The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1880-09-04
CoNfINuED FROM FIRST PAGE,
SENATOR LAMAR'S SPEECH.


tributng no little to the material develOl
- ment of our country
Sir, movements of population possei
!. qualities of interest in our country apa
from that which now attaches to this mel
local question. The activities of the preser
age are scientific and mechanical, Anon
, the nations of the world this country
one of the most scientific and mechanic,
taken rs population. As result frol
this we are Il vigorous, active, restless pee
pie, abridging even human life by the attr
! ton and waste incident to our perpetus
l. activities. This has been so characteristic
of the country and so uniform that IL cease
to be novel with us. We not only brin
emigrants here in excess of all other pee
pie in the world but when they come the
move, and the native population moves
! and the whole country, II we look at II il
, reference to this question, is Il pOpult
ocean, whose waves are never ut rest. Thi
motive to movement and migration is tn
result Of the growth Of intelligence am
mechanical development.
Now, in this tendency of the negro I,
emigrate we have hopeful sign that he l.
catching the spirit of American energy ant
enterprise, and taking on American habit
and IDEAS, and there is therefore nothing
in the movement which is not creditablc Il
the institutions Of the country and credita
Bile to the race that is Immediately affected
tributed to the migratory tendency of the
negro. There has been some disappoint
ment among the negroes arising from theil
failure to realize the sanguine expectation,
of acquiring homesteads and accommodating
property. This has originated in the very
nature of things and is not chargcable to any
political consideration, nor does it reflect
ut all untuvorably upon the people Of the
South The impression is sought to be
made that their disappointment arises from
adequate wages and from dishonest and
oppressive treatment by their employers
Neither is true As Il class they are the
best paid labOrers to-day of the same grade
in the world. Statistics will conclusiyely
| show this to be the ease.
The negro is disappointed because Of the
condition of things in the South that would
exist in any other country under the same
circumstances, and because of the DISPOSE
| ton and habits the negro himself has ac-
| quired, the purchase of his supplies ON
credit. Getting credit so readily as he
does he runs up that credit too high, he
uses it too reCklessly, Us is shown by the
very accounts which Were produced before
the committee The traders who charge
him eXtravagant prices for these supplies
do not belong to the native communities
there, whether Of planters or small white
farmers, native merchants, or the negOes
| themselves they generally come from for
eign lands or the North. From this habit
of not paying cash for what they get they
do not really know how greatly their ac-
counts are growing, and buy beyond their
means without being conscious of the fact.
They are not cheated, legally and techni-
cally but they make needless and eXtrava-
giant purchases in the use Of the license of
credit with those crOss-rOad traders, who
would take and do take the same advantage
OfignOrance and crcdulity in the white man.
Ignorant and credulous people, white or
black. are treated in the same way at the
North and the world over.
Under such circumstance the negroes
cannot but find difficulties in acquiring
homesteads or accommodating property; in
fact, the race is yet in its infancy and SIM
ply going through its noyitiate experience,
an experience that all people have to 20
through. The negro is really learning in
Il school that will ultimately teach him
more ctfectually than academies and col
lcges; and in this connection the lesson is
being taught our planters as well. Their
attention is being brought to this subject.
and conventions and associations are held
for the purpose of protecting their labOrers
from the greed and ;lVarcc of the small
traders.
If this or any other cause, however,
shall create Il desire among them to try
their fortunes in other sections Of the
country, there Is no reason to believe that
our northern brethren would lind such Il
population. even in considerable numbers.
Il drawback or drag upon their civilization.
They are physically an extraordinary race.
and stand, either in work or play. expo
sure to any kind of weather; and | believe
tics H"Nc "lIc"uE snoWh thGy can endure
llc Il9orS OF northern cllhnate' ihey
aIe eAcelleht laDorcrS III Il certain sphere.
IT IL tr1e tney are awkward ana lnlaclIe as
nSnIcultuI"l ltpo[eIs o1ltsIue ol COTTON cut
,urG' ana not adapted 10 lOou-prouuclh%
ltlsbahury' Dut upon pubic works or any
laIge unuertaklhgS winch require the
supervision Oh lhtelilGent supcflhtcnuehts,
there Is not more clIlcleht CLASS OF labor
eTs IN lhe Woflu.
ihey are ggttlh% educated aIso-nol AS
wen educated As the laborlhg population
OF ihG NORM, LOT our country Is sparsely
scttleu anu our people poor from lhc DESC
iauoh OF the late war. we nave not as
Soou Achool systems; put III every state
we nave GoilegeH, ana academies, ana
schools ana the faculties Tor education are
Is Soou lor the black as Tor the white, and
tney are undef thc ihiluchce OF the Chris
IAN reH$l0h, as Blshop simpson says
my are pellGFeLs Ill II ana cannot Dt con-
sluelcu barbarian race OF Il barbarian I'M
migration WhefeVerthey go. For that rea-
son l would not. as Il southern man, nm
ucl lHcil GIL Sfatloh, MOI, as northern man,
lcPei IT,
As 10 inc migration OF twenty-five
tlouHahu from the SCUM, Why. SIT,
II Is uTop III tne bucket. Ihere
are more White men that nave gone out OF
MISSISSIPPI than mat number, ana many
more more tnah that NUMBER nave come INTO the
otale since the war, ana Iuily n1ty thousand
negroes nave came lmtO mississippi during |
the >alhe perlo9' ms late movement, |
lherelofe, Is no INDICATION OF deep, grey
Gus wrong perpetrated on the one side or
great t sunering on the otner: taxing the
mos unia!Oraple view OF II, II VIII prove
'Late Oh thlhSs at the South precisely SIM
!lar 10 thaI when exists Ill the H0rth ana
III every part OF lne clNlliZeu world 10 VIII, |
4. = Ut. oppression ana want Ol prosperity among
those VINO WORK lor wages ana desire 10 |
DeIIGr tlelT cohdltlOh ny urinary methOds
ny dOanuoIlhg Che WORK IN Which they are
mlleulateIy engaged ana elhDarklhS INTO
3tncI anu new nelds Oh enterprise anu IN
IusIIles' II Il no eNiuehce ol wrong anu
oppression LOT II So wrong ana Oppres-
lon run rloI aI the Nortn' Wherc every
lay paper leiis Oh IhG sIFihCs OF iaoorcrs
II larger numbers ana OF longer uuFaIlOh
Il nan Inat Whlch mas oech SlghallZed at the
'OulH by inc name OF eAOuuS.