Newspapers / The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, … / June 27, 1909, edition 1 / Page 16
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j i - 'V I ) ! - .' CHABLOTTE DAILY OBSERVER, SUNDAYJUE 27, 11)00. : - s SBLE PAPERS BY ;S0MiOTffiS '"'Editor Varner spoke as follows en i munioation. Far back In history good I stand for bonds. Mecklenburg has .: ' TJi puty of the iPress U the Good j roads building was recognized as a j been building roads 10 years, and she leading factor in advancing clviliia- I has about 200 miles, using direct tax. tion. We are told that early explor-(Guilford has been building roads six ers in Peru found improved highways, 'years and she has 100 miles, using one of the military roads being 2, -'bonds. We are too far behind to de 000 miles in length. with tunnels !pend on a direct tax. We must go through mountains, bridges or ferries ahead and Issue bonds, build the over streams, a road 20 feet wide, j roads. Increase our wealth, and reap made of flagstones covered with hltu- 1 manyfold the tost of the roads. Is men. Ancient Mexico built good . North Carolina to labor another gen roads, as did India. and Persia, eratlon before good roads come to In the latter country the mon- pass? God forbid. We would loss v KOAS Aao Yemeni in nvim - . Abator ths North Carolina Press As ' socUutlen at Its annual meeting In Hendersonvtlle last week. ifJl. H. B. VARNKK'S ADDRESS. M. President, Fellow Members of the North Carolina Press Association, ' ' bedles and Gentlemen: The relation of the North Carolina press to the good roads movement Uiat la gradually growing throughout the gtate is so .UIn that it really needs little comment. The press al ways leads, or always ought to lead. in a fight for better things, and in this movement it should take the foremost place, for there is not an other question before our people to"1 Is so vitally connected with the wel . r nt ih. coin II is the hieh duty of every newspaper in North Carolina j following the fall oi Home, thedld not make a pretense at working to take up the cudgels vigorousls for darkness that settled over Kurope w as the roads, but now In the majority of better roads. The Sate of Oeuigia is In no small degree attributable to the 'eases we do not even obey that out- arch built a smooth, hard highway alongside of the common earth road, and none could travel it save his roy al highness. The Homan roads are still the marvel of a modern world and enough to macadamize every mile of road in the State. ; wife and chlljren were to suffer for j At present, with the exception of a a few counties, North Carolina is are still used Nothing contributed doing nothing at all. There Is neith more to Home's prosperity and prow- tr tax nor bonds In most of the coun ess than these imperial highways' tries, and there Is less improvement straight as nn eagle's fight, reach- work under the old road Law system ing to all parts of the world-empire, than ever before. Time was when we aflame with good roads enthusiasm because The Constitution, The Journal and other newspapers in that Com monwealth have begun a campaign that must result in good roads. In this Instance alone the duly of the press and the effects of its efforts are brilliantly set forth. Building good roads is the great question of the hour in North Caro lina. In the familiar phrase, It is the paramount Issue, not only in this State, but throughout the I'nion. It transcends in Importance politics, the tariff, the money question or any oth er question. Nothing is hampering I this country so much as mud: noth ing could possibly do more for the development of the gtate and nation thaa macadamized highways. Hence, the duty of the press In this State, especially, to begin a State-wide cam paign for the promotion of better toads. It is our manifest duty to cry loud to advocate strongly, to publish Information, to mold public opinion Ontil the people reach that point w4iere the are willing to bear the cost of building modern roads In yery rounty. ITnrted. determined, persisted the press can do anything. It Is all-powerful. The conqueror of Rurope, Na poleon the mighty, himself, said that four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets. I have no hesitancy In declaring to you to-day that If the North Caro lina press would plunge into a good roads campaign In all parts of the State, and stay on the firing-line twelve months, there would be such a tide of good roads sentmieru that North Carolina would be swept from One end to the other and good roads Would win in almost every county within an Incredibly short time. Show I the need, explain how, and North Carolinians will do what Is right evpry time. I need not go into historical details to show that up to a decade ago, Vorth Carolina was doing little. The 8tate had been struggling to regain Its feet and throw off the blighting effects of the Hvll war and Its horrid aftermath. The people had little en ergy to spare from that task to put Into development, although, of course, some development was going on. Fin ally, there came a day when a politi cal revolution was necessary, and It came. I do not wish to drop Into partisan politics hy referring to this, nor by saying that, since there must be a great leader In every fight. Charles B. Aycock came to point the way. AN INDUSTRIAL ERA. Having gone through with that, we, following Aycock, quickly