The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1865-06-28

70 see the tens OF thousands OF acre
of fertile land lying idle and uncut
waited, while those poor people VIII
ought to be there atawork,. are sta,
wing to death. The means of con
{ Portable subsistence for them al
there; but they have been entice,
away from them.
] Failing to make engagements wit
their negroes, and despairiug even q
their ultimate return, many Of tn
planters have engaged white men t
work for them, and to take the plac,
lof their negroes. No one can Alam
them for tins and yet a storm Of ey
Iteration will be raised about atbei
heads for doing SO. My informant.
have related to me numerous ia
stances where poor white men, living
near large plantations, have been en-
gagged by the planters by the year, t.
work for them, and are now actively
engaged. These poor men we're moi
soldiers in the rebel army but a
the Confederate soldiers return t.
their fosmer homes, they too will nc
doubt BIG engaged in like manner.
Five or Six white men, on asplanta
ton, can do the work formerly done
lby twenty or thirty negroes; and as
There are comparatively few planta
ltions in the South on which more than
twenty able-bodied slaves were en-
|ployed, it may be thatstheplanters,
in the end, willfnd this kind Of labor
the most profitable to:them for, be
|siles supporting the negro, the mas
fer was compelled also to support the
Negroes wife and his three or -four
children-his whole family, in fact
to provide them with 4 home and the
means Of living, to take care Of them
when sick, ard to support them when
aged and infirn, and all tliis for the
labor Of one man. it will be much
cheaper for the planters to employ
white labor, Of which, indeed. they
can easily procure an abundance. -
And ifthis should be the result Of the
abolition Of slavery #, in depriving
their masters Of their. slaves, the abol.
|itionfsts have also deprived The slaves
of their homes and their means Of
subsistence, will they be 50 well sat-
|isfed with their "war for the negro ~
FROM all that I can learn Of the &C.
tual condition of affairs at the South,
such is very likely to be the ultimate
result Of the abolition Ct slavery. The
people Of the South, like all other
people, are governed by selfinterest.
Negro labor has been profitable to
them, only because they could compel
the negro to work, and thus, in spite
Of the heavy burdens entailed upon
them by the support Of the negro s
family, they contrised to make the
negro's labor ppftable. But the lib,,
Grated slave, applying now to his old,
master for employment, will be met
by the competition Of the white
laborer. Itis in vain to ridicule this
idea. II must and will be SO. The
Southern field is open to the white
and Black laborer alike. Tens Of
thousands Of white laborers, Yankees,
Germans, swedes, and Norwegians,
and Irishmen, will, in ayear or two,
swarm all over the South, seeking
that employment which they fail to
find in the oyercrowded North. And
thus, IN a year or two, the poor
negroes will find themselves crowded
from the scenes Of their former en-
ployment.
These are my views, but they are
not mine alone They are the views
that already begin to occupy the
minds Of the Southern people. AS /
remarked above, their system Of labor
sheen entirely changed. The cues
ton which they have to consider, and
which, as I learn they are consider.
ing very earnestly,is, whether it will
be most expedient.a and most profitable
for them to enter into new relations
with the negroes. or to employ white
laborers in their stead. Very few
public meetings on the subject have
been held, although have before me
the nrncnndinrs nf two In V;rr;n;o