The daily gazette., 1879-02-24
SECOND EDITION
Condition of the South.

Blanton Duncan, writes to the New
York Herald long letter, from Louis
vile, Ky, dated Feb. -, 1879, in which
he says:
For some weeks have been in the
South, on the Mississippi River. While
the cry in political circles and among
the wealthy in cities has been that pros
perity is coming with accelerated pace
from financial legislation l wish that
some of the magnates could have been
with me to have seen the condition of
affairs in the great Mississippi Valley
There have found among the laboring
classes almost set of paupers. They
were in rags; and when the bitter cold
weather came on they stayed housed for
days, shivering over their fires, which
luckily they could procure from the
plenteous supplies of fuel near at hand
in the woods. From my observation
three-fourths Of these laborers did no,
have months supply of provis ions mol
means to procure them with. There was
not one in ten who had the stock wagons
ploughs, &c, with which to cultivate
any land that they could rent. And how
this class of people were to get through
the coming year seemed TO me a problem
difficult of solution. They were dis
heartened, denoralized and destitute.
Year after year they had labored steadily
making often fair crops, and vet at the
end of each successive year they found
themselves poorer aud poorer, until now
the final elimination comes in positive
impoverishment. They are not educat-
ed; they do not bear discussion of polit-
icdl questions, which could enlighten
them and teach that all this is the uatur-
al sequence of financial blunders, and
that the shrlnkage OF values year after r
year has placed the cost Of production at
higher than the market value of products
especially in view of the system of sup
p ly to laborers which has prevailed for
the past ten years throughout many Sec
tions of the South.
EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION.
The radical leaders profess to have
given the negro slave the great boon of
liberty. On the contrary they have
placed him in a bondage more deplorable
than he WAS in prior to The war. Candid
and impartial observation will demon
strate this to any fair minded man. Aud
in addition to this terrible bondage
which degrades and will destroy the ne
gro race it Is fast producing results which
must entail evil consequences in the near
future. There is being created a land
ownership and q tenantry like that of
Ireland, where abseuteeism of the own
er, the power of the agent and the power
ty of the people have produced such dis
Aster to the material interests of that
country, and has paralyzed the cause Of
educa ion, religion and moral, by the IN
svltable degradation of the poorer class
es.
And in the South it must be remem ber-
ell that the laboring classes have been
slaves, wlthou. education and without
the means of elevating their mental OF
moral faculties. and thus even far behind
the poor Irishmen, whose sufferings have
been increased because they had the in
tellect for higher grades in life than cir.
cumstances have permitted.
CHANGE IN THE OWNERSHIP OF LANDS
During the past six years there has been
great change in ownership flands South
Those who directly after the war attempt.
ed to cultiva cotton had been deprived
of their slaves and other resources, and
in many instances had mortgages stand
ing against them for prior debts. Many
| of the land owners were the children of
planters, reared in luxury and leisure,
not understanding how IN manage and
not insured to labor. What has been tn e
cOnSeQ ue nee lnere was OIbeu no IOTe-
thought, no calculation, not evenenergy.
AS the fathers used to rely upon the
commi ssion merchant, borrow money at
ruinous rates OF fifteen or twenty per
! cent, and still succeed by the richness of
| their lands, the abundance of crops and
good prices, when the labor cost them
| only food, clothing and care, so the sons
| believed that the same system would pre-
| vail when free labor had come in. They
| a. n "a la " n
the laws of supply ahd demand inexora-
| bly demand, nor the statistics of agricul.
ture, which show that the best cultiva-
ton only produces four 10 five per cent
Interest per annum. Thus year after
| the land owners of the South increased
their mortgage debt, their own personal
expenses and the deficit for Interest
above the proceeds Of crops; and the re-
suit came-as must have been from the
| start only question of time-when ten
| to fifteen per cent. of capital is exhaust
ed each year. The merchants have fore
closed aud taken the property at the
amount of the debt, because there was
nobody else to bid for land; nobody with
money to buy it. And to such an extent
has this gone on that one commits sion
merchant in New Orleans has absorbed
and is cuItlyating through agents 60,00t
acres of the best land in Mississippi
While the practical question in the
| n Orth has been openly avoWsd Dy lnnu
ential journals to be the purchase o1
lands by the rich and the formation of a
system, which must make class distinc.
ton of aristocrats and serfs, it is fast
being carried into effect in the South
under the irresis stable law OF usurious IN.
terest and the sacrifice Of the debtor land
owner And what becomes of the c
ruined land owners? There is no field
open for them to regain independence or
earn livelihood in the South, and year
ly there must be thousands added to the
ranks of those who will attempt to
drown sorrow and misfortune in drunk
| enness, and who exc out a miserable ex-
istence until death relieves them from
| further worldly trouble.
CONDITION OF THE FREEDMAN.
Now, on the other hand, what is the
condition of The former slave-the sert
ready made for the domiD patton OF the
arisi ecratic and money possessing land
owners. He had good clothes, was well
fed and housed. and well cared for as a
slave, with good medical attendance
when sick. and treated properly when
old age and infrmity rendered him value
| less.
Out of suffering have emerged the
| e+r,npa,t SnuIc and the most massi Va