went through with an educational revolu tion, until North Carolina was rais ed far from her lowly position in the list of States. Coincident, almost, and at the same time a result of the fore going, came an industrial era, when factories and mills sprang up every where, and North Carolina took a proud place along with other man- enhanced value Ufacturlng States. Capital flowed in to the State from the four quarters. And all along there was growing a powerful moral sentiment which had Us culmination last May a year ago. I recite these matters in an effort to how you that North Carolina has met and settled wisely and well a series of great problems and that she has now come to another great problem that has quite as much to do with the public weal ss sny of those that have been solved in the past, namely, build ing good roads. Governor Aycock was the great educational leader: Gov ernor Glenn was the great moral and Industrial leader: who will step for ward and be our great good roads leader, for the time is at hand for us to do something, and there is a call for a man to point the wav We can not atand still, we will either go back ward or forward. In all these movements for better things which I have narrated, the press played an important part i"' oi means or comm unica rion. ana worn law. as a result, tha average returning light came with the move- country road in bad even In summer ment to build passable highways. Ku- snd practically Impassable In winter, rope to-day is far ahead of us in the i Should a county Issue bonds, before matter of roads. The thrift and ; a dollar is expended, a competent civ wealth of th Frenchman largely 11 engineer should be secured and put come from his magnificent thorough- ! lo work mapping out the county. He fares. Kngland has good roads into should be under either he county every nook and corner of the Island, j commissions or a highway commission They are constructed scientifically and composed of the commissioners and guarded Jealously. This great country j other men selected by the people. It or ours, with its illimitable resources is absolutely necessary that an en and Its teeming millions, the grand- i glneer be employed, even though he est country on the face of the earth. ,cost considerable salary, for the loea is fettered by mud, and our people are I tion, construction and maintenance of Just awakening to the absolute neces- ! roads are operations that no man or sity of good roads If we are to nro- i s-4 of men without the aid of an en- gress and become what we should be. glneer can conduct in the proper way Good roads mean progress and ! to get the best results at the least rosl. prosperity and are a benefit to the peo- I There is a disposition on the part o pie who live In cities, and an advan- 'many people to cavil at the price paid tage to people w ho live in the country. ! such an engineer, and if vou under take good streets, they make habita- take to fight for roads you will meet;"r three years' Interest on tha prin tlon along them desirable, you nev- j it at the outset. That Idea must bel' iP' In Bradley county, Tennessee, er. or rarely ever and then not for eradicated, as must also the Idea thatjkut - few years ago, the supervisors long, see a shabby home by the side ; the map entrusted with the public of a modern road, where everybody funds Will not place every dollar where passes and sees how ynu live. They," belongs. In an age of skepticism make people straighten up and put j in business, it Is not unnatural that their best foot forward. The value of Ppple should suspect that huge sums farms is enhanced. Statistics nrove . voted for roads will be Dreved noon. No county can build roads without an engineer who acts as pathfinder, going over the county, studying the situa tion, making maps, and doing all that very necessary preliminary work with- the raising of funds by Issuing coun ty bonds with the restrictions which the' Virginia highway law imposes, vis., that all money so raised shall be spent under the watchful super vision of a State highway commis sioner, because otherwise the money may be wasted. Inasmuch as road building and road mending have been for a century un der county commissioners and town ship road supervisors with practical ly no beneficial results observable it seems plain that the time for a radical change of methods is at hand. Many farmers fear a bond Issue at they do the visits of the chinch bug or the Kansas grasshopper, but the benefits they derive from that method of raisin; 'money for road Improve ment are far-reaching and Immediate, while the individual tax on each Is so small that It Is scarcely noticeable. In reality, borrowing money through the sale of road bonds la like buy ing a house, a farm, or a business on the Instalment plan. The pur chaser receives the object at once and derives the benefits from, It while pay ing for it. As the benefits derived from perfected highways cover long periods of time, fairness and equity demand that the rising generation should bear a portion of the cost and that the Increased cltiienship, always attracted to the' locality by a system of good roads, should also aid In pay ing for the added benefits. FLOATING BONDS. Besides that, there is a financial wisdom In floating county bonds for road improvement. In many cases those bonds sell at a premium: and everybody Interested gains a