Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1870-09-23
The Southern States as Z, Home for
the EmigraAf.

o"'ii iecehWy, IL mas Deon' hopeless TO OK.
! poet the laborer, the mechanic, or tho small
farmer from other lands, to make his home
in the South. The desire to emigrate i'm
plies the desire to better the condition the
Idcsire to emigrato to America usually implies
the desire, not merely to bettcr the.phyBichl
well.bcing of the emigrant, but to elevate his
family aud dignity his manhood. The Euro
pean laborer who contcmplates removal to this
country has learned that, in America, he will
cease to be simply one Of the counters with
rwhichlkipgs and princes play, or one of the
instruments which capital uses safely for its
own benefit, and will become a man. This
forms no small part of the inducemcnt to
break ties which, however they may have
kept him down, have still grcat;powcr ever
the affections andpunpeses. Hence, it could
not be expected that the European, still less
the Northern or Eastern mechanic or laborer,
should como to live in States where labor, as a
rule, was badge of servitude, and where the
standard of days labor was that which
could be exactcd from s,nwiiing and dunpaid
bondsmen. Slavery enforced ignorance
Ignorance and slavery degraded labor. In a
society where the whole, or much the largest
part, of the labor was performed by slaves,
there was no place'for free, manly, inde-
pendent mechanic, who honored his work as
his work honorcd him.
But slavery has passed away. and as soon
as the political affairs Of the Southern States
assume something like settled and perma-
ncnt condition, that tide of emigration which
has hitherto -set<so strongly and so steadily
toward the c'West and North west, ,will~surcly
take Sontherly course, or flow with divided
stream, of'which not tire smallest part will
seek the rich fields and genial climate of the
South. The reasons for expecting this arc
manifold.
II. The territory of'the Southern States is
more accessible than that of the interior of
the continent to which the path of the immi-
| grant now tends A long extent of sea coast,
with many excellent harbors, invites foreign
commerce. Rivers navigable for long dis
tanees, traverse tho whole region between the
AllcGhanics ard the Blue Ridge and the At
lantic; while the rich and almost virgin soil
of the Gulf States is watered by many streams,
whose proportions would be majestic to eyes
not used to consider tho immcnsity of The
Father of Waters" These natural water
courses, with many thousands Of miles Of com
I 'plcted railroads, and thousands of miles more
! in process of construction, give large facilities
for inland commerce. The upper writers of
those rivors afford power waiting ito !be
'utillzcd, sufficient to turn the spindles and
! work the looms Of the world In 1.-THE noun
tain districts of Virginia, the Cardlnas, Ten.
ncssee and Georgia, the rivers literdlly leap
to the sea, and furnish a water power which
it makes an engineer sigh to see run to waste.
| 2. The soil is fertile, aud capable of pro-
ducing almost every variety of crop which
can be produced in tho Northern and Middle
States, and many others for which the climate
ofthe colder States us unprqpitious. While
Tho cotton of the South has come to be it's
great staple, and will, doubtless, long hold u
very high place among its products, 1t is
nevertheless true that it's soil and climate are
admirably adapted to the successful culture of
other agricultural products Its mountain
regions are unsurpassed in fitness for grazing
farms There is no good reason why East
Tennessee, Western Month Cnrolina and Vir.
ginia, Northern Georgia and South Carolina,
should not rival the best Northern and Yves
tern dairy products And there is no better
! field for wool raising in the world than can
be found in these States. Fruits Of all kinds
flourish. The luscious peach, the succulent
melon, the juicy pear, tho crisp apple, the
orange, the lemon, the Zig aud tho apricot
find here genial soils and favoring climates
while the grape in every variety may be cal-
tivated to rival its fellow in Spain, France or
Germany. An opinion has gained currency
that the soil of the SoutherH Atlantic States
is "worn out" that only small crops repay
the hard labors of him who tills; and that
the searcher for good farming or planting
must seek them elsewhere. This is undoubt.
edly an error. For generations tho culture
of these lands has beea in the hands Of slaves.
The ovcrscers, who directed and scoarged
the slaves, were but too often little superior
in agricultural knowledge to the "feld hands, !"
and the "feld hand" had only intellect enough
to use the radest implements in the olamsiest |
possible way. The top of tho ground was
koL, - 4 A..