The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-01-17
The Hegira. Of Colored People.

and TINT in the course of not very iols
time virginia would be NIL white. Inc
th,ack man is tropical animal. In the
tronics he was placed by the Creator: ana
1 endued with certain natural pecul'ari'ieS
that fitted him for tropical life, in which nc
aourishes where other varieties OF tue
human race sicken, and waste away, anu
die. Reasonably, the qualities which Mt
him Cor tropical ATTITUDES unfit him tor those
that are colder. Even this temperate line
ia not 80 we'll adapted to his nature and
comfort as the Gulf States; nor, again, are
even they so genial for him as o line fur
ther south. .'" :.
The African, for this reason, under his
natural instincts, has by degrees wended
b;s way from Vermont and Massachusetts
(strange to tell, once slave States), and from
New York and Pennsylvania, to the States
soptb of them. And for years before the
war there was constant drain upon the
black population Of Maryland and Virginia
to supply the demand for labor of the cot
ton States. Such was the volume OF the
current of black emigration to the states
on tbe northern shore Of the Gulf, and still
further south to Texas, that the close OBJ
server WAS even then admonished of tu-
ture to the States of the temperate latitude
that could hardly be avoided. From these
indications we may clearly infer that the
African in this country is in time to be re-
stored to the tropical line, where Providence
originally placed him.
To even those who entertained this opl-
MON, however, the recent rapid em1gra-
ton of the colored people of this State to
the Gulf region has been surprising. Ad-
yertisements for from one to five thousand,
to be steadily employed at wages higher
than can possibly be paid here for filling
of the soil, have appeared in rapid success
sion, and the trains for the South have been
daily filed with blacks. The number car
ried away during the fall and winter up to
this time is very large. Perhaps it is be-
yond the number that would likely be re-
moved by the natural tendency which We
have described. And it may be explained
by the fact that several railroads are in
progress of construction in the South, and
that some of the agents advertising for
hands are engaging them to work on these
roads.
We have no unkind feelings towards
the blacks. They have exhibited the
rarest example of gentleness and fidelity
amidst the commissions of revolution
and revolution involving their own free
dom-to be found in history. 1t is an en-
during proof of the civilization to which
thew were elevated under the institution of
slavery in the South. Under no condition
has the African ever reached 80 high a
scale of enlightenment and tractabillty.
We award heartily this need of praise to
him. But we ore speaking of overruling
destinies which are not affected by senti-
ment.
The effect of the departure of the colored
race from Virginia cannot but be beneficial
in increasing the power and consideration
of the State. It will be succeeded-and
probably at least as rapidly as it departs
by white immigration, and that will give to
the State superior kind of industry and
mechanical skill. The labor that will take
the place of that of the blacks will be far
more intelligent, and the laborers will be
more thrifty, and by their rapid accumula-
tions-the acquisition of land and the con-
sequent improvement of them-greatly in
crease the common wealth. The contrast
between the thrift and general improvement
of the country under the sagacious and pro-
vident industry of the white man and the
| very best condition that may be secured
under that of the black man must be very
great, and the general advantages to the
State of the former over the latter can
hardly be exaggerated. The exchange of
the labor we have for that we look for can
not be too much fastened.
But the most grave light in which we
can regard this subject is one which we
have more than once alluded to, and II at is
the Importance of confding the labor of
the land to the best type of man. In sub
| hitting to the Divine fiat which dooms man
| to eat his bread in the sweat of his brow
| he finds the chief source of his health,
strength, and that contentment and virtue
which complete happiness. AS with the
individual so with the State; labor is it's
order and strength--the source of the con-
tinual replenishment of its vital energies.
AL departments, industrial and profess
sional, depend upon it for their maintenance
in energy and vigor. Now, what a misfor-
tune is It for any State that it's labor should
DO left to an inferior race. It cannot enjoy
in the highest degree the force and con-.
sistency indispensable to endurance. We
can no more expect this than we can hope
to prolong the life of man by infusing
diseased blood into his veins.
Now the prospect is that Virginia will,
in term Of years, be all white that she
will be in the highest condition of social
energy and political power; that her labor
and mechanical skill will be of the most
capable and intelligent kind that her in
comparable advantages of climate, soil,
motive power, and mineral riches, will be
brought to the highest state of usefulness;
and that she will become, perhaps, the
most Aourishing State in the Union.
." ---- -------
The great parade made in Paris over the
body of NoIR, who was shot to death by
Prince NAPoI EoN. shows the sort of strategy