Washington telegraph., 1865-07-26

! PLANTATION LABOR il as wholly
useless, now. as it was formerly perilous
in the South. to compare the relative
merits of free and slave labor. We shall
never see slavery re-established. and what
it accomplished for good or i'll has little
bearing on the present state Of affairs.
| We need not wax excited on this matter.
| We have no occasion to quarrel over a
worthless carcass. however valuable it
may have been when imbned with Vi
tality. 1t is nonsensical to hope ~ gal
vanize the defunct body into a new and
useful life We must accept the fact
that it il utterly dead b-yond the hope
Of restoration.
How can its loss be best supplied
The ''coolie' plan j. not to be thought Of,
though that has been the sUbterfngr
adopted by philanthropic England to
supply, by worse bondage, the loss Of
slavery We have had trouble enough
from the importation Of inferior races to
become the hewerB of wood and the
drawers Of water, to introduce a new
class Of servile workers with yellow, in
stead Of black skins. The military reg
ulation Of labor cannot long remain.
There i no reason why the General Gov
ernment should, after the restoration of
civil au hority, concern itself with the
control of tie hands upon Louisiana
cane or cotton plantation, than there is
cause for its undertaking to interfere be-
tween laborers and proprietors among the
wheat fields Of Illinois If any people
on the face Of the earth il capable Of
s.'lf governm mt, We are fit to be trusted
That we shall be there i no doubt Tie
military regulation of colorcd labor, un-
doubtedly necessity at the outsnt, i an
anomaly in our institutions; j. contrary
to all their spirit, and will surely give
way, after time, To more natural and
American method Of dealing Now,
neither party affected BY the regulations
is, as far a. they affect him, a free agent
l The experiment OF free black labor j.
not undergoing full test now, and can
| lot bc completely tried as leng as the
military regulations are enforced. These
regulations help to make the trans orma-
ton from slavery to freedom somewhat
gradual and thus give time to tia plan
Ter 70 prepare himself for final results
Before very long we must come to actual
free colored plantation labor in this State
il it WI to let the value of free labor
the cultivation Of our leading crops be
tested oy only one ex periment, no matter
on how extensive scale Suppose the
freedmen do not, when relieved from mil
itary restraint, become az valuable as
some people hope, but as worthless as
other persons think they will prove to
be-we shall b. brought to delightful
pass, if we have not already endeavored
10 provide substitute fir them While
in the midst of difficulties, we are trying
to approximate the best possible results
from The use of hired negroes, why
should we not at the same time 20 syste-
matically to work to ascertain if white
labor cannot be made profitable in tile
fields which slaves formerly titled The
Of adage Of having 1.-TWO strings to ones
bow" i a. sensible AZ it i homely,
! Why not invite inmig alton 10 Loui-
siana Millions Of acres Of arabic
land in this State, out of the reach Of
overflow, await tie ploughsharo. In
mense tracts OF country admirably suited
to grazing, and requiring but little fenc-
| ing, are allowed to remain unoccupied in
Southwestern Louisiana The already
cultivated districts demand certa II and
serviceable labor. There is room for
many thousands Of Industrious working
men here. Why not take some measures
to attract them hither2 Let Us have III.
experiment of white labor for the cult
walton Of cotton and sugar thoroughly
tried at all events. If the old planters
are satisfied that they can make nothing
Of the freedmen, why will they not di<-
play enterprise enough 70 give white men
a chance? They work for less compen
sation in the North than the freedmen
gets here. Tie military regulations will
not affect this class Of laborcrs. Con
tracts could bc made with white men that
would eifectually bar any danger from
strikes. The trial ought to b. made,
and this is the time for preparing to
make it.
Where there is VIII there isa way"
in planting as well as in any other bust
ness.-N. O Times.