Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-04-02


make money out of the ignorant negro,
had had bad influence on him. 1t was
well for the negro to have information
enough to keep him from being imposed
on, but too much information was not
good for the negro. In regard to immi-
grafton the General said that agents were
introducing immigrants to people up new
lands, but who would be benefited by
that except those who had wild lands TO
sell2 All that could be done was to give
our white native population good advice,
butmsny of them were indisposed to work.
His sympathies were for the people who
were here; he had no particular regard
fer those over the water. In his former
remarks he had designed to make no re-
Elections upon foreigners here; he wished
them well; he would have no objection
to having good foreign laborers come
here, provided those already here had
chance first Every member of the club
knew that he (Gen. HardiDg) had high
regard for labor; he measured no man by
the length of his purse, but by his merit
alone; and in the great majority of cases
we find the most m. ritorious men among
those who either labor themselves or di-
rect labor. He would take the rough
hand of the honest man much more will
hngly than any drcne in society, how
ever educated he might be. He, himself,
was brought up to physical labor. He
never had dollar that was not earned
by labor. Gen. Harding said that if the
white labOrer only were employed the
negro must be discarded. He would like
to see native white labor succeed, but he
had not much hope of its success.
He thought there was no man so rich that
he should not raise his son to manual
labor. 1t was useful for any man, of any
profession, to know how to work at
manual labor himself, and know how q
labOrer felt after his days work was done,
and that he felt tired. He (Gen. II. } had
no disrespect for labor, he had always
highly esteemed it, and appreciated its
dignity. He disagreed with the remarks
that had been made against the views of
the Club going out to the world through
the reporters. He (Gen. Harding) had no
objection to the views of the Club going
out to the world; his own views he did
not wish TO conceal, but was willing they
should go forth.
Mr.. Tanning said he had found fault
first with Gen. Harding, and had expressed
it to his face. There was really no diff
ference of views with him and the men,
bers present, on the subject of labor, but
still he thought it unfortunate that Gen.
Harding had said what he had about edu-
cation disqualifying a man for labor. Bur
our people were starving from ignorance;
our own people have not the intelligence
to do work. Col Johnson had once said
before the Club we would ennoble labor.
On the contrary, he (Mr. F. believed that
labor ennObled man.
Gen. Harding said he thought our own
native population ought to be educated;
he had paid taxes and done everything to
encourage education; but the Freedmen's
Bureau and the school marms had made
the negro worse off than he was before.
Col. Thos. Claiborne said he would be
in favor of establishing an intelligence
office for those needing it; but no man
could be found to attend t. it without |
being paid. Let affairs regulate them
selves. The present difficulties in the |
way of labor grew out of natural causes, |
but man of experience would say, let |
immigration regulate itself. The men |
who would spring up and engage in i'm
migration were generally the men he |
would have the least to do with Col. |
Claiborne further remarked that prosperi- |
ty must be looked for in the united indus |
try of whole people If q man could |
not do one thing he must do another. |
He preferred no man to another. He |
would not change negro who suited him |
for a white man. If he found man
who suited him, he would pay him |
promptly. That was the way to make |
good labor. What occasion was there to |
despair of the labor Of the negro2 The |
world would take care of itself |
and had done so for six thousand years.
1t was all stuff about the dignity and |
honor of labor. A man that labOred was |
not honered; his friends might shake his |
hand, but they would not honor him as
the man that was rich. The value of |
teaching a man to labor was to teach him |
to make an independent living and take
care of himself. But who encourages
labo12 Nobody. If man wanted coed |
labor he bargained for it. In Tennessee 9
he would not say that white man would
labor better than a negro. A man could |
not expect all the virtues for seven dol
lars a month. He had no respect for
country pumpkins or city gentlemen.
Some had given up the negro because
some Radical teacher or schOolmarm had
taught him; but if he left labor he would |
return 70 it after while. The negroes
would steal and lie, but were there not /
white men who would do the same? The
negro would labor better than white
man; and in most cases the negro would
do twice the work of Japhetite. If /
ycu want to take the worst specimen of ]
humanity; just take Japhetite at coun- I
try grocery. Negroes and whites
could not be put on the same place.
He didn't want white lsborer on his
place. He would not ask negroes to
vote; he did not talk politics with them;
but if he made them any promises he ex.
pected to perform them. When it was