The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1862-10-11

u The dirty dogs who edit Secesh papert
and make secesh speeches throughout the coun
try are just now trying to convince themselves
for they can convince nobody else,
huge army Of negroes are about to invade the
North, and become the competitors Of white
men in our fields of labor! The assertion II
about as absurd as it would be to call these com
mon liars honest men. It is direct insult te
every man who labors or expects to labor for BIZ
support There is no field in the North in which
the negro of the South could enter into compe-
ttion, unless we first assume that the negro hal
more intelligence, and can do more work and Dc
it better, than the white mani 1t is to assume
that race of men, wholly unacquaiuted Will
the trades. occupations, customs and modes Of
labor 10 the North, and always affirmed to be o.
inferior ability and intelligence, are to drive the
skilled white man acquainted with all these, from
his place. and fill it themselves To state the
proposition is to expose its falsity. 1t the white
laborer is willing to admit that he is the inferior
then We suppose he might expect negro to
usurp his place, provided enough of them should
come in this direction, which is just what the
negro will never do, except upon compulsion =
Negroes love the sunny South, and so far as in
clinaton directs them there is % little likelihood
Of their migrating northward as there is of the
Mississippi Alligator disporting himself in its
waters in front Of our city. Besides, if the
negro comes north, who will do the work of the
South There will be just - much ground
there to cultivate, just as many wants to be sat-
ished after this war is closed, % there we're be-
fore. These calls for laborers must be supplied.
And there is no doubt that the blacks will do
most of it, for many years to come % they have
heretofore. While the war continues, and .
million men of the North are in arms, there 10
no possibility of our obtaining too many labor
ers for the fields. There are not Is many negro
men in the country Is there are white men Of
the North in our armies. Enough grain must
be raised in the North to feed these armies those
who remain at home, and those who do this and
other work. The negro can only work on the
farm, for that is all the labor he is acquainted
with; and in that field of labor, the only appre.
hension of the public is that the laborers will be
too few. All the blacks who, by any means, can
ever reach the North, will not be enough to fill
up tho want of farm laborers in the State Of Iowa
alone. How. extremely absurd it is, then, for
any one to talk about surplusage of laborers'
when in fact, the danger is that for want of Ia
borers We shall be unable to produce enough
next year to provide ourselves and our armies
with sufficient food. Our this years products
are the results of the labor Of seven hundred thou
sand more men than will be engaged in produ ton
nezt season. 1t will be happy for us, if, during
the next year, enough agricultural laborers can
be found to supply the absolute needs of our
own people. Desirable as it might be, under
existing circumstances, there is little proba-
bility that any appreciable proportion Of this
want will be supplied by migrations from
the South. 1t will not be a very pleasant COM
mentary upon our absurdity, if We should within
a twelve.month, be compelled to pay ten to IF
teen dollars per barrel for -four, which now
costs five or less, and for other needful articles
in proportion. In that event, probably laboring
men vuold have the most cause to regret that
they we're not more numerous. Instead of more
than are needed, we repeat, the only fear is that
laborers, for the next year or two, will be 30
diminished in number, that oil classes will in
consequence suffer. We must all work as much
as we can, and raise all We can, and then we
shall still fall short.