Wilmington journal., 1867-11-29

and starvation ensue among the poor.
providence seems to have rebuked theil
| aYariclOuS seliishness. The crop was al
most failure, and ct that tie lllice went
| q WI, anH the cotton made did not suffice
to pay the freedmen, and buy the corn and
| provisions to sUbsis5 on. The country was
| brought 10 the point Of starvation, and but
for the charity Of kind hearts among our
Northern friends (for there are kind hearts
there as everywhere) many would have
starved. The old men found themselves
older. but Impoverished. The young men
and the cnterprising Yankee withdrew,
having paid for their folly. The Texas
| planter does not again come bidding for
hands. Providence sent them the oVerfows
and the caterpillar, and they stand convict
ed Of their folly
10 sum 1t all up, the count4,7 = is impov-
| erished. The cry is, there is no money !!
| We ask the North to lend us capital-we
| seek to induce emigration to help Us, to do
what 10 mortgage the lands (which is
all we have left) for capital, and to make
more cotton, with more labor, to make cot
ton cheaper 1t is now too cheap for us to
produce with the labor We have. Was
there ever people so determined on their
own bankruptcy and ruin ? Welded to
system we grew up under, we forget that in
the changed condition of things we must
change from our old ways. Glance your
eye over the items in the estimate made in
my hrst communication of the cost of oper-
atlng the Plantation, and you will see that
OF the whole cost S12, 2,670, the hire paid
the freedman and the bacon rations alone.
is $I,1OO, nearly two-thirds of the whole
cost. In India the laborer works for half
the wages we pay and finds himself Tin rice,
&c., eating no meat at all Our freedman
is the best paid and fed agricultural labo-
rer III the world he can lay up fully half
his wages annually, (f he would, while his
employer is sinking money.
1t IS true but few negroes economist, but
spend their money for fine clothes, iewelrv.
DC, and thus in the end are no better off.
They gain nothing by high wages, as they
spend it all in useless finery and waste their
time ut Radical meetings. He must come
to lower wages, such as will afford him
coarse but comfortable clothing and Ia
tons, or his employer, exhausted by his
losses, Will be unable to pay him any price,
certainly not beyond that which will enable
him to live at least without loss and the
sooner we come to this understanding
the better for freedmen and employer
This could be easily brought about if the
planter will simply pursue course dicta-
ted by common sense. AS the planter can
not succeed Ill working poor lands, he must
only cultivate such portions of his best
lands TOR by highly manuring his poor
lands) DIS can be made profitable this Will
enable him to reduce the number OF labor
ers this policy would cause labor to seek
employment. Instead OF the labor being
Ill demand, it would be in surplus supply,
and then labor will come down to its true
value, and thus reduced would enable the
planter and 1aborer both to thrive. AS it
now stands the planter is losing money,
while the laborer IS making money, bat
spending it wastefully in useless articles,
and bis condition is not improved. If the
labor is reduced it will enable the planter
to live on less production per acre Or
adopt the plan of interesting the freedman
III the results of the farm, and thus OPEN
ing to him an inducement to bring his la
Dor up to the highest point for the mutual
benefit, and the profit OF loss be thus divi-
ded between the employer and laborer.
Reflect on the probable still lower prices
which the competition from India and
other countries will bring. If other coun-
tries go on increasing their cultivation with
us, we must expect the prices to fall to
point in greenbacks as low as cotton sold
for IN gold before the war. We must shape
our course to meet such state of things,
and, unless We at once prepare to do so, we
will find our means all exhausted in fruit
less efforts under our present system. We
have the climate unfortunately we have
but little fresh or strong soil, but we have
the remedy Ill our own hands. I have in
this article discussed the labor question; a
part Of the remedy is in that I will at
tempt in future communications to show
how we can overcome all the difficulties we
are loboring under. W. H. Young.