The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1873-03-12
adAIaRA9IjN AND LABOR,

sStiSI1sSfoS S>sos"''"'s, w.
subjects with his usual practical judg
nnent, and shows clearly, we think
that though the South wants popula
ton, it is an Intelligent population
who bring. capital with them-tha
thoughGshe wants labor, sit lie iptelli
gent labor, backed by SSpftsC &!
remarks, (wbat seems TO Ibe the, expe
riepce, of ali who have tried white
labor, thatho day.laborer can com
pare with the negro ia the cultivation
ofthe Southern staples. He requires
less, and accomplishes more in tht
field. r, Give him plenty to eat, and
clothing eneagho to keep him warm
and he asks nothing more. The white
laborer, on the other hand, raust have
his fresh meat daily, besides sugar
cofeo, -four, and a feather bed. Th
negro may be thriftless and improvi.
dent, and his labor may be unreliable,
but not more SO than that Of the
white man who occupy the same
social and intellectual status, whilst
under hot Southern sun, and in the
cultivation of our Southern staples,
the negro is infinitely superior in
endurance and working capability
The better class of European immi-
grants, who have means and intelli.
gence, for the most part move West,
where government lands are cheap,
but the moiety Of that humber class
who follow in their wake, are more
inefficient, and much more unreliable
than the colored laborer. Such men
we do not need at present, and indeed
any sudden increase of population in
q community like that of the South,
where the staple product is not food,
and hence where bread is scarce,
would impovcrish the lard, and revo:
lutionize. tho entire system of agri-
culture.o .1aEy 81 .-.,"-.5j d
There is no doubt much truth in
these suggestions, but the question
naturally arises, why cannot we OBJ:
tain the better class of immigrants
That the rapid increase Of the great
West has been principally owing to
the. inflnx Of this class, is indisputa
bic, and has not the South the same
Inducements. to attract it here
There, has been but oneRrespense to
this inquiry, 10. oil the meetings Of our
Commercial Conventions and Agri
cultural Congrcsses-that in climate
and soil, and mineral and agricultural
resources, the States of the South are
inferior to none, in the Inducements
which they offer to the immigrant-
that they have beenlineffsctual to at'
tract because they have hot had their
resources heralded forth to. the world
The fault lies at our own doors. We
seem ourselves to be unconscious oi
our own capabilities, and have exhib'
tied neither appreciation of our
advantages, nor effort to develop
them, nor desire that they should be
exhibited. These. difficulties arc thus
set forth by Col Aiken: 81 ,'"t :.
"Butthers are many obstacles in tbs
way of introducing that class Of for
eigners, who would BY their purchases
and actual settlement, become identi.
fed With the South, and become EN-:
ployers Of the labor already here in
abundance, could it be utilized, We
have too many: canting farmers as
we'll as thieving politicians 10 our
midst. While many are deluded by 8
long deferred hope of better times
thoy cry out at every turn poverty
poverty, and never once throttle this
Intruder and try to drive him from
their doors by going energetically to
work. Too many. again, have ex'
changed the profession of agriculture
for the bar, the counter and the
idler's stool. awe are poor,' is a sort
of siren song whistled and sung by
both old and yonng throughout the
land, and yet every one asserts there
is more money in cotton than any
plant that grows; and all plant cot
ton. Singular condition Of things
ae mnch money can be made from or
acre Of cotton in the South, as from
any other plant grown any where il
the world. knew three bales made
on an acre in 1872. But cotton plan
ters are all poor ; why so? The fact
of the matter is, we are so ignorant
that we cannot appreciate anything
but our poverty. One half the world
does't know how the other half lives
We scarcely know how we live our
selves. Nature has done so much for
us, we care to do but little for our
selves. We are concerned about moth
ing but the next cotton crop, and our
extravaganza induces us to spend the
half Of that before it is made. We
seldom practice economy. and 80 in
fatuated are we with the cotton pros.
beet, that every man is cotton plan
ter. and each thinks himself the best
ia the land With one breath we de-
cry our country, with the next we ex-
tol it to heaven. Many, too many of
us, banker after the fesh-pots OF ante
6elluns times, without properly buffet
ing the hardships of the present.
1u L,.. otharo 1vbon re ourselves