And Right The Day Must Win, To Doubt Would be Disloyalty To Falter Would be Sin.’
Vol. 7
MEBANE, N. C., THURSDAY. JANUARY 8th, 1915
No 43
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!
OVER A MILLION AND A HALF
WOMEN WORK AS FARM HANDS
IN THE UNITED STATES.
By Peter Radford
Lecturer National Farmers’ Union.
Our government never faced so tre
mendous a problem as that now lying
dormant at the doors of congress and
the legislatures, and which, when
aroused, will shake this nation from
center to circumference, and make
civilization hide its face in shame.
That problem is—women in the field.
The last federal census reports
show we now have 1,514,000 women
working in the field, most of them
south of the Mason and Dixon line.
There were approximately a million
negro slaves working In the fields
when liberated by the emancipation
proclamation. We liavo freed our
slaves and our women have taken
their places in bondage. We hav«
broken the shackles off the negroes
and welded them upon our daughters.
The Chain>Gang of Civilization.
A million women in bondage in the
southern fields form the chain-gang of
civilization — the industrial tragedy
of the age. There Is no overseer quite
so cruel as that of unrestrained greed,
no whip that stings like the lash of
suborned destiny, and no auctioneer’s
block quite so revolting as that of or
ganized avarice.
The president of the United States
was recently lauded by the press, and
very properly so, for suggesting medi
ation between the engineers and rail
road managers in adjusting their
schedule of time and pay. The engi
neers threatened to strike if their
wages were not increased from ap
proximated, ten to eleven dollars per
day and service redaced from ten to
eignt hours and a aimflar-
ment of the overtime schedule. Our
women are working in the field, many
of them barefooted, for less than 50
cents per day, and their schedule is
the rising sun and the evening star,
and after the day’s work is over they
milk the cows, slop the hogs and rock
the baby to sleep. Is anyone mediat
ing over their problems, and to whom
shall they threaten a strike?
Congress has listened approvingly
to those who toil at the forge and be
hind the counter, and many of our
statesmen have smiled at the threats
and have fanned the flame of unrest
among industrial laborers. But wom
en are as surely the final victims of
Industrial warfare as they are the
burden-bearers in the war between na
tions, and those who arbitrate and
m.edlate the differences between capi
tal and labor should not forget that
when the expenses of any industry are
unnecessarily increased, society foots
the bill by drafting a new consignment
of women from the home to the field.
Pinch no Crumb From Women's Crust
of Bread.
No financial award can be made
without someone footing the bill, and
we commend to those who accept the
responsibility of the distribution of in
dustrial justice, the still small voice of
the woman in the field as she pleads
for mercy, and we beg that they pinch
no crumb from her crust of bread or
put another patch upon her ragged
garments.
We beg that they listen to the
scream of horror from the eagle on
every American dollar that is wrung
from the brow of tolling women and
hear the Goddess of Justice hiss at a
verdict that increases the want of
woman to satisfy the greed of man.
The women behind the counter and
in the factory cry aloud for sympathy
and the press thunders out in their
defense and the pulpit pleads for
mercy, but how about the woman in
the field? Will not these powerful
exponents of human rights turn their
talent, energies and influence to her
relief? Will the Goddess of Liberty
enthroned at Washington hold the cal
loused hand and soothe the feverish
brow of her sex who sows and reaps
the nation’s harvest or will she permit
the male of the species to shove
women—^weak and weary—from the
bread-line of industry to the back al
leys of poverty?
Women and Children First.
The census enumerators tell us that
of the 1,514,000 women who work In the
fields as farm hands 409,000 are six
teen years of age and underl What is
the final destiny of a nation whose fu
ture mothers spend their girlhood days
behind the plow, pitching hay and
hauling manure, and what Is to become
of womanly culture and refinement
that grace the home, charm society
an(L enthuse man taJeap, to t;lor^in
noble*" acHi^emenfF' if~ouf~d^glifers
are raised in the society of the ox and
the companionship of the plow?
In that strata between the ages of
sixteen and forty-five are 950,000 wom
en working as farm hands and many
of them with suckling babes tug
ging at their breasts, as drenched
in perspiration, they wield the scythe
and guide the plow. What !s to be
come of that nation where poverty
breaks the crowns of the queens of
the home; despair hurls a mother’s
love from its throne and hunger drives
innocent children from the schoolroom
to the hoe?
The census bureau shows that 155,-
000 of these women are forty-five
years of age and over. There is no
more pitiful sight in civilization than
these saintly mothers of Israel stooped
with age, drudging in the field from
sun until sun and at night drenching
their dingy pillows with the tears of
despair as their aching hearts take
it all to God in prayer. Civilization
strikes them a blow when it should
give them a crown, anu their only
friend is he who broke bread with
beggars and said: “Come unto me all
ye that are weary and heavy laden and
1 will give you rest.”
