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/ ^7 :*• ‘'V ^ I- . ■_ 1 Th« Barnwell People-Sentinel, Barnwell, S. C* iTinrsday, May 23, 1935 . Desperate Plight of the Share-Croppers Above, Southern Cotton Field. Top, Left, Senatdr Tydinae; Right, Senator Bankhead. Below, Right, Edwin R. Embree. By WILLIAM C. UTLEY H ALF of all the farming In the United States la done by ten ant farmers. Most of them are In the southern states, and despite their numbers—there are some 1,800,000 of them, mostly cotton farm ers, In 16 of these states—they have of late come to be regarded as the “for gotten men” of the New^Beal’s agricul tural experimenting. They are the share-croppers. Virtual ly Illiterate, never at any time pros perous In the true sense, these unfor-. tunates have In the last few years been forced Into circumstances every bit as pitiable as old-time slavery, according to Investigations public and private which have been made within the last few months. For cultivating, planting and picking their landlords’ cotton, these poverty- stricken Twentieth century serfs are ^ven half the harvest from the crop, unless they furnish their own Imple ments, In which case they get three- fourths of It. The Income from this harvest -Is largely spent before they get It. Be fore harvest time they are paid In com missary scrip which Is 'good only In the landowner’s store. It is alleged that the usual allowance for a family of five Is two dollars a wee 4 k before the harvest. Then If there Is any balance It Is paid off In cash. Meanwhile the share-cropper is often charged prices for his food and essen tials which are considerably greater than those paid by his neighbor who owns land and may buy where he pleases. The landowner, In addition, takes a 10 per cent levy in advancing scrip, making $2 worth really cost $2.20. The ordinary food supply for half a week for one family runs about like this: Half-sack flour. cents; gallon of sorghum black molasses, 60 cents, 24 pounds of corn meal, 60 cents. That leaves little for clothing. And these people simply donT eat meat Villainy of Fats. The share-cropper until 1920 was able to eke out a fair sort of existence, getting enough to eat In the sense of a sufficiency to keep body and so.ul together, and having something of a roof over his family’s heads. Then prices began to fall. The machine, which had been steadily growing as a 1 threat, became,a competitor feal and overwhelming. Competition from new cotton-producing areas, soil erosion and sterility of the soil from constant pro- ^ ductlon of a single kind of’erop added their woeful work to the vlllalqy ot, what some might call fate. What these had knocked down, the depression trampled . upon. And Into what the depression had trampled up on, the Brain Trust ground Its heel when It decreed that cotton acreage most be reduced 40 per cent. AAA crop reductions and processing tax meant loss of. Income and loss of live lihood to many a tenant farmer who already had little enough of either. Probably the first really comprehen sive analysis of the situation was that recently made public by jbe committee on minority groups In economic recov ery, headed by Dr. E. R. Embree of Chicago, president of the Julius B. Rosenwald fund. As might be-supposed from Doctor Embree’s presence (for the late Mr. Rosenwald was far famed - for his sympathy with the black race), the original purpose of the commit tee’s survey was to Investigate the condition of the agricultural negro In the South. It found more whites than " blacks stlfferlng^and reported that the problem was so serious that-all racial angles to It were overshadowed. No less than 58 per ^ent of the farm ers of the South—and 71 per cent of the cotton farmers—are without land. Exports are on the decline, while cot ton production abroad Is Increasing. The South faces a major crisis, says the committee. The committee found that of 3,088,- 111 farms In 13 Southern states, 1,789,- 000 were cultivated by tenants.-Of these, 1,091,000 were white and 698,000 colored. In certain regions farmed al r most entirely by negroes, 80 per oent of ..the farmers irere of the share-crop- . r< per variety. Practically all of the In- - crease in the number of tenant-farmers ' since 1920 Is accounted for by whites, approximately 200,000 of them, who were unable to keep a hold' on their property. A good share of the tenant - fanners and others have been released upon the world wttfc no means of sup port until millions who should be get ting a living from southern soil are now on the relief rolls. Last year one family In every four was on relief. Chances Are Slim. According to the report, the tenant farmer’s chances of recovery are slim under a credit system which enables the landowner to borrow money at 4% to 6V4 per cent Interest while “the tenant farmer cannot secure this cheap credit unless the landowner waives his first lien on the crop.” The landowner can seldom afford to do this. “If he refuses to release the crop Hen to the governmental agency, the Federal Farm Credit administration, the landlord may then secure the loan for all his tenant farmers at 4^ to 6% per cent, and then advance supplies and