The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1880-09-22
LABOR In THE SOUTH.

/ treats phiinsophically the labor ques-
! ton of the Southern States, and ex-
poses and demonstrates the alarming
defects and destructiveness of our ag-
ricultural system. The subject is one
of vital Importance, aud is eminently
worthy of the careful study and con-
sideration of those who control and
direct che agriculture of the South.
The wave of prosperity which is now
! reviving the spirits Of our people, who.
have'ior 80 long time struggled with
poverty and misfortune, should not be
permitted to blind us to those evils
which are visible to every observer,
and which are wasting and consuming
the real substance from which all
prospective prosperity must spring
| The subject is one of the gravest
import. and involves the real interests
Of the laborer in an equal degree with
those of the landholder. Who is there
that does not know that the produc
tiyeness of our best lands is being
constantly impaired, and that the.
yield Of successive crops, under the.
present system, is being continually
diminished r There may be few
isolated exceptio MS to the general rule,
but they count as nothing 10 the ag-,
gregate. Year by year the rewards of
labor are reduced, aud though almost
lmperceptibly, proprietor and tenant
may reckon their annual dividends as
diminishing in the scale of a descend.
ing aritl'metical progression. The
writer of the article to Which, We al
Jude contrasts the relative security Of
the farmer at the Nortl, and West
with the one at the South under the
share and tenant systems; in the one
case security is required tor rent Of
land, and whatever the proprietor
may furnish laborers on the farm, aad
the farmer incurs no risk from failure
of the crop, or the unreliability, un-
faithfulness or dishonesty of the con.
tracing laborer; but with the planter
at the South it is far different; fur
Llshing the en- tire capital invested in
stock, implements and necessary sup
plies, he incurs the whole risk from
unpropitious seasons, aside from that
imposed by the vacillating and utterly
irresponsible element which make up
so large part of the laboring class.
Under the share system, as here prac-
ticed, the tendencies are to destruc-
lion,. to ruin, and the speedy Empower
ishment of lands that, under more
enlightened treatment and with bat
trifling expenditure Of labor and the
application of the wasted fertilizers of
the farm, would increase in prodnc-
tiveness from year to year. Cotton
seed, which are sold for sixlollars a
ton, if applied to the lands on which
they are produced would return, in
one year, double that amount 10 the
increase Of the crop, besides being a
permanent investment in tile soil
which would greatly enhance its value.
Ditching and drainage, which arc now
wholly neglected, under u different
system could DO attended to, and if
thoroughly doue and maintained,
would alone double the l,rmluctivclless
of much land that now scarcely repays
the labor Of cultivation.
We might cite in support of the nd
vantages of the wage system, SO
strongly urged BY the New Orleans
Democrat, the admirable condition Of
those plantations in this Parish where
labor is paid by the year and con-
trolled by intelligent and practical
planters. The 'Willow Glen" planta-
ton, on Bayou Robert, exhibits very
forcibly what can be accomplished in
bringing plantation under thorough
cultivation by attention to all the de-
tails of enlightened farming with labor
employed for wages. We would in
vite the serious attention of our plan ,
ters to this subject, and shall conclude
this crude article with an extract from
the admirable essay to which we have
alluded:
] eve think, in fact, that tie negro
will work more faithfully and effec-
lively under intelligent direction than
when left to himself. We think tie
negro can always he controlled under
a policy of kindness and fair dealing !;
and as to the risk, we certainly con-
slider it less of risk to pay money for
labor actually performed than to adj
vance it in anticipation of labor which
may never be performed at all, or, If
| performed, Degligently and fruitlessly.
There is always this to be said in favor
of the wage system. One can then
| pursue the policy of bis choice; he is
master of bis own destinies. and it he
fails it is his own fault. Hiring labor
and operating it in his own way and
for his exclusive benefit, the planter
can at least keep up the standard Of
his place, maintain bis drainage avs
tenn and secure the replenishment of
his soil by the fertilizing power Of cot
ton seed. We fail to be convinced
that the share system is not the most
wasteful and the tenant system the
most hazardous of the three now under
consideration. Certain it is that every
Intelligent planter with whom you dis