centur _ life; communities where characte n industry, thrift and service to othei f are the tests of leadership. an:l wher r 110 blighted poor begging, or bloate [_ rich idling, one and all enjoying y beautiful social life as fair as th n plantation life of ante-bellum day r but more robust, virile and derm r cratic; and where the spirit of brotl 1( erhood developed by working in c< ,f operation in matters of every day bu ,r iness has produced a powerful an fraternal democracy which will he tt ,8 best monument to all of us who ai f_ working and striving to bring tin ij. day to pass. This fruition of all 01 !S hopes may yet be but distant and di i_ descried, but with the eye of faith yc may catch a vision of its far-off boa g ty and in the truest sense it may 1 (I said of each of your workers today, the language of Israel's prophet. "I shall see if the travail of his roul ar w shall be satisfied." o / }e Seven 1 turned to I>oiith. ir Seven lives .were lost in a fi ?r which early Tuesday destroyed tl home of Joseph Paquet, at St. Jol r Parish, Tsle of Orleans, some fifte< ^ miles east of Quebec. The fire w caused by the explosion of a lam lo Paquet, who was terribly burned, ai ^ijone child, wore the only members w the family rescued. >r * * id Killed in Hallway Wreck et Five trainmen and an uniden tc fled negro were killed early Wednc a- day at Noonday station, five mil ly north of Marietta, Ga., when a sou ly bound Louisville and Nashvi re freight train fell throng*1 a culvc le. bridge into a chasm forty??five fi deep. m ( ? ? V ri- Secretary McAdoo is givipg W Street a good object lesson. \ 1 THE COMMON GOOD +. CONFERENCE IN COLUMBIA IS A GRAND SUCCESS MANY GOOD TALKS MADE Many Prominent Men and Women of ( the State Took Part in What Proniies to be an K.pocli Making <?atlieriny; for the I'plift and liet torment of the People. Prominent men and w omen of south Carolina gathered in Columbia Wednesday afternoon in large num- ' bers to open a two days session of "a Conference for the Common Good." Presided over by \V. K. Tate, State supervisor of tlie rural schools, as president, the initial session nresaged the deep and lasting interest which this Conference is to have on the people of South Carolina. Thee is encouragement to look for larger attendance and added interest at the last meeting. "Co-operation for Rural Development" was the general topic of the opening session Wednesday afteri noon. Following the outlining of the general purposes of the Conference l by President. Tate, "A Mess-age to Commonwealth Builders" was delivered to the conference by Clarence Poe, of Raleigh, X. C., editor of the Progressive Farmer. This was foT lowed by a talk from the Rev. W. 11. Mills, of Clemson College, on "The Part of the Church in Rural Development." A. F. Dover, congressman from the 7th district and chairman of ' the House committee on agriculture, - delivered an impressive discourse on 5 the subject, "A National Programme i for the Development of American Agt riculture." There was general discus sions on all these topics. The prograrme opened Wednesday night with the subject, "Permanent Homes for Our People." W. W. Dong, r State director of the farm demonstration work delivered a talk on "Farm Ownership n I Hood Farming. ' Other v topics of tlrs subject on the program ' for the ev'->* ' ig were; "Home Ownership and I1, lth." by Dr. F. A. Dines. of Seneca: "Home Ownership and the I Schools," bv n')imty Shoorin'endant of lOduca'.'on, D F. Carroll, of York; ' "Plan for "o'ping Mill Workers I'urf chase Homes," by W! F. Robinson, of [i Greenville, and "Plan for Helping ' Tenant Farmers Acquire Rand," by 11. is. nare, 01 tno i n:tod Btates depart111 cut of agriculture. Session on Tliiirsriuy, ^ At the closing session Thursday _ night of the first Conference for the y Common Good a resolution was s adopted urging a Conference for tlie r Common Good next year and that e county conferences be held as soon . as possible. The resolution follows: s "Therefore, he it Resolved, That a tliis Conference for the Common !_ Good places itself on record that it t_ most emphatically believes the most pressing need in the State to-day is e the improvement of the conditions 5_ of our rural communities. That it ,f may be attained: n ( 1 ) "By wise co-operative methods. e (2) "By devising plans to asaist !9 our people to acquire their own homes and land, o (3) "By making onr educational d system efficient and adaptable to all e needs of the people, by securing tho ?s attendance of all the children; by i- creating a higher standard of the y teaching profession; by fostering the r, child's general welfare as to health *s and morals and freedom from lahor e during its tender years of preparaid tion. a (4) "By improved agriculture and ie stock raising. s, (5) "By better and wiser markets' ing of farm crops, l- ((?) "By building up a self-re3 speeding and law-abiding citizenship." s- This resolution tells of the purpose id of the Conference for the Common ie Good. The resolution was adopted re late Thursday night, it The address on "The Majesty ol ir mon Good to a close. Dr. Snydei m of Wofford College, Thursday night ,u brought the Conference for the Com h- mon Good to a