furnishings to his tenants at cus tomary prices—20 to 30 per cent above cash prices. “Here again the tenant beara the brunt of the risk. If he can repay, his surplus is wiped out by the extortion ate credit charges; if he cannot repay, he loses his crop and whatever work stock he may possess,” says the re port. “So far the various debt reconcilia tion commissions have made no at tempt to have the landlords scale down the debts owed them from previous seasons by croppers and share tenants. Such proposals would be resented, no doubt, by landowfiers who had just had their debts scaled down by creditors.” • Doctor Embree’s committee says that the United States must “reorganize the system of land tenure In the South." i The negro problem has long been an obstacle to such a program, but the committee Is of the opinion that the country has “seriously over estimated the Importance of the negro farmers numerically as competitors, since tenancy in the South has come to be essentially tt problem of -white farm- ers.’’/ Tt(e committee distinctly frowned upon continuing Indefinitely to encour age landlords to cut down their pro duction. It advised the rafting of crops other than cotton In the South east. “with foreign competition In cot ton growing Increasing and Texas and Oklahoma able to furnish all the cot ton needed for the national market at cheaper cost of production.” Yet It admits an advantage In the fact that the government, having-cut down cot ton growing by some 8,000,000 acres, is In a position to force a balanced ag riculture on farmers who can’t get cot ton off their minds. No money crops and,, no crops to be sold can be raised on these 8,000,000 acres. Rather, crops for home use are encouraged, as well as crops which tend to Improve the soil and prevent erosion and leaching. “In the course of time the govern ment might find the outright purchas ing of certain farming lands less ex> pensive than the payments of rents. Such payments rightly expended would serve to start worthy tenants In land ownership and remunerate large and absentee owners for portions of their excessive holdings,” the committee says. Would Need Help. Of course such farmers turned loose upon their own land, but restrained from raising the only crop with which most of them are familiar or experi enced would need helpful supervision, but their properties—small subsistence homesteads—might bid fair to approach the economic state of some of the most prosperous peasant-owned farms In Europe, the committee believes. Such a program would certainly meet with approval from the thousands of homeless share-croppers who have hit the southern roads Without food or chattels, bound In most cases for the cities-, there to seek what relief they can from the proper agencies. Some of them write to the President In pitiful, hardly readable letters. Implor ing him to aid them. Some of them have formed the Southern Tenant Farmers’ union, whose allegedly radi cal members have been said to be the instigators of violence In some In stances.-. Designed to give these tenant farm ers land of their own, after the man ner of European land-owning peasants, ft the Bankhead bill, proposed by Sen ator John H. Bankhead of Alabama, father of the glamorous Tallulah Baifk bead, the stage and screen star, and a member of a family which has repre- DIMES FLOOD MAIL IN CHAIN LETTERS Scheme Piles Up Business \ for Denver Post Office. \ Denver.—“Senda-DIme”—chain let ters are pouring^Into the post office here In a new scheme which has sprung up virtually overnight Postal Inspector Roy E. Nelson pro nounces the letters a violation of the lottery laws and the lawprohTbltlng the use of the mails for fraud and thfeatehs to arrest the originators of the scheme if they can be found. The letters are headed “Prvsperlty club—In God We Trust.” They con tain a list of six names and addresses. The recipient Is Instructed to send a dime to^ the person at the Xop of ttia |p r '^uci : ^^ list. - ^ - seated Alabama for many years In the government, It ft quite In accord with the suggestions of the committee under Doctor Embree. The Bankhead bijl, which at this writing had gained a unanimously fa vorable report from a house committee, would provide legislation patterned after that which has allowed the ten- ant farmer of Ireland, Denmark, Fin- and and Germany to become a land- owner. What has been done for own ers of mortgaged homes, It plans to do for the share-cropper—make fed eral credit available to lift him out pf the financial morass. Senator Bankhead contends that the administration’s crop' reduction and tax on processing were measures adopt ed In defense of the farmers, protect ing them from curtailed production by industries and manufacturers after the crash. In sharp opposition to him has Been Senator Millard F. Tydlngs of Maryland, who -claims that the oiily result of thq, whole Roosevelt “eco nomics of scarcity” program has been to reduce the total wealth of the na tion. He demands the end of crop cur tailment by the AAA. Bailkhead Explains. Senator Bankhead points out that the United States at the start of 1933 was faced with the biggest cotton sur plus on record, a full yearft