Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-06-13
DOES THE NEGRO RAISE ALL THE
COTTON?

The augusta (Ga.J Chro'aicte ana
Sentinel remarks that it is a very pop
ular mistake to suppose that all the
cotton in the South is made by negroes.
1t states that thousands of white men
all over the South have gone into the
cotton-felds since the war, and have
labored faithfully in the production of
cotton" The Memphis Appeal claims
that the larger part of the cotton sent
to Memphis is the product of white
labor, and the Mobile Register asserts
that ''the great cotton region OF Ala
bama is cursed with African labor,
which ha excluded white labor and de-
stroyed theproductiOn of cotton upon
the richest land of the South Where
from soil and climate one had right to
expect the most cotton from negro
labor, there the least is raised.
In upper Georgia, along the line of
the Air Line Railroad, the white pop
ulation have gone largely into cotton
culture. The receipts at Atlanta
which were 29,21O bales, in 1878, swell
ed to 54,SS9 in 1874, an increase of
nearly 80 per cent. An observdnt
Englishman who has spent some time
in the South, says:
"More remarkable yet is the compe-
tition that has arisen IN the same tracts
of country, betwixt the large planta-
tions, on which the negroes are chiefly
employed, and the smaller farms culti-
waited by white people under their own
hands, with as little negro labor as pos
sible. This feature of cotton planting
in the South, is as present conspicu-
Gus. for hold it, from observation as
well as testimony, to be certain that
the larger portion OF the annual expan-
| sions Of the cotton crop since the war
Is due to the energy IN small farms, IN
/ gardens, and IN crops taken on waste
and unoccuped plantations, of white
labor"
Without the folly of trying to make
an American statesman and politician
out Of the freedman. he would have
been a poor enough farmer or planter.
The UNION AND AMERICAN has often
alluded to the moral certainty that, as
the old plantation servants, who had
been trained to habits of industry,
died or became disabled by age, the
new generation coming on would have
little taste for steady field work, and
be unreliable as laborers, and then
plantations must 90 uncultivated, or be
worked by the superior white race.
Experience is proving the truth of this
Ultimate Of negro character, based on
long observation. Necessity viii COM
pei the making of the South either a
white mars countryOra Central Amer
lea. Amalgamation or separation are
the alternatives. Colored men make
no secret of their desire to
have white women for wives.
They want to sit on juries with white
men, appear at all public places and be
received in society as equals. Whether
their wishes are gratified or not, it Will
not change the constitutional charac-
ter of the African. 1t is prepOsterous
to assume chat he can compete with the
European on equal terms, and succeed
as nation, or any political part of a
nation, adverse to the interests of the
white race. Thirty-fve millions of
white people in the United States and
three hundred millions in Europe can
not afford to surrender the
farming and planting lands of the
South to either the negro or Indian.
Folly of this kind cannot succeed, how
ever earnestly pursued.
The present attempt to enforce
negro equality in schools, on Juries and
in all public places, so far from ele,
waiting Sambo and Dinah, has COM
menced the work of letting down the
African race in the South to its nat.
ural level. Nor is it possible to per-
petuate thenegro'spresent consequence
as voter, for the simple reason that
man cannot reverse and repeal the
laws Of the Almighty. As fret
. laborer, raised TO bea sovereign electol
in great republic, he is palpablt
failure.
Some may not see the truth of thu
statement; they will have to wait TO
the developments of the present decade
There will beexceptional cases ofnegr'
: industry, frugality and success; butt
5 few exceptions to rule are not tn
t rule. Millions of white people vii
D raise all the cotton, rice, sugar AM
: tobacco it is desirable to grow, if sucl
e labor is to be fairly compensated, an
:. the land not impoverished by planting
e Inferior African tillage has great,
e injured the soil OF the South; and
: much needed reform, mainly by
= change of plowmen, and change G
" system, is not far distant in the futur,
e All our industrial population shout
It be better educated, that all may rea
IT instructive books, daily and week.
7. newspapers, work and think to tn
it best advantage for themselves. tn
,e productive activity of our laborin
# white people may be doubled in valu
: in five years. No wise concert OF az
Il ton in this behalf has ever been WI
9 messed. The labor of white person
II has been too much neglected and III
,e dervalued.
: 1t is time to correct this great mi
'7 take; and we rejoice to see some of Il
is ablest Journals in the cOttoI STATE