benefit. In some Southern States good road bonds have brought a price so high that the premium has wiped out two people for city-people with tha amen matter about the mm. t.r of the city upon them unrelated to fairs In your town about the write- mai in nearly every case the States having the highest percentage of Im proved roads are a powerful factor In encouraging the settlement of unused lands. Roads also have fr.roeW- ing Influence in holding men to their0"1 which ofttimes money is worse farms, and restraining them from .than wasted. drifting to the towns "While the A county which shows ,iifacturing towns must hHve labor. ; Pr"Krea to fiond itself in sufficient a liberal voted a bond issue of 190,000. Those bonds bore Interest at the rate of five per cent. 8o enthusiastic were the citizens for road improvement, and so much confidence did they have in the locality in which they lived that the premium was $20,000: the cash sales placing In the county treasury $110,000. I am an earnest believer In Federal and State aid and co-operation In building good roads, and I believe that the time is at hand when the government will hit upon some plan whereby It may co-operate with the who Is here that will deny that if our ! " "ount for the purpose of securing State and the State with the county. counties had good roads, the hun- : Improved roads ihould keep its mon dreds of good farmers would have iPV Intact until its officers have learn moved their families from the coun- exavtly what class of roads will try home to town to work In the!18' meet Its requirements: what type mills? So great an exodus occurred ' nf oad I; Is bent qualified to con two or three years ago that farm 8,rurt an(1 "hat it can best afford; labor was almost Impossible to secure. ' Bril those farts can be secured through These people are needed In the coun- !n, "' of the national government, try; there they would hiivn stuyed office of public roads standing had there been good roads, which 1 rody to give gratuitous advice and make farm life so much more attrac- ' iPP'v skilled highway engineers who tive. As the price of lands depends ' Rr'' amply qualified to tell what type ns much on accessibility to market as ,nr highway would hest meet that eoun on productivity. It follows that road ,v'" requirements and to demonstrate Improvement, by holding people nnd ,h"" suggestions by supervising the attracting others, directly tends to- '"lildln of stretches of model high ward Increase in values of all farm'W!,v- flpr which local officials may lands within touch of the Improved ,B,(e pattern. highways. It Is shoyn that in States Wide-awake State gnd county offl where the average price of land l .clsls are now showina the liveliest an. roads nave increased the value of farm lands from 50 to 500 per cent. Tt has been ascertained by a. dozen railroads through their land and in dustrial departments that farms through which good roads run are enhanced In value from ? to J9 an acre, and whether conservative or en thusiastic, all concede that the In crease is marked. Immediate and In evitable. Suppose a county of 200 - 000 acres votes bonds, and placing the at only $4.50 an acre. it will be seen that the land owners thus benefited would gain not less than $900,000. If the bond Issue amounted to half a million. there would he $400,000 profit, at once. The Increase In the profit and price of farm produc ts is equally certain and plain. The farmer's produce Is worth nothing unless It can bp nlared on the market. Time was In Kngland when food would be rotting In one place while people suffered for the lack of it in a community a few miles awar because it was impossible to transport the products of the farms. PRICE OF FARM PRODCCTS. Official records In Guilford county show that the price of farm products since good rofcds have been built has increased from four hundred to seven hundred per cent. And yet, there is a farmer in my county who maintains that good ro.'ids will ruin him and th county, because they will reduce th price of nrodoce sinr vhAn tha 111- Irnaa ...... V. . . r. AmmA U KJ, 1..iJ - "no, nc rfns 4.ou u cora j. tr, ("i'mii, inni uiiivil of the credit is due the newspapers Is ess than $20 an acre the percentage tireetation of the wonderful results of Improved roads la only 1,8. where- f,1"0!ng a visit hv these skilful men. as, in States where the acreage val- I Hnrl ,n demands for their services are ue is more than $20. the average of " heavy .that It Is Impossible for TM Improved roads is 9 per cent, of thPf!r,,rtor Paep to meet more than 20 per total mileage. Vcen. of the request being filed in his Thera sre rer-ord. nv,iv. .i .u. lofflce. in pn,, v lllrtl for the work that has been done. Now, there Is another opportunity for the man behind the pen to serve his State, and Is there an editor in the State who will not answer the call? I be lieve not. for newspaper men are near ly always patriotic and self-sacrificing. . It Is idle for me to attempt enum eration of the benefits good roads con fer on a people. Every man. no mat- Tor wood, because wood is made scarce by the impassability of the highways; and he says he would rather haul wood through mud hub deep for $2.50 than to roll along a smooth road and sell It for $1. which Drice he claims l cord kill drop to in the event of good iroaas j ne experience of Charlotte land Greensboro entirely disprove jthls absurd idea, for there arc not (two better markets in the State, and the first named has 200 miles of good men .products; they' save time, labor and ter how unlettered, instinctively knows roads leading to it, and the second 100 tfeat a good road is a far better thing miles. SJK.v." , ub,S toTnow th?v,7ue lVnZrV h1' bnuCr .rt ------- , know of and greatly desire r "thevald "the (vav the cost I hv. : ", . me P'P"-: 'hey increase the value of - - ' i u Rui.u .