Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1862-01-21
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Win tlb FeComutuuhtiOuA Dlll ms Dccu to
ported in the Senate Of the United States,
making It the duty Of the President to pur-
chase territory in some country outside Of
the United States 70 which 70 send them.
The removal Of 10000 900 human beings
from one country 10 another is feat never
yet attempted in the worlds history the
accomplishment Of such an enterprise iS not
likely to become fact in future history. As
a repetition Of the Liberian experiment on
this continent 1t may be regarded fAyorably
lin any other light than this, Il cannot be.
There is no evidences whatever that the ne
gToes will voluntarily expstriate themselves,
and it is not proposed to use force to compel
them to do so-this outrage upon humanity
we are likelyto be spared. The question re-
ours, what shall we do with them2 Let
them alone, says one. We reply they are
not now, and they cannot for many years TO
come be self sustaining. You might as we'll
deprive 4, ,OoO, 900 of children Of their uatu-
raj guardians, and expect them to be self
sustaining, as the negroes. They sustain al
ready an unequal struggle for subsistence,
even here at the North, where we call them
tree-fee indeed they are to stsrVe or to
subsist BY the most precarious means. We
drive thsm out Of all the regular avocations
of life; we viii not allow them to sit beside
US in church, nor beside our children in
school, and we deny them the undisturbed
privilege of even the most menial pursuits;
and this not BY statuts,-oh, no, not this in
deed; but by the irresistible operation Of
the esthetic principle principle, let 1t be
remembered, far more exclusive in its opera
tons at the North than at the South. The
question recurs, what shall we do with them ?
An apprenticeship system, wisely adjusted
and controlled in its operations by the inter
ests of the negro and the creditable human
ity of the age, will accomplish for them all
that is possible to them in this climate, and
under circumstances such as exist here.
The relative-Id do not say thsabsoIute-iR-
feriority Of the race, in this climate, Is fact
of experience, as wen as sound deduction
from we'll known premises. It Is the same
that ours would be as race under similar
conditions, in ell respects, in Africa-the
natural home of the negro. His inferiOrity
here is an irrevers'ble law Of bis own exist
ence. The measure Of this inferiority indi.
Gates the relations that under wisely ad-
justsd system the races must sustain to each
other. Absolute Independence each Of the
other is impossible, and the esthetic principle
is sufficiently powerful to prevent their fu-
ture union and identity. It results, there
fore, that for the present. as probably for all
time, the control and direction of the labor
of the black man must remain with and be
exercised BY the white man. This control
and direction must be formslized and limited
by statute, or the black race must suffer, and
indirectly We must suffer. As the fsebleE
race, their ieebleness must be supplemented
BY wise legislation, or their complete civii-
ration is impossible. Sa-
Fortunately favorable field is open to US
IF the State will act in the matter) for hu-
name experiment ofthis kind. There are in
the State of Illinois 6, 900, 600 70 10000 600
acres of land adapted by conditions Of soil
and climate to the growth Of cotton. The
cultivation Of cotton there is no experiment.
1t has been grown there for thirty years BY
hundreds Of families, and now that events
determine its comparative importance, plant
ing will be much more extensively engaged
in the ensuing season. TIE cotton grown
there is of excellent quality. Samples sent
to the Manchester Cotton Supply AssOcia-
ton, England, sTe reported upon as more
than equal to the average of New Orleans
cotton. The thermal conditions Of Southern
Illinois are known to be extremely favorable
to the full development of the plant and in
short the only limitation that exists to the
extensive production of cotton in that re-
giOn is an insufficient supply Of labor at the
picking season.
Cotton ripens slowly, q few bolls at time,
as most of our northern fruits and berries do.
It must be picked within two or three days
from the time the bOlls burst and open, or the
wind blows it away, or the rain drives it to
the ground, and it is lost The field must
therefore be gone over about once a week,
for ct least two months Of the year, from the
last OF August to the 6rst Of November. It
will be seen at once, that this determines
the necessity for large reinforcements Of
hand atthe picking season. How can
We get them? Cotton cannot be picked by
machinery-there seems to be no way BY
which human hands can be dispensed
With--a sparse population viii not furnish
the needed supplies. What shall be done
An apprenticeship for negroes is our only
resort Given this, and it is conceivable
that IN Eve years time we may
export at least 100000 bales of
cotton, grown BY free labor, and
demonstrating what the writer has always
contended for, that free labor, even among
negroes, naturally indOlent as we know
they sre, is economically better and cheap
er than slave labor. But there must be no
uncertainty about the nscessariss supply Of
labor, at the picking season. Cotton picking
cannot be delayed and postponed to con-
venient time, as corn can; it must be gather
ed at the moment or it is gone forever. The
period Of apprenticeship should therefore be
not less than FIVE years, to guard the interests
of the planters; perhaps not more than ten
years, to guard against prOtracted abuses Of
the system, as well in the case Of Individuals