Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1873-06-19
Carpet Baggers North and South.
tRrom tAe Milwaukee Wisconsin,

Il
able speech before a New Orleans
audience, gave q very graphic ides
OF the different manner with which
immigrants are treated at the North
and in the South: The North wei,
comes strangers from all portions o.
the globe, and most of these are car
pet baggers, for they possess little
or no property. In truth. immigra'
ton IS the source of that wealth
which enables the North to recover
so quickly from the pressure of hard
times. 1t is not too much to say
that every immigrant is so much ad.
ditional capital, as one thousand in
gold per capita. So an Immigra-
ton of 10000 into a Northwestern
state will be giving it as much as
S2O, 100000 Of additional capital.
Capital is boarded labor, and there's
fore, labor is the source otall wealth.
Ii the northwest had pursued the
Chinese policy of discouraging the
advent OF new corners; its progress
would have been as sluggish as that
OF the south. The question of invit-
ing or repulsing new corners is real
ly the source Of the thousand differ
ences in northern and southern char
acter; and Mr.. Carpenter in his
statesmanlike manner, presents the
absurdity of the policy of non -inter>
course. His sketch of the contrast
north and south is so noticeably well
put that we copy that portion Of his
New Orleans speech:
IMMIGRATION AND osTRAcIsM.
There is another thing, which in
the freedom Of this occasion | want
to suggest TO you. 1t seems TO me
that what you need here is labor.
You cannot have large or prosper
GUS community with men, women
and children and just as you in
crease your population you increase
the productive capacity of your
state. Our Western states have al
ways understood this. We have not
only permitted but have solicited
immigration. But here you seem to
deplore it. Northern men coming
into your community are ostracsed.
1t is undoubtedly true that you have
been afflicted with an Internal set of
carpet-baggers but your mistake is
that you have COMPOUNDED the class
with the worst individuals of that
class. 1t always results that the
worst men of any community emil
CRATE from it first. Their emigra-
ton, if not intended TO promote the
good of the community which they
leave is certain to do so. But in the |
Northwest we have no prejudice |
against the carpet Dagger, for the
simple reason that we are all carpet
baggers. am Carpet-bagger my
self, In 1848, after being admitted |
e the bar, packed all my worldly |
estate into a carpet bag, and it did |
not require a very large bag, and |
started for Wisconsin to make it my
home. | have seen nearly half the |
come there since / set
tied in that state. Our state ap-
points an immigration commissioner,
whose busine ss it is to solicit immi-
grafton and provide for the wants
and meet the necessities Of the immI.
grants on the way to the fields of |
Wisconsin. If q man wants to come |
to us and he has not a carpet bag,
we give him one. If he gets half |
way to the state and telegraphs tha5
he is "busted," we send him money
to complete his journey! We help |
him enter his land; we help him build |
his house, and the first crop pays his
debts, and in five years be is able,
perhaps to buy out the very man
who assisted him to establish him
self; and it is for this reason and |
this reason only that the Western
States in the last fifty years have
sprung into gigantic communities
Here again let me say | am only |
stating what is understood in the |
North to exist. | may be mistaken.
If | am you can correct that mis-
take. You never would correct it if |
you did not know it existed, and, as
/ said before, ! am trying to throw
out for your consideration the theo-
ry which we at the North entertain |
upon these subjects. Whenever
these impressions are unfounded,
show us that we are in error and you |
will find US bold advocates of the
truth, whenever it comes from the |
South or the North.
A CASE IN POINT.