The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1873-05-04
Labor eesehe4oatASsTnSuG aYrss,
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a Washington correspondent writes TO
the Jou,nalof Commerce very interest
ing article on the coudition and pros.
poets OF the Southern labor supply. COM
sisting OF facts hboripusiy obisinad
through Inquiries made By the Bnrseari
OF Agriculture, and tho Legitimate 1aedno.
ttons therefrom, portion ot which we
print: -. <,,sEi :.s5! So; y,
Farmers, as rule. are growlers. They
are forever complaining that the weathsr.
Is too wet or too dry, the crops are sloWt
or snort, that prices OF wheat. corn, ctt!
ton. etc., are too low, that labor cannot
90 depended upon, etc. Tho statistician
is always ready to accept the farmers es.
timste with caution, for that reason.
And If in any section of this country wo
might expect to find dissatisfied set of
farmers, that section is pre-eminentIy the
Southern States, along the cotton.belt
and Gulf of Mexico.
Ihey have suffered about all the draw.
backs any set of men oan suffer, aud it
would not be wonderful il complaining
spirit should become a chronic thing
among them. Their farms have depre.
clated In value, and been laid waste by
the war, and by the same cause their go
elai system was completely overthrown.
when the war ended, the former slave
ana MS former master began life anew,
the advantages being about equal, and,
II anything, III favor OF the negro. The
white master, unused to labor, had land
oot no money, and was deprived of a
voice In government aft airs: while the
negro, muscular, unintelligent being, u
iahorer from early youth, had but to cou.
tinue his calling and a comfortable iu,
come would have resulted. His vote
gave him political power over his old
master,
There were several reasons WHY the
new condition of affairs unused great
trouble. The prime one was, that as
soon as the cloud Of war settled, large
number Of Northern scamps, mon OF in
eeillgence, went South, and impressed
the negro with the idea that his sole aim
ID life should be political supremacy
iney climbed into power by this in.
trgne, and chilled every effort of the
Intelligent and distressed people of the
south TO regenerate the section. They
robbed right and left, and remained
only till their victims became bankrupt.
tneir example was not lost on the me-
groes: This class OF people had always
oeen Ignorant, dependent and poor It
required bold step for them to steal
large sums OF money, bat some bolder
!"sn the rest made the sucoessful at
tempt, and hundred thousand more
were imbued with an idea that there vaa
something left for them. The great dif-
fculty about this was, that the native
whites had no power to stop the tide of
corruption. It was conceived and car.
r1ed out in the huts of the negroes them
selves, where strange white men taught
che lessons. Such things brought about
IN many places keen prejudice between
she two races, which was only al
iayed after long aud careful effort
on the part of the white people
to convince the oolored man that
his new teachers taught false doctrines,
and that the only secret OF SUCCESS was
patient labor. Had all the planters OF
the South adopted the peaceful plan of
moral suasion with the negro, and urged
tne similarity OF interest between the
employer and employed in their lew re-
iation, and made, besides, some political
concessions, the path to solution OF the
labor problem would no doubt have
been shorter. But that, undor tho cir
cnmstances, would have been too muob
TO expect. There has been no regular
system of dealing with tho negro, and
each employer did as he felt inclined.
ihe results were naturally Us different az
the dispositions OF the men.
1t has been demonstrated as a rule
that intelligent and educated labor is the
most trustworthy. The task of elevat-
ing the negro in these qualities was be.
gun only eight years ago; and very
gratifying advance has been made. In
the lowlands of South Carolian and
Louisiana, the fever of politics still re-.
talns the strongest hold. aud in localities
where this is the case. every other consi-
deration is swallowed up in the desire to
get office. Tho political fever i'm pairs q
negro's value as laborer more than any.
thing else. But the labor system of the
South IS now very much better than it
has been at any tino since the war It
is not good and healthy system in oil
respects. but it is getting better oil the
time. There are hundreds of farmers in
the South who will tell you that the labor
system is better, bad as it is, than the
house'servant labor system of tho North.
One very intelligent gentleman, whose
business takes him to all sections, saws
ho finds complaints that the house-ser-
wants OF the Northern cities are capri.
cious, destructive and impudent; but