-. ssa gooa isrmers d much as i were used . " good enou ers' declare that we are xZ poor to factorle Th highways are attempt, road construction an st ir heir IT fl prP'T of thp ' " !nfr other, are vehement in thel ' oPPo. ' 17 by " and t.O to the Idea of handing down , . T and should"1 adltg generations such a loath- u' em" contribute to . some thing as a public debt. These . ara aome of the objections one hears I . TAX OR BONDS' "c i)"iiuo comes. row to get good roads? Shall we vote a direct tD, .I..II ( - . . -ft eh. .w.. . . : nnns - shall - - -ou or laiu we DRV as we en) or ch .ll ROAn-RrTI.niNG AN ART. When county officers learn to ap preciate the fact that road-building Is an art. they will rely more and more upon expert advice and scientific de monstration, and when they have learned what class of roads Is desirable, they will construct them and then guard them. Therein lies one of the most Impor tant of all American highway ques tions. Americans build as good roads as Englishmen or Frenchmen, but having done so, they rest contented with their efforts and let each parsing breath of air, speeding automobile, or dreching rain blow or wash the road surface away. In the countries of Europe, where the well-nigh perfect roads are the pride of the citizens and the envy' and admiration of visiting Americans, most Jealous care ia constantly given; a careful day-by-day Inspection Is made, and every depression Is quickly filled and all inequalities rolled or tamped. Two requisites, therefore, confront the county supervisors at the outset first to ascertain what roads would bo most suitable to that particular sec ion, and secure what sums should be .expended for their maintenance after completion. These are vastly Important and the nation's very small percentage of Im proved roads is due largely to a fail ure to give consideration to them. Millions of money have been wasted In building roads which local condi tions made Impracticable and out of all cost proportion to the county's revenues. There sre exceptions to all rules. nowever. and Pike county. Alabama, stands as a glittering exception to the usual construction blunder. There the county officials had planned to ex pend a large sum In the building of gravel A-oads. MrAv. L. Spoon. I'nlted States su perintendent of road construction, he- Ing sent to make an inspection of the ... manr mi inspection or trte'ture two venrs fi-om . county . rad possibilities, learned that roads Lgislst re that our C .00 miles of Important routes needed men are .rood rmJ. JL mprovement. He figured that the cost " r wiVu' f,?J kilfll IlirtB- MTinriOV VA.r n 41 iiI..t the mud trails we now have ' ' . ' .w,I " L'" or by their fathers, thev are ! .7"'"": . " ln ..r gh for us and it were ,e. I T.. J'.v. " " "Vtn diaUlb- . - , ( urouucis or nnr npMa rf- x FACTOR IN CIVILIZiATPON. - v?ive in my soui mat a bad road tax or shall we issue hoH.- , . community. ir stunts the in dastrlal, moral and intellectual life f people. But a good road is equal ly as great blessing, for once a community gets facilities for trans pWtMUtn and communication, all oth r ftJlessings will be added thereunto. Mr. Boosavelt baa well said that the , tflfferenoa between semi-barbarism aad civilisation Is the difference be tween good and poor meant of com- we nav nart now and let future generations -pay part? To my mind, the whole ques tion comes dow n to Whether we want gooa roaas now nwoii wouin oe 3.(09 a mile plainly a sum greater than tha county could be bonded for. Condi. tions, however, were ideal for unit. clay construction and he strongly urg ed Its -adoption. By legal proviso the county could be bonded for only 3 H per centum of the assessed value of the real and personal property. The plan was decided upon and an Issue of $143,000 was voted. One hundred thousand dollars worth of the bonds were -quickly sold, being disposed of In $50,000 allotments. The Brst allotment brought a nre- mium of $625 and the second one of IS35. Forty thousand dollars was at I once spent for mules and road-bulld- ini; niacnmery ana worg was started. With the sum remaining, lis miles of the finest sand-clay roads In the South had been built within two years from the date of the bond Issue; a gen erous sum was still on hand; eight In the work. It has been argued that It Is unconstitutional. Why should It be more so than the expenditure of money for river and harbor Improve ments, which often take the form of a private enterprise? As a matter of fact. It has been shown conclusive ly in Congress that so far from being unconstitutional, the government In Its very beginning began the con struction tf good roads and expended more than seven millions on the old Cumberland road from Maryland to St. Louis, a distance of 700 miles, and the work was only abandoned because there arose a question of authority and responsibility as V who should maintain and repair the road, the Statl or the