Oh, America! The land of the free
and the home of the brave, the
world’s custodian of chivalry, the
champion of human rights and the de
fender of the oppressed—shall we per
mit our maidens fair to be t^rn from
the hearthstone by the ruthless hand
of destiny and chained to the plow?
Shall we permit our faithful wives,
whom we covenanted with God to cher
ish and protect, to be hurled from the
home to the harvest field, and our
mothers dear to be driven from the old
arm chair to the cotton patch?
In rescuing our citizens from the
forces of civilization, can we not apply
to our fair Dixieland the rule of the
sea—“women and children first?"
There must be a readjustment of
the wage scale of Industry so that the
women can be taken from the field or
given a reasonable wage for her serv
ices. perhaps the issue has never been
fairly raised, but the Farmers’ Union,
w'ith a membership of ten million, puts
its organized forces squarely behind
the issue and we now enter upon the
docket of civilization the case of “The
Woman in the Field” and demand an
immediate trial.
MR. ROBERT D. WHITE
DIES AT HIS HOME.
RAILROADS APPEAL
TO PRESIDENT
The Common Carriers Ask for Re
lief — President Wilson Directs
Attention of Public to
Their Needs.
The committee of railroad execu
tives, headed by Mr. Prank Trumbull,
representing thirty-five of the leading
railroad systems of the nation, recent
ly presented to President Wilson a
memorandum briefly reviewing the dif
ficulties now confronting the railroads
of the country and asking for the co
operation of the governmental authori
ties and the public in supporting rail
road credits and recognizing an emer
gency which requires that the rail
roads be given additional revenues.
The memorandum recites that the
European war has resulted in general
depression of business on the Ameri
can continent and in the dislocation
of credits at home and abroad. With
revenues decreasing and interest rates
increasing the transportation systems
of the country face a most serious
crisis and the memorandum is a
strong presentation of the candle
burning at both ends and the perils
that must ultimately attend such a
conflagration when the flames meet
is apparent to all. In their general
discussion the railroad representa
tives say in part: “By reason of leg
islation and regulation by the federal
government and the forty-eight states
acting independently of each other» as
I well as through the action of a strong
I public opinion, railroad expenses in
I recent years have vastly increased.
No criticism is here made of the gen
eral theory of governmental regula
tion, but on the other hand, no in
genuity can relieve the carriers of ex
penses created thereby.”
President Wilson, in transmitting
the memorandum of the railroad
presidents to the public, character
izes it as “a lucid statement of plain
truth.” The president recognizing
the emergency as extraordinary, con
tinuing, said in part:
“You ask me to call the attention
of the couAry to the imperative need
that railway credits be sustained and
the railroads helped in every possible
way, whether by private co-operative
effort or by the action, wherever
feasible of governmental agencies, and
I am glad to do so because I think
the need very real.”
Tha conference, wag, certainly—a
Passes Away After Suffering
Stroke of Paralj’^sis on Street
a Week Ago. Funeral
and Interment
Today.
Mr. Robert D. White, for the
past several years secretary of
the water, light and power com
mission of the city, passed awav
at his home in East Burlington
Tuesday morning about 2 o’clock
after suffering from a stroke of
i,ralysis which befell him while
on the street Monday, December
21. He left a wife and four sons
to mourn his departure. Mr.
white was 40 years old.
Mr.Wnite was the son of the
late Capt. J. I. White, for years
clerk of the court for the county,
and was well known all o\er the
county, being'identified with its
industrial life by his connection
with the textile industries For
some years be was book-keeper
for the Carolina cotton mill,
which brought him into promin
ence and made for him a place
with the Mount Pleasant Man
ufacturing Company, at Lime-
ville, which position he filled
acceptable until about 5 years
ago when he resigned his posi-
in there to identify himself
with-the. Aurora cotton at this
place. ' It was while with the
Aurora mill that his health gave
way and he was forced to resign
hiK position there. Later he be
came an employe of the city in
the capacity secretary of the
water, light and power commissi
on, which position he filled at
the time of his death.
Mr. White was a man who had
friends by the hundreds. His
personality drev/ him acquain
tances, and acquaintanceship
soon ripened into friendship, a
friendship which lasted. He was
a friend to everybody and bore
no malice toward any one. Ene
mies he had not, for his was a
nature that did not make them
rather it made for him friends
and many there be in Burlington
and elsewhere who will drop a
tear in • silence at his passing
away.
The funeral will be conducted
from his residence at 2 o’clock
this afternoon bv Rev. Donald
Mclver, his pastor and the inter
ment will be in Pine Hill ceme
tery.
