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THE LAGRANGE REPORTER...
FRIDAY MORNING. OCT. 2. 1914.
Faiming
Chats and Comment
&
EXTRACTS TAKEN FROM AN
ADDRESS OF CHAS. J. HADEN
President of the Georjjin Chamber of Commerce
Delivered Excellent Address Before the Georgia
Weekly Press Association at Commerce,July 14th
■ ^gantagSBlSlBBSIOl^ BSDMDESBSanS
( "In 18<y, when the rail of arms wus made by Georgia to defend.
against invasion, more than one hundred thousand Georgians stak-
i j their lives in defense of home und native State. Now, that sec-
tion from which the invading army came is taking from Georgia
every year, in the silent, legitimate channels of trade, more money
than Sherman destroyed in his march to the sea. Against this in
vasion we have but one defense, and that is to feed ourselves and
become independent of the corn-cribs and smoke-houses of the
Northwest. We call for volunteers."
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During the last census decade,
Georgia climbed from the tenth place
up to the fourth among all the states
in the Union in the value of agricul
tural products. This is gratifying.
Itut do we keep the wealth we
earn ?
In 1913, the total value of the pro
ducts of Georgia of every kind was
in round tigures four hundred mil
lion dollars. The tux digest for the
same your shows that the wealth of
Georgia only increased forty million
dollurs. Of this increase, thirty-one
million dollars was in eight city coun
ties, chiefly enhanced land values re
sulting from growth of population.
Nine million dollars represented
the increase of wealth of the tax
books of one hundred and forty rural
counties. If these figures be accept
ed, they show barely more than five
dollars per person, less than 2 cents
per day per capita, bs the net gain
for the toil of a whole ycur.
Trace the three hundred and forty
million dollars that disappeared.
From the best available Sources we
loam that more than one hundred
and fifty million dollars wns sent to
the Northwest to pay for food stuffs.
This sum is equal to the entire de
posits of all the banks of the state.
This appalling sum pays for products
some of which can be produced in
Georgia at less cost thHn in the states
from which they are brought, and all
can be produced in Gcorgiu for leas
than we pay for them.
• • * •
la the legends of the classic age,
we are told of the people who ate the
lotus plant, and dreamed the dope
day-dreaniH which banished care and
took from life the sense of its sol
omn duties. Sometimes I wonder if
it is the odor of the cotton blossoms
that blinds our people to the blunder
of the all cotton crop.
Georgia has an average of two
hundred and forty growing days in
gether the best citizens to form a
"county unit” for the common good,
co-operating the merchant, the bunk
er, the professional man and the far
mer. Make os a preamble of each
constitution to produce in one county
what we consume in one county, to
sell the surplus for cash; and to put
that cash into better schools, better
roails, better farms and better homes.
Faithfully follow this plan and we
will find that prosperity comoth
where it listeth—that a county has
been born again.
For be it from my purpose to un-
deratc the power of cotton. It is the
greatest heritage that wus ever al
lotted to a people. It brings to
America from acrosH the seas more
gold than com, wheat and iron com
bined; it preserves the balance of
trade in favor of our nation against
a world; it is the great American
bulwark against panics. Directly
and indirectly, cotton enriches Ameri
ca more than a billion dollars a
year—but who gets it ? More than
one-half lodges in the pockets of those
who sell us the supplies we eat and
wear, and nearly all the residue finds
its way into the hnnds of those who
spin and weave and otherwise mani
pulate the fibre. As our servant,
aided by home produced supplies, it
would muke us the richest people on
the earth. As our master, it is a
tyrant as merciless ns any Roman
ship captain over his galley slave.
An experienced Georgia hanker
tells me that he can look over the
books and papers of uny Georgia
bunk and tell which of their farmer
depositors ruisc their own food sup
plies and which do not. One who
grows his food has a balnnce on the
east side of the deposit ledger—and
the name of the all-ootton grower
appears on the south side of a pro
missory note.
It is not solely a question of wheth
er cotton or a food crop will yield
the largest profit on a given acre;
Europe will exist in America—me]
lahoi ing man will only nave meal I
twice u wees on ms talne.
In Georgia we suner from tool
much politics. '1 he energy anu abil
ity expended in tne two campaigns'
tor Governor in ltftMi and lUOo, pro
perly directed, would have bunt a
| standard automobile highwuy across
our state from end to end.
Daniel of the ancient oracle looked
from his window in Babylon towards
tne west when he prayed. For half a
century, our people huve looked to the
west, praying: “Giivc us this day
our daily bread.” And in times of
low cotton and short crops, they have
followed up the prayer: “Forgive us
our debts.”
* • • •
In 1861, when the call to arms
was made in Georgia to defend
against invasion, more than one hun
dred thousand Georgians staked their
lives in defense of home and native
state. Now, that section from which
the invading army came is taking
from Georgia every year in the sil
ent, legitimate channels of trade,
more money then Sherman destroyed
in his march to the sea. Against
this invasion we have but one de
fense, and that is to feed ourselves
and become independent of the corn-
cribs and smoke-houses of the north
west. We call for volunteers. Have
we heroes of peace?
