The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-09-27
TENANTRY SYSTEM.

respectfully solicited, and will beinsertcd gratis
TENANTRY SYSTEM.
Aa Essay Read Before the Summer Meeting
Of the State Grange at anderson, s. O.,
on the 10TH of August 1877, By Hon.
lredeN Jones, Of Rock Hill, s. c.
In every age and in every country the
labor question has been subject of par
amount Importance; upon its proper So
lution depends general prosperity. Since
the abolition of ofslavery and the complete
.disorganization of the labor system of
the Southern States, the industries and
agricultural interests of our people have
greatly suffered. But recent political
events foreshadow the dawn of a new
agricultural era in our State, and it be-
comes US to maturely consider and settle
by combined wisdom this Vexed and
momentous question of labor in all its
parts.
In the discussion of that branch of
labor known as the "tenantry system" "
we do not propose TO open the general
subject of the science of agriculture.
The production of the greatest yield on
the. smallest number of acres, and the
economy of labor by the aid of machine
ry, afford the most interesting and most
important subjects of thought to the ag-
riculturists: The history Of thickly set
tied communities, where necessity has
been the mother of invention, will demon
strate clearly the immense profits Of high
farming; while the experience of our
own people since the war proves that
small tracts of land, directed by intelli-
gent labor. have been cultivated with
success. But the large planters have
often been ruined by the effects of dis
organized, untutored and unmanageable
labor; and the object of this essay, there
fore, win be to endeavor to point out the
safest and most practical, plan of arrang-
ing and managing the labor on large
tracts of land.
Subsequent to the war the planters of
the South undertook. to employ large
bodies. of laborers for portions of the
crop. They borrowed money at ruinous
'rates of interest and endeavored to man.
sage and control this labor as they had
done before the war by the assertion of
authority they could not maintain
There was no power to coerce, no law to
enforce obedience, the authority of the
master had vanished, while the laborers,
to whom were given shares of the crop,
claimed quasi rights over that interest,
which they would not permit to be in
vaded and besides these considerations,
the obligation to work from necessity was
not felt by the laborers the responsible
ity attendant upon their being thrown on
their own resources for livelihood was
not appreciated; the principle of being
driven by interest and necessity was not
thought of. Supplied during the year
with provisions for their families, they
were. Disappointed en- the day of settle
ment at the end Of the year, if it required
all their portions of the crop to pay back
the advances. The general result was
dissatisfaction and failure. The employer
as well as the laborer did not then ap-
preciate the force of managing by means
of interest. But experience has taught
rs now that interest, not fear, is the great
power which drives forward the worlds
industries.
And this induces the observation that
there are but two true theories in regard
to regulating plantation labor-one is
when the laborer is kept constantly un.
der an intelligent supervision and direc-
tion, or. in other words, hired for wages;
the other, where the labor is thrown d.
rectly and entirely upon its own re-
sources, incurring its own risks, and
managed mainly by the force of its own
necessities, or, in other words, as tenants.
These two systems can be managed sepa-
rately or combined, according to circum-
stances; and, in our opinion, ,sthe combi-
nation of the tenantry with the wages
system affords the true theory upon which
large tracts of land should be cultivated.
In the employment of hired labor we find
many advantages. It is cheaper, we pay
only for the labor actually performed, we
can directoperations with greater facility,
make improvements, econornize time,
and reap all the profits Of the enterprise.
This system is not only most profitable
but most satisfactory. But the difficulty
lies in its extension, while the want of
capital so often forbids its adoption.
The cropping system, where the laborer
receives portion of the crop for his SER
vices, has been found by experience to be
most unwieldly and unsatisfactory /;
abuse of stock, waste of time, difficulty
of managing the labor, difficulty of hav-
ing general plantation work performed, !,
difficulty of making improvements and
repairs, difficulty to prevent the cropper
from incurring more debt than his por-
tion justifes, are among the i'll effects of
system, the introduction of which
!, among the planters of our State since the
war, we believe to be one of the bad re-
suits of that revolution. The general
poverty of our people, want of money as
we'll as want of experience, induced the
: employer to accept oftentimes the terms
ofthe employed, and submit to all the
attendant inconveniences and errors. To
entrust plantation to intelligent white
labor on shares of the crop will some
times prove profitable investment; but
generally the partnership idea in farming
is unwise and imperfect.
To undertake, then, the cultivation of
I, large areas of our unimproved land upon
a safe, economical and practical plan,
and thus make these lands profitable, we
are at loss to devise better mode than
by means of tenants to occupy and cRlti-
yate all lands which cannot be titled by
hired labor. and this brings us to en-
deavor to show the advantages and profits
of the tenantry system. To do so, let us
take ar example. In many cases the
tenant will give to the land owner one
third of his entire crop as rent. In all
cases not less than one-third of grain and
one.fourth Of cotton. Suppose we reduce
this proportionate rent according to the
practice of some of our planters, to a
stipulated amount of rent, or 1000
pounds of lint cotton to each tenant
working one horse, or in other words to
monav vaIue of S100 Without enter.