Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-02-21

= loss to our cotton-planters has arisen
from the making Of annual contracts for
labour, whereby they bound themselves
o to pay and feed the labOurer at the rates
: fxed by the price of the last crop, pay
able ont OF the proceeds Of the next crop,
thus guaranteeing to the labourer the
price and weight Of the crop to he grown,
. against flood, drought, frost ana Congress
sional legislation" And it ids
AS the price Of cotton has declined for
the last two crops annually az the rate of
at least twenty-five per cent. the plant
: ers have fallen short Of their contracts in
at least the same proportion. That this
view Of the subject has instinctively i'm
. pressed itself on the planters has been
shown bv their universal unwillingness
: TO EN- bark in cotton culture this year.
II has teen made still more obvious by
the indsposition, il not the positive ina
, biIity Of the factor TO aid them
; The Picayune says, Of the proposition
: Of the Negro Bureau to furnish food to
the negroes on certain terms:
Our chief objection is to It's continu-
ing in another form The same funda-
mental error in past s SjCthern sgrieul-
{ ture, ia conducting il IL such way that
some one else must control the planters
crop, and that this must be all cotton, or
something else which the advancing
party can easily turn into money in one
operation; whereas true farming aud
proper planting sill bring in s suggestion
/ of crops, upon part OF which the planter
will subsisG himself, aud sell the residue,
as he goes along, 10 meet the necessity OF
buyILg this "a that article which the
land caunCt supply. There is thus
a neither sGvares nor commission mer-
chant needed least Of all, a mortgage Of
soul and body TO the Freedmen's Bu-
TeaU, which Inay Ee hkened to that of
Faust 70 MepLisJ0pbiles.
\ contracted area Of agriculture, de-
voted chiefly 10 the raising Of cereals and
root crops, and Of -rsss and hay; to fruit
/ aud garden culture; to the care of stock,
/ 10 IL reduced in number and Increased in
Qua 5y coed keeping and full feeding,
! Il not by purchase, will not be a misfOr-
tune, ia cur opinion, nor even the failure
70 employ the greater number of freed
I meu-ag east, the most idle and lazy
amoDx them. These will never staTve;
If W. slcuiUiuess keep them from stealing,
lHey may be compelled 70 90 NOrthward,
/ to Lne States where they think their
J IE4CA1b dA1DnE v IilS men G-lie14y llNGt "
I Southwark, where habits similar to theirs
/ chiefly prevail; but in this, both we and
! they viii be greatly benefited.
We shall, therefore, not complain If
the great fields which were oEee white
! with cotton become meadows and pas-
tuIes. while all the remaining iabOrers,
I chiefly white, bestOw their toll on
I s. patches and gardens, instead of fields.
+. We snail feel that having thrown of the
bonds Of the com mission merchant and
/ the chains of the Bureau, these remain
] iBg planters and farmers have become
/ the real freedmen Of the country, and
I are hsnceforth to be the true lords Of tke
I soil
In the like spirit, We do not feel much
/ interest IN the other order, which pre-
/ vided for the conveying Of unemployed
| freedmen from one parish to another,
except to congratulate those cOmmunis
/ ties which have thus got rid of them, and
/ 10 pity the folly OF those who, for 3 tenn
DJrary advantage, have brought addi-
/ tiOnal plaques upon themselves.
| If this Is . white mau's counry, as we
/ are often told, it must be the abode of
white men chiefly, be worked by white
men chiefly, its fFuiss be enjoyed by
/ white men. White men are competent
/ 70 perform all its duties and reap ali its
rewards, as well 10 the field Of agricul-
tUre as in any other.
