Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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bt fliHatclrown nirt SiirtW. SATURDAY. JUNE 18. 1910. The Sumter Watchman was? found? ed in IS&O and the True Southron in 1IIC. The Watchman and Southron now has the combined circulation ami Influence cf both of the old taper*, end I? manifestly the best advertising; ?ledlorn In Sumter. One of the queerest Idlosynor.icics of human nature as that the rben who have not sufficient respect for themselves, nor the law. to refrain from lawlessness are remarkably sen? sitive about the publication in a news p ip. i of ? transcript of the record of a criminal court before which they have been taken by due process to answer for their misdeeds. see The following paragraph is taken from the annual address of President August <ohn. of the State Press As soclatlon. Into It is compressed a whole volume mi wisdom: "We have purposely arranged to hold this meeting before the begin? ning of our 8tate campaign. News? paper folks seem to think they are an essential part of a campaign. They are. but It s for the good of the oth? er fellow I have recently heard the advice of John Skelton Williams to the graduating class of the I'nlver slty of South Carolina. In the main it was: Keep out of politics and de? vote your energies to Industrial de? velopment. After my 20 years cf newspaper experience I want to say to you that time spent In polities Is largely wasted. We need good and fue m n for officers, but as Mr. Wil? liams said. "Let old men go into pol? itics and the young men go to war"? meaning* work. Politics and busi? ness do not mix \ery well, but there may be times when duty demands public service of a newspaper worker, and he should respond to such a call. The point I am undertaking to Im? press on you, my associates, Is that office seeking Is largely a business. It hi the other fellow's affair and there Is ..o need for you to get excited about It. Do not get excited! It will pay you and your community better to devote your columns to the building of a cotton mill or a shirt factory or good roads than to get excited over a scramble for some political office. Remember It Is the other fellow who wants the office. The average man tn public life has a short memory. Let me say. emphatically, that it is our duty as newspaper men to oppose the selection of vicious or demagogic men er measures. The election of bad men to offices is a misfortune and in such contests our duty Is plain, but wh*re the contest is between men of about the same capacity for an office and there Is no principle involved It Is Just as well to expend our energies on real development. Above all, let us svold excitement In this campaign year." What Sumter \'i*ceK I t Sumter. thi Sumte! Item be lieves that a handsome and commo? dious Y. M. C A. building should be erected an I The Item Is right Twenty vearv ago an efficient system ef free s hools open nine month" In year N hi found In only a fc>^ Boutt I Una towns. In those day: many S4 , h - SSM el tln tn good peo? ple. W ik did not bell, ve that sin h s*ho.,is were essential to municipal growth, were |e 1 found In prosper ous towns?but now a town wlthou school svstem that It Is proud of la sshamed of Itself. The day Is come when a Young Men's Christian Association at honn in l well-appointed and attracth building Is expected to be a featur of the life of every city that pros pel and aspires la | larger growth?it scar i> lees to?senary to eommunll growth than Is u free school system Wh? n a few >? ars have passed thos< who are hflhewarm about the v. M C. A. win he as hard tu Had as are opp-oients . f ff\ , , he -is in IhOSC dS>S Sumter will, of course, have a handsogax Y. M. C, building In little whi'e; it would not be like Sum ter to kg without it-The State. I.nsr -At Datsell Saturday, yellow haad-set bei containing silver card ? is?? with name engrvaed on it and p.ilr eufl links; return t ? Qalllard's Biota Dam ?. ib ? srd. i . i A e it an opporhmty- in January i ter the last horse show in Bumter 1 purchased the handsome horse whl< h was awarded the blue rib? bon Hir t seise) by the judges, they having decided thai hs was the best staffle harness h r i on sxhlbl? tlon. He I < Without bS mi h. kind . ii I .? rivM.|?> an-' tie* kind of hop . that Is not ? ftesj og the .a ii ket ifa\ lag d. |< rants* 4 gat lo hei i c. p (. ?.. m i?. gum ter, s. ?'