Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1876-03-30
IOriginal.]
OUR LABOR SYSTEM.

Then light her pathway with love down to the silent grave
OUR LABOR SYSTEM.
In these days, when the public mind is
much engaged in discussing the subject of po
litical reform, the agricultural condition o1
the country should not be overlooked. Never
was the agricultural interests Of our country
in more critical condition than it is at the
present moment. Food of all kinds, both fol
man and beast, commands, in the market
prices which are fabulous, when we::consider
the general scarcity of money and the low
price of labor and of money crops. Not only
is food dear and labor cheap, but many Of
our Southern farmers are in crippled circum'
stances. The proceeds of the cotton crop is
gone and they are in strait. They scarcely
know what to do. To continue farming as
they have been doing for the last few years,
threatens bankruptcy to stop farming, is to
hasten what they fear. Such is the condition
of at least very respectable minority of our
land-holders- of them to effect ma
terially the whole country.
The condition of the laboring class is no
better than that of the property-holder. Year
after year the majority of those who labor
are approaching nearer and nearer the bor-
ders of beggary. 1t is scarcely possible to
conceive of a class of human beings more de-
pendent and in more needy condition than
the negroes-the laboring class of the South.
Their ashy faces show too clearly that their
stomachs are often empty and their ragged
clothes expose them to the cold winds. What
few stock may be owned by any Of them, are
soon to become prey to the vultures. Real
ly, the poverty of these animals excites pity in
every generous breast.
We have stated facts which may be verified
in any community in our Southern country.
If such condition of things has been
brought about by succession of bad crop
years, We might hope that one good crop
would restore prosperity to the country. Had
the crops of last year been eaten up by the
grasshopper or caterpillar, and the crop of
the previous year parched by drought, we
might reasonably hope that prosperity would
be restored to the country by the return Of
good crop seasons. Nothing of this sort has
transpired in our history within the last two
years. In what 10 vallol tLo ~ottu. Lelt, :. 80
rare thing that failure in crop happens
for two successive years. Never within the
whole history of South Carolina has COM
plete and universal failure in crops occurred.
We conclude that the present condition Of
things in South Carolina cannot be traced to
a providential visitation which blasted the
crops. Its cause must be sought some where
else. It is, we believe, to be found in the
general Encouragement of the agricultural
affairs Of the country.
In the South there is absolutely no labor
system. It would be unreasonable to expect
a well.concerted and fully developed labor
system in the South. The results of the war
turned every thing upside down. We have
a right, however, to expect that some steps
have already been taken to establish system
of labor adapted to the new state of things.
Such is not the case. So far as labor is con-
cerned, we are in as tangled condition as
we were in 1866.
1t will be admitted by every one that the
property of the South is owned by the whites,
and the negroes are the laborers. However
harsh it may sound to the two classes, they
are mutually dependent upon each other.
The negroes cannot exist in the South with
out the aid of the white inhabitants. On the
other hand, the whites cannot live without
the negroes. We have no hesitancy in saying
that for our Southern country, with its pres
ent white population, the negro is the best Ia
borer in the wide world. Since the two races
are suited to advance the interests of each
other, duty demands that they study to pro-
mote each others interest. The negro must
remain poor so long as the property owner is
embarrassed and the property owner must
remain embarrassed so long as the negro is as
poor as he is at present. A proper labor sys,
tenn would make labor profitable, both to the
laborer and the land-holder. AS it is at pres
ent, both, so far as the thing is possible, are
becoming poorer and poorer. 1t is unwise in
the laborer to waste his time He entails, by
such course, poverty upon himself and chill
dren, and blights, so far as. he is able, the
prospects of the country. On the other hand
if the laborer is not compensated for his labor
by his employer, he becomes dissatisfied and
neglects his business, and in the end both la.
borer and property owner are ruined.
For the good of the country it is pity but
some scheme could be inaugurated by which
the principles of political economy, so far as
those principles pertain to labor and capital
could be inculcated into the minds of the peo.
pie of the South. If the inhabitants of Con.
necticut could be transported to South Caro-,
lima, the whole system of things would be
changed, and South Carolina would be re-
garded, by the inhabitants of the earth, as
the garden spot of the globe.
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LEARNING FARMING.-A hired man would
be poor teacher for an employer who knew
nothing about farming. For young man
who knows nothing of farming, but who wishes
to learn, it would be good plan to live one
year with good farmer and work as hired
man, paying his board as a compensation to
the farmer for the trouble of teaching the
business. This would be better in every way
than to learn from hired man. To find q
farmer who makes living out of the labor Of
his men without his own personal direction
and help, is a difficult if not impossible thing
to do.
bg When pumpkins are fed to milk cows
they should be split open and the seeds re-