Part 11

“I have been reading the SOUTHERN STATES, and am deeply interested in its work. I have been engaged in immigration work myself for thirty years, and I readily see some of the difficulties in the way of promoting immigration to the South. These can be readily overcome. With the use of proper methods, there is nothing in the way of bringing about a large movement from the Northern States to the South. The people of the North are finding it a matter of necessity to change their location, and this matter of moving to the South is of as much interest to them as it is to the people of the South. The matter rests largely with the railroad companies. With proper inducements and co-operation, agents could be gotten to go through the South on tours of inspection, whose reports on their return would influence large numbers of families in their communities. They would, of course, bear their own expenses, but they should have free transportation over the railroads. Facilities of this sort should, of course, be extended only to men of standing and reputation and influence at home, whose favorable report would lead to the removal of numbers of families in a body. I have taken parties of farmers into the West and the Northwest. I am in a position to explain to inquirers every feature of every county, for example, in Kansas and Nebraska. It would be easier to get them to go South; but I am sure of what information to give concerning Kansas and Nebraska, while my knowledge of the South is to some extent limited. I have a great many inquiries about the South. I am solicited now by a number of the best farmers of Iowa to go South and look the country over, get a list of lands for sale, prices, terms, etc., and find out for them what the conditions actually are. There is great interest in the South, and from all I hear and read it seems to be infinitely superior as a place for home-seekers to the far West, but the railroads and others interested have got to be as liberal in developing and fostering immigration efforts as the Western railroads have been, in order to bring about any extensive movement of this sort.”

No Hard Times in North Arkansas.

Mr. W. M. Duncan, president of the Citizens Bank, Eureka Springs, Ark., writes to the SOUTHERN STATES as follows:

“In this section of Arkansas, commonly spoken of as North Arkansas, by which is meant the two northern tiers of counties across the State, the financial condition of the farmers is better than at any time during the past five years. They are raising increased food supplies, and yet have very materially decreased their debts and improved their properties. Very little cotton is grown north of the Boston mountains; corn, oats, rye and sorghum being the chief cereals, while cattle, hogs and sheep are raised to great advantage and profit. There has not been a failure of any crops in the last five years. The outlook for the farmers this year is very good, and that of itself makes the general business situation of the towns and cities in this section most favorable.

“The great financial depression through which the country has recently passed was felt less in this section of the Southwest than in any other, from all reports. The reason was, our farmers were all well stocked with fat marketable hogs and cattle, and were able thereby to quickly realize on the same and meet the calls on them from their bankers, made necessary by the foolish alarm from lack of confidence so generally experienced in all financial institutions.

“Our greatest industry, yet very small, fruit raising (especially apples), merits the attention of all persons looking for a location to engage in apple raising. The apples of North Arkansas have taken the first prizes at New Orleans, San Francisco, Boston and the World’s Fair. There are several thousand acres of young apple trees which will bear the first fruit during the coming year, and as many more trees have been planted during the past two years. Our climate is especially adapted for this.

“The present status of business with the merchants and general stores is a great deal better than expected, and by early summer it is believed the return to the customary good trade will be accomplished.”

A Strong Disposition to Move South.

Mr. G. B. Randolph, of Anniston, Ala., writes to the SOUTHERN STATES as follows about his observations on recent trip to the Northwest: “I met many farmers and stock-raisers; also small fruit growers. (The latter can do but little in that section). I find a strong disposition among the people there on account of the severe winters and bad roads to come to a more agreeable climate. This of course is to be expected; people will naturally gravitate to a country holding out the greatest inducements. Here we not only have mild winters but our summers are not as hot as those in Illinois. A case of sunstroke is unheard of in this State. Our soil is productive and easily tilled. The character of our soil is red clay and sandy loam, and will produce anything that can be raised in the temperate zone. A great deal of attention is now being turned to fruit, vineyard and berry culture. Also we are proving this to be a fine country for tobacco culture. We have a remarkably healthy country. A case of lung trouble I never knew of originating here. As an indication of the attention being paid to this section, will say that within the past two days I have had inquiries for lands from the States of New York, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. Will be glad to answer any inquiries from prospective settlers. We have heretofore been greatly handicapped by excessive railroad rates to prospectors and immigrants; now I am glad to say the roads are showing a spirit of liberality, and we now have excursions the eighth of each month. Round-trip tickets for one fare good for twenty days are being sold by the different lines in the North for all points in this section.”

NEWSPAPER COMMENT.

The Yazoo Delta.

The Memphis Appeal-Avalanche says: “From present indications the labor problem in the Mississippi valley is about to solve itself. The answer is a simple one--the substitution of white labor for black.

“Everything seems to indicate that the shiftless, easy-going, debt-making negro, dependent all the year round on the man who is running him, will soon be a thing of the past. Of course there are some negroes who are exceptions to the rule--who pay their debts when they make them, who live economically, who know the value of a dollar--but they are few and far between.

