The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1870-03-13
Corrsspenasnes sr ths Pnpaix.
DEMopoIIs. Ala. March 6, 1870.

labor wak scarce in &h;s section. !. L.
not SO much thesscarcity OF muscle, 10 it
is the inability to use'that muscle. Idle
and unemployed negroes are supera-
bundant. but they do not hire and will
not work. Amongst these creatures are
often seen white men, formerly oonsi-
dered high-toned gentlemen, passing
whispering to this one, then to that one,
and proffering by all manner of verbal
Inducements to compensate the freed
man, if he will only go to work for him.
No candidate at the hustings ever Ia
bored more assiduously to secure his
election, than DO these iabor-hun ters TO
procure "hands" for the present crop.
Such vile, dirty electioneering have
never seen. Such 'tstooping to conquer"
literally, no refined gentleman could ever
resort to. Infinitely would Iprefer to
let my lands lay fallow, and with my own
muscle and energy earn q frugal living
for my family.
Some planters in this section spend the
net earnings of q single crop to secure
labor. Agents are sent by them to all
parts of the Eastern States to get labor.
I saw one man returning from Virginia
with 1I5 hands, with their accompany
ing families, of perhaps twice as many
more souls. Another had eighty able
bodied men, from North Carolina. If
such importation continues for five
years. the Atlantic-South will be depleted
of negroes, and the valley of the Missis-
sippi will be virtually Africanized. In
the meantime, Virginia, North and
South Carolina, should energetically
strive to supply this deficiency of labor
by immigration from abroad, and the re-
suit will be an appreciation of real estate
in the old States. and consequent thrift
and agricultural prosperity. But what
will be the effect upon these South
western States, if the few millions of me-
groes now in the South be collected into
one-half the area they now partially
occupy? Will the alluvial lands of the
West be enhanced in value2 Will the
increased? Will the whites of that SEQ
tion become richer, more prosperous and
happy? Will civilization be benefited
or advanced? To my mind, there is but
single answer to these questions. The
emphatic "No," answers them all
Whenever negroes multiply, labor is less
efficient. When labor is uncomfortable,
agricultural success is retarded When
ever, in alluvial lands, planting sdoesn't
pay" capital will not invest, &c. It ap-
pears to me suicidal for the planters of
the Southwest to encourage the herding
of the idle negro in their midst. Far
better for them and the whole South,
that this doomed race should be escattered,
that they may the sooner, like shallow
water, be dissipated from the earth.
$50. multiply aud replenish the earth,"
is command the negro is not fulfilling.
and obliteration will be the inevitable
consequence of disobedience.
The sturdy pioneer of fifty years ago
had to endure hardships and confront
dangers that Injured him to recklessness,
which succeeding times inherited in
these parts, and hence, that disregard for
human life that existed in the West so
proverbially few years ago. Indeed,
the present is not entirely destitute OF
this inheritance. Steamboat and rail-
road accidents are almost as common as
they were years ago. Within n week,
I've seen announcements of three steam
boat disasters, and two railroad catas-
trophies; in one of the latter, sixteen
lives were lost and fifty persons were
wounded, and this, too, by throwing
train of cars from q lofty trestle, which
had been officially reported for some
weeks as unsafe. This occurred in Mis-
sissippi, and if the above statement,
which received from one of the wound
ed, be true, what penalty should be in
hicted upon the officials of that road?
Steamboat transportation is speedily
becoming second class means of carry
ing produce to market on these Western
rivers. One boat does not pass where
probably three or four grunted by before
the war. High-pressure river boats make
doleful sound, almost like the belch of
the railroad engine. The products of
the country are not so large, is one
cause, and another more material one, is
the projection of railroads. Nothing
but saving of time, enables the rail
road to supercede the steamboat for the
latter is by far the cheaper transporta-
tion until the item of time is brought to
bear upon it; and in these days of pro-
gressive utilization, "time is money" A
railroad train, costing much more than q
steamboat, will carry, OH an average,
about eighty tons of freight from one
point to another, while the steamer, at
much less cost, but in longer time, will
tranlnOrt hefwaan tl,a oorna po;,t, ~