The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1865-08-02

beheld slavery-suddenly and at one
fell blow-swept away forever from
their midst. I know not how to ac-
count for so singular phenomenon;
but IN conversing recently with many
planters, who wefe but q few months
ago large slnve-owners, I found the
same apparent indifference rs to the
loss OF their negroes exhibited by them
all; and some of them went SO far as
to say that even had they The oppor-
tunity to rcposscss themselves OF their
slaves they would refuse to avail them
selves of it.
but this feeling, it must be undcr-
stood, is not the result of any change
OF sentiment on the part of the plant,
ers US to the rights or true interests OF
the negro. It arises, I think. simply
from the conviction which the events
OF the war have forced upon their
mind, that the African slave is. gene
rally speaking, lazy, filthy, trcachcrous
and ungrateful; and that the results
of free and compensated labor, though
perhaps less profitable in appearance,
Will be far more satisfactory in the end
than those OF the unpaid tell of slaves.
They see that, with free labor. it is
within their power to choose and re-
tam only the ikelicst field hands and
to rid themselves at once of the care
OF all srperhuous negroes, including
the young children, those too old to
work and the sick; while, on the other
hand, the use Of slave labor necessarily
saddles them with the support Of IN
army OF black dependents. utterly use
less IN any of the operations of plant
ing. So that, after all. the dreaded
abolition has !, bright side TOO for the
planters, aud they are beginning to
recognize the fact
There IS very general desire on the
part of many Of the owners of large
plantations to secure white labor for
their lands. This they propose to do
not by the ordinary process of hiring
the laborers, but by dividing out their
large tracts into farms of suitable size,
and by letting these to Industrious
tenants at moderate rents, to be paid
i'll kind out of the crops raised. The
lands under cultivation III this State
are of all degrees Of fertility, those in
the upper or mountain region being
comparatively sterile, while the beau
tiful belt of islands which girdle our
sea-coast present a. soil so rich and
fruitful that the plow is an implement
almost unknown to those who till it
the use of the hoe alone having en-
abled them, for generations past, to
raise crops which We're the admiration
and envy of their less Fortunate neigh
bors in the interior. Should it hap.
pen that the proprictors of these island
lands decide to rent them in the man
ner 1 have described, Il rare chance will
be afforded to adventurous agriculture
lsts1. while, III amy event, the hardy
immigrants who reach Your Northern
cities, and who disd:lin not to earn
THEN bread by the sweat of their brows,
may be sure to find on any OF the Car
DINA plantations abundant employ
ment on very liberal terms of remu-
neration.
1t is generally admitted among prac-
tical men here that in ten years from
the present time white labor will have
gained II secure foothold among rs,
wherever it can safely be made avail
able. But there is one class of land
AAOliI NlllCll lIIC1C lSlOt' -tV'lt ltftSoll 20.
fear that it must ever remain excluded.
| allude to the rice plantations. :. Pro-
badly few Of your readers, who haze
not themselves hcheld the wonders
and intricacies of the cultivation OF
the rice plant, have any just idea of
the immense lnbor requisite for the
formation of d we'll ordered rice plan
tatlon. Miles on miles Of powerful
dykes, with multitudinons sluiccs and
Hood-Sates in every direction tell II
wondrous tale OF diligence. skill and
untlrlng perseverance. Gazing on
such a plantation it is impossible to
refuse ones admiration to the tact
winch has directed the labor of men
SO devoid Of intelligence as the negro
slave to the achievement of results so
grand and imposing. Yet, under the
Hurnlng suns OF summer and amid the
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