When the Revolutionary War be
gan a Connecticut county boy volun
teered and undertook the perilous
service of a spy. He was captured,
court-martiuled, and sentenced to be
hung. On the gullows he was asked
by a British officer what he had to
say before he died. He replied: “All
I regret is thut 1 have but one life
to give to my country.” And Con
necticut placed Nathan Hale in mar
ble, in heroic size, in his plain hickory
shirt and brogan shoes, in the capital
at Hartford, and also in the Hall of
Fame at Washington. Are there ndt
in Georgia some Nathan Hales who
are willing to give one life to their
country, not by dying, but by living
as examples to their fellow country
men ? •
With meat in the smoke-house,
wheat in the bin, com in the crib,
and cotton as a cash reserve, we
would hold the most impregnable fin
ancial fort on earth. Whenever we
are able to hold or sell cotton at our
discretion, we will have the last word
about the price. As against wars and
panics, we are then ready ns is the
spider when he whiffs the gale and
tightens his cords against the storm
and comes through triumphant.
You younger men have a patriotic
duty and a privilege to be envied;
you whose feet are on life's thresh
old, with your faces turned toward
the morning and the sunlight of his
tory’s brightest day beaming full in
your face. You enn enrry Georgia
from its present rank as the Empire
state of the South, and make it the
Empire state of America.
GAI.LINGER. THE PROGRESSIVE
the year. That is, days between the process of reasoning is as dnn-
iMt frost of spring and the first Koroua ns it j„ deceptive. The true
float of winter—days m which the test is will tho food crop ena ble the
grass grows. Illinois has one hun- RTOwer lo keep h;il co tton money at
dred and sixty growing days, and yet borne?
we are buying baled grass from j n Texns there are eight hundred
IHiaois. thousand native Georgians and chil-
“ • • I dren of native Georgians. We have
From dependable sources we learn contributed above any other state in
ttiat hogs are grown in Georgia at the Union to the building of their
a eost from three to five rents a great I-one Star empire of the west,
poind on the foot, or about fifteen But we have already contributed
tier cent less than in Iowa. We arc enough. The duty is upon us to
buying our pork products from Iowa,'teach our people that Georgia is the
paying the freight arid the packers’ most attractive spot in the world, and
profits. I in making it more attractive, to keep
We do not need to grow figs in at home that best citizenship of na-
Gaorgia—they literally grow them-, tive blood. I am pleased to say that
aeKes and then fall and waste and recently one of our railroads pub-
rot. If you call it your grocery licly announced that they had discon-
storc, the dried figs the groceryman tinued the settlers excursion rates to
delivers you are figs from California the west, which in years past have
that were grown on land worth near drawn away so many of our people,
(wo hundred dollars an acre, irrigated Georgia is the largest state in area
by water which costs two thousand of the Mississippi River. It is
dollars per miner’s inch per year. | the second largest producer of cotton
Our beans and peas are peddled or (Texas only being larger). It pro-
•idrilcd away improvidently. and the duces a greater variety of useful
' ms am barely perceptible on the! cro P» than any other state in the un
balance sheet- We then buy baked
beans in cans from Pittsburg at the
mte of seven dollars and ninety-five’
reals per bushel.
Thereafter, in due coarse of time
aad ia duo consequence of a ruinous
all-cotton economic system, our far
mers borrow the money earned by
the growers of hogs and the canners
ion. From its highest altitude of ap
proximately 5,000 feet down to the
Atlantic shore land, we present to
tho world nearly every variety of
soil and elimate ia the temperate
zone.
Sea Island Cotton is probably the
rarest and riehemt staple agricultural
prodnet. in the world. It has been
of beans, paying eight per cent inter- j sold for a period of twenty years at
est, plus five per cent commission,, an average of about twenty-five cents
plus abstract fees, and pledging j a pound. The Federal Government
therefore the sacred homestead. | states that this variety of cotton is
Round and round, as year followed j produced successfully in only sixteen
year, our people, our good, noble peo- j counties in all the earth. One half of
pie, yielding to the lure and habit the entire crop of Sea Island Cotton
of cotton, have toiled and last. At, is produced in Georgia,
times they have blamed the civil war.i * * * *
At times they have charged their ln his old affCi Socrates, the grand-
misfortunes to the tariff. The *»r! est of a(1 thc Greeks, was asked what
■was fifty years ago. The difference,’ hi s pursuit in life had been, and he
Bieasuml by results, between the replied: “Introducing men to them-
tanff of Mr. McKinley end the tariff) 8e j ves »» |f ay j as ^ you> gentlemen
of Mr. Underwood, is hardly visible 0 f the press, to introduce Georgian to
to the naked eye. ! Georgia. May I ask that, when you
will forever wait in vain for^ return to your editorial desks, you
legislation to mitigate a gross viola- ^11 your readers—tell it again and
tion of a fundamental economic law. a jj a i n —that financial and industrial
i ou, gentlemen of the press, ply a, independence can never be in Georgia
pursuit not prolific in millionaires, until we feed ourselves out of Geor-
but you are rich m opportunities for so ft #
^MEiblic service. The teacher teaches, Just fifteen vears ago, one pound of
the children, but you teach the cotton p aid for one poumi of steak .
