Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1868-01-03
,,,r,,,. Condition of the South,

The Cincinnati Gazette has the following
ooconnt of the deplorable condition OF at,
fairs in Mississippi:
ssThe state of things is appalling. Distress,
wont and misery are even now stalking ABROAD
what II NAV come to in the dead OF winter God
onIy knows Every kind Of business mere Is pros
trated. Planters are ban krupts by the failure OF
tbn crops and involve the merchants who adj
yanced for them On the strength of the growing
CROPS. The distress here Will be equal, l am
afraid. to the Irish famine of 1847 and 1848 as,
SIRE you YOU never saw such a distressed ana
ruined people as the people of Mississippi
It gives but little pleasure in this season
of merry-making to publish such unwel-
come facts as are contained in the above
extract. or to contemplate how true this
picture is of the whole South. In proof OF
the reliance to be placed in the above state
ment. we publish elsewhere a startling otfi-
cial report of General GHLEM, OF the
Freedman's Bureau, to General ORD,
touching the distress prevailing among the
blacks. and the reasonable apprehensions
prevailing among the whites of MISSISSIPPI
ri, in consequence of the failure Of this
years crop and the decentralization among
negroes, caused by the incendiary teach
ings of political missionaries and place
hunters. We invite the careful attention
of those white men whose labors are rapid
ly bringing about the same state of affairs
here, to this report of General GILLEM.
This report, coming from the source it
does, teaches one of the gravest lessons yet
presented by our political troubles, and is
the best Yindication of the President and
condemnation of Congress ever penned.-
The entire abrogation of all fixed Or relia-
BILE system of labor, the truthful picture of
the thriftless, ignorant and credulous char
acter of the blacks, and the widespread
and dangerous belief of early cOnfscation
with which itinerant politicians have filled
the minds of this population, as fearfully
depicted by this Bureau agent, present
condition of affairs which demands the i'm
mediate attention of every patriotic man in
the Union.
Without means, without the disposition
or the opportunity to work, easy and will
ling victims of deep-laid schemes of dis
reputable political managers, the negro
population of Mississippi, out-numbering
the whites, are ready to adopt any resort to
keep body and soul together. Between
plumber and starvation there can be but
one choice. While on the other hand, the
whites, with barely enough laid UP to pro-
vide food and raiment for themselves, with
no ability and little disposition to attempt
more in the coming year than merely to
make support, have nothing to give, and
will protect with life the little they have.
This condition OF affairs very naturally
leads General CULLEN to &c fear collisions,
the extent and results of which it is diff
cult to surmise."
In support of these statements and opin-
ions of his subordinate, the editor of the
New York Herald has been shown private
letter from General ORD, Commander of
the States of Mississippi and Arkansas, in
which he says that the condition of affairs
in the cotton States calls for the immediate
attention of Congress that q famine is
already upon the negroes that i'll many
counties in his District the planters are
removing their families from fear that the
whites are abandoning the rich cotton sec
tons where the blacks are largely in the
majority that these blacks, having moth
ing, or next to nothing, Of their own, are
living on the property of others, and On
what they can shoot in the woods or catch
in the rivers or creeks that he is daily in
receipt of petitions for protection from
towns and villages that in Mississippi it
is not question of votes, but bread ; that
if Congress will employ these idle and des-
titute negroes and feed them for their work
on the river levees, broken and destroyed
during the war, or on railroads, canals,
anything, war of races may be prevented.
He says, in effect, that in the cotton dis
tricts, with the failure of the staple as
compensating product, there are more ne
groes than can be sustained, and that some
thing must be done for them.
This picture is not oYerdrawn for many
other portions of the South besides Nissis-
sippi. In those portions of this State where
the soil and climate have served to bring
together large bodies of negroes, the dis
tress is as great and the dangers as immi-
nent. Even before the year is ended, and
when large portion Of the blacks yet re-
main to be paid part of their earnings for
the past year, crime has increased to such
an extent as to cause the greatest concern.
From those sections we learn that not more
than one-half or one-third of the negroes
can find employment at rates much re-
duced from those prevailing last winter.
The provisions on hand can hardly support
the white population until another harvest;
the want of means prevents, if the govern
ment tax and price of cotton did not deter,
the farmers from going largely into the
production of the only staple to which their
. soil is well adapted, and which their own
experience renders them better qualified to
cultivate. Under the influence of hunger,
crimes committed under the tutelage of bad
men, or induced by cupidity, will grow in
number and in boldness. The whites,
barely able to provide for their families,
and fearful of their lives, will be quick and