Victim of Blackmail
Mr. Samuel G. Mor^ran, cashier of
the Commercial and Farmers Bank'
was the victim of blackmail about two
weeks ago, when a negro Lewis Fuller,
wrote Mr. Morgan demanding money
which the negro claimed Mr. Morgan
owed him for rents. The letter bore the
purport that it was written by an in
sane man. The negro claimed that
he owned a good many of the stores,
warehouses telephone system and other
establishments in Mebane, and that
Mr. Morgan had been collecting the
rents and had not turned them over to
him. He also said that in the event
Mr. Morgan did not turn over these
rents immediately he would kill him.
The thing came to a climax last Mon
day morning when the African went
to the bank ot which Mr. Morgan is
the cashier, and after acting In a very
suspicious manner, discovered that Mr.
Morgan war, armed and he hastily re
treated. ^rom information gathered
by us it seems that the negro carried
his gun with him, but lett it standing
on the oi^tside of the bank. Dr. Swain
was in the bank at the time and
observing the appearent danger the
easier was being subjected, at once
swore out a warrant and had the
negro placed in custody. He was later
tried by Esq. Shaw who turned him
over to High .Sheriff Cook with the
recemmendation that he be sent to the
insane asylum at Goldsoro at once,
Mr. Morgan did not at anytime
entertain any serious barm, j^et it is
perfectly natural that he could not
help but Jive in a degree of some men
tal anxiety.
CONGRESS REASEM-
BLED TUESDAir
A Sad Accident
As we were going to press we receiv
ed the news of the sad accident of Mrs.
R. V. James, Mrs. L. S. Straughan’s
mother falling and breaking her hip.
just last summer she fell and broke her
arm. Mrs. James is suffering very
much pain.
forfunate'one' for the^ation~^d~ th'e
president is to be congratulated for
opening the gate to a new world of
effort in which everyone may co-oper
ate.
There are many Impor^nt prob
lems in our complex civilization that
will yield to co-operation which will
not lend themselves to arbitrary rul
ings of commissions and financing
railroads is one of them. The man
with the money is a factor that can
not be eliminated from any business
transaction and the public is an inter
ested party that should always be con
sulted and happily the president has
invited all to participate in the solu*
tion of our railroad problema.
QUEEN OF HOBOES
DAINTY AND SLENDOR
Wins Respect Of The Road Irf
Her Wanderings
The queen of the hoboes, as a boy,
is being sought by the officers of Santa
Barbara , Ventura and San Luis Obispo
counties. She is described as a dainty,
slender figure, with shining locks,
which she keeps pinned up under a
slouch hat. Who she is is one of the
mysteries of the hunt.
The first knowledge of her presence
among the hobo camps was taken to
the officers by an auto party. The oc
cupants of the machine had been star-1
tied by coming upon her suddenly at
Rincon. She was standing erect in a
circle of hardened vagrans combing her \
hair. Her tough companions were j
lounging about watching the deft mv^ve-
ments of her hands, and seemingly
doing homage as to a queen.
Seeing herself discovered by the auto
party the girl quickly wrapped a rag
ged coat about her head. The auto
dashed for Ventura and notified the
officers. A hurried raid was made on
the camp, but the girl had tied.
All the camps along the Ventura
river and up the Rincon were searched.
Evidence was found that the girl had
been in several of the camps. Vagrants
accosted admitted her presence, but
pretended to know nothing of her.
’’She just drifted into camp when we
was at Fernando,” said one, "and she
hung around there for a night or two,
and showed up here two nights ago.
say, but there ain’t no bo can say
nothing onery to her, though, or we’d
kill him, that we would.”
Another hobo said he had heard of
her at El Paso. “I think she’s a Chicago
girl, ’cause she’s always talking about
the big stores there, and the streets.
I’ll tell you what I think; she’s one of
them writing women,' trying to get
something unusual to write about. She
don’t talk that way, though, except
once in a while when she seems to be
forgetting, then she says fine words
Once she busted this on us—‘Do you
men actually like this environment?’
Gee, but that was some talk for a
hobo.”
But the tramps say she packs her
blankets and can beg a handout just as
well as the best of them.
Virginia Pilot.
Your Parents' Diplomas.
Although your parents may have no
college diplomas, remember that they
are graduates of the school of ex
perience, in which you are the merest
freshman.—Youth’s Companion.
It is Not Thought That Much
Will be Accomplished Until
After the New Year
Congress reassembled Tuesday
after one of the shortest holiday
recesses in history. It is not
likely that much will be accomp
lished until after the beginning
of the new year, but the leaders
are anxious*to take advantage of
every working day in order to
complete the strenuous program.
