Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1873-03-06
The West Not a Paradise.

Under this head the Griffin (1a'J
Ne,us prints the following; :,
We have been shown letter rom
? gentleman who removed to Arkan- =,
sas from an adjoining county J. last sanh iall' ht
to a relat We near here, that IS doeo1-
less le q truthful and graphic descrlP'
ton ton Of affairs il that county. he
WIS wss a well-to.do farmer in this sec
ton, but the golden fields OF the great
West, as painted to him, were temp
tation aica, b. he could not resist, and selling
ont sst1'h his s. all, with his family, went
thither only to find, as he expresses
" how big fool a man can be, ..sncl ana
that it was anything but the country
he had expected to find; tie says
that tn tIS Georgia lands are cheap, at any, any,
price compared with nest Of those
he had seen, for, says he, You are
6ftv miles from any sort OF market,
and a thousand miles from anywhere
else" Everything commands enorl 3e
mons prices and for about one-nali
Of the year you are cut off from tEe
balance of the world by low water
aud the otner half the streams are 90
u;eh and the roads 30 bad that 1t Is
next to impossible to do anything or
get anywhere. =, ,..,,e.;;s1y;; c;,;,; ~.
mense q Quantities Of land, which they
boughe 1t almost nothing, and selling
! she9 at four or five dollars per acre
,Eords them an immense profit; These
men have sent -sharps7 shreWd, keen
agents to- the. older States, who are
inducing scores Of white men and
thousands of negroes to emigrate un'
Ter specious promises and glowine
.ccounts of this happy and glorious
tandLso!called.: I Tho winter 'has
been a severe one, and the rains un
precedentedly heavy, and the resul
! IS, there ia An immense amount o
| sickness, especially amongst the ne
u. g :, who are IN a very destitute
c ndltion. They are dying UP very
r,pidly, as they cannot well stanf
the change of climate. and are yer!
!, ca,e!ess about taking care of them
: elves. These negroes are very anS
,ous to rsturn to the white settle
ments' but it is impossible, as the.
: are without money, their labor a
heap as in the sections they wen
! from, and by the time they pay thel
:, doctors bills, refundthe amount pal
for their transportation and other ex
: penses, nine-tenths OF them will .
90 heavily in debt that it will tax
them months to pay out.
! In the face of these facts the boat
s are arriving daily, loaded with whit
: and colored smigrants, who have bee
seduced to that section by the falls
le', promises of these moneyed lords an
J, Seir agents. There are scores
y kee,, shrewd, sharp negroes, WI
Is have ,shuence with, their! color. wi
10 have besq employed by these inte
" ested parties to go amongst their RAJ
= in the older States and induce the
l. to emigrate. They carry ont a csrg
a receive their pay and return wit
|, false messages from some OF the
l. dupes, and thus get others to follo'
t These negro sharpers are making
: good living at the expense Of the
tindifferent as t6 TEeir 7ate, 50 tne
. Keep from honest work.
This gentleman gives it as his opil
! ! ion that if the people from the 20
:, ton States will visit the West tt
coming fall, they can get just as nut 1ast
= At very reasonable prices. 4pmbe'
! Of them have already = run away an
e. ~ .asSa their way jato Tennessee an
If If Mss W;ssissipt;, and hundreds of other
81 wonld a,,sJ,i'p lppllow@ il they were in co,
Is I;.;nn Iea tn " SO. The VIII its peopl
It 'rele ''rs a. Ifioly disappointed as th
o. a'e aa~oy w and many who were abl
I; i; W. W. :. returned in a short time afte
a. ling reached that country.
i