The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1867-11-06
D,scharsing colored Hands,

: ~
The Rebels of Virginia are discharging their
colored hands because they thought proper
to exercise for their own good, the right of
suffrage recently bestowed on them by act
of Congress Many Rebels in North Caro-
lima will probably do the same thing after
the election in this State. In the first place,
such conduct on the part of landholders
and employers. is mean, revengeful, and ty-
rannical and in the second place, such q
course will very soon rebound with destruc-
tive force on these narrow; minded tyrants.
The negro laborers are indispensable to land
holders and others in this State. They can
not do without this labor. They must have
it, or their fields will grow up in weeds and
they will not make even a support. They
talk about white labor for their plantations
from Europe and the North. Have they
thought maturely about this, white labor
from abroad In the first place, it is doubt
full whether, such labor will come here to
compete with the. crlored race and in the
second place, if it should come, employers
will find very different class of laborers
from the colored people. They would have
to pay them at least s15 per month each, as
much as they get in the Northern and Wes-
tern States; and they would haye to receive
and treat them as their equals socially, as
they are not expected to treat the colored
race. Then the foreign white ,laborer would
have to learn how to make cotton and to-
,bacco, and to conform his notions and habits
to our state of society. Again, foreign
white laborers are not coming here until free
schools of various grades. are established for
the education of the children of the people
They are not coming here until our system of
internal improvements is revived and placed
on healthy footing, with low rates for
freight andatravel. They are not coming
here until they can see certainty thai, after
few years labor they can purchase good
lands at low prices for themselves and fani-
hes They are not coming here until every
thing is settled, and they can feel that they
are men, entitled to and welding as much
political power as others it is apparent
that white labor can not be brought into the
State at an early period. The dependence
must be. on the .colared people, who have
thus far worked remarkably well, all things
considered, and whose only fault seems to
be that they will not vote with the old Rebel
leaders who ruined the country, and who have
NO favors for laboring men, white or black
Under Observation-Disclosures, II thepolicy ofdis-
charging hands for voting their honest senti-
ments should be adopted in this State, what
would be the result if all the laboring color
ed men should unite at the beginning of
1868 and determine not to strike a lick un-
less they were paid s25. cash each, at the
end Of each month The rebel leaders would
do well to ponder these things. Labor, in
this country is now able to vindicate and
protect ITSELF It will, do it. Labor is now
great moral as well as physical force. The
moral sentiment of the country will rise up
lat once in behalf of those who are denied the
right to labor, ,becauses they have freelyex-
ercised their rights. The eoiored man will ]
not alone be stricken when thus discharged
from employment, but every 1aboring white
man, feeling that his turn may come next,
will unite to vindicatej the nobility and the !
independence of labor against such contemp-
tble, short sighted tyranny. gb3 ii ~ 4
~ It is a, little remarkable, but entirely in !
L.