Morning journal and courier., 1880-03-11
Price Four Cents.

the country to go to, for poor man at any
 rate A person of means, in rare instances
 succeeds, but do not know of one who came
 here from the North or the West, or from | England, who invested in land and followed
 farming for living, who has not lost about all he invested, or will do so before he gets out. There are good many who came in
 and settled near Raleigh, Greensboro and oth- | CT places in the vicinity during the past nine 1 years most of whom left after a trial of from
 two to four years. In the first place. land is cheap here as compared with the North. but l land companies and agents take the advantage | of strangers and really charge big prices al- | though it seems cheap to the Northern buyer
 The soil in this part of the State is very poor and is not more than five or six inches deep l lying upon subsoil of red hard-pan which
 will produce nothing and is so hard that us, 1 ally no attempt is made to blow it up Flour
 wheat, corn, etc., can be bought as cheaply as
 they can be raised Wheat crops quantity than was sown as seed. The l average yield is to 10 bushels per acre Cotton is the staple, and usually costs fen cents per pound to raise it. If cotton does
 not bring that, of course the farmers lose.
 The soil, climate and labor being so different
 rom what we are used to at the North, a very
 different system of management is required, 1 but most new corners think they know ali
 about it. They despise what seems to them l the sloveniy methods of the natives. while I QDDrOfltabIA | ments, or lent to the people about them who
 do not pay back. They are cheated to some
 extent and thtevIng negroes take the rest 1 The people generally live from hand to noorth and seldom make anything by farming There is little better chance for q me- chanic, but as they command better l wages than farm hands, many of the poor whites and negroes who have means to get hammer and saw A trow- ell or painters brush, start out and set m to be carpenters, masons and painters. and of course there is not work enough to keen them all employed, so various methods are used to get employment by cutting under. which keeps wages low. There is no manufacturing done here to amount to anything, the trade in cotton being the life of the place. About the only redeeming feature that this country bas in my opinion, is the climate. The city of Raleigh is undoubtedly one of the baaItbias+ in the United States.
 Socially there is very little intercourse be- tween the settlers and the natives especially with the female portion. Northern visitors merely are treated differently. Politics have great deal to do with social habits Active Republicans, if white, are injured in business, or would be if there was any. in my opinion, in consequence of their noIiticsI creed. l know few who say nothing about politics and appear to care nothing about them, for policy sake. No bodily harm is feared, of course, but the prevalent feeline in
 
 enemies of the South, and good many parti sans during canvass express sentiments hos tile to helping or patronizing those who are opposed to them, especially those who are not natives, but believe this feeling is dying out. Negroes are not considered in the same lieht. IT Nortnefn men attend strictly to business, keep their views to themselves if not in accord with the prevailing political doc- trines, and avoid all controversies. they can probably get along well enough. 80 far as any personal trouble is concerned. Personally have been very well treated, and have. or neheye l nave, good many friends among the old residents here, but think it is for mV interest to say nothing at all about politics. and should not want my views known. for the reason that I depend upon the peopIe here for my living If were indepeudent in means it would make difference, but this feeling is not so strong as it has been. PoIi- tics aside. there are many fine people here, and think larger proportion of dead beats and sharpers than at the North Having been in the city of Raleigh-the capital of the State for the past eight years, l have been able to learn the opinions and feelings of the lead ing persons who congregate here, some of whom em we'll acquainted with, and others l have had business dealings with Ex-Goy- ernor Holden, now postmaster, ex-Senator Merriman, ex-GoVernor and Senator Vance and Senator Ransom and many others make this ciitJ their ho1e.
 If you are sufficiently interested and can spare the time to read a good description of Southern life from the experiences of a North ern man, get book entitled "A Fools Er- rand, by one of the Fools"
 It purports to be novel, but the principal incidents are real facts, which occurred in this State, and the author publishes his own views and expressions with some extra touch es to make connected sstory. was slightly acquainted with the writer and knew him wei by reputation. Hewas prominent man here and one of the smartest lawyers in the State. He published some law books, which are re- garded as indispensable to members of the bar, and is also the author of several popular novels. He held several high positions here, suffered great deal of abuse and left the State for good last fall. I agree with most of the views he expresses and most of his facts are indisputable, though the names of persons and places are changed