The Ctrisfian AdUocate, speaking Of
I the same proposition, says:
The whole appropriation for the State
of Louisiana is stated to be $3.50 000
This will 90 q little ways among the
1 thousands who need advances. Whether
| tne platter would be really advantaged
| by accepting the offer is questionable. 1t
reviyes the last effort of the Egyptians
i in the dsys Of Pharaoh, when they parted
Z with their lands, their farming utensils
| and their cattle TO the agent of the gov
eminent and Joseph bought all the
lands Of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the
Egyptians sold every man his field, be-
cause the famine prevailed over them
so the land became PhsrsOh's." We do
hone that no stress ana no apparent sd
vance in cotton will lead our people 10
risk anything father. They cannot afford
70 90 upon uncertainties no, not an
other day. II they base calculations
upon government aid upon obtaining
advances upon the labor of the freed
man, or upon an improved market they
run q great hazard Of losing their last
cent. They can cultivate q forty acre
field and raise food for family they
can have few cows ana pigs, and wGrkf
with their own SOILS, fields already
cleared, and afford, maybe, 10 hire one
coiored man IN addition aud IL is just
that which they should Go. BY this
course they viii CutTids this storm, and
keep possession Of lands that have an
intrinsic value ia the markets of the
world, net to be destroyed by the mad
legislation Of Congress. When the mills
Of New England are stopped, and the
rucsy sides Of The Connecticut refuse
TO suprly her unemployed operatives
with food, these ferlIie deltas, made
richer ty every spring flood, will be
sought Tor as the only sure mine Of ex-
baustluss Wezl-h. Our people must not
seek reiItf from their present troubles,
great Is taey are, by the wholesale sacIi-
ice Of lhe graudest Inheritance Of soil
sud climate that can fall TO the lot OF
man. ...-..
To 20 back to the self-supp0rting and
au-pTOCuclng policy of the war period is
the tTUs policy Of the South. Use moth
ing tust you do not raise or make, or
that yOIE neighbOT does not; live en-
tireiy within ourselves dress in home
made cotton and wOoleBs tan your own
leather, make your own sh0es, raise your
own horses and mules, and especially
your own cows.
Unless this idea that we must live by
cotton or Die can be gotten rid Of, cur
planters will indeed perish sgriculturally
and financially. Leave cotton 10 the
Government aud the negroes, The ne
groes belong to the Government-ss it is
now "Tun land the Government alone
can affo-C to feed them and work them.
Let Messrs. Sumner, Butler and BANKS
lay out huge farms, and put sll the ne
grOes upon them to raise cotton and to
vote. No man can safely venture to
work negro or cOttonheld, these days,
who expects or wishes to live without
stealing. To this it has SO last come.
lac ownership Of the negro has passed
out Of the hands of individuals into that
OF the General Government: he must be
fed and controlled by the hand that
feeds him, or he will sLarve himself and
everybody else. And we suppose, from !
its limited smOunt, that this Bureau aP-
preparation Is really intended as an en-
lerI1g wedge TO the experiment Of |
Bureau farms, pet farms for working, 1
holding, feeding and voting the enfran- |
ehised Ireedmen, until after the election |
Of Mr.. Stanton TO the Presidency. If the |
Radical party chooses 70 advance money !
for the benent OF the negro, so be it. The |
negro viii eat all up that is advanced |
tine Southern planters being mixed up |
with the arrangement; for 50 surely as |
be Is, the Government and the negro |
together will consume him,
And another journal ithe Times, we
believe states the whole gist Of the
matter ia these few words:
Neither the QOsernment nor the |
planter can cure the nais6y which |
affects the body polite, Cotton and |
sugar cannot be raised proftably in this |
state except by compulsory labor |
Sugar may pay Just no~, Because the |
article bEIngs high price, but iL Sslld I
no more be rs,ssd 1T old prices, pTofita- !
bly,, Than cotton at the present time |
When the negro was freed be was de- |
stroyed as a laborer and there Is no |
remedy for that disease. The difficulty |
Is simply that be Will not work steadily |
at any rate Of wages, and il the Govern !
ment once begins 10 Iced these people |
they will depend upon il continuing to |
support them, and work less and less |