crop of 13,000,000 bales, the effect of which was to cause a tremendous drop In cotton prices. Cotton was 19% cents a pound In 1929, hut by 1932 It had fallen off to 5% cents a pound, he pointed out, explaining that the proc- ile then 1s told to add uls own name to the bottom of the list and make five copies of the*letter and with the new list send them to friends. The friends are supposed to keep the chain going. As the progression con tinues .the name at the bottom of the list works to the top. Dimes Are Pyramided. By the time this occurs, If the chain ft not broken, the set of letters will have multiplied to 15,625 and the per son at the top of the list gets $1,562.50 in dimes. The chains, of course, are always broken, but postal authorities report that one woman got $400. Many other stories are current A poor seamstress 1s reported to have received enough to purchase a sewing machine.. A widow 1s reported to he paying off burial expenses for her husband. A mother is reported to have paid off hospital expenses for birth of her child and ( to have had enough over to buy a baby carriage.' None of these reports are confirmed. The letters have multiplied so rap idly that in the last few days almost every family in the city has received one or more. Defended by Many. Every one In the city 1s talking about the scheme and many are angry at postal authorities for interfering. They contend that the scheme ft harm less; that many are benefiting; that money Is being put Into circulation, and that the fun people are having ft the bright note in the depression. The idea ft spreading through the state and letters are being sent to other cities throughout the country. It ft said that the idea originated in New York, among relief workers, but this has not been confirmed. Postmaster J. O. Stevie announced a 12 to 14 per cent Increase in postal receipts so far over the same period last year, a good portion of which he attributes to the chain letters. The matter first came to the attention of authorities when postmen began to. complain of Inexplicable increases lo the mail they were handling. v Lights of New York by L L STEVENSON Though not as famous as Spring 7-3100, which almost every one knows ft the telephone number of New York police headquarters, one of the most frequently called numbers In New York city ft Lexington 2-1100. For that, there ft reason, Lexington 2-1100 ft the sole contact of many stage, screen and radio stars with the public or even their employers or managers. It also serves as a general secretary for a long list''of firms and Individuals. It ft the New York office of a number of out,-of-town business houses and busi ness men. Radio broadcasters often give that number to listeners who de sire further Information concerning the call the telephone numbers ’’bf physi cians and surgeons, as well ns artists and writers, are answered by Isling ton 2-1100. And there Isn't an hour day or night that Lexington 2-1100 does,.not answer. - • - . • • • The service started first as a con venience for physicians who desired to have their phones answered while they were out of their offices. Through an arrangement with the telephone com pany, not only does the doctor’s tele phone ring but also Lexington 2-1100. If the doctor doesn’t answer, then the other number does, making appoint ments and acting as a secretary. Grad ually the service was Increased until now it Includes several hundred clas sifications and performs services rang ing from jocatlng subscribers In thea ters to^gfting sales talks. Also It han dles the telephone calls of those who do not wish to, be disturbed, calls going to the company at the hours specified. • • • i . One of the subscribers Is Julian Street. By his arrangement, his home essing tax was designed to give the farmers the wg>e “scarcity” which manufacturers had effected to maintain their prices. “The more money you put into peo ple’s hands, the more they can buy,” was Senator Tydlngs’ answer. “The higher the price, the leqs ^they can buy. If the cost pf goods Is Increased, then consumption is reduced. The high er the price of cotton, then the less you can sell.” Doctor Embree’s committee was more Interested in Senator Bankhead’s proposals to enable the tenant farmer to gain Independence.* “Life In the rural South Is capable of being lived to the fullest," said Its report: ’“In our modern scheme of things It has proved much easier to produce a steady flow of goods than to produce a steady Income with which to purchase those goods or their equiv alent. Of all the laborers and crafts men, the general or all-round farmer ft the only one able to produce the type and variety of goods suitable for his own consumption. Fundamental’ Chf nges. “In the South we have losLmuch of this immunity to the fluctuations of thla price system by an almost Insane devotion to ah export cash crop whose price fluctuations have become pro verbial^ Tills is due, no doubt, to the historical conjunction of slavery, the plantation and the cotton plant. "Theoretically, the area saw slavery abolished. Actually, It changed the plantation pattern to tenancy and In corporated a white peasantry which finally came to