The Norfolk post. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1865-1866, 1865-08-01
THE NEGRO LABOR QUESTION

terminated forever the institution o
slavery in this land, the opposition pa
pers, both North and South, have beer
continually filled withlengthy articles O
short paragraphs, the object of which ap
pear to be to prove that the negro as
freedman is a useless and worthless mem
Der of society; that he will not work
and seems to look upon his present con
dition as one entirely free from toll OIL
responsibility; that he was never intend
ed for freedom, slavery being his proper
status and that he Is and ever viii he u
Yagrant and ali eEeumbrance To the
State that in order to make him of any
use to himself or benefit to the country,
he must be again made slave. All the
ideas of these men seem to run in the same
circle. They talk as if there were posi-
bility that the negroes will be returned
to slavery as their only destiny. If this
be not the aim of their argument, what
is the necessity of bringing the matter
up at all? What good can be attained
by discussing the question whether
negro will do better or worse now that he
lie free than he did while slave? Why
should they call into question the indus
trious habits and instincts of the negro,
any more than of any other class of peo-
pie? Why do they not inquire into the
condition of the white population, and
tell US whether they are disposed to work
or be idlers? 1.-THE negro will not work
now, and make himselfas useful as form
erly, we can see no help for it; he can
not be reduced back to slavery. That's
settled. Revolutions never go back
ward; and we never heard of people
or race being made free that ever again
became slaves, although history fur
nishes instances of a free people relapsing
into barbarism and being reduced to
slavery.
1t is time this senseless twaddle about
the failure of free labor, asapplied tothe
negroes and their refusal to work, should
cease. 1t is the only conditionin which
you can have the negro, and it Is the
part of wisdom to accept this one al
ternativewith good grace; and, instead
of lamenting and mourning over what
is irrevocably lost, go to work earnestly
and hopefully to do the bestyou can with
the materials at your disposal. Cease
your murmurings and mutterings, and
sighings, for they will do no good-they
are unavailing now. The negroes are
free, and no power on earth can make
them anything else but free; but they
can be made useful as they are necessa-
ry, by wise course. The great mass of
them must continue to form the bulk of
our laboring rand menial population-and
certainly In State that kind of popula-
ton is as necessary toits welfare, its pros
perity, and very existence as any other
class. Indeed, it is greater necessity
for we can do without the idler and con-
sumner, but it would be rather difficult
matter for us dispense with those who,
by the sweat of their brow produce every
article that formsthe basis of wealth and
commerce. There can never be too many
1aborers in a country to insure its pros
perity, and it has become very serious
question with US in this country wheth-
er at some future day white labor will
not be exhausted. tits we'll known that
but few native-born whites in America
can be induced to perform the rougher
kinds of manual labor. Their educa-
ton and training unfit them for it, and
many of them, rather than be caught
with shovel or pick In their delicate
hands, would beg, steal, or starve. Our
system of education, allied to false pride
and social prejudice, unfit the youtlfof
America for hard manual toll or mental
offices hence, we have heretofore been
compelled to look to Europe to furnish |
us with laborers and servants hat |
this source of supply will, one day,
be exhausted, and how then can we hope
to fill up the ranks of the sturdy
sons of toil--the bone and sinew who
are the wealth and glory of the country
This is q serious question, and we press
it upon the attention of those thought
less persons who are so anxious to get
rid of the negroes, and think the coun-
try would be benefited by driving them
forth from among us and colonizing
them in the far West or South. They
might as well drive SO much capital
from their shores, as exile these laborers,
for labor is, of course, capital. One can
scarcely help laughing at the folly of
these wise statesmen, who, while they
encourage immigration of laborers as a
source of wealth, would nullify and neu-
tralize all its good effects, by enforcing
the emigration of greater amount of
more useful and intelligent labor to other
States or countries.
No, gentlemen, you want the negro.
You have work for him to do, and work
that he alone can do, therefore you must
cease your lamentations over the deQen.
eracy of the times and cheerfully enter
upon the new field of duty that lies open
before you. That duty Is to encourage
the colored laborer in the performance
of his duties; forget that he has ever
been slave, and treat him in all re-
spects as white laborers in the same con-
y e. -