Hamilton journal. (Hamilton, Harris Co., Ga.) 1876-1885, April 21, 1885, Image 8

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AMILTON = SUBSCRIPTION SI-00 A YEAR. J. L. Den xi-s, Proprietor. HAMILTON, GEORGIA, April J21 1885. A riilNTIXG Pit ESS FQli SALE CHEAP. I have a Seven Column VVasington hand press, that does good work 5 which I will sell for $100 cash, or ®n easy terms to a reliable party. J. L. Dennis. EDITORIAL NOTES. The European war cloud is not largei than a man’s hand, and yet it has advanced flour one dollar per bane). President Cleveland is being urged visit Atlanta in May. A live pres¬ ident has not been in the south since he late unpleasantness, a period of nearly a quaiter of a century. The •isit of Cleveland would have a good effect. If Mr. Cleveland can get off ear her some of us would be glad for m to come south before May. The ;v*l service reform talk has kept a ;cw < f as who would like office away from Washington, and we would be ad to meet the President before he .as filled all the offices within his Some of the papers are discussing the eligibility of (iov. McDaniel for another term. It was clearly the in¬ of the framers of the consti to limit to four years the in¬ cumbency of the gubernatorial chair. The re-election of tiov. McDaniel *ouM extend his term of service that oenod Active warlike preparations are til being mide by Russia and Eng land, although they may no* fight It lioks to an unbiassed observer as if each had a chip on its shoulder which i r was anxious for the other to knock ott. Cotton w»il decline and bread stuffs advance in price if war should be declared. It is not too late, in view of all this, to put in a little more corn. WAYSIDE MUSINGS. Thoughts on the or No-Fence--Fence Riders. All must agree that a fence in Darden of Eden would have been out of place. There was a stock law in force then. Adam was assess ed damages when he transgressed that law. If Harris county is ever to ‘bios soni as the rose” or be a second Eden t i le s t 0 ck must be fenced in. The most prosperous agricultural coi n tries in the world are those in which crops are turned out and stock frnc ed in. In such a country as Harris was fifty years ago, it was natural that the fence laws we now have should obtain, and in some sections of the county as it now is, it is still to the interest of the farmers to fence in their crops rather than their stock. In the pine section in the south-west¬ ern corner of the county this is nota bly so. But in a large part of the co,ln, v thc laad owneri ‘ ee that a - change is imperative. But for a mistaken idea upon the part of the renter, the change should have been made lo >g since. It is now the privilege of every person to keep as much stock as he wishes, Lands not fenced are open to the public for g azing. The stock law protects the land whether fenced or not. It curtails the privileges of the non-*and owner. His rights under existing laws he is unwilling to vote awav. # That he has these rights is question able; that to maintain them, if he has them, is not to his interest is iinqu s lionablc. Land is not so highpricid that any industrious person may not become a landlord—a free holder. Under the law now of force in Harris county it is worth more to fence a small body of land than the land is worth on the market. This operates against the poor man who is trying to get a start. - Take a ten acre lot, to illustrate this idea, ard see what the relative cost will be. And ten acres is enough land, in our wonderful climate, to support well a very large family if properly managed. This land would cost from forty to one hundred doll¬ ars. At one per cent a month for money the annua! cost would be $4.80 *0 $12.00 to the purchaser of tfiis land. If the land is in an exact square it can be fenced with 4000 rails, worth from $15 to $20 a thous an d. This makes the cost six to eight dollars per acre. This fence wdl need replacing every five years— thus the r0 st annually is 20 per cent Q f the original cost of the fence—say $ I2 to $16 a year. Adding these two items of cost together and we have the annual cost of land in small lots at from $16.80 to $28. Can it be longer a matter of surprise that so large a proportion of our people are renters Two or three bales of cot¬ ton—$80 to $120—pay the rent for a one mule farm—forty acres. An amount less than would be required to keep up the fences around it if fenced to itself. The tendency under fence law is to large farms. It would be to small farms under the stock law. Under which condition is the poor man best paid for his services ? Under which has he most social and educational advantages? It almost makes my heart bleed to see poor men so blind¬ ly opposing their best interest, to maintain a fancied right. Truth has always met with such blind opposi¬ tion, but still it is mighty and must prevail. My own dog bit me once. l —i n jumping a pailing his foot caught i* tiie crack and he was suspended by it in great agony, When I took hold to lift him off the fence he bit my arm. Poverty is agonizing, The fence law's keep many men in poverty. In my effort to relieve them from the fence I shall expect huit, because my motives will be misinterpreted. The tenant always pays the expense of the fencing around the crops he grows. It may b; in the contract