outnumber the negro tenants In cotton culture. “The plantation ft not Interested In feeding its lower-level denizens «wlth the vegetables, milk, meats and fruits of a beneficent soil and clime, but only wants Its cash crop of cotton. “Meanwhile, the system supplies its laborers with a meager diet of fat- back, corn pone and molasses under as extortionate a credit system as can be found in the world’s agriculture.” Tenant farmers will undoubtedly find the bluebird singing for them once more, possibly In trees on a^farm o# their own, when the administration gets around tq spending the much- taiked-about $4,800,000,000. For much of this is going to make ruraf America all over again, princi pally by moving broken farmers to .new and fertile fields where they can start all over again, on land described In deeds made out In, their own names Mr. Rexfqrd Guy Tugwell will superin tend the rural remaking, v • WwUrn Ntwapaner Union. Forbidden Gun Costs - Youth Aged 13 His Life Trilby,—Ohio. — Thlrteen-year-old Chester Christmas wanted to bunt crows so badly that he couldn’t resist his father’s warping not to use his re volver. The forbidden weapon cost him his life. The boy’a mother, Mrs. Pauline Christmas, said hft father had forbid den him to use the gun and that he showed, no disappointment when she relayed hft father's order to him aft er'the parents had talked It over. “But tBat afternoon he was In the yard with hft younger brother and me,” the mother said. ‘‘Several crows were flying about and apparently at* traded his attention. He ran Into the house. Next, 1 heard a noise as of some one falling, upstairs. I found him on the floor, hft fathers gun nearby. I ran for a’doctor. When, be arrived, Chester was dead.” telephone does not ring until 5 p. m.. the service handling all calls up to that hour and then reporting them to him. Mr. Street finds telephone qatft break his concentration to such an,ex tent that even If he talks only a few minutes, he loses at least an hour get ting back to work. . * n....* —i— For quite obvious reasons, names can’t be used, but here Is an authen tic, though unrecorded, bit of World war history. One of Uncle Sam’s fight ing ships was equipped with torpedos which were driven by motors operated by grain alcohol. Each torpeoo cost $10,000. Sighting a German sub. three torpedoes were released simultaneous ly. Instead of speeding toward their mark, they went only about twenty feet and stopped,, thus endangering the vessel that had discharged them. In vestigation showed that the sailors had drunk the alcohol. Probably that' ft a record for costly Imbibing. ... ^hat makes me think of * woman barber at this point, ft something I do not know. Women barbars are not so common as they used to be but there ft one who baa been practicing her art In the Borough hall section of Brook lyn for the last 25 years. Business men are her customers.—One has been- Need for Faith in Trying Times Permanency of Nation and of Home Depends on High Resolve. This Is an era of curtailments, of economies and limitations In finan cial matters In the United States, and such a- state of affairs bears direct results In the home and on the family. It ft a period which .should be met with firm purpose and steady deterrainaflon to wrest suc cess from difficulties.- Such things have been done In former years. They can be done today. It Is Interesting to note the high place ' which faith holds. We have heard much about the misery which lack of confidence has ( brought to the masses. We have been urged to discard fears, and thereby restore confidence. And the good old word “faith” has come into Its own. Those who have not cherished faith and who have discounted It, have over looked the fact that faith does not apply to religion solely, but to all things In which reliance upon others ft Involved. One of Its synonyms is confidence. Those who have an abid ing faith and confidence In a Su preme Power are those who can meet emergencies without thtOlepressing elements which are so ready to crowd around. They have a Founda tion Rock on-which to atand. The waves may beat about them and times be turbulent, but they are not dismayed. ( The stability of one’s country ft dependent upon the faith and confi dence the Individual citizens have In It. Such faith and confidence ft the rock of the nation. However much of a ferment certain specific Issues cause, the belief that they are but evanescent and that the hlgji funda mental principles of the country will nql be shaken beyond Its ability of recovery must remain inviolable. Such a belief and confidence Is the greatest reviving element. Such ft the faith that is ours behind and below the existing clamor about de pression. Such Is the faith that be comes knowledge of our country’s ultimate power of readjustment and future success without exhausting delay. In the home, faith is its founda tion also. The confidence of an abid ing love which can surmount tran sient disagreements and disturbances ft Imperative. The home Is wrecked where faith ft lacking. It grows into a stronghold of happiness when faith ft fostered, and confidence Is Invlnd* hie. C. Bell Syndicate.