close. r. Snydet )e thrilled the Convention by his mas 1? torly handling of the subject. "The le stand of the ages," said the speaker 1(1 "is on tho majesty of the law and it is the corner-stone of all of our lib erties. It is impaired by too mucl special legislation, by too much de re lay in executing the laws, mandates tie and tho apparent slowness of th< in Courts In dealing out justice, an ap ?n parent feeling that some can get morj as of the resources of the law than ofh p. ers." lie plead for everyone to re id dedicate themselves and work towarc of upholding the majesty of the law. Col. Alfred Aldrich precipitated f flutter In the Convention, when h< offered as an amendment to tho reso ti- lutions of the committee a motion t( is- return the thanks of the Conferenc* eg to United States Senaor TO. D. Smitl th for hla share in inducing tho Gov lie ornment to offer $50,000,000 to as irt sist tho South in moving its crops, jet President Tate said he was certaii the Convention had no desire to vot down tho resolution, hut the gather all ing was absolutely devoid of politic? and if they got to passing resolu % i * i i* ., I , THE CROP MOVING FUND +. SOI TIIIIHN II.WKKUS CONI'MH A W ITH MeADOO. They Discuss With the Secretary tin* S Plans for the Distribution of the Intnl. The Washington corespondent of The News and Courier says in the <1 conference with the Southern bankers - there Thursday the treasuy depart- c nient made it plain that the enierg- l> ency money to be distributed to help ' move the crops was to be used solely " for that purpose, and not for general ll business purposes, and it must return h to the treasury in a reasonable, time s About $20,000,000 will be sent out s by the treasury to the South ami West> v to aid in moving the crops in August 51 about $20,000,000 more in Septem- 1 ber and about $10,000,000 in October, that is, if this mtich money is i needod. It is understood that the < department will begin calling the t money back in December and will * have it all in by March. < South Carolina bankers who at- ' tended the conference with the Secre- \ tary and First Assistant Secretary of ' the Treasury were as follows: < From Charleston: It. (I. Kindt, \V. 1 If. Sparkman, 15. H. Pringle and J. S. f Simonds. \ Id'oin Columbia: J. 1'. Matthews, > fj. M. Baker, G. M. Berry and 11. W. Kobertson. r From Greenville: Perry P.eattie, CI. 1 W. Branzer, A. D. Willis, J. W. Nor- t wood and Dr. Davis. 5 From Anderson: Win. A. Hunt. J The principal subject of discussion 1 was the terms on which distribution 1 banks in the South should lend the t crop-moving money to the smaller banks of their section. The visitors 1 were told that the treasury depart- 1 ncnt would not name any specific rate s of interest to be charged the smaller s banks, but that it intended to keep n I sharp eye on the situation and that if i any of the distributing banks should bo caught playing shylock a note be made of the fact. Few of the bankers would talk for publication, but most of them expressed warm approval of the Secretary's action. One bank president from the far South said that since the department's announcement the deposits in his bank had increased a million dollars. Will. SOON I IF. I! 10 It 10. + The Boll Weevil Near the Georgia Line. A dispatch from Atlanta says high councils of war arc being held preliminary to the great battle against the boll wevil which will begin in South Georgia with in the next few months. In Washington Georgia's senators and congressmen are discussing the question daily with the ollicials of the department of agriculture. Senator rioke Smith and Congressmen Roddenberry are receiving the co-operation of several other senators and lepesentatives, among them Senabr Smith of South Carolina, Senator Itandell of Louisiana, Bankhead of klabama Sheppard of Texas, Conjressman Iawer of South Carolina, rlettin of Aalabama and others. The Georgians have obtained thousands of pamphlets and bulletins on the boll weevil and aro sending them to the farmers in the Georgia counties Heflin of Alabama and others. The boll weevil is expected to invade Georgia about this time next year. The greatest difficulty arises from the fact that many farmers are slow to realize the seriousness of the1 situation far enough in advance. It usually takes a crop failure to convince some planters of what they are up against. At a conference of the Georgia rep. resentatives headed by Senator Smith with officials of the II. S. department . of agriculture, the proposition of es> establishing a zone in which no oot, ton shall be grown next year and t which would amount to a boll weeI vil barrier, was not regarded with favor. It would be doubtful and very , fcxpensive. The fight with the boll . weevil will do a iiand-to-nana name. . The department states that hue of its difficulties is in inducing negroes to i adopt and push the proper methods for fighting the pest. Millions and millions of dollars will he saved to the farmers of Georgia if ' they unitedly and untiringly fight the Mexican pest that blasts and lays hare the cotton fields. The work can be started this fall, and every farmer who wishes to learn how to fight the [ weevil should get into communication ] at once with Senator Smith or one of ^ the Georgia congressmen. ? ? Fatal Fading of a Joke. ' At Kutonton, Ga., John McGibbony, of Waygross, was almost instant* i ly killed Tuesday by his niece, Lula > Gardner, aged thirteen, when he - tried to play a joke by refusing to > give bis name after be bad knocked 3 on tbe door at ber home. The girl i fired through tho door with a shot gun. The girl claims to have bo lieved sovral men were trying to break into her home, n jf e tlons of thanks to all the public men it would mean bulky and burdensome work. He explained that it was i" against the policy of the Conference, Jfe WHAT DID SHE WANT OI NO WOMAN PKKCHKS IN WINDOW I'D AIX)FT. lie Was Finally With Dinictilty Induccd to Ixuive Her Dangerous Seat 1 iihnrmed. With her feet over the sill of a winow on the lL'th floor of the National oan and ICxchange Dank Wednesday, usually looking eart hen wards, is if reparatory to a suicidal leap. When ho superintendent of tho building renonstrated with her she refused to eave the window and it was only af.r repeated urgings that she vas peruaded to go to the street. Hven then he made an attempt to board the eleator and gp back to her high perch, ,nd only l?y main force wub she kept rom that purpose. The State says: About ten o'clock Wednesday morii11K George T. Sampson, sup?rintenlent of the building emerged from lie elevator at the I 2th floor, and up>n doing so saw a woman sitting in me of the windows in the vestibule o tin4 Metropolitan club roms. Sho vas looking down on Columbia, with ler feet on the outer edge of the winlow sill, apparently as cool and composed as if she were on the ground loom Mr. Sampson went over to vhere the woman was and told her it vas against the rules of the building o allow persons to sit in the windows md that sho must come down. She laid sho would io so and made a moion as if to comply. Mr. Sampson inked her what she wanted up there .ml she said she was only taking a ook at the city, lie then offered to ako her on the. roof, but she declined o accept his hospitality. Mr. Sampson was so puzzled at the woman's demeanor and actions that io insisted that she come down. She mid she would do so and Mr. Sampmil went down on the elevator with (lie promise from the woman that she was coming down. In a short while Mr. Sampson went bark to the 12th floor of the building and to his surprise found the woman still perched in the window. This time he remonstrated with her strongly and she again promised that she should come down. Mr. Sampson did not want to use force, for then, he t\; fired that the woman might fall or linn from the window." So ho went do,vn and consulted with oflbduls or the National l.oan ant Kxchango hank, and it was agreed that the wom;m must bo gotten to the ground. The maid at the building was sent up to remonstrate with the woman, but to her she flatly stated that she would stay there as long as she please!. Mr. Sampson then went to the top floor and told the woman she must come with him to the first floor. Finally sho agreed and he took her to the street. There ho left her and went into the Arcade. As soon as ho got just inside the Arcade door ho turned and went back to the bank .building. He did this to see if ho would catch the woman atempting to get back to the elevator. Just as ho expected, as ho entered tho bank building again he saw her dart towards the elevator. He had instructed the elevator boys not to let hor get to the top floor again and they closed the door on her. As two men were entering the elevator rhe made an effort to squeeze in between them, but was prvented. Tho woman was finally persuaded to leave tho building. Sho was put aboard a Ridgewood car. No one knew her name or hor whereabouts. Earlier in the morning when one of tho elevator boys was trying to make room for her in the crowded elevator she remonstrated with him, saying, "It doesn't mater about me; I'm crazy." While Mr. Sampson was remonstrating with the woman on the top floor of tho building she asked if he thought it would kill her if she fell to the ground from the 12th floor The woman was annnronflv in her 20's. ? i MOTHER AND HON KILLED. ?. Father Badly Hurt When Automobile and Train Crush. Mrs. Emma Heard, aged 31 years, fo Vienna, Cla., and her eon, Linden Heard, were instantly killed Tuesday one milo south of McDonaugh, Ga., when tho automobile in which they were riding came to a stop on the Southern railway tracks and was struck by a train travelling thirty miles an hour. Mrs. Heard's husband who was driving the car, saved himself by jumping from tho automobile after shouting to his wife and son to jump. Mr. Heard said his car's emergency brakes failed to werk in time. Although the train's engineer, J. L. Mable, attempted to stop the train when he saw the automobile, tho car was splintered. The bodies of Mrs. Heard and her 39*1 were dragged a number of yards by the engine. The Wages of Sin. On Fifth Avenue in New York City Abraham Fink, sixtv vears old. shot and killed a young woman and then killod himself. Hoth the man and woman were well dressed. One thousand dollars was found on Fink's peri son. The couple had been living together and the woman had tired of , Fink.