teacher, the parent and the pupil. A n0 w it takes two pounds of cotton to
concerted and constructive campaign pay for one poun d of steak. Within
, by those assembled here today, twenty years, the population of the
through the team work of federated United States increased twenty per
energy of town and county, would cent a nd the number of cattle in the
readjust our disordered and disastr- United Sates decreased thirty-two
ous industrial system in five years, j per cent
Let us mutually pledge each other’ With the mouths multiplying and
here now that each in his own com- the cattle subtracting, the time is
muBity will undertake to bring to-^ not distant when conditions now in
Farm Folks
Are Learning
1. They are beginning to quit
farming by signs of the moon and
beginning to farm by sense of the
earth.
2. They have quit “laying by” by
the time of the year and are beginn
ing to “lay by” by the condition of the
crop.
3. They no longer buy fertilizer
by the smell of the goods, but are
beginning to buy it for the plant food
it contains.
4. They are beginning to realize
that there 1b no sense in killing South
ern grass all summer and buying
Western grass all winter; nor in pay
ing freight and brokers’ charges on
Western corn and meat when we can
raise them here without these extra
chargee.
6. And especially do they realize
that it doesn’t pay both to pay freight
on hay and buy nitrogen in sacks,
when clover, vetch, and cowpeas will
not only furnish cheap feed, but gath
er fortunes in nitrogen "free-gratis"
from the air above us.
6. They are beginning also to see
that it is cheaper to use horse-labor
that needs food but not clothing than
human labor which needs both food
and clothing—and cheapest of all to
use a maximum of machinery which
requires neither food nor clothing..
7. They see, too, that the main
question is not how much we make,
but how much we keep, and that time
prices and foolish marketing may
keep mea poor In spite of wise pro
duction.
8. And finally they are beginning
to realize that just ns there is many
a load which one horse working alone
would never budge but which several
horses hitched together pull easilv,
iust so there is many a plan for the
farmer’s benefit which farmers single-
handed can do nothing with, but
which a group of farmers hitched to-
<*ether can easily accomplish.—The
Progressive Farmer.
MORE ADVICE TO
REUBEN.”
‘UNCLE
The progressive party of New
Hampshire has formally endorsed
the senatorial candidacy of Jacob H.
Gallinger.
Mr. Gpllinger is 77 years old. He
is now serving his fourth term in the
United States senate. He has always
been elected as a republican. He has
admirably lived up to his partisan
designation. Senator Gallinger is a
hard worker and in many ways, a
valuable member of the senate. He
is, however, a relic of a bygone era in
American politics. He is probably
as far from being “progressive” as
any public man in the United States
today.—Cieaveiand Plain Dealer.
NOTICE.
Notice is hereby given to all per
sons owning or interested in rural
telephone lines, that such lines must
be put in good condition at once. This
applies to all lineB on or near the
right of way of the public roads of
Troup county. All lines found to
be in such a condition as to be dan
gerous to the traveling public, from
rotten poles, sagging wires or other
cause, will be cut dowfi and removed
by the road authorities.
The above was decided at a meet
ing of the County Commissioners on
September 22nd, 1914.
C. W. SMITH,
Chmn. Board County Corns.
Oct 16.
Farmers May
Yet Reform
From The Lyons Progress.
“It is not yet too late for the all
cotton farmer to reform and get on.
the prosperity band wagon. No part
of the United States is better suited
for hog and cattle raising than right
here in Georgia. Starting now any
farmer *can have a bunch of hogs
ready for market by this time next
year. He can limit his herd only by
feed products he is able to raise oa
his acres. Properly cared for, a two-
year-old steer is worth now, fat for
beef, a hundred dollars.”
SUBSCRIBE FOR THE REPORTER.
From Thomasville Times-Enterprise.
“The farmer who deliberately
nlants cotton in 1915. in the face of
the present situation, will be taking
meat awav from his children. That
is, of course. if he doesn’t plant
onoun-h else to make him indepen
dent.”
MUST REDUCE AND BE CAREFUL
From The T.nmnkin Independent..
Not only must the farmers reduce
♦heir acreage of cotton another vear,
but those who supolv them with the
necessities which they must have to
make a cron, must he careful. It will
Require co-operation to reduce the
acreage successfully, and when it has
h«en reduced, other crops must be
1 planted to take the place of cotton,
Meal and
Hulls
From New Crop Co
tton Seed
We Are Now Prepared to
Fill Orders for Your Require
ments .* .* .* .’
Get Them While They
MEAL, PER SACK
HULLS, (bulk) PER HUNDRED
HULLS, (sacked) PER HUNDREI
Let Us Trade For )
9
are Cheap
$7.35
30c
45c
four Seed
i
Farmers Cotton Oil Co.
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AUTO ACCESSORIES OF ALL KINDS
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12 MAIN STREE1 TELEPHONE NO. 204