The patron of husbandry. (Columbus, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1879-12-20
For the Patron of Husbandry. -
ALL PERVADING AND UNPkR-
sr ALELED IGNOR ANCE-WHAT
81 SHOULD BE ONE OF THE
Is SWORN DUTIES OF CENSUS

az ALELED RANCE-WHAI
81 SHOULD BE ONE OF THE
SWORN DUTIES OF CENSUS
+ TAKERS. 5soga G8n
81 Editor Patron. Ever since the intro
Iduction of slave labor in the cultivation
of cotton in the Southern States, the oprn-
ion has been universally prevalent at the
North that cotton was made exclusively
by the negro race, while it has been
taught at the South that nine-tenths or
more of it was made by them. Had the
government made it one of the sworn du-
ties of the census takers of each countyin
the cotton States to enumerate the num-
Der of bales made by each race, it would
have been most interesting and valuable
item in the statistics of the country and at
the same time would have been an effec-
tual quietus to the balefu SANDERS of alb
clifton orators and papers that have been
heaped SO persistently, and almost un-
challenged, upon the heads of Southern
white people. ae sa1 o
/ 1t has been our settled conviction for
the last thirty years that Southern white
labor prior to the late war made more
than half the cotton crop of each year.
We will give our reasons for that convic
ton as conCisely as possible. The lands
devoted to culture of cotton may be classed
under three heads, viz, the river valleys
or bottoms, the prairie or lime, and the
hilly or sandy. The two former, consti-
tuting the most fertile lands, were mostly
owned and cultivated by well-to-do and
wealthy slave holders, while the latter
were almost entirely owned and cultiva-
ted by the whites. The area of the latter
greatly exceeds that of the two former
combined, perhaps as much as five-sixths
or more. Take the best counties of the
prairie or lime belt of East Mississippi,
and the billy or sandy belt, and it will be
| found that the area of the latter will equal
| if not exceed the latter. When you pass
into the counties where there is no prairie
land you will find in large majority of
them no river lands. South Carolina and
Georgia have no prairie lands. The prairie
belt in Alabama is narrow and small, and
is confined to less than oozen counties.
The area of it in this State is about the
same There is very little of it in the
States of Louisiana and Arkansas, while
in Texas it is safe to assume that it does
not constitute more than one fourth of the
area of that State. A large proportion of
this is devoted to grazing purposes, there
| being little or no timber as an inducement
to bring it into cultivation. There are
more bottom lands in Louisiana than can
be found in any otherof the cotton States,
and yet they are small inaektent when
compared to the large body of uplands.
Another important fact must be taken
into account in verifying our assertion
that more than half of-the cotton crop be-
| fore the war was made by white labor
1t is well known that the ravages of boil
and army worms on the rich and produc
tive lands were very disastrous, often re-
ducing the crop on them from one-half to
two-t thirds of yield, while on the hilly
lands they were almost unseen and un
known. For this reason it is safe to as
sumo that the average yield per acre of
the latter in series of ten or twelve years
would very nearly if not quite equal that
of the former. A visit to the sample
rooms of the cotton buyers in Mobile,
New Orleans and other cities, would al
| from the hands of white labor.
And still another important fact must
/ be taken into the account. Since the
war at least 40 pei. cent. of negro labor
has been Withdrawn from the cultivation
OF cotton the women remaining in doors
and the younger population attending
school: and yet there are from half to
a million more bales of cotton annually
made since the war than were made be-
fore that time, proving most conclusively
that the deficit caused by this withdrawal
of labor has not only been made up but
largely increased by white labor.
| 1t is pre-eminently due to the white
| people of the South that the present Con-
gress should amend the census laws
in this particular, so as to place them
in the right light before nine-t enths
of our own people, as well as before the
civilized world, and at the same time dis
arming the rank and reekingly corrupt
stalwarts of the heavy bludgeon that is
now and has been in the past dealing us
such staggering blows. $50
I Very truly, 10 1i59rG. w. BRAME. e.
| West Point Miss, Dec. IS.
During the present week the Pennsyl-
vania State Grange is in session at Blooms
{ OH