Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1866-10-19


Of the American Farmer:
The real value Of Maryland and Virginia
lands is not yet known, and present prices do
not pay for them, except SO far aS the sale of
part serves to enhance the value of the re-
ms;nder, by developing its intrinsic worth
We would not have these lands held so high as
to discourage settlers, but their owners should
consider we'll their real worth, that they may be
prepared to advertise them we'll to buyers, and
that they may &c encouraged to hold on, So far
rs Ncy mag be allie to 10 50, for that apprccia-
lion which, sooner or later, must come They
may sell alternate sections, but they should
reserve the remainder, and reap the benefit Of
the increase in value which will inevitably fol
.ow the Influx Of an industrious people, with
means sufficient to cultivate well the surplus
land BOW owned in Maryland, Virginia and
other Southern States; they should, as we have
before urged, Keep their old Homes, and 50 keep
themselves in position to forl, TO direct, and
TO give expression to public sentiment This is
the highest duty new, Of the landholdcrs Of the
old slave-holding States
In speaking Of our advantages III point of
climate, the Farmer quotes from 4 Northern
Agricultural Journal, which says that labor in
the latitude of Washington, will produce as
much in four days as it will in six in the West
ern States and New York. Making the value
Of our lands 80 per cent greater than those in
the most fertile regions North 1t says, est
mating our lands for ordinary farming pur-
poses they arc held far below their intrinsic
nl,,a hy> ,i,l,
mated by those who would buy. The remark
above alluded to, as to climate puts their value
up to fifty per cent, bat it was met by another,
intimating their iuferiority in point Of actual
or possible fertility The same writer in
INSTRUMENTATION from Washington, says,
that having travelled recently through
the best portions Of the States OF Tennessee,
Illinois ard Ohio, ne has seen no field Of Clover
equal to one he had visited on the Potomac,
below Washington that had not been manured
in fifty years. The fertility of this field had
been maintained through course OF cropping,
by shells found Oh the land, and clover grown
by means Of the shells. This was no rare case.
We know, though strangers do not know, how
many thousands OF acres in Maryland and Fir-
ginia have been ferIihzed hy the same cheap
means: and our people themselves d. 10; know
how many other thousands OF acres might in
the sane manner be enriched"
with such means Of Improvement, and
their Weli-knoWn facilities for reaching the best
markets, their natural fertility OF soil und genial
climate. what reason Is there, but our own want
Of appreciation OF what belongs 10 lis, and our
consequent apathy in bringing the true value
Of our possessions to the notice Of Others that
keeps down the price Of Maryland and Virgin
ia lands We had better almost give away our
surplus lands than have them lie waste Or I'M
improving, but il our people had semc of the
Yankee enterprise which has been exhibited in
the sale Of wild western lands, they would soon
find the means OF bringing iii population
which would buy from them at better prices,
while they would have the satisfaction Of know
ing tina; they rendered fair equivalent
Rmtions to Freedmen in the Cities Of Virginia
The Richmond Enquirer in some remarks
upon this subject says:
The stoppage otrations to the negroes will
result in distress i'll many places besides VIII
mington. 1t seems in some respects IN in
opportune time to cut off supplies from the
nations wards CD Winter is already at
the door: when food and clothing and shelter
will be more necessary aid harder to GET
On the other hand the managers Of the
Bureau argue that the freedmen are now
realizing the fruits of their years labor, whc-
Their for money or shares in the crops they
have cultivated; and have thus the means Of
Selt.supnort.
Sooner or later, however, the stoppagc Of
rations could not but come; and come
when it might, it would he attended with
al, l.;
Of colorcd paupers to the ''cyl authorities;
for relief, is mere pre;cncc and mockcrv.-
None know better than the officers Of the
Erecdmen'S Bureau, that provisions from that
source is impossible. With white and black,
almost alike, it is l struggle for subsistence.
The burninGS and seizures and contiscafions,
over which loud Civilizations arc still sounding,
were not Hthout their natural consequences
They have reduced our States to such poverty,
that to refer the starving negroes 10 the civil
authorities, or to Individual bounty is like
recommending boggars to Sahara The sim |
pie and plain facts Of the case are, that the |
action OF The government has rtdGged both |
white and black alike to poverty aud wrojched |
ness, and now turns the one over to the other |
FOR relief This Is the result to which abolition
philanthropy has worked out its problem
In other things besides ratiouS and shelter, |
and clothing, nave the negroes been deprived |
Of former advantages, without substitute or
equivalent. 4 striking illustration OF this, is
the number OF physicians in the South who
have since emancipation, been constrained to
leave their profession, and seek other pursuits.
u hen the negroes had masters the physician
vas always promptly sent for when needed,
and was paid for bis services. Nov, in the
majority Of cases Of sickness among them, the
physician is called tardily, or not at all, and if
he attends, can scarcely hope to be paid for
his visits. The consequence is that the freed
men die by thousands for want Of the medical
attention which they formerly enjoyed.
4 circumstance which makes it peculiarly
improper and futile to refer the pauper freed
men to the civil authorities for relief, is the
TACT that under the Bureau management, and