The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1868-01-15

~ o!E'"'"" 'ho wy oot oelIS Sluu'
cicnt to pay the expense Of making gii;s -; I
still adhere to a tax Of twentysHVei per
cent. on the gross production They
promise to take it Off tho next CROP.
Noble fellows! Does any body believe
there is any sincerity in their .aotion.7
/ pity the poor creature who is green
enough for auch credulty. Their mo-
tive Is too apparent to deceive any.
body. If they had been in earnest in
wishing to- help the South, they would
stretch forth the hand now, when they
SEQ tho waves engnlphing us, No;
they see the game is likely to work to
their own hurt. They fear we will not
plant crop Of cotton unless some strate.
gy is rcsoyted to. Tho West would
like to sell more Of her commodity to U.S.;
whether we prosper or go to- perdltion,
and they hold out tins bnlt to- get a
crop in the ground, and When that is
accomplished and wc are SO far commit
ted that retreat is cut of, al excuse will
be found to put the tax OH again. II
we are wise as ten year.old boys ought
to be, We shall not be in condition to
thank them to take the tax of the crop
OF 'G9-wc shall not have crop to take
IT oil. Our present distress grows out
OF our idiocy in failing TO raise our own
supplies. ,..
If the forty odd millions OF dollars
that went from the single city Of Allan.
Ia this year to the west, for provisions,
wero now in the puckcts of our own
people, where it should be, we should
not hear The hourly complaints of mp.
preaching starvatioM The truth. u.s. the
time of making money by farming is
gone by in this section. We never did
make much above the natural increase
of negroes, when We had the powor to
concentrate all tho labor we employed.
And now, when labor is so uncertain,
and daily becoming more so, il is i'm
possible to make anything raising cotton
Tie people Of the North may or may
not believe what they assert about the
Improvement Of the negro. We will
not dispute with them Oh that subject
We know that he is vastly moro dc,
morallzea and unreliable than he was as
II slave. We know Lhnt it is worth hi.
labor 10 watch him ard keep hin
from stealing moro rhan his work vii
amount to, and If he is left unemployed
The responsibility is not with us. w,
were anxious to do the best, both 70
hlm and ourselves, but backed up as h,
was, by the agents Of the Government
he has become lazy and tritling, and t,
carry him further with the cotton Ia,
on his back, is asking little moro thar
Iam willing to bear
The only road to Independence FOR u
is in strict economy and the cultivation
OF such crops as will give us a sure sup
port at home. We have been the over
seers for the rest Of tie world up to lhi
time. We had no agency in bringing
he negro TO this continent. Flo wa
forced here by others for their ow,
aggrandzemcnt. NNo have had all tn,
plague Of taking care Of him-havo ia
ken all the cursing and abuse on Iii
account-havo worn out our lands t,
sustain him and build up other portion
OF the earth and rs soon rs they fel
they could get on without him, the,
have ruthlesslv broken the bonds whicl
bound him to his duty and turned hin
loose TO poison our existence with hi
; thelts and robborics, and now ask lha
lho shall rule us for the timo to come
But am not going TO write anythin.
about politics. am no politician.
have no faith in politics or politicians
! only present Shrs view TO show 20,
the folly of relying on tho negro as
laborcr. Let him take care OF himself
Let us plant only cotton enough for tn,
consumption Of the mills in our mlds
and such as may be erected. There ar,
a variety of crops we can make h
market. We have good sale lo
wheat and with the same care and pain
we can compete successfully with my
portion of tic United States. OH
wheat is heavier, makes more and bet
ter flour than the wheat Of tho North
and that we can get into market
month in advance Of them. We ma,
raise our own stock OF all kinds, ant
supply other markets after few years
Hay may be made very successfully
with us. speak from experience whcr
: | say this, for I have made tho crab
grass hay tho last summer, and sold !,
at fifty dollars per ten.
Now, all this looks well, but
will the people fall in? This is the
question. "Am Fin favor of Legislation
on the subject" BY no means /
have no mere faith in legislation t,
make a man plant correctly than I have
to pay people out Of debt. But public
opinion may do great deal to bring us
to The right way. Now, before ar.
rangements are made for another year
let us agitatc. It has been fashionable
tor some years to use the word straitor'
IN connection with those who do moi
think the man who will plant lull crop
| OF cotton the next year, will, whatever
hc intends, prove an enemy to his section,
am not asking others to do what ] am
not doing myself, have means to
plant heavy crop Of cotton anothc,
season with ihr lind ond (,,;E,;,, b.