“That the Mississippi Delta is the garden spot of the earth no one doubts. Its soil is ever responsive to the hand of the tiller. It is capable of raising the most diversified crops. As a cotton country it has no equal. All kinds of fruit flourish in its kindly temperature. The forest abounds in the most valuable woods. As a stock raising country it is equal to the blue grass region of Kentucky. All that the Delta needs is the hand of man to develop it, and man is beginning to realize that his labor will count for more there than anywhere else.

“As an example of the difference between Caucasian and negro labor, an instance which recently came to light is invaluable. A wealthy planter, owning a Delta farm, let part of it to some foreign families; the rest to negroes. The foreigners worked hard. They raised diversified crops. They lived as cheap as they could, and at the end of the year they had not only paid their rent, but they had their barns stocked with supplies and well-filled bank books. The negroes had not paid their rent and were heavily in debt, besides being dependent on outside help for supplies to run them through the year to come. The two classes of tenants were exactly opposite, the one representing independence, the other dependency.

“The Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad, recently purchased by the Illinois Central system, passes directly through the Delta. It owns a great deal of the land through which it passes, and is now making a systematic effort to settle it with immigrants from the Northwest and Europe. At present a large tract of land, known as the Bogue Phalia district, is receiving the benefit of most of this effort, and the families are rapidly moving in and taking possession.”

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The Times-Union, Jacksonville, Fla., utters these profound truths: “Capital is like Providence in just one respect. It helps those who help themselves. It will take no risks in a community where the people brand investments as bad by refusing to take part in them. Capitalists know that men everywhere are looking for good investments, and an enterprise that does not secure home support is presumed to be a bad investment, no matter how much talk there is for the purpose of convincing men to the contrary. The present is an auspicious time. Millions of dollars of Northern capital are seeking investment, and they will go to such places as prove rather than assert faith in the investments they offer.”

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The Atlanta Constitution, in making editorial comment on an item in the SOUTHERN STATES, says:

“We contend that the South is the most promising section in the Union for enterprising farmers who will conduct their business in the right way. The Northern and Western farmers are beginning to see this. They are coming to the conclusion that it is short-sighted policy for them to purchase land at $100 or more per acre when they can buy plenty of good farming land in the South at from $5 to $25 per acre. A Northern farmer needs at least forty acres, and this will cost him in his own section $4000. This sum would buy him at $25 per acre a Southern farm of 160 acres, but he can easily find good land at much lower figures. Indeed, with $1500 or $2000 a farm of 150 or 200 acres can be purchased in a productive region. The Northern farmer who comes South and sticks to his diversified crop plan will keep out of debt and make money from the start. He will find, too, that he will enjoy here the same conveniences, facilities, institutions and society that he has always been accustomed to at home. He will suffer none of the drawbacks of moving to a new country among strangers. Our people are native Americans--98 per cent. of them--and the Americans from other sections who come here easily assimilate with them, and there is no sectional prejudice to make it unpleasant for strangers. When an immigrant makes it apparent that he is a good citizen his Southern neighbors readily extend the right hand of fellowship without asking him where he hails from.”

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Here is the opinion of an editor who moved from Nebraska to Tennessee and is now editing the Advance of Harriman:

We came South from a State as fair as any under the sun. In some respects it is unequalled by any land we have ever seen. But that is not what makes a country desirable for a life-long, all-the-year-round residence.

With all the desirable qualities of Nebraska, and there is no Northern State that can excel or even equal it, there are some disadvantages that render it more than a hundred per cent. inferior to this country.

In the first place, there are no minerals, no timber, and, consequently, no manufacturing to supply a home market for produce. All surplus grain must go to a foreign market, and the distance and freight are so great, as to leave but very little for the farmer. Corn more frequently sells for less than twenty-five cents a bushel than it does for more than that, or even that figure.

Then the long winters and severe blizzards. We know what they are, for we battled with them for a good number of years, and are in a position to judge between the climate of that country and this.

Concerning the outlook for farming in this country, we are convinced of two facts.

The first is, that the same kind of farming given to this Southern soil that is given to the the land in the North will result in just as good crops. Of this we have no doubt whatever.

The second is, that while the farmers of the Northwest have to sell their produce for the lowest possible price, depending entirely on a foreign market, here, with our stores of undeveloped minerals, and immense quantities of timber to be manufactured, the farmer can depend on a good local market for the next hundred years.

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The Age-Herald, Birmingham, Ala., says: “The disposition among Northern and Northwestern farmers to come South is every day becoming more apparent. They long for the salubrious climate and fertile soil of the South. When the South is covered by small farms owned by industrious white farmers, then it will blossom as the rose. The negro shows a disposition to get away from the farm. He is a social creature and loves the society and excitement of the town. He flocks to the furnaces and mills around the city. He can stand heat and enjoys the hot work of the furnaces. He makes more at the public works. He is thriftless and cannot manage, and can’t make farming pay. It is possible that there will be a considerable shifting of places between the whites and blacks, resulting in good to the entire country.”

