The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1869-11-25

est upon the amount OF MS oriSinei M
vestment, and continuing to do so, In
healthy and normal condition OF puolic
affairs, his land when sold would relm-
burse him.
These, however, are unfortunately not
the results of emancipation in our case
and ignoring the potent influences oil the
political tinkerings to which we have
been so mercilessly subjected-the cause
lies in the reduced efficiency of labor.
The extent of this, and not the amoun'
of the original Investment in slaves, ap-
pears to me to be the true measure OF the
loss sustained by the change in our sys-
tenn.
The novelty of freedom has worn away,
and the characteristics of the negro
freedman as a laborer, are now pretty
we'll established. Released from tho dis
ciplne of slavery, unappreciative OF the
value of money, and but little desrous
of comfort, his efforts are capricious; and
while at some kinds of labor the old slave
tasks may be readily obtained, there are
others in which no amount of persuasion
or pay can keep him steadily up to the
slave standard. He has, too, an aver.
sion for steady work for his women and
children which nothing but the necessi-
ties of subsistence can overcome, and
with the first CLEAN of prosperity, he re-
mits them to idleness or to casual day
labor. These characteristics have redu-
ced the value of negro labor fully one.
hall, and the instances are exceptional
in which plantations are worked now
with less than twice the numerical force
required before emancipation. The cot
ton crop, which, in the almost exclusively
agricultural nature of our pursuits, is the
best criterion of our industrial efficiency,
is with difficulty pushed up to half its
aggregate in The years before the war,
notwithstanding the amount of white la
Dor now diverted in that direction.
1t is true that, when full force of me-
groes is attanable, plantations are work
cd successfully, and with larger interest
upon the investment than formerly-tho
heavy bonus required in the procuring OF
labor by purchase being stricken from the
account. But, gentlemen, we never had
in the South in her best days tithe of
the labor necessary to develop even her
agricultural wealth. Her rich mining
and manufacturing resources were almost
entirely neglected. Now, more than
ever, population is our need, and popula-
ton we must have, if we are once more
to place ourselves alongside OF the nations
in the grand march of material progress.
From the shores of Europc-our anccs-
trail home-we must draw an accession
to our numbers, which will fuse with and
become part of US. No effort should be
SHARED in that direction. 1t is our best
and safest resource. But pending, or in
default of their coming, from the tccming
hive of Asia VIC must satisfy our vital
need. Should the frugal and industrious
Asiatic, as his habit has heretofore been
abroad, prove only sojourner with US
among US, but not of us, except in his in
dustrial relationships presence will have
been blessing to us both And should
he make this his home, there is no reason
why we may not dwell together in the
same harmony which has marked our in.
torcourse with another race during all
the vicissitudes OF the years that have
gone by since the first negro was landed
from the Dutch vessel in James River.
We have not found their presence here
iptolerablc. Alongside of the Southern
white man tho negro welded the axe OF
the pioneer; under his direction, he ad-
vanced the productions of our agricul-
ture, until the markets of tho civilized
world became tributary 10 it; during our
desperate struggle for political indcpen.
dence, he supplied our commissanat; and
in our efforts tor recuperation from the
ravages of war where would we have
been without his presence-even with the
in efficiency fhis labor, deprecated as it is
by causes perfectly natural to humanity,
In pressing immigration, whether Euro
pean or Asiatic, it is in view of the work
before us, and in no spirit ef hostility TO
tho negro. l would exclude not one of
them from this broad field of labor, nor
withhold from him one particle of the
fruits of his honest eXertons.
We have thus glanced, gentlemen, ut
some of the losses sustained in the event
full period since the last meeting of an
Agricultural Society in this State. But
have we gained nothing? Will the habits
engcndered by reduced circumstances,
avail us nothing in tho struggling for fu
ture wealth? Will the fortitude under di-
saster, the patient energy in retrieving it,
which misfortune has developed, be worth.
less to us Napoleon said that, in war,
the moral was to the physical as three to
one and if this be true when brute forco
most avails, how much moro shall the
severe discipline our people have under.
gone aid them in attaining those victories
which peace may achieve.
1t is, therefore, with a hopeful and n
confident spirit that / look forward to our
future and greet the organization of this
Society rs the first cheering glimpse ofthe
coming day. Representing, as you do, all
of the capital and intelligence that we
| L. al L.; Il. L