The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1867-09-13
COLUMBIA.
Friday Morning, September Is. 1867.
Defective Labor--Tho Remedy.

Reluctant, unreliable and incom.
petent labor is now the prevalent
complaint, not only in the agricul-
'tural but in almost every other de-
tpartment of Southern industry. We
all know the cause of this unfortu-
nate condition of affairs in these
States, but thus far, we fear, the
Southern people have been too inert
and slothful in seeking out and ap-
plying the only remedy for the evil
that can be successful. There is an
old saying, verified by the experience
of ages, that competition is the life
of trade, the truth of which has
never been denied, and has become
an axiom in political economy. 1t
applies now with peculiar force to
the condition of the labor system of
the South. We may fold our hands
and murmur and grumble about the
dire results of the emancipation of
the late slaves of the South; but, if
we should sit to the crack of doom,
grumbling and complaining, the
simple result would be that the evil
would 60 on increasing, until remedy
would come too late; the fields and
the plantations of the South, uncul-
tivated and almost worthless, and an
idle, insubordinate and untaught
race, on which we had placed our
dependence exclusively, increase and
multiply, until expatriation on the
part of those who had any energy
left would become absolutely neces-
sary, to escape starvation or death in
some other form.
Thereis preventive to this gloomy
state of the future, if the Southern
people will act promptly, judiciously
and earnestly in the matter; and that
is, to afford every aid and facility in
the introduction of foreign labor.
The freedmen, bewildered by their
new position, deceived and deluded
by party hacks, and taught to believe
that all political power is in their
hands, have enough intelligence to
perceive that the landowners and
employers of the South are entirely
dependent upon them to carry on all
industrial operations. But let Eu-
ropean immigration on any extended
scale once be inaugurated, and the
several departments of industry pro-
misc to become filled with competent
and skilled operatives, and the black
man will soon foresee the end uf such
a movement, and gladly forsake the
wild theories of the knavisb politi-
clan, who has led him from the path
OF duty, fidelity and self-interest. It
may, then. be too late for many of
the victims Of party and it's hire
ling itinerants, but it may save some
from reaping the reward of their
folly, and make them better and
more useful members of society.
The first half dozen arrivals of
foreign ,laborers and mechanics will
open the eyes of the more intelligent
freedmen to their true position in the
Southern communities.
This, then, would be our remedy
The means to obtain and apply it
must remain with the people them
selves. General Wagener, the State
Commissioner of immigration, has
just addressed note to the mechanics
OF Charleston, stating that he is re-
ceiving numerous applications from
mechanics abroad, asking for informa-
tion respecting their prospects in
South Carolina. He, therefore, re-
quests the cooperation of the home
mechanics to advise him as to all
matters in relation to this important
subject
AS to the introduction of agricul-
tural laborers, the Charleston 1fe,.-
cury very properly says, "that which
the mechanics can do for those who
immigrate in the expectation of find
ing profitable mechanic employment.