Federal government. Whs does the government do for the farmer? We spend millions annually on the armv, a dead loss, though doubtless necessary; we spend some hundred millions on the navy; have spent a half billion on river and har bor Improvements. During ten years we spent more than six billion dollars of which about forty-seven million went to the agricultural department: but not a dollar for the promotion of good roans, a common blessing for all the people. During fifty years. In all the vast sum our government has dis bursed for one thing and another, not a dollar has been appropriated for roads. And yet, the farmers of the country compose the-bulk of popula tion, and last year contributed to the national wealth some eight billions of dollars, The one-horse farmer around behind the hill miles from town forms the foundation of the nation, and whst has the government done for him? Nothhjg. The burden Is upon him, he foots the bills; and the gov ernment takes his money and spends it on everything under the sun by the millions, on everything but on what affects him mostly roads. in 190 the farmers of this country not only fed more than eighty millions of peo ple, but sent across the sea a billion five hundred millions of farm prod ucts. This preserved the balance of trade with all the world, and gave five hundred millions to the country to set aside for the proverbial rainy day. Had this not been, a biliion dollars I w-ould have had to have been sent abroad to pay Import duties. It was enough to pay the immense appro priations of Congress and still add half a billion to the national wealth in me ince or all this, the Federal government has done sot a thing for good roads. The forerunners of a national high way from New York south to Atlan ta have recently passed through the State. I believe the time is at hand wnen me government will spend mon ey on that road. I believe we shall see a road from Ash,evllle and the west through to the coast. It is bound to come. The duty of the press lies in hastening the dsy. We must stir our people to a realization of the value of roads, of the necessity of roads, and see to It that our Legisla- a good Congress- ressmen. Tf press will but do this It -m v,... rrnneren ,ne Mate a service that will eclipse all services rendered in the past. First get the folks In the no tion, get the State In the notion, get the government of the nation in the not on. and all three, people, state and nation, working tos-ether In harmonv will work one of the greatest revolu tions this country has seen sticP the foundation of the government gangs were at work, and the people were so pleased they stood resdy to tane up tne remaining Issue of 142 noa or Whether w ara lant Avnakn It In V. . ,,,, . . - --- " -' " " " " ' " . M3IUV WMV. w uing ro ouiia a few miles now and It Is the belief of the nation's high h? another generation build a few j way director that such facts should miles and another and another, until he impressed upon the people of all m tne course of human events we se- .counties desirous of extending and lm wl!. rads throuho"t he State jnrovina- their highways before actual yesrs ar.er every person now at tha urnrii la id.. nrt... .t... . MR. C. H. POFT8 ADDRESS. The following address on "What Sfay the Country Editor Do to Pro mote Rural Development," was deliv ered Before the North Carolina Press Association on June 24. at Henderson-vllle: country, life, bearing, no message of nope or inspiration lor the farmer, dealing with him a If ha were mere ly a leftover man is society Instead of being' the fundamental raaa as he moat certainly is. AGRICULTURE IN THE NEW CEN- TURT, But now a change Is coming a ro table and inspiring changev full of promise for our eeetlon and for our craft. The editor has caught the spirit of the new agriculture. For a hundred years past great Indue trial revolution have been going on, and the world-of commerce and transportation and business has been made over chang eJ completely by railroad and tele graph and telephone and the thou sand and one other Inventions and dis coveries of our marvelous age while agriculture has remained prac tically dormant. It is only within the last few years that we have begun to realize that a like revolution is possi ble in agriculture. The tlrfe is turning backward toward farming. Here it la that the wonders of science are now being exhibited; here it is that the most splendid opportunity for human service is now offered; here it is- that progress and enthusiastic effort are to be at white-heat in ths new cen tury upon which we have entered. Much as this means to the worlj at large, to the South it means more, for the gouth la to-day the only section of the country of which t la true there are more people engaged ln agricul ture than ln all other occupations combined. An agricultural revolution alone can restore the South to its ancient "prestige; an agricultural rev olu'ion alone will give It the high place It should have ln the world of trade and government and education and science. I POLITICS NO LONGER SUPREME j NEED. I The North Carolina editor's duty in promoting rural development there fore is something more than a mere duty to the community in which he lives. Our larger patrotlsm, our love for the South, demands It no less Im peratively. The old ante-bellum type of Jour nal hae survived too long in the South the newspaper