. \\ \ \ 11 11 hardwood loi pop! >r. i i i A di and Whlb <?ak io*;s for our min al Bum ter Write or call on us. Thomas I.iun bor (? >. Oalhani 4 A 0, L. Ky. Sum ter. I G ;-21-8tW Farmers' Union News ?AND Practical Thoughts for Practical Farmers (Goadacttd by B? \V. Dahl?. President tenners' Union of stumor County.) The Watchman and Southron having decided to dt ihle its service bj ?OMltarookly publication, would improve that service by special features. Thf first |o lie inaugurated is this Department for the * armors' Union and Practical Fanners w hich 1 have been requested to conduct. It will be my aim to Rive the Union news and oftlcial calls of the Union. To that end ? ?Mirers, and members of tf'e Union are requested to use these columns. \lso to publish such Qll] Ings from the agricultural papers and Govern? ment Built tins as I thin* will be of practical benefit to our readers. Ori? ginal articles by any of o. r readers telling of their successes or failures will be appreciated and | ublished. Trusting this Oepartme.it will be of mutual t enefit to a!1, concerned, THE EDITOR. All communications for tl is Department it) >uld he sent to E. W. Dabbs. Mayesvlllf. S. C. wiuit l s?w in Um Middle West?IV, (By Clarence Poe.) Mach as I haw said about the sig nlficanre of what I saw In the West. I am still convinced that tin biggest lesson mir Southern farmers can 1? am is from what I did not see. And for the purpOOt of emphasizing this ROga the teaching of Western agriculture, I am going to repeat and emphasize some of the things I have already said that I did not see In this pro? gressive and prosperous agricultural section. it has come to my attention that one of my readers has objected to this summary of things I did not tat as "a r. Section on the South." And this leads me to say that there is hardly anything else in Southern life that rnak-s no m exceedingly weary as just this attitude toward every frank criticism of Southern conditions. What I said about the criticism of Dr. Stiles some months ago Is as ap? propriate as anything I could say in reply to this critic of mine, and I am going to reprint herewith the para? graph I published at that time: "It Is high time, anyhow, for the South to get over this morbid and babyish sensitiveness about the publi? cation of every statistical fact that \ doesn't please our passing fancy. The true Southerner, Is the man who look. an unpleasant fact squarely in the to i and sets about getting a remedy. In Heaven's name, let's have done with our quack. popularity-hunting bx tors and leaders who tell us there is nothing; the matter with us. that we it. the greatest and happiest people >n earth, and that all we need to do Is to keep on forever In our old ruts ?>f Illiteracy, undeveloped resources. *nd out-of-date farming methods. Det us rather follow the doctor and the leader who loves the South with all his heart, but who loves her too well not to use the knife of critic ism and reform upon the OAPcefl that an sapping her economic life and general well-being." In low for the South T yield to no man living. If I have any master passion. It is the desire to make my life of some servier to her anil her people. Mv father fought in her inn lee, and I pity the man who do not respond to the patriotism of Sen itor Cannack'i eloquorit declaration: "I was born of that l ind; 1 was nur? tured at her bosom, an I to h< r over) drop of my blood, every Uber of my being, every pulsation of my heart, is consecrated forever." But how are 070 going to serve the South? Certainly it will never be by playing the ostrich and hiding our heads In the sand in order to keep from s.-iing farts as they are. The mlaerabl? flatteries that the Southern !.pie have tolerated so long In a certain type of politician and dema? gogue m ike me wonder sometime" if Dante was not right after all In put? ting flatterten In one of the lowest hells along with thieves and forgers If you are going Into training to struggle for the mast, ry with sonn powerful and muscular wrestler, that I man Is not your friend who flatter*) you with a th? uaand lulling compli-) nnnts about your strength and your superiority over your opponent, and how needless It Is for you to fear op? position. Your real friend is the man who tells you the exact truth about the strength of your rival, who teils yon .how necvessorv it is thai you put yourself In the very best o! training, on the very best of diet, md who urges you day alter day to ivoM every weakening and debilitat? ing Infbh > p o ho encourage i you, in dei d. for ' ? ? r\ well-mi ml effort you put fori h, but who net er lulls you Into i sense of f ise and false secur? Ity t'i it teotild only ruin you in the ml. If i know my *,(' n henri ii is 11 ; ? i t of friend I wish I ? be in our Xotithem fem* r folk, and I hope I lb ill alv iys I t t ?