Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1879-09-04


Mr. EDITOR:
1t is such an uniform practice of the
Confederate Democracy to represent
the negro as an INDECENT, lazy, good
for-nothing but TO serve the white
man, that [ take pleasure in giving an
article from the "RepuJlic" giving a
truthful description OF their, not the
Southern white mans. industries ::
Nearly every land holder in the
South who is not a carpet Dagger has
one excuse. and only one, for the lack
of prosperity in the late slave holding
States. 1t is that 1.-THE Niger won t
work. +" The vermont Lanl, the
tumble down fences, the buildings
gone to ruin, the worthless horses and
cattle, the absence OF farming nipple
ments, the tendency on the part of
the people to do things as their fathers
did them, instead Of keeping abreast
of the times, the few school houses.
the neglected roads, the ruin and des-
olatlon everywhere seen in nearly every
State in the South, their ruined cred
it-these are all because 1.-THE niger
won't work. :" [ admit that there are
a great many idle and worthless ne
groes in Washington, Baltimore, Alex
andria and Georgetown. to say moth
ing Of cities farther South Il Rich
mond, Charleston, New Orleans and
others of less Importance but these
do not effect the prosperity Of the
South, for the Southern cities are not
manufacturing centres in any sense,
and they depend upcn the products Of
the charlottesville cotton fields, the
rice fields and the tootcco fields
their commercial standing aud pros
perty. Who works these TELLS? The
negro. Has any traveller ever seen Il
white man in a cotton fell or har-
vest field OF any kind IN the South ?
No. The average Southern white
min sits around c0rner-grocerles,
chewS tobacco. drinks whiskey, dumas
the Government aud says 1.-The niger
won't work." and all this time the
Niger is moving fields of grass with
a common scythe, piowing with starv-
ed mules, getting the quarter of crops
from over worked lands, and bringing
to his employer the small returns
which such farming always produces
Go into almost any Southern small
town and you will see poor, faded,
htlf-starved horses by the dozen,
tethercl tt posts a0l fences where
they will remain all day, while their
owners sit around in sha ly BARI ooms
and lament the failure OF the rebellion
and echo the refrain that "the niggers
won t work F" Let the doubling fho-
mas of Washington drive olt in tho
early morning on any of the beautiful
drives that lead from the city. ami he
will see whether white men bring the
marketing to town-the garden truck
the vegetables, for which our market
is famous, the fruit that no other city
can equal, the game, the fish, that
make our market the envy of other
cities the advantages arising from all
of these, the doubling Thomas will
seebelong to the "niggers' that "'won t
work" The "niggers" do all the
work in the South, and the white men
do the heavy standing round and re-
eeive the money without devotin@ an
hour a day to the business which gives
them support. The Southern people
may as we'll understand, first as last,
that no pursuit in life can be success
full without hard work and personal
attention. The times have passed
when Southern farmer Cos 'planter, :"
as he calls himself) can get along
without working himself No man
can thrive in any pursuit who does rot
look after his business for himself.
Temporary successes may be made by
accident. but permanent prosperity
depends upon individual endeavor.
The ''nigger" ,oW work, but he will
work more successfully if he has an
example and intelligent direction. If
the Southern people will only work,
brag about what they were "befo de
wah," but on the contrary they will
be able to boast of what they are noe >
The false idea SO strongly insisted
upon, in the days of slavery, that the
negroes were an inferior race and not
intended to be the ellal Of the
Southern white man, has been fully
exploded by the rapid progress they
have made since the overthrow Of
slavery, AMI the negro has had an
opportunity to become a man anon;
men.
Lst any person. visit the closing ex-
ercises of any of the negro public
cioo,s Of this city and sea the beau