—WNU Service. Secret of Happiness in Oyster’s Life Revealed' Palacios, Texas.—The secret of hap piness In an oyster’s life, according to fishermen on Matagorda bay, lies chief ly In the absence of: . L Conches, sea animals which pro duce the spiral-shaped shells that you hold to your ear “to hear the sea roar,” and, 2. Drums, fish noted chiefly for'their low conception of sport when they swim across an oyster bed. Conches pry open oyster shells with the sharp edges of their own and pro to fei east Drums literally bite ceed their way through an oyster, and hun ger does not provide sufficient motive for their destructiveness. Freak Tropical FUh It Captured Off Boston Boston, Mass.—The steam trawler Hekla recently brought ashd^e the sec ond freak tropical fish ever to enter the port of Boston. The fish, esught la 85 fathoms of water off western banks, has no eyes, bat s dozen tentacles protruding from the bead, each' of which gives off light It weighs 20 pounds. Several weeks agt' another trawler brought ashore a similar fish weighing 25 pounds. coming In for a shave every morning since the shop opened. He always gives the barber a dollar bill and never takes any change. Many other regular patrons have been going there for years. • • • One of those Seventh" avenue “bar and grill” places has settled the mat ter of the sales tax—generally known as “the nuisance tax”—In a very handy mafiner that does away with the bother of coppers. A sign In the window an nounces, “Cocktails, 24 cents; sales tax, 1 cent; total, 25 cehta/V ^ * • • JV ' Noticed a headline, “Bridge work for 350 men.” Into my ears came the words, “Open Just a little wider, please,” along with the sharp bass of s drill. But It seems the 350 are not to call on dentists. They are to be given employment on the new Tri borough bridge. | A B«U Srndleat*—WNU S«rvlM, s Snag Tiniest Swordfish With Huge Line and Hook Honolulu, Hawaii.—Corporal Harry Levinson of the coast artillery, trolling from an army tug with a quarter-inch line and a regulation slx-lnch sword fish hook, caught a swordfish believed to mark a new world’s record for tblf type tackle. ^ - Frqm the tip of the tall to the tip of the sword, the fish scaled precisely nine Inches; weighed on the cook’s scales, it scarcely moved the needle. Fishing experts said the catch was probably all of a day old. Dr. Pieroe’s Pellets are beet for liver, bowels and stomach. One little Pellet for a laxative—three for a cathartic.—Adv. Nothing Surer —j Thosai who belittle patriotism haven’t got It, that’s certain. Overcame Her NervonsassE "A fsw years writes Mn Charles S1W1, of Hartshorns, O Ha lt seemed ■go, wi Hartshor I was weak and run-down.: that nervousness was about to get the best of me. My mother told me about Cardni and Hut is what I de cided to take. After I began taking Cardui, my appetite was better. * gained strength and was less ner vous. By the time I had taken tiro bottles, I felt fine.” Pint, better appetite, and then more strength and a fading of well being! Thousands of women testify Cardni benefited them. If it does not benefit YOU, consult a. physician. lOfl’T HEflLEGT YOU KIDNEYS! I T your kidneys are not working right and you suffer backache, dizziness, burning, scanty or too frequent urination, swollen feet and ankles; feel lame, stiff, “all tired cat” ... use Doan’s Pills. Thousands rely upon. Doan’s. They are praised the country ever. Get Doan’s pills today. For sale by all druggists. mi’s pius SONGS WAITED Cssss Tost Write Oa Writ* for Purttaralum gA W. lUndTlph^tf »e? Rabbit Trap* Dog* Bland, Texas.—Two dogs got the worst of it when they glased a rabbit The rabbit ran into a hole. The dogs followed. The hole caved In and it took the dogs two days to dig out Aside from being nearly starved, they were mlnjured Shantytown Finds Times Are Better Seattle.—Times are better In Hoovervllle, Seattle’s suburban shantytown. ' “For sale, 2-room house, 2 bucks,” s sign posted st the entrance to Dutch’s “realty bureau” proclaims the change. Not long ^go $2 would have bonght nearly all of the dwellings n. Houses, of tin cans and lumber, are now a little more than when Hoovervllle was new.\Mayor Jesse Jackson has a radio and several Filipino real- dents, “automobiles,” though they have no gasoline. > - Since the City of Seattle forbade building any more shanties, con struction work has gone to improv ing those Already built Icusanam AjtcbU Wanted. Monty back guarantt* foot rained?, itchy feat, awollan. aora. cailonaad. araeked akin undar toaa Nothing aimilar on market.Exclusive territories. MalMa Co M Dent. P. €78 Eighth Are.. New York City. Big Haaky Chicks, leading varieties. Rada Rocks. White Wyandotte*. S. L. Wyan- dottea. Buff -Orpingtons. Mottled Ancona*. White Leghorns. Brown Leghorne, IS Chteka »t.*0; SO Chicks SS.7B; 10* Chicks $7.00. Prepaid, live arrival guaranteed. Order today, thousands weakly. . Prompt shipment. Clarence Hateheify. Florence. Ate. FEES premiums of value aad merit to NEW AGENTS—men and woman. YICINE PROnrcra CO.. McaapMs. Tea*. Far Hate Fisw Soya. Velvet Beane, shelled or pod: Cam. .Hay. Sorghnna. MUat. Psa- mrta. Gate. Wheat. Bye, Tmafc or CarloOa. GEO. C. NUNN - - - PERKY. GA. • -3 \I