New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-07-18
WHITES AND BLACKS.


OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
[FRON STAFF CORRESPONDENT or TUE TRIBUNE.l
WASHINGTON, July lO.-Nothing is more common
than false congratulations about the relations
between the negroes and the whites in the Southern
States. Northern man. returning from short trim
10 New-Orlcans or FLORIDA, will bring back little
batch Of facts picked up the way, from which he
will draw the conclusion that the white people are
cruel and deadly enemies of the blacks, and delight
in maltreatng and even killing them the
smallest provocation. Another man, equally sin
cere, viii the same ground and be convinced
by his observations that the two living in
state OF blssful accord. and that all the stories of
outrages are nothing but campaign lies Even an
independent correspondent. who is trained 10 look
for two sides TO every question, and to sift care
fully all reports that come to him, is often puzzled
to know what To think. so many contradictory
accounts and circumstances brought to his atten
ton The root Of the difficulty lies in this fact the
two races are mutually dependent upon each other,
and are at the same time mutually distrustiul OF
each other; further. each shows constitutional
inability TO report any occurrence III which both are
involved exactly as it took place. The nter-depen
dence Of the races and the natural servlry of the
blacks is what keeps Southern communities from
anarchy and general chaos. Each relies upon the
other for the OF life. One owns the land and
the other the muscle to work it, and neither can
dispense with the other without the imminent risk
of starvation. Everywhere the white planters com
plain of the blacks as inefficient aboNrs, and
press.the wish that they might he rid of them; but
if man from Texas or Arkansas 20 INTO any county
I'm Georgia or the Caronas and endeavOr to
gather large number Of negroes to take West,
the whole community is down upon him. He
is denounced as that internal scoundre who is try
ing to take away our labor and it is lucky for him
if he escapes some unpleasant demonstration of
popular feeling. The planters understand that the
negro is thcir sole dependence FOR making crops All
efforts TO introduce foreign farm labor have failed
because the Germans. Swedes md Italians who have
been induced 90 90 south viii not live in the wretch
cd wind0wless cabins provided for the blacks, VIII
not eat the bacon and cOrnbread gwen as atonS and
will not accept the low wages paid the blacks. Hey
soon find thcy DO better III the towns or on little
farms Of their own which they can readily buy upon
credit The planter is not to blame, a rule for The
meagcr wages he pays or for the miserable dwellings
lac affords his laborcrs. Save exceptionally rich
soils such as the bottom lands of the Mississippi and
it's tributaries he can hardly make both ends meet AT
the seasons end and his plantation often heavily
rortgaged The lands of the South 90 not compare
favorably in average fertility with those Of the North,
The system Of culture is unScienthc, and planters
with one or two thousand acres are seldom as well
of as the owner Of a seyenty-fve acre farm III Penn
sylyauia or Ohio.
As general thing, the planter and his negro
hands are ON friendly terms and arrange their bust
ness affairs without any trouble Far more kindly
feeling prevails than Northern people imagine. The
planter takes personal interest in the welfare of
his hands and their families and the blacks look to
him for advice in money affairs and in sickness If
abused or cheated 10y other white men, they bring
their complaints to him, and usually lind a ready
champion. Tie takes it as an insult TO himself for
any one to impose upon his "niggers." Most plant
ers sleep with doors unfastened and windows open,
such confidence do they feel in the good intentions
Of the negroes their places and yet they inherit
from the times Of slavery dread of a negro rising
that occasionally makes them behave in a manner
both ridiculous and cruel A report that the blacks
are arining and assembling viii conyulse whole
counties with terror, aud cause every white man to
get into the saddle with rifle and revolver ready to
shoot on suspicion the first negro he meets. In the
Ellcpton Is C. affair last yeaT the whites considered
it capital crime for the colOred people
10 assemble after of their number had
been murlered by a white posse on the
suspicion Of crime. but il thought perfectly
proper for the whites TO rally by the hundred and
scour the country killing innocent blacks wherever
they found them When the negroes act in concert
fora purpose which the whites suspect is hostile n
them the latter become merciless and bloodihiIsty.
Most of the massacres in the South have been occa-
stoned by the blacks rallying to protect themselves
against the repetition of outrage 1t is enough for
the whites 10 know that the blacks are assembled.
They do not stop to inquire which side the wrong
is but their first impulse is to kill them 1t will
take generation two 20 work the notion into the
Southern whites that black mans life is inst as
sacred as a white mans. i suppose there have been
several thousand negroes killed by white men i'll the
South within the past ten years. Possibly there
have been few hapgngs for these crimes, but they
have been very few. never heard of one. But let
a negro kill white man, and the hue and CRY for
hun extends over whole States, and if caught he Is
lncky to escape lynching on the spot. No instance
of a white man being lynched for crimes against a
negro has come TO my notice. but nave read OF
dozens yes. hundreds of eases. where negroes were
hung or shot without judge OF jury for serious of
lenses against the whites. In fact IL is almost GER
tain death for black man TO be suspected of murder
or OUT age If the victim is white The color of the
poor fellows SKIN lends an additional darkness to
TO his decd
la spite of Ku-Klux brutalities, Vicksburgh and
Coushatta massacres, bulldozers raids aud the many
tre reports of outTages. the relations between the
races are as a rule friendly. The single fact that
the South is producing more OF her staples than
ever proves this, for if there were general
hatred malice and violence the labor system
would be so dsorganized that the productveness of
the country would be seriously impaired. Apart
from This and other general facts, few days spent
I'm seeing plantation life, stopping without pTe-ar-
rangement at any way-statiOn OF southern rail-
road will convince Northern observer that there
Is a great deal of mutual confidence and amity be-
tween the races If the negroes now inhabting any
Southern state could be transferred c" "@ase and