Interested sole ly In politics. In that day our greatest need was for papers of that sort; to day it is not. Before the war politics was necessary to support the institu tion of slavery; after the war politics was necessary to correct the evils of reconstruction. But to-day we cannot look to politics t.o remedy in any large measure the great defects ln Southern life and industry. And If you forget everything rise I may say to you to-day, take with you just this one thought: The crying need of the South to day is for the newspaper dedicated not to politics but to community de velopment. And to Illustrate my point, to get away from any glittering generalities about the newspaper man's opportuni ty for State building, let us look squarely at the situation In the South to-day. Take a backward county, for example, where the roads are bad, the schools poor, the school houses Inade quate, the water-powers unharnessed, forests butchered, farmers using one horse plows and putting more faith In almanac signs than In agricultural science, and the natural resources gen erally going to waste. What may not be accomplished in such a community by an editor flllej with the spirit of progress and enterprise! What a golden opportunity is neglected when 8uch an editor shuts his eyes to It and wastes his life in fighting the battles of the little cliques and machines in side his party! "THE SMITHVILLE OBSERVER." I have in mind now a paper which approaches somewhat the ideal that I have. Let us call it The Smlthvllle Observer. It is refreshing to turn to its editorial page each week. I know that in it I am less likely to find the edi tor's Inconsequential opinion of Phil adelphia politics than I km to flnj his opinion of how to make the streets of SmithvUle beautiful.. It may not contain much misinfor mation about the tariff, but 1 know that It will have something about the best methods of Improving the roads of Smith county and, by the way. Smith county will some time vote a bond issue and a gooa system of roads will be the best monument to that editor's memory. I know, too, that If local taxation for schools is to the fore, that editor will fight side by side With his coun ty's soldiers of progress. Nor will the school houses themselves be neglect ed, nor that county's share- of the School House Loan Fund be left Idle If The Observer's Influence can turn It to use In improving the buildings. And school libraries more than one group of school children famish ing for food Intellectual, owe a debt to The Observer for keeping up ihe- agitation until Smith county has its full quota of libraries. More than this, if Farmer Brown ns so Improved his land as to double his corn yield, I know that The ouserver will give the whole story for the benefit of other farmers arguing that it is as big a piece of news as the suicide of old Whiskey Jones down in Hanging Dog township. Moreover, if I find thle week a column about the emigration of farm labor, I shall probably read next week a column story of how Farmer Rrown. by the use of Improved im plements snd machinery, has reduced v half the expense of hand labor in making the crop. If the Farmers Institute Is to be held in Smlthville, it will be advertised as persistently and prominently as if It were a political debate, upa of weddings and lee craam ann. pare and card parties, What wlU it matter a hundred year from new whether you get John Smith or Bill Jones elected register of deeds? What wiu ii miner wnetner tn vote ef Henderson county goes for John A. Johnson or William J. Bryan in the national Democratic convention? But It will matter much whether the boys and girls of your county have the. door of hope and education open ed to them or walk in the darkness of Ignorance; whether the roads of the county keep its people fifty years be hind the times or put them In the vanguard of progress; whether the In dustries or the country are developed or allowed to retrograde; whether the resources of the county are utilized by Its own people or left to be exploited by foreigners; whether its farmlna- Becomes a matter or priae and prof it or a matter of drudgery and debt; whether its' soil-tillers are scientific farmers or mere clodhoppers, sell meat or buy meat have bank ac counts or store accounts, have shack ly cabins or painted houses, wheth er your young men find the countv a good place to live in or a good place to move rrom, and whether, In short, the population shall keen sten with the great forward march of Southern progress or only hinder those that would go forward. ARE WE MERELY WHITLINO STICKS? income8 t?0AT t. raosi lusrlo,,. , - "I ths U"wa' or "the 1 w haJ : who can' bUT of ' the variat . .. " !t" T.ji how It was grown X'r fln fri tt. there 3 "unty. and the va .l se me big ylHd : cos how and ht . " "y i expense Farmer i,"1 at the kind of . gnate as chami .Vito y. land and feruiuer J hat "qui Does all this depend upon the edi tor, do you ask? Well, not wholly. and yet In far, far greater measure tnan we have come to realize. I feel sometimes, my fellow craftsmen, as if we were like that young man. the ser vant of the old Biblical prophet, who saw nothing about him until the Lord onened hla avii "onH kahill o. mountain was run or norses and char- , ' u ' u J"J rm the r-" BvvcriiniPnl. IT produce It. 6r In so farT X only Ideal that i. , !? 