The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1878-11-19

formed BY colored servants md every iarIa-
house has d LOT or ssor bless negroes !tarig-I
no about it. It:is true that they are cheap
q Tar IA the first penditnre OF wages Is
concerned, but the writer will venture the |
that q woman hired atl -FOUR dollars
,,er month as cook. il she has a family. as
thew generally have, occupying some Of the
o,sl s(aye cabins. will cost the family more
he considerable than the neat White domes'
tic. orartered ia She house, treated as one
of the family, and paid twice as nsicn.
There Ia really m indeGnable sometmnS
about the system OF petty capital and lnbor
In the domestic economy OF the hotisehola
South that is repugnane to the person OF
northern instincts. The interests OF Il DOT
and capital are identical; but how can tne
negro be made to understand this, with ms
native earelessness and petty theats' Whiie
the white man, with thousand years, eau
cation, now and then raids OH moneys, rail-.
roads. and shops, tearing up the one and
burning rhe other, because OF dimes aii-
ference OF opinion as TO wages?
Many a northern family who would en-
sp,0y a paragon OF ueatness, skill, ana clcan-
illness, in the shape OF colored COOK,
would most effectualIy drive away from
their table al, their righteousness: VI
course. IL is q blind, unreasoning, and I'M
reasonable prejudice, but it exists Just as
much as peoples belief in ghosts. There
ia no nonsense about the average north
ern girl respecting work. Many glrl
can and does teach school acceptaoiy,
and is respected by everybody; yet she
thinks it not out OF the way to hire as
a domestic and 90 the work OF the coth-
monest negro South. She Will scruD down
the back steps, and iu the evening pay you
some brilliant fantaSie on the piano IN the
parlor. -.
South I have heard good music, but l
have never seen the PLAYER, orusn III nand'
on her knees on the Steps. my soutlic,n
friends among the fair sex are exceedingly
emotional and heightened in their natures,
and this is as it should be; but, additionally,
am as certain as can be that more init
mate ACQUAINTANCE with broom and mop
would neither detract from their better side
nor make home unhappier. Hammer or
anvil! we have to be. and some OF us get be-
tween the two. The latter is the fate OF
those who can neither hammer nor be mann
mered, and the home in the hands OF the
tropical plant OF southern growth IS the
worst off imaginable. =,
Now let us glance at the future home-l1e
OF The South. The man who owns thou
sand acres will eventually sell out to five or
more families from the North; and, mark
YOU, whatever exceptions may be taken as
to the result. this is the only true solution
to the present condition OF things South.
The plantation owner has hanging around
him some TWENTY-FIVE colored people OF all
ages, sexes, conditions, and compieXlons.
The farm-owner is going to work his own
farm, and cannot afford to hire much labor.
The whole family will work-women, chill
dren, and men. Breakfast ut O'Clock, ana
the summer resort, into which SO many
houses are now turned by impecunlous
guests, will be etfectually forgotten in the
economical! struggle to leave the world
smoother path for the children than the
parent. What will become OF the coiored
element is question concerning which the
answer can only be coniectured; but it is
certain that the present mismatIng OF dig
nity and idleneSs will have to give way to
the union OF true dignity and honorable
labor by those who must be producers OF
and who arc not independently
rich.
The writer, when teacher, used to ask
his (" sweet girl graduates " the question
&c Suppose you are thirty years old, widow
ed. and two children to supporss, among |,
strangers, can you do it?" Anything that
stops short OF this, and provides nothing
for this frequent contingency, is misun-
derstanding of life and its responsibilities.
Now, the South is honest. She says, We
have no money. By the time what Is made
on the farm goes through the household
mill, with its many tolls, it comes out a
grist. And this phase of south
nrn home-life is just the opposite OF the |
northern condition Of things. Here in the |
North, that which passes through the house
comes out an increased value. Every inmate |
Is a worker. South, under the good or bad |
Did times, every inmate proper was super !
numerary, so far as production was con-
and the lifting of the curse did not
leave will, ability, and grit in its stead.
The only way to be truly happy in this |
world is to be busy in a proper direction.
Many home where everything good, bad,
md Indifferent is compared with condl-
ion before the surrender" would he vastly |
improved by consigning the surrender to |
)eriition and laying hold OF the nearest
work.
It is a great deal more philosophic when |
We find things drifting away and falling !
part to not attempt the extension OF our
business in the hope Of better income, but
o lessen our load and take frmer hold
Upon it.