The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1867-11-13
The Labor Question.



ties to be met and without any hope in ever making
the labor of the freedman permanently profitable either
to bis employer source OF national wealth. We
knew them slaves, too long and too well believe
in their capacity to govern their labor or other
wise to govern themselves-as intelligent white men
direct their affairs generally. We have no faith in the
ability of the Radical party to educate them up to this
capacity. We neither have any confidence nor any
respect whatever for the employed for that pr-
pose The bureau, charged with their guardianship
legal minors unable to make enforce contracts for
themselves, is, in opinion, usees and expensive
nuisance. The attempt by the late legislation Of Con
gress, after thus treating them minors to confer
suffrage upon them, ma ors capable of exercising
the highest political right, is not only the grosses
consistency in legislative annals ever exhibited but in
opinion at least crime against the spirit of the
age.
The delusive hope, constantly held up to the South
ern people, that this species of free labor be made
productive, by the great of the impulses
awakened by freedom and stimulated by the extraor.
binary rights conferred upon them has never deceived
US, fear it msled others, who chose to shut
their eyes to the facts of West Indian emancipation
the recent travels in Afriea-or to their own know-
edge of the negro character.
The negro, in whatever cline or country he chances
to be denzen is the same idle thriftless creature
who works from compulsion but never with the great
idea of eevating himself his race. He builds no
cities, publishes no Codes writes neither histories
poems, trayerses oceans, POUNDS colonies. The
eternal ages attest these facts. We do not expect
them to their verdict upon the motion of few
conceited of the Radical party, who are either
honest conscientious enough to try to educate him.
Let them try We are satisfied the majority of the
Radical party regard him in the light of political
captive, to be used for their purposes He is a
fit instrument.
AS laborer, giving voluntary work for remunera
tive wages, he is utterly unreliable, and we believe the
people recognise this ncontestable fact in
their dealings with him, the better it will be for both
They know it matter of fact and why ignore it as
a matter of contract?
The necessity for the employment of the negro, as
laborer, worthless and unreliable he is cannot be
dispensed with under present circumstances This is
unfortunately true. Then let our farmers deal with
the fact unfortunate though an inevitable neces
sity; and employ no more freedmen than abso-
lutely necessary to keep up their farms If any one
fact conclusively established by experience
it is that they cannot be worked, proftably in gangs
as they were before the war.
Then, the first step towards an amelioration of the
present condition is, obviously, reduction of force
on every plantation, to the minimum of hands neces
sary to keep repairs and cultivate only portion of
the tlable lands. The first effect of this course would
be surplus of labor in the market and consequent
reduction of its price.
Labor and capital would then occupy, in the South,
the relative position they do elsewhere-not the
anomalous, and to the employer, the ruinous position
of complete dependence of capital worthless and
idle laborers. Labor would become then, what in
truth it is, and ought to be, commodity of COM
merce, whose price would depend on it's demand and
its quality 1t would huctuate it is true like all other
values. 1t would fall to-day and rise tomorrow, but
as long as the demand continued it would always be
found in the market, and generally in sufficient guam
tity to meet the demand. This plain law of supply
and demand our planters seem to forget when they
urge the necessity of employing labor by the year. be-
cause say they, the cotton crop requires the whole
year for its handling &c. indeed, it does but that
hands for the whole year.
Another ard marked effect of this reduction of
force, and consequent creation of surplus of labor
would be an improvement in its quality. The hand
employed, fearing the loss of situation where that
loss could be supplied, would comport himself quite
differently from the lazy partner of the planter, pro-
vided with home, ratons aud fuel his expense and
firm belief in the doctrine that whole year being
necessary to make cotton crop, interest in this
crop being secured to him, he cannot be discharged
for neglect of his duty without ruin to his employer
and copartner in the CROP And besides the reduction
Of the enormous expense, resulting from reduction
of hands-so obvious that we merely allude to it in
would result still more decided ad-
vantage to the employer in this that giving up old
anu exploded system of labor, he would be then CON-
1eled to adopt new system of culture. Instead of
planting all his arabic land in the single articles of corn
md cotton, relying solely the former for the SUBJ
stence of his stock and solely on the latter for mar
Set returns, he would sow down part Of his land in
grain and devote a part to his stock. In word, he
would begin system of rest and rotation, which
would soon lead to manurng and in few years, he
would have accomplished the end of all good farming
austed by the constant cultivation of the same crops
nd utterly unsaeable he would be adding to its per-
nanent value for his own use, the of pur- 8
haser Instead Of pitiable dependence on freed
men, he would soon become that most independent
nan of all the world, thrifty farmer. II
Instead of educating his sons and daughters to the
admission of employees, they would grow up CO.
aborers with their parents, and enable Them year by
car to reduce more and more the expense of servants
nd assistants. The first step, then towards self
reservation, towards independence, and towards per-
lament prosperity, believe, consists in the reduc-
ion of hands to the lowest minimum t
MEETING AT GREENwooD.-At a meeting held in a
brentwood, Saturday Nov. 9th, 1867, by the planters
Ward No 2, the following association organized
nd resolution adopted:
LIST. Resolvea That this organization be called the
brentwood Agricultural Association.
I'd. That standing committee of six, viz: J. E. a
ones, Col. Waskon, Maj Wilkerson, Col. Oglesby, Fl
r. Fournoy and Vinkle Jones be appointed to report
solutions for the consideration of the Agricultural
ssociaton. b
3D. That we invite the different Wards of the parish
organize Agricultural Associations. b
4th. That the Association of Spring Ridge and Sum- tt
fN,n.-,