'H worthy enough for '", the county r,a,,Hr ,k 'L, la" M stand for th. . " mar ho of hi. co,,;;; : ::ri: m gOOd SChools. a-,,,.,1 'J farming r , :., " "d campaign r ".msn"" wagon to a star' "HH and dedicate . u"a, 'ot velopment of 1 ap"r t0 B-reat, and there ..' Tmy 4 t... . "u Other I rvusKin tv,,,m. I " Hima ness," iu luaKe some ,io..( s n J j tion more fruitf ,,. I r flnoen . . . - ' 111 perlallsm and free , ' , "3 Iff (the less w";- ,'1 A .h l?Z !? have k. baVkl me same wav h,,, . J Iff. in view of the reni 3 . ... lots round about 'Ellsha." We have not caught the vision of our own pos sibilities; we have not realized the se riousness of our responsibilities. Dr. George T. Winston aald to me once, speaking of a North Carolina politi cian of local promlnene, "He has pow er enough to run a saw mill and he's only whjttling sticks!" I feel that the press of North Carolina has power enough to set in motion forces that would rebuild the State, that would make It In our own time one of te dozen foremost Commonwealths of America, and yet alas! how many of us are oply whittling sticks! God help us to catch the larger vision! Ood help us to make ourselves leaders In the great twentieth century develop ment and our people! THE SCHOOL FUNDAMENTAL. The fundamental thing Is the school, and the fundamental duty of the paper that would lead In rural development in North Carolina ia to set itself to get the finest school sys tem that can possibly be devised for Its county. Preach local taxation; don't be afraid to face a frowning Skinflint and preach the Gospel upon which the economic salvation of the county depends. The campaign for better public schools may have come to sound trite to you, but It ft; not trlter than the talk of politics, and It Is vastly more meaningful. It is our one hope, and our vision of a greater bouth can never be realized without It. Find out which communities In your county ought to have longer terms, or ought to consolidate their districts, and bring the matter to their attention. Print the pictures of the old schoel house and the new where Improvement has been made. Demand that a thoroughly equipped county superintendent be employed to give his whole time to the county school work. See to it that the schools take on more of an Industrial cast that they relate themselves to the ac tual everyday life of the pupils. En courage every teacher who is giving especial attention to agriculture and! domestic science. List the schools that have libraries and ask why the others have not. Lend your aid to the Wo man's Betterment Association and urge the beautifying of school build ings and grounds. Exalt your county superintendent He is ten times more Important to the life of your county than your sheriff or your register or your clerk of the court. And If some teacher starts a corn contest among the boys or a school farm or an Im proved course ln agriculture or do mestic science, let him see that the county appreciates his progressive step. The public school, let me repeat. Is fundamental to all progress. Other foundation can no man lay than this. The editor should cry aloud and spars not so long as his countv is behind In the 'educational procession. Let better schools be his first motto. A FIT ATE FOR BETTER ROADS. And in connection with bet ter schools, let him also urge better roads. Let him call unceasingly to his people. I to afford is tn.i far you much atlsfanui BUILD I P YOl-R CoL-yr -....,s , j,,ur ,,wn e.iunty mo seea and wait fn ,k , fruitage, "first the blade, then trf after that, the full rnrn ,n thel to fight the battle while the odj CATV, annl-. . .. . ,iij you ana wait for ti Yicvory; 10 see bad road rrf ly give way to Improved higj to see a comparatively itl itnratf zenshlp gradually develop into 4 munlty of high Intelligence effli i'lvBj-niiy, 10 see wasted o.uu guinea tarras and inni .wvoo mrniers irajigformtd; -mining ana fertile fields. dntteA tcLinc, cruwnea with t.eautiful iiu niiiBoiiea oy pr'.Kre.ish prosperous homr-ow ners wW recoru 10 leave behind y.iu. wM ...iuoiiiui it, nmn purpose am ueni endeavor: The editor who with such an ideal will sucrfej Bucceea abundantly what Is i Emerson says about the world ing a beaten path to the door man who can do anything wHl not only will he succeed flnanf but he saves his own life, sat rrom the barren unprofitable the man who leaves the world t tec for his existence. He shil of the travail of his soul and shj satisfied; and so "Join the choir invtilh Of those Immortal dead wln live In minds made better hy their pri Whose music is the gladness world." "Mind your ways!" Bond issues where they are Justified; Improved leglsla tion where It Is needed, macadam where you can afford it, the sand-clay method where it Is best, and the simple split-log drag where more c pensive methods are inexpedient. It is gratifying to see the widespread in terest in better roads as shown by all our state papers. DIGNIFY FARMING. And then you .must dignify the farmer that is to say, the stood farmer, the only kind worth dignify ing. Tour business man may conserve weaitn, but your farmer creates It. I have only the highest regard for our merenants and yet the man who merely runs a store and sells a cer tain amount of groceries and dry goods and drugs at a certain profit to Himself necessarily adds little to the general prosperity of the country; that Is, he Is ' in the very nature of tnings unable to create new wealth