WHAT THE NEWSPAPERS SAY OF THE “SOUTHERN STATES.”

The entire attention of the editor and contributors of this magazine is devoted to the promotion of the South as a farming region, and to the distribution of information which will at once attract immigrants, show them where they may with the best advantage locate, and tell them what to expect when they arrive. It is an undoubted fact that many thousands of acres of land of remarkable productive capacity are going begging for occupants in nearly all of the States south of Mason and Dixon’s line at very low prices, and it seems to be the case that the Northern or Eastern farmer of thrifty, economical and industrial habits and with a practical knowledge of his business will not fail to succeed in the South. “The South and Immigration” is the first article in the present issue, and it consists of letters from prominent railroad officials, showing the aids which are extended to immigrants by these organizations. The next paper is made up of letters from Southern banking institutions whose universal testimony it is that a steadily increasing financial prosperity is in progress throughout these States, and the “Letters from Northern and Western Farmers Giving Their Experience in the South” tend to prove the same statement. This magazine is serving as the medium for the carrying on of an enormous and an invaluable work.--Boston Herald.

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It is a just and true mirror of the Southern country and an invaluable aid in its upbuilding and advertisement. The ignorance of the world concerning all things Southern is astonishing, and is fostered and increased by immigration agents and land companies by wilful and absurd misrepresentation concerning its people, its climate, its methods and everything connected with it viewed as a home for prospective settlers. Until recently the South has had no champion against this maligning. To combat these errors and let the world know the truth is the mission of the SOUTHERN STATES, and the steadily increasing influx of immigrants to this portion of the Union is in a great measure due to its intelligent and unceasing efforts.

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The SOUTHERN STATES is devoting itself to a remarkable degree to illustrating the attractions of the South for farmers and manufacturers, and to this end is printing in its monthly numbers letters from farmers and railway managers throughout that section of the country, who show what the possibilities are in dealing with the soil and in gaining access to the markets of the nation. The forces of immigration have been chiefly directed to the North and West until a large portion of that country has been occupied; but the industrial resources of the South have only just been touched, not developed, and the railways are calling loudly for people who are ready to immigrate to different parts of the South and purchase small farms. At the same time a large number of the farmers give an account of their actual experience in the different Southern States as agriculturists.--Boston Herald.

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The SOUTHERN STATES should meet with substantial endorsement from every Southerner interested in the upbuilding of his section.--Commercial, Union City, Tenn.

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Mr. Wm. H. Edmonds has disposed of his interest in the Baltimore Telegram, which was rapidly increasing in popularity as one of the best literary weeklies in the country, and assumed the editorship and management of the SOUTHERN STATES, the monthly magazine started a few months since by the Baltimore Manufacturers’ Record. Mr. Edmonds is now engaged in a work thoroughly congenial to him, the main object of the SOUTHERN STATES magazine being identical with that he had mapped out for the Telegram when he purchased the paper. The SOUTHERN STATES under the new editor will, we are assured, rapidly increase in popularity, especially in the South. Mr. Edmonds is thoroughly identified with the progress of the South, material and industrial, and his exclusive devotion to the magazine work guarantees a publication of the highest literary character and extraordinary general interest. The Enquirer-Sun extends its best wishes to the new management.--Enquirer-Sun, Columbus, Ga.

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The SOUTHERN STATES, an illustrated monthly magazine published in Baltimore, has begun a movement which is calculated to do more good than anything heretofore projected to induce the sturdy farmers of the Northwest to seek more congenial homes in the Southern States where the rigors of climate are not present to obstruct and hinder the husbandman.--The Landmark, Norfolk, Va.

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It is impossible to estimate the amount of good work that is being done for the South by that splendid magazine, the SOUTHERN STATES. In its January number “The South and Immigration” is discussed by the leading railroad officers, representing nearly 30,000 miles of Southern railroads, and this and the other subjects treated are handled in an eminently practical way.--The Post, Houston, Texas.

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The SOUTHERN STATES, a magazine published by the Manufacturers’ Record Publishing Co., Baltimore, is doing more for the South than perhaps any one publication in this heaven-favored land.--The Times, Selma, Ala.

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The News notes with pleasure the efforts of the SOUTHERN STATES to bring into favorable notice the great advantages the South possesses in the agricultural field, and every Southerner who loves the Southland should secure a copy of the SOUTHERN STATES for February, as it contains the experience of men who have given different localities in the South a fair trial in the agricultural line, and we are glad to see from the actual experience of men who are capable of judging that the South ranks second to no other section in farm production, and is way above them all in the successful production of fruit.--Chattanooga (Tenn.) News.

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This magazine is doing a splendid work for the development of the South.--The Citizen, Jacksonville, Fla.

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Every issue of the SOUTHERN STATES marks a literary and artistic improvement, which is most gratifying to the people of the South, in whose interests the magazine is published.--The Post, Houston, Texas.

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One who has any thought of removing to the South will find this magazine a most valuable guide.--Western Farmer, Lafayette, Ind.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Southern States, March, 1894, by Various