Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1878-12-12

The Mr. Yoyk Herald j. Publishing
. series Of interesting letters from DIFF
ierent points in the Southern States
which show the progress in trade and
agriculture made since the release Of
the South from The ihraldom of carpst-
bar rule. The Herald comments upon |
The results thus obtained a. follows:
The fact on which this correspon-
dence should fx attention - that the |
South Is rising out Of the universal de-
preston more perceptibly than the
North. in spite Of the hard times which
have weighed ike an incubus on al the
industries Of the country, the Southern
people, coIoreds a. well a. white. have
been advancing in well-beEng and COM
fort. and they are confident Of . pros
porous future.
" There il, however, a difference IN
The tone OF feeling in the different South
ern States. The most complaining Of
these States il Virginia, the most hope
full and prosperous i Georgia; but most
Of the others resemble Georgia rather
than Virginia. The chief cause of this
difference il not difficult 10 find. Vir-
GINA Is the Southern State which j.
most impervious to rev ideas and the
slowest 10 adopt improved methods in
her agriculture. This may be owing in
part TO the fact that the social revolu-
lion consequent on freeing the slaves
was not so great in - ! Is in the
plantation States.
" Virginia raised negroes for the
Southern market, but did not herself
possess the large plantations on which
they were chiefly employed. The con-
sequence was that emancipation did moi
break up and disorganize her industrial
system as il did that of the States furth-
er South, where slaves were collected
in great numbers on vast estates. Vir-
GINA is still running in her old ruis, the
raising of tobacco being her chief indus
try and the partition of land remaining
very much as before the war.
"a But the great plantation Statescould
not go on BY their old methods. Ne
cesslty, which is the mother of inven-
ton, compelled the landowners 10 de-
wise some system by which the produc-
ton OF the Southern staple could be re-
conciied with the altered state of labor.
They are dividing their large estates
into small farms. letting some on shares,
selling some, and making no discrrmi-
nation between white and black culti-
yators either in the letting or The sell
ling.
The result is proving most favora-
Bile, and the effect Is particularly happy
on the condition of the negroes, who
advance more rapidly in prosperity than
such OF their white neighbors as started
from an equal condition of poverty. The
explanation is simple. The negro wo-
men and girls, having been trained as
plantation laborers, join the men and
boys in outdoor work, thus doubling the
number OF hands on farms cultivated by
negro labor. But even in the light Of
this explanation the acquisition of pro.
perty by the colored population seems
wonderful.
"The tax books Of Georgia show that
the negroes of that State are assessed
this year for more than six millions dol
lars worth of property, whereas at the
end the carpet-bag rule they had mex
to nothing.
"a great change has been made II
| Georgia and the States that initiate he
in their general agricultural manage
I ment. II has been found expedient t.
diversity their crops. They raise thei
| own wheat, corn, vegetables and pork
and are not dependent solely on cotton, a
the owners of the great plantations use'
. to be when they mortgaged their ex
pected cotton crop in the beginning o
z the year for money to purchase thei
supplies.
One reason for this change was th'
; difficulty of borrowing, butt has proves
of great advantage. The cultivation
save interest, save the profits OF mid
dlemen and the expense of transporta
lion, and live in greater comfort, Plen
: ~ and independence. There is bu
one voice throughout the South as &
the advantages of this change of sys
i TEN. Since the end of tn
carpet-bag regime they (the Southern
: peopleI are advancing to better con
!. dition. They are engaged in the reg
: uIar pursuits of industry; they are rent
= ing land; they are buying farms: the.
are raising crops; they are acquiring tn
= self-respect which accompanies the pos
session of property, and are in all res
i poets better of than when they wer
!, indulging in vain dreams of supporting
themselves by politics, like the tools
demagogues in our great Cities"