Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-07-30

bowling to his hole of oblivion, where ne
will have all the remainder of his unhappy |
life. 10 reflect on the outrsges he has been
able. during period of accidental power |
TO inflict upon the rights OF the people |
among whom he was raised.
THE LABOR QUESTION AT THE
SOUTH.
The proposed introduction OF
Chinese as laboring element OF
the population of the Southern
States meets with pretty general
favor, though some of the ablest
and most influential Southern jour
mails, among which we may mention
the Richmond Dispatch and Au-
gusta Constitutionalist, oppose the
"openlng the foodgates to let in
upon us the mighty tide Of Asiatic
barbarism." The great majority
of the people seem to apprehend
but little change to our social and
religious institutions from any in-
fux of Chinese into this country
that may occur. The demand for
more labor is so great that planters
seem entirely willing to risk the
consequences to society in order to
get their cotton fields titled. The
New York Times is in favor Of re-
pealing or modifying the act OF
Congress prohibiting the coolie
trade, so as to offer no impeachment
TO the importation of Chinese Ia
Dor. That paper assumes that
"there is no longer any doubt
of the great value and econ
omy of Chinese coolies as
agricultural laborers," and that
| while there is such a demand for
their labor, not only in the Pacific
States, but throughout the South,
the barrier interposed by the law
should be removed, and the gates
thrown open to the free ingress OF
as many Chinese as can be profta-
bly, employed by the people OF this
country. Before the war the ne
| groes furnished the South an ample
supply of labor. The urgent de-
mand that exists at present shows
conclusively that they are not now
furnishing that labor, for the area
of land in cultivation is not so large
by a pretty heavy per centage as
before the war. The reason why
they are not furnishing this labor
is very tersely stated by a CORES
pondent of the Country Gentleman
writing from Champaign county,
| Illinois, who says:
"The blacks from the South, who came
here during and since the war, though
numerous, do not seem to add to the
labor power Of the country. Said Mr..
Bogardus, an extensive broom corn
raiser, to me the other day The blacks
are good for nothing except in the use OF
the hoe, and then they require leader
and a driver, as much as SIX horse
team They are fast being ruled out OF
use as farm hands and are congregatlng
in towns, where they get precarlous
living. How long race that as body
refuse to work will hold its own, IS
problem which remains to be solved"
| The reason why the negro Is not
a reliable laborer in Illinois exists
with equal force in the South. If
tho Chinese should supplant the
negroes to any considerable extent
| in the tilling of the soil of the
South, they will have only them
selves to blame. The planters of the
South were disposed to give them
| the preference, and they have GER
tainly had fair chance to supply
II
this demand. That they have
failed, not from want of ability but
from lack of disposition, is patent
to every man. We have proof OF
this in the information which comes
from Illinois. The cotton fields of
the South must be cultivated, and
if the negroes will not do it, of
course the planters must seek that
labor wherever it can be found.
The efforts made TO procure white
labor from Europe have proved
very unsatisfactory, and now the
Chinese problem is to be solved,
| If the universal demand through
out the South for labor, and that of
a kind can be depended upon, can be
supplied by the Chinese, we can see
no substantial reason why Congress
should set up a barrier to the immi-
grafton Of that class of people
"The cultivation of cotton as re.
marked by the Baltimore Sun, sis
one of the most exacting forms
of agriculture known. 1t demands
not only incessant supervision bui
incessant labor. No sooner is the
crop of one year saved than prepar
alton begins for another. From
the time the plant appears, tiny
leahet upon the ridge of the cottor
bed, until it towers shoulder higl
or even higher, shading the inter
mediate rows with the density 0
the foliage, and laden with it