The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1871-06-23

! lnenC cltlZen OF loflda, TO firm In
this city, says the Savannah News,
has been placed at our disposal:
MOUNT PLEASANT, Fla,
June 9TH, 1871.
MeSSrS. KwkSey d Scott:
Yours of the Sd instant, making
inquiries with regard to Swedish la
Dor, has been received. | have had
two in my employ as farm laborers
about nine months, and | do not hes
itate to give it as my opinion that
there are no laborers from any coun-
try superior to them, and perhaps
none SO valuable to us in our pres
ent condition, for the following reas-
sons:
]. They are intelligent and gen
orally educated, moral. temperate
and we'll trained to habits of indus
try and economy. This kind of inn
migration we need to counterbalance
the mass of ignorance in our midst,
socially and politically.
,. One-half our population is of a
race from whom we can expect moth
ing to build up manufactures. A
large proportion of the other half
has been accustomed to ease and af-
Auence, and know but little about
labor of any kind SO that with the
present population we have but little
hope OF the resources of the country
being developed.
The Swedes are accustomed to
manufacture almost everything at
home. When | first got mine, they
dressed so well (wearing cassimeres
every day and broad cloth on Sun
days. that my neighbors remarked
that they looked more like mer
chants than laborers. | learned
from them that their sisters in Swed-
en- manufactured the goods they
were wearing at home.
They are easily satisfied with re-
gard to food, and remarkably quiet
and unobtrusiye. They seem to be
afraid all the time that they will not
do work enough, whilst our home
laborers seem to fear that they will
do a little too much. To prevent
being tedious, | will say that they
are all that / want in a laborer, and
l never expect to get better suited.
| believe our only hope and saliva
ton is in a purely white immigration,
and do not believe that there is any
better than the Swedish, though |
would willingly take them from New
England, if they came for no other
purpose than to honestly improve
their fortunes and help to develop
and build up the country, and not to
make politics their trade.
do not think that we will ever
succeed with the present labor
The majority of them seem to think
that the only definition of freedom is
freedom from work, whilst those who
pretend to work, will seize upon the
most frivolous excuses, such as the
burial or funeral of an infant, to turn
out by scores, although the fields are
about to succumb to the grass.
do not say this in amy unkind-
ness, but we must lew facts as they
really are. Let no man be deceiv-
ed by the large cotton crop Of the
past year, which was brought about
by a combination of circumstances,
such as the mania for using fertiliz-
ers, the great improvements and the
mode of culture, prolific seed and
unusually favorable seasons. This
year, owing to the low price of cot
ton, comparatively little commercial
manures were used, less average
was put in cotton, and seasons so
far, have been very unfavorable. =
Taking these in connection with the
Indifferent labor, we may expect a
heavy falling off in the amount of
production of the great staple.
Truly yours, JESSE WOOD.