If Mr. Jones Is preparing to start a The most gratifying change in Vorth Carolina journalism theoe last few years has been the increasing in terest in rural development. The edi tor's vision is no longer limited hy! every movement looking to the re- factory, he w ill be Just as likely to find his picture In ttfe paper as If he were running for Congress. If a bond issue for street improve ment le on hand. The Observer rooster will crow as loudly the morning after - -i.nn T ,-oes over tne success of the State political ticket. lnis paper, too, keeps agitating for the expansion of small Industries which would be helpful to the county; It points out where a 'new rural mail route might be profitably - started; the other week It had a list of 100 appropriate names for country homes, and is urging farmers to name their farms. In short, every enterprise and the boundaries of the rmmtv ..:, Rural free delivery and the steady Increase of rural education are show ing him a greater field out or sight of the court house tower. He s beginning to realize the deep significance of the fact that 80 per cent of our popula tion his possible clientele Is rural and that the farmer's newasanera age of accountability is dead .nd I been' I. w.rmtyln favor " j 'been Too TTrry making of old Smith county finds an ally and friend ln The Smlthville Observer. WHAT 18 WORTH WHILE. Now, what we need ln the South. What we need ia North Carolina, is more Smlthville Observer. We need to cau-h the visie of the greater South that we can bring about and then set ourselves and give our lives te bringing it about What does it ifor the community. But your farmer can. It he learns to double hi corn yield, if he Informs himself and and farms better so that his income is f :uu more a year, (as the average North Carolina farmer's income ought to be), the general prosperity of the county is enhanced. He has created new wealth, he has added 1506 more that' did not exist before. Merchant, banker, doctor, lawyer, ; editor all would feel the invigorating touch of an agricultural revolution whioh would increase the average produc tion per farm! from 198 as it was in North Carolina at the last census to to St 14 as the average was for the north Atlantic States or to X.t4 as the average wae for the north central States. .. r K; -' ' Find out what farmers In V your county are leading in, this silent res olution and ret behind" them. They are your champions; they are the men J wax snau reaeem your isrsei. . The demonstration work, the farm ers Institutes, the farmers' unions. the test farm advertise all these just as' earnestly aa yon would your party primary or he campaign barbecue at which Congressman Buncombe I te MR. ARCHTPALn .TOrTXSO.VI DRESS. The following address on Future of North Carolina sn Part to Be Played Therein Press," was delivered hefoi North Carolina Press Associatl Henderson vl lie, tout fweiek, b' Archibald Johnson, editor or and Children. The future of North Carolina of the largest subjects that eoul been assigned me and the pal press Is to play therein, the larsrest. So much has been ' plished within the last decad we stand amazed at our own m Dower. It takes no propheti to tell some of tho things thai come to nass when life will be worth living than at any perl' the history of the world Dr. Thomas Meredith who umnilv.lv vesrs aeo. looktn the future of North Carolina eij ed this fine sentiment: moi brethren, who live in the $ day the world has ever seen, w iwrmltled to witness events would have daszled the vialonl startled the faith of propnti anofltles who are favored wu nortiinttles which no pre. eding eratiou was ever permitted joy who sustain responsi mrr fearful rierhnps. than any ever before oppressed the cons r.t or. nlrier we nesen .1 nhn and where you 1 msrl -A ,,r,rl.lni and momentous P"0! in.- r .Itnation. Let you 1 .n..i and more need tij said." T i. bard for us i tine f M" richer time to imagine up. n H writer of the above s"' Kn mA hi. oririnnent. In mat" 1,10 " . M . . . .orf oi-nrce v ms veionmeui we ow Sign, o railroads, no o towns. io mr-rufaetories tion. and a ornmun;iv spar :nnierJ ii'i el iety -1- .a ... 1 r. i II noil v ?.. of slavrjl unsDeaKBon: . i ... - we en 11 ' xnese gre.vL ha. heart of the prophet, whst sav who stand in the dswr.n al (lav' I have often wished Hut I 4 .am vounger that I m.cni j the niim now. hi"f AnT-a vnunfrer mighty unroiainn we are. ur sjwvc. ... - ..,-, on where we can csttn ' m . Ah in il , 1 lucure o promise. First. Nortn '-'"'"",... tt . - - . 1 L-A ni'.' ' ed with nignwajn , Already we are on in. - i manlious revolution .j rx i,u.n. ore beginning 0 -l vur -'-"- - - w,,,i,ijim 01 a oi enl - 11 tnr the great highways to the that we can possibly pra " Ignorance ana com nowever, i Kimir tiesof this priceless b the near ruiur f-- - tne gu. have become clarified on t j and we shall an see y- speak the m, matter of good roads- ,ottJ ... Atah r 1 n-- . u A server, have faith to win ami uic , B,inaH transport ourselves a .e along air "nes m abovi name, thus vis.ns r-. bf ff. road question - ; Vrei .0 great faith , In all t5 ant tor Sn "ent p tory. except the recer. t u creditable to so "'irerei Sentiment la tw - - , prl eeUen. now so si. of the past decade. i"e
The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
June 27, 1909, edition 1
16
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