The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1875-09-10
Virginia MnYing.

The conference to promote imanigra-
tion to Virginia was held in New York
city last Friday 4 large number OF
gentlemen from the South were present.
Gen. Fitzhugh Lee in his address stated
that at the close of the war the people
of Virginia found themselves in pos
session of acres of land, and they did
not know what to do with them There
had been heretofore two kinds of emf
grants there-one class believing that
"forty acres and mule" were awaiting
their arrival-that they cuuld enter the
State, settle down there in state of
inertia. and let the lands take care of
themselves; the other was the carpet-hag
element. Both these classes of emf
grants did not help the Stat. while in
distress; they only promoted the retro
grade movement. Since then the one
! absorbing thought with all Virginians
had been TO come North. meet gentle
men and capitalists face to face, and ask
them TO take charge of these lands. He
thanked God that not one of the two
elements alluded to existed to-day in the
section of Virginia represented by the
gentlemen present at the meeting. The
voice of Boston, the thunder from Bun
ker Hill had been heard through
out the land, and it was the death
knell of carpet baggers as well as idlers.
/ There was another class of enligrants,
who had come there for the purpose OF
making money fast, investing all they
possessed in land, and reserving no
working capital. These, too, had left
the Old Dominion. The property hold
ers of that section had therefore come to
the North, General Lee coniinutd d, to
invite capitalists to their region, and in
vest money IN their lands. Labor was
not required. 1t was plenty there and
cheap. But money they wanted TO ena-
BILE them to work the remainder of their
lands, and at the same time benefit the
purchaser of their property. Freder-
| icksburg was the center of this move
ment, and had easy access to the leading
markets of the Union. Virginia was to-
day enjoying as peaceful condition as
any other State of the Union. He
knew that there had been considerable
misapprehension in regard to the condi-
tion of the South, but he could assure
his hearers that reconciliation had at
I 10 fa1- the r,Iaaa &c
The Secretary of the Potomac and
Rappahannoek Emigration Society, MFR.
Addison Borst, explained the induce
ments offered by that portion of Virgin
ia bordering on the Rappahannock and
Potomac rivers.
They had two-fold purpose in view.
They desired good people TO settle in
their midst for the peoples benefit, as
we'll as their own. Investments in these
lands guaranteed to the skilled farmer
annual returns rarely expected in agri
culture The lands could be purchased
in parcels from so to 500 acres. at from
s. TO $50 per acre. With two hands a
from $5 to SO per month, and two
horses, their farmers could cultivate
from 80 to 40 acres in corn. Grain car
be delivered in market at cost pei
bushel OF. -four to six cents. Fruits o
many varieties, grapes, corn, and tobac
co can be cultivated with success. Each
estate has a landing on or near it, anC
farm products can be shipped from thes'
landings to the markets of the world BY
steamers connecting with other lines.