Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-12-09
SAT.
He Discusses the LabOr-Supply Ones
tiOB-The Chamber Of Commerce
Gets q Dig, and Various Others
I~nefdenfallF.
cIrprrrr. -. pecember 5. la.

which pertain to the prosperity of tn,
South. These are great subjects. The!
overshadow all purely political ques
tons, though they are essentially ant
truly political in their character. Gu
government processes to be a govern
ment of and for the people. Yet it seem!
to me politicians and newspapers Otter
forget or mistake who the people are
They talk as If the business mel and tn,
married men were the only classes about
which government had any concern.
ment. They forget the millions in hum
bic and quiet homes to whom luxury il
unknown, who spend their lives in toll
are content with small gains, and Learn
only lessons of industry, endurance and
virtue. These are the real people. These
are the granite formations Of nations.
"Princes and lords may flourish. or may fade
A breath can make them as a breath was
But a bold p~easantry, their country's pride,
When nee destroyed can never be sup
Piled"
If this could be sung by a poet vino
lived under a monarchy and among or
ders of nobility, how much more sppli-
cable it becomes in our country, where
equality of the political condition is the
fundamental Law. These industrious Ia
bOrers are the creators of all wealth. Our
overiowing treasury, u commercial
and mercantile wealth, full bank
vaults, our architectural wonders, our
thousands Of miles of railroads, all our
gorgeous display of wealth and luxury,
our full ~granaries, our thousands of cat
tie upon thousands Of hills, all the accu-
mutations and appliances which make
our people the best fed and most comfort
able of any population on the face of the
earth-al these things come from the
slowly gathered mites of labor. I con-
fess that, thinking of these things some
times, as / have walked along the streets
of cities, l have almost been tempted TO
spit upon the butterflies of fashion, and
to walk out into the middle of the street
and Lift my hat reverently to the hard
handed laborer as the only true noble
man.
If this is a general truth which 1 have
endeavored above to explain, il is most
specially and significantly true of our
Southern country. Here we have evil
dence so palpable that che who runs
may read" that the real wealth of this
section, all that gives it any notice or
consequence, and redeems it from utter
insignificance, is the direct annual re-
suit of patient, protracted labor. 1 think
there is a too prevalent feeling that the
laboring class is only a kind Of necessary
evil, tolerated for the use and conven-
fence of the wealthy and business class
e. The reverse is true. The results of
labor created wealth and business. The
wealthy and business classes are only
possible because the laboring class \
lists. Therefore it is of the first conse-
quence to all that the rights and privi-
leges of this class should be Jealous
ly guarded. 1t is also highly i'm
portant that all possible facilities
of education and improvement should
be afforded to them. Nothing increases
the wealth of a people so rapidly as the
education and skill of their industry.
Why is Boston able proudly to say to q
sYmpathizing world that she needs no
help in her great calamity Because
the labor tributary to her is so intelli-
gent and 50 skillful that she knows it
can create -exhaustless capital. She re-
poses on this as securely as the barren
soil of her section rests upon the granite
underlying her everlasting mountains.
Yet this skilled industry of New Eng
land has not been the growth of acct
dent. The child of the humblest and the
poorest has been secured the privileges
Of education as an inalienable right.
has led the way in this. Her
schools are models. The curieu-
UNI of no college in the country is equal
% a thorough course through the Bos-
on graded schools. The boy from a
in Ann street gets side by side
With the boy from the palace
u Beacon street, and may success
lilly compete for the prizes within the
each of all. Doubtless, it is fortunate
hat the population is mostly homeqen-
'1tS, that there has never existed there a
degraded and inferior race to which all
had been legally felonious.
The improvement of such a race isslow,
iiscouraging, sometimes apparently al
most hopeless, yet, who doubts the duty
md the policy of securing every chance
or this improvement and elevation?
What shall We do with the negro?n
5 a problem the solution of which, it
to me, has been taken out Of our
lands, RENTED to and assumed by the
My intelligence capable of solving it.
while thenegro makes nine-tenthso of
ur cotton crop, interest viii teach us that
is industry should be as intelligent and f,
as Our assistance can make it.
n the swamps and malarious bottoms
lie our richest cotton and sugar
it is doubtless if we can substitute J
Their labor soon, perhaps never. Com
ION sense would seem to say, make the
lost of it and trust to Providence.
But, we need not fold our hands :
nd content ourselves with whin- !
lg about the i~nferiOrity and insufficient Z
J Of negro labor. History is full of ex- l
IMPLIES from which we might profit. !
he half-crazy old father of Frederick t
ne Great exhibited a sagacity worthy of !
is illustrious son, when he welcomed \
everal thousands Of religious exiles, n
Finished them transportation and sub
settled them upon the uninvit-
lg lands of East Prussia, and extended =
them a fatherly care until they con- Z
aTted these barren wastes into fertile Z
elds, and have since rendered powerful :
'sistance in those great struggles which j..
ave placed Prussia first among Euro
natives. The art of colonizing has
nee been vastly improved, and is at
MS time receiving great attention. No :
irt OF the earth offers such advantages, :
so pressingly needs that they should Z
, well used, as the Southern States. :
.lustrations are 50 numerous that (
is very difficult to select. Lock :
the vast fertile plains of Texas. There .
territory enough for a great empire.
many days ago, / rode in the cars
ith an old Virginian on his way to his 4.
antation in Texas. He told me his Z
nd would easily grow two bales of cot z
and sixty bushels of corn to the :
re. The soil is forty feet deep-utterly 5
Land cultivated forty !.
is producing as good crops this !.
ar as when first opened. Now, what 2
nders the formation of great stock
mpanies which should acquire a large
vet of land, build comfortable houses
labOrers, procure all the latest inn q
Ovements in implements and appli- y
ces, then import farm-labOrers enough
IN England through the Birming-
IA, or some other agency, and
AXE farming vastly more profit
lie than those great wheat =
overs of Illinois, Iowa and Wis Z
nsin? The English farm-laborer
'eives from thirty to forty cents per
y. On this he and his family must 6
e and pay rent for his cottage. Thou
ads of them never see any meat from
e years end to the other. They would -
IDLY emigrate, but they can never
enough to take them away from
Pr starving life. Here is where We
D replentsh our labor. Here we can
just what we want. But we must -
We the intelligence and humanity not
keep them in the same condition.
ey are anxious to leave. Their con-
ION 80 10 I'll m