Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1867-01-17
THE WANTS OF THE SOUTH.

x1uUllS ObuCI VI eAO OooeAA3 JNIS ~
this time, one of the most pressing is enterprise
Our people have been for so many years accustomed
to an easy jog-trotting way of life-a life which
required of them nothing more than close follow
ing in the steps of their foreathers, that they DO
not realize the full value of this virtue SO long
as he was able to make cotton in the way his father
did before him, the Southern farmer cared not to
make any Improvements upon the old mans way
of farming 1t was always difficult task to per-
suade him to try anything that his father had never
tried, even when the advantage to be gained by the
change, was plain as the nose on his face. bis re-
ply to all proposed improvements was stereotyped,
and ran pretty much as follows; "WeD, the old
man was pretty good farmer, and he never tried
any of your patent machines. Healways managed
to make living, and I reckon I can't do better
than to do as he did,
This argument had some force in it, as long as
we had the old mans means for doing as he did; !;
that is, while every man. premises were crowded
with fat, little "nigs' growing to future usefulness
and his fields were worked by submissive and faith
full grown darkies, who could be made to do what
soever seemed good in the ''oldman's'' eyes. Even
in those halcyon days, however, the effect Of this
system was to hodthe South back, while all therest
of the civilized world was steadily advancing
Just previous to the war, she was as hepessly de-
pendent on the North for almost every manufac-
turcd article, and to great extent, even tor reg
ular supply of grain and meat as babe upon its
mother. 1t is within the memory of ALL how Ia
mentally deficient we were, in the material for
clothing and feeding our armies, and our people too
from the beginning to the end Of the struggle. 1t
is true, we had plenty Of cotton, but we had very
little else. Our government was, in self-defence,
forced to commence almost every kind factory and
machine shop necessary to keep the concern afoat.
And at last the undertaking in which we were all
interested failed more than from any other cause,
from inability to carry on, in proper manner. the
workshops and grain crops at home. The South
paid costly price for the lesson, that something
besides ability to make cotton is necessary to keep
up nation. Let us hope that the lesson was not
vain; let us trust that new experiments will not be
so dstastefu to our people, infuture. They should
now be willing to try anything which will add to
their Individual or sectional resources
Let it be remembered that the negro no longer
sustains the edifce of Southern society. That pill
lar was pulled down by the SAMSON of fFanaticism,
and it is now necessary to erect new building from
the ruins of the old, which must rest upon new
foundations and be supported by more substantial
columns than the "nigger" Instead of gang of
obedient and contented slaves the farmer now has
to put up with pack of lazy freedmen, who are
generally much tormented by the idea Of working
little more than their share. He is compelled to
keep close eye to their rations, or they will eat
more than their share of the crop is worth at the
end of the year. In addition to all this, nearly
every man is in debt, and has heavier taxes to pay
than ever before.
The tendency of farming at this time is to dis
courage those who follow that business; to make
them despair of ever accomplishing anything un-
der such unfavorable circumstances. 1t is great
trial for man to work hard all the year, only
to find himself worse off than he was when he be-
gan Yet many will hang on to their old plans
and methods, with dead loss staring them in the
face.
How much more rational it seems for man to
quit the old track, when circumstances have rem
dered it unproftable.. No one should ever grow
too wise or too old to learn from Others and, in
our present situation, no one should be too proud
to give up old cherished ways, if there is money in
the change. The drift of our idea is that South
ern men should pay more attention to developing
the resources of the South, by doing all in their
power to establish and encourage every enterprise
which promises to do this, whether agricultural,
or mechanical.