The immigration bill is the un
finished business before the Sen
ate, but it is very probable it
will be sidetracked by the
appropriation bills, some of which
are now ready for consideration
in the upper House. Senator
Lewis of Illinois is leading the
fight against the bill in its pre
sent form and has announced
that he* will introduce an amend
ment at the proper time to elimi
nate the literacy test. If he is
successful it will probably result
in the entire bill. As was gener
ally predicted, the prohibition
resolution was defeated in the
House. Supporters of that meas
ure, however, was well pleased
with the showing made. Though
they failed to command the nec
essary two-third vote demanded
by the Constitution the vote
showed a majority of eight in
favor of -the resolution. Bep-
resetative Hobson announced
that he would immendiately
offer another amendment, sligh
tly different from the one just
defeated. It will be impossible
to bring it up for action in the
present session but it gives him
an opportunity to continue the
fight.
They failed to reach the woman
suffrage amendment before the
Holidays and it is likely its con
sideration at an early date will
see a reenactment of the lively j
scenes during the discussion of!
the prohibition amendment.
When the appropriation bills for
the army and navy are taken up
in the House they will undoubtely
provoke a great deal of discuss
ion, Proposals for substantial
increases in both branches and
the strengthening of the national
defenses have been exploited
throughout the present session
and will give rise to spirited
debate when they reach the
floor. The Government ship
purchase bill is before the Senate
and its friends will endeavor to
bring it up for action at the first
opportunity.
Although it is rather early to
make predictions as to candidates
in 1916, many seem to think that
two members of the present
Cabinet will be contestants for
seats in the Senate. Postmaster
General Burleson is regarded as
a likely candidate for the seat
of Senator Culberson of Texas.
New Jersey Democrats are favor
ing Secretary Garrison to succeed
Senator Martine. His record in
the present Administration
would make him a valuable man
in the Senate. The attack against
the President and the effects of
his policies, launched by Gover
nor Colquitt of Texas has creat
ed an unusual amount of interest.
Coming as it does from leading
Democratic governor it is likely
to foreshadow the growth of
serious opposition. Several
Democrats are somewhat dis
pleased becaus of the President’s
attitude on certain measures and
his failure to always meet them
in “common counsel,” but the
majority are of the opinion that
the President’s positioa will be
greatly strengthened when nor
mal business conditions prevail.
The Senate Committee on the
Philippines will make an in
vestigation into the reported up
risings in the Islands. Action on
the Jones bill, already passed by
the House and pending in the
Senate, granting a greater de
gree fo liberty and looking to
the ultimate independence of
the Islands, will probably be in
fluenced by these reports and it
is the desire of the committee to
rliscover the real facts. Some
have advanced the opinion that
the revolt was a staged affair by
the opponents of greater free
dom for the Islands.
when the new Federal Trade
Commission is organized it will
find that the Bureau of Corpora^
tions, whose work it will take
over, has much valuable data
which will be of great service.
The Bureau has made an exhaus
tive study of the industrial field
and classified the various cor
porations coming under its
jurisdiction, ^hey are now eng
aged in making a complete sum
mary of ftieir eleven years work.
These reports will list the princ
iple corporations, private and
public, and give data as to the
processes of manufacture, organ
ization and financial control.
President Wilson celebrated
his fifty-eighth birthday on
Mondav, the 28th. No special
observance was held at the White
House but he spent the day
quietlv with his family. Con
gratulatory messages from all
over the country poured into the
Executive offices throughout the
day,
Washington enjoyed the full
delights of a white Christmas.
The great commimity Christmas
tree, illuminated by hundreds of
lights was placed in front of
the Capitol and thousands enjoj^-
ed the exercises held and progam
rendered by the Marine Band on
Christmas Eve.
H. E. Rickard.
Thursday Afternoon Club
The Thursday Afternoon Club met
with Mrs. W. W. Corbett at her home
Woody Crest.
Rook and Bridge were played after
which delicious refreshments were
served. Members present were as fol
lows: Mesdames Charles Lasley, Chas.
DiUard, Arthur White, Joe Vincent,
and Felix Graves. Misses Lois Ham,
Dilla Lilly and Alice Fowler. Guest
Mesdames Ralph Vincent, and Gailas-
pie ,Misses Jennie Lasley and Mary
Hooker.
Miss Lasley Entertained,
Miss Jennie" Lasley entertained a
number of her friends on Wednesday
evening at her home on 5th street.
Rook and Auction Bridge were play
ed after which cream and cake were
served, a most delightful evening was
lead by those present who were as
follows:
Misses Lue Mebane, Mary Hooker,
Lois Ham. Mesdames Charles Lasley,
Gallas Pie, and W. VV. Corbtt. Messrs
J. S. Clarke, W. W. Corbett, I. D.
Ham, Joe Hurdle, Sam Scott and Geo.
Holt.
Overcoat Found
The overcoat which ‘was ad
vertised in last weeks paper has
been found, owner can get same
by calling at Leader Office.