The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-07-21
JOHN AND SAMBO.

Comparative Cost Of Negro and Chinese Labor
Some time ago, early in the planting season,
says the New Orleans 1tnmS, our planters were
much pressed for labor What with the disor-
ganization which always follows the Christmas
holidays, and that great cause OF disquietude
on the plantations, the new demand for laborers
on the railroads, the planters found their forces
considerably reduced. Extraordinary efforts had
to be made to procure hands to fill up the va
cancies created by these causes. Among other
plans that of importing negroes from Virginia
was resorted to- Many planters went to Virginia
themselves, selected their hands, brought them
on at their own expense, and set them to work
on their plantations at the same rates given to
their other laborers. Others procured them
through brokers and agents. Several houses or
firms were established in Virginia, which,
through agents and brokers, have for some time
carried on quite brisk business. The following
was the n,odus Operdndt:-A broker here would
come to planter, and ask If he did not want
good lot of first class field hands. 'Of course"
was the reply. Then here is telegram from
II. & II. that they can supply you on the fol-
lowing terms:-You must advance the passage
of the hands by rail, say $22, 81 head for
rations, $40 for commission and brokerage to the
Virginia parties, and when they reach Kenner-
vile the broker who receives them there
must be paid $40 and So each passage
money by steamboat to the plantation.
Thus the cost per hand amounts to
nearly $50 outlay before the hands arrive
on your place or you have seen them. There
are other expenses which increase this sum to
nearly sixty dollars. And this you pay without
any knowledge of the character of the hands
you invest in, and with a liability to lose some,
many, or all of them after you have advanced
the railroad fare and rations. You have no
means of holding them to their contract or of
reimbursing yourself. They may leave at any
point they desire on the road, or they may pre-
fer to contract with some one else after they
get here. 1ou have no remedy whatever; you
have only helped number of Virginia negroes
to emigrate to a new field of enterprise
and labor How white
men there are who would be deeply grateful
for like assistance. But the negro feels no
such gratitude for the assistance rendered to
him. and when be arrives here looks around
and makes the best bargain he can. Thus it
has happened that a good many thousand dol
lars have been thrown away by our planters.
Few Of them have been able to retain their
hands. The very condition that their passage
money should be reimbursed out of their
monthly wages has encouraged this delin-
quency and bad faith on the part of the
hands.
Then, again. the hands accepted and paid for
as field hands here, the great majority of them
at least, proved to be not field hands and
utterly unfit for the work on our plantations.
Thus the whole system of importing our labor
from Virginia has proved an expensive failure
and will be abandoned by anybody who ever
tried it.
Compare this system with that which is now
in full operation under the direction of General
j. G. Walker, and of that enterprising firm al
Ion & Hatch, for the importation of Chinese
laborers from California.
The following are the terms on which this
labor can be procured through the gentlemen
referred to-
|. Wages, $14 coin per month, payable
monthly
9. Employer to pay expenses of transporta-
tion from San Francisco, not to exceed $40 to
$50 per head.
8. Term of service three years, commencing
from date of laborer's arrival on the premises OF
the employer.
4. Laborer to buy his own clothing, pay his
own medical bill, and lose time of sickness.
5. Extra work to be paid for at the cnrrent
rates of the country.
6. Employer to furnish food and quarters.
Contracts upon the above terms can be made
with responsible parties in California, who will
give security that the men furnished by them
will comply with their engagements.
In this latter condition the planter has a secu-
rity which he cannot have in any contracts with
negroes or others. Beside the known fidelity of
the Chinaman to his engagement there is the
additional security of most responsible parties
to reimburse the planter for his advances in
case of any desertion or violation of contract.
This is the chief merit and recommendation OF
this system, and gives great value to it. The
constant uncertainty of our planters as to their
laborers is the principal obstacle to large aud
energetic cultivation. Let any landowner or
planter have an assurance that he can depend
upon his laborer for three years, and there
will be Immediately communicated o powerful
impulse to the cultivation of our great staples
ECnADE AE ppISnyEpS