> true to them to M ir ? i f g...-j out to ,M Bouthi rn , m Ins pi ople The pro p< r >us i n I enterprl Ing ones l admire, and tie i.r and backward ores j sympathise n Ith ev on mote than i n Imlre the rich md prosperous." Rut the beat way to help both classes is to spur them on to (h?ng as good work as that done by farmers anywhere on earth. With so much said in explanation of my attitude, let roe turn now to some comment on sonn- of tho things I said in the beginning that I did not gee, I said I saw no cabins. We cannot hope to got thrifty and progressive tenants on our Southern farms until we provide s better type of houses for tin s,, tenants to live in. I said thai 1 saw no gullies. The farmers In the West keep the lands filled with humus, keep the land grow? ing something all the year round, and so it does not wash away. We must grow winter cover crops in the South, and we must also use more soiling crops and more stable manure, there? by getting humus into the land to hold the soil together. Commercial ferti? lizers furnish no humus. Before many years land is going to become too val? uable in the South for anybody to let it wash away. But the difficulty is that great areas are already ruining before that time comes. I said that I saw no forest fires. Our carelessness with regard to forest fires in the South is almost a disgrace to our people. If a man by his care? lessness started a fire which burned up your smoke-house or barn, you WOUld raise a great disturbance, but some worthless vagabond may start a forest fire that will do damage equal to the value of a dozen smoke-houses or barns and nothing is ever done about it. Timber is becoming scar? cer and scarcer every year, and our farmers must begin to realize that the timber crop is just as valuable and just as surely a money-making "crop," even if it does grow more slow ly, as any other crop. The thing to do is to begin putting these men who are careless with fire behind pris? on bars. A few of them wearing stripes would each be a very valuable lesson. I said that saw no big plantations. The hope of the South lies in the breaking up of our big plantations cultivated by shiftless, unintelligent labor and the development of s gre it democracy of thrifty and Intelligent white farmers, owning their own homes, in saving white farmers, I do not mean any lll-wlll toward our colored farmers, but it Is best for them and best for every interest In the South that our white population should increase by immigration and natural increase until the proportion of negroes in no State is large enough to be Oppressive, The chief reason why so many of our white farmers have gone to town has been a lack of adequate white society in the country districts. When the farms are small? er and the farm homes closer togeth? er, as they would be with a great body of si, tl) ioo-acre farms, the situation will be materially (hanged. I said (bat I saw no stumps in (lie Holds. Having just made a trip through Six Southern States this fad Impressed me especially, a stumpy Held means that tin- farmer must use the m.?st expensive labor and tools. The saving that would result from the use oi lahor-sarlng tools ami machin? ery would soon pay the whole cost of taking out tin Rtumps?to say noth? ing of the Increase in the crop from the greater area of land made avail? able by removing these obstructions to progre is and produ< t w Ity, I said that I saw no farm homes unpuintcd. W'.th the Increasing pro ? l" lit. of t he South there i- no pea - son why we should not have thi same beautifu) farm homes one gees in Wis? consin and Illinois, The wh"ie farm looks dim pen! v. In n it is sei off b> a beautifully painted t irm home, and it seems to u , that .t mo ;t mnk< a dlftVr< te e in the Hplril of ? vi py m< in? ker of the family. \ pr< 't' home In ? pile, an at.im ipb< PC of pi I lo Mid ? he. rfuliu ss which 11 ?I give nlty but al?o m .lo- everyl rid) on the plan do bettor work, it i- n common saying lhal v h. re n good pond is put a hui;' i ! i 1.1 I isf?( the owner ..r ib i on . ? . . i]uleft b? make I imp emci ? ! 1 ivc his home In l rm n: Ith the go ??! p< ad. And I on the same principle, it' a man has a beautiful home he is likely to begin t<> improve his tanning practice and quit any piddling and shiftless methods that would be >.ut <d' keeping with his house. I said that I saw no one-room school houses. And when l say this I nvan also that I saw nothing ofthat Indifference to public education of which the one-room school house is an index. In Mississippi there are eight times as many Inhabitants born of native parents who cannot read and write as there are in Wisconsin, in Alabama fifteen times as many as in Wisconsin; in Georgia and Arkan? sas twelve times as many; in Louisi? ana twenty tinu s as in Wisconsin. And this is the main explanation .if why the West has forged ahead of the South. Knowledge is power. 