La sentinelle de Thibodaux. [volume] (Thibodaux, La.) 1861-1866, 1865-08-12
LABOR N LABORERS.

| on the attention of the Southern people,
and is strongly felt in the region of the
pocket. The great convenience of slave
labor, on account its being always ar COM
mand, and it's freedom from liability TO dis
turbance by " strikes !" or the whims and
caprices of the laborer; recommended it
very strongly to the people who enjoyed
it's advantages but the labor of '~'slaves -
cannot hereafter be obtained and since
all labor must be hired and paid. such
to the employer. Hitherto the blacks have,
generally speaking, excluded all white la
Dor from the South. but emancipation
opens the door for competition, and COM
petition will come. The tide of emigra-
ton has already set strongly into the
States Of Virginia and Tennessee, and it
will be but a few months before white labor
will supply, in those States, tle need oe-
casioned by the idleness of freedmen. The
time will soon come when the negro must
compete with the white man, even in the
Gulf States. Every consideration of econ
omy is in favor of white labor. The diff
Guilty and expense of caring for the non
producing class of negroes, and the disin-
cIination to steady and long continued la
Dor which strongly manifests itself in the
great majority of freedmen, appeal stron-
gly to the pecuniary interest OF the South
ern people TO discard black labor as soon
as its place can be supplied.
The black population of the Southern
States is working a great injury to- the
country by refusing to cultivate the soil
which must furnish sustenance for all, but
the injury will hereafter %recoil, partially
at least, upon themselves, when the white
laborer offers his services to the planter.
| Hitherto tile blacks have been protected
by law and by the pecuniary interest OF
| his master j; now he must learn that free
| dom brings with it a new bondage of care
| and toll and sorrow. The white maj will
| steadily and relentlessly crowd them from
the fields of industry, unless they can
bring equal Intelligence and enterprise to
| the contest. The business world is q
| ..prize ring and every man hits straight
from the shoulder. The negro now enters
| the arena and is ~.seounted in in the flee
fight, and he must take his share Of the
blows and bruises. If he can hit with the
power, energy and skill of the Anglo
saxon and Teutonic races, he may main
tain his ground. but if not, he will be
gradually SUuhtSd ohNs
The negroes are largely possessed OF
the idea that their services cannot now be
dispensed with. This is undoubtedly true
at present, but it is also true that they are
not wealthy enough to live without work.
| Moreover the time is not far distant when
those who are not faithful and persevering
at their work. or who are troublesome and
unreliable. will find their services cail be
| dispensed with, and that white men will
fill their places. Every day OF idleness
in which the black man now INDUCES, anu
every particle of testimony which he now
offers against his own steadiness and reii-
abili y us d free laborer. is just so much
advantage which he affords mis- white an
tagonist in the coming strife. The while
has advantage enough already. His. labor
is more efficient and profitable he is the
| substantial basis of political power: and
he is the enduring source Of wealth, virtue
and national dignity.
The black man has no time to waste. His
true policy is to go to work, work hard.
and keep at it. Industry always commands
respect. and the respect of the white he
must win and keep, to save himself from
q speedier and surer determination than
awaits the red man.
Emigrant aid societies arc deadly foes
of our colored population, and manifest
their hostility by bringing the industry
and patient labor of the old world to take
the field here against them ; and since the
war commenced these societies have been
and still are exceedingly active in their
undertakings.
There is no better field for white labor
any where in the world, than is now
opened in the South, and if the enterpri-
sing spirit Of the Circassian neglects the
opportunity, and leaves the negro in un-
disputed possession of the field, it will be
the first instance of the kind that the world
has known in the history of tho race.
-Natchez Courier.