The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1877-11-08
AMONG THE "TAR HEELS
The Cheap Lands Of North Caro-
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Political and
Otherwise.

lSpecl2l cOrreSpOnQenCc Oh eNc StAoo -
Herald
r Oct. 26.-I came into North
Carolina three or four weeks ago for
the purpose of determining for myself
and some others who were making the
INQUIRY. whether the State, all essen
tiaf features considered, offers superior
advantages for applying the various
industries which ave made the nor
thern section of the Union so prosper
Gus. I had had some correspondence
with northern men living In this State
and also with natives OF the-State.
From both sources / was assured that
land was cheap. and that immigration
was very much desired. All agreed
that plenty of land could be had for
from two to ten dollars an acre. One
correspondent at Greensboro, a south
ern man, wrote that his whole county
was for sale. He said it vas "a good
place to live, but no place to make a
fortune" Another, a southern man
owning a large farm in Warren u
tv. wrote that he could lot promise
success to a northern man who might
come down here, and added: But !
do not cease to wonder that SO many
in the North seek new homes IN the
West and Northwest, where they en-
counter all the hardships of pioneer
life, together with the rigors of your
northern winters; when here. so near
their former homes, they an have at
once all the comforts and many OF the
luxuries of life" Why was a whole
county for sale in the heart OF n OF
the oldest States in the Union ana
why, if it was a good county TO I'VE III,
was it not a good section TO lay oy a
store for the future? What KIND OF
comforts, to say nothing OF the luAu
ries, must they be which are to be mao
almost for the asking-from land al
ten dollars an acre? The southern
confederacy collapsed twelve years
ago last complaining time. Inc last
slave in North America was told to go
free within canno shot of this city.
In these twelve a New York State
has increased in population fully a
million. Chicago has been cut down
close to the ground and has come up
again more Iuxuriant than before. The
West and Northwest have been filling
up by platoons Of immigrants. Al
the States and all the people have hai
a common tussle with political corrup-
ton in common nave bucked the IL
ger of speculation and have been
''cleaned out" Why has not North
Carolina caught in it's silken mesheS a
fair proportion of the humanity that
has been, during these twelve years,
drifting on the migratory tide and
why should not it's u~nOccupied square
miles, it's interminable acres, afford
not only a living but also fortunes?
With these facts in mind | came IN
to this State prepared to observe IN
diligently and to weigh without pre-
JUDGE the condition in which a nor
thern man, coming here to live and to
work, must necessarily be placed.
And first, how do find politics. This
is first with you in New York just
now because you are watching the eff
Etered to the South by the doctor at
There Is 40 poliiiCtf'
lgitation in the State this fall. The
lie " constitution makes the Legislative
biennial and the State officers
erm four years. The local elections,
whatever they were, were held some
'ime ago., SO that one has to begin talk
politics abruptly in order to hear
lnything said about it. Wade Hamp-
,On's visit to the city last week during
he State fair offered something of an
for a stranger to get at
he sentiment of the people with re-
gard to the Presidents treatment of
he South. There are two wings to
he democratic party in this State as,
t is evident, there are two wings to
he party throughout the South. One
these denies the right and title of
he President to the presidency. The
other accepts the result of the COM
mission as legal, logical and not to be
Questioned. The former of these &C
;epts the prOffers of Cancellation with
out thanks or the courtesy of acknowl-
alignment the latter, while insisting
hat the President performed simply a
iuty n withdrawing the troops from
south Carolina and Louisiana, is dis
posed to accept the Hayes policy as a
endeavOr to restore to the
south the local self-government which
t claims must precede material pros
But these two wings of the
claim that they do not
apart when it to an cleo
One man said to me that as
tOng as the negroes hang together
as republicans the democrats
must hang together in self-protection.
The experience the State has had with
carpet-bag politicians working upon
negroes has acted as a cement to hold
the democrats together, and until the
white people can feel secure against
interference there will be no
split in the democracy. | have talked
with northern men who are voters
here, both republicans and democrats.
and they agree that political action is
as pure as in New York State. Both
work as politicians know how to
work, and at the polls voters are not
questioned except by the methods
practiced in the North. The negroes
have no complaint to make so far as |
have been able to learn, and | have not
overlooked this source of information.