'The first great need of the South is lat? ter schools tor our boys and girls. VIII. I said that I saw no farms without live stock. Dr. Butler has already pointed out that the average farm worker in Alabama. Louisiana and Mississippi (jets only $13 a year from the sale of live stock, while the aver? age farm worker in Iowa, Illinios and Indiana gets $212?18 to i against our people, and this is a very live and meaningful "16 to i" is? sue, whatever may he said about the old free silver ratio. This n<>t only means that they are getting sixteen times as much as we are from the sale of live stock, but it means that they are restoring sixteen times as much fertility to the soil as w? are. It means, too, that while we are gt t ting one profit?that is. from growing crops?they are getting two profits? first from growing them. and. sec? ondly, from feeding them to live stock. IX. I said that I saw no burning of vegetable matter. In Champaign County, Illinios, I traveled over some of the richest land in the world, but 1 quickly found that the farmers there did not think their land rich j enough to justify them in burning their corn stalks and wasting the humus and fertility there is in them. "The farmers around here say that it takes two or three years to re? cover from the loss of burning a crop of corn stalks," so a thoughtful citi? zen told me, and I could not hut con? trast the careful economy of these farmers with the wastefulness of the South. Here we not only burn our corn stalks, hut too often deliberate? ly set tire to our old fields and burn up in a few hours' time all the humus and vegetable matter which Mother Nature has spent years accumulating in an effort to build up our wasted soils. In Illinios the stalks are either cut up and left on the land or else hauled aside and rotted and then re? stored to the soil. X. I said that there was no store at pvery pronging, 1 honor "tir pro? gressive and enterprising merchants In the Smith, hut we have too many i , st?r?-.?. Twi< c as many of our enter prising ami progressive young nun , have gone into merchandising as I should have gone. Half the mer? chants in the South today would be ; ten times as useful to their eommu ' nities ami their States ami make more money for themselves it tin;.- were giving the same energy ami enter ' prise to some productive industry, either manufacturing or farming. The merchant is a useful servant of those m iwmMBMMmMai i ii - who produce (provided there are not stores enough already >, hut the mer ! ( ant himself is not a producer. We must come to sec that there is just as much credit in making Southern meat as there is in seling Western meat; just as much credit in making Southern goods as there is in selling j Northern goods?and that in the j present situation the need of the ! South is ten times as great in the i j producing as in the selling line. i Again, because we have so man" I i i (Continued on Page Eight.) O'Donnell 6 Co. Red Raven Hosiery Guaranteed 25o?p er p a i r==25c WE ARE EXCLUSIVE |H AGE.YTS FOR RED RAVEN HOSIERY : : ft * WK believe you should know better than us how long your hosiery should last. When you buy our celebrated Red Raven Hosiery and they do not gi\ - yoivi the wear that you think they should, just return them to us and get new hose for them. No red tape, no expense of postage in return? ing them to some distant city, no chance of losing them in the mail, no delay to you whatsoever?just bring j them to us and we will give you new ones out of s'.ock. The price just the a me as those which are not guaran? teed, 25c a pair. Buy one pair or a dozen pair, we are not dictating how many you should buy. ! O'Donnell & Co! 15he Doctrine 9/ Two Summer Suits! IN SUMMER your suit is constantly in your own and your associates' sight. One suit gets tiresome?and tired ; needs a rest, cleaning and pressing. The logical solution is two suits? One a Blue Serge THEN you are right and ready for any emergency. One suit always pressed and fresh. Frequent changes will do both yourself and the suits good. WE'VE right serges for you?closely twilled from fine spun pure worsteds some fancy blues, some plain?a plenty of both. $12.50, $15, $18, $20.00 to $27.50. The D. J. Chandler Clothing Co. PHONE NO. 166 - - iJUMTER, S. C.