National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1881-03-25
The Emigration Question.

Ii Is stated THAT there Is movement
on foot looking to anothervery large emf
grafton of colored people from the South
northward While we confess that the
political prescription incident to the con-
dition of the colored race is such as calls
upon them to exert themselves to
better their prospects, this movement
has features that should at least
have careful consideration before any de-
cisive action is taken. The first thought
is, what will the colored man do at the
North? Occupations outside of farming
are overcrowded by labor that has the
advantage of him, so that the task of
making bare living is no inconsiderable
one to the non-eXpert. Farming is the
only pursuit that promises advantages
at all commensurate with what he
gives up. But farming at the North,
while it offers undisputed opportunities
to do well, and even to make money, is
very different thing from its following in
the South. There, such produce as is
necessary for comfortable living is
bountiful gift. By earning enough to
build himself cabin or house and to pay
for rations of fresh or salt meat and corn
meal, with what he raises in his little
garden, the colored man, with his family,
is independent so far as mere livingis con-
cerned. Food and warmth are almost
free gifts. He has the elements and sur
roundings for the attainment of the high
est happiness. He can live luxuriously
on a mere pittance. The conditions at
the North are not so favorable, though
they exist, in a degree. And then the
comfort to the race in living in the South
ern atmosphere is no inconsiderable item.
The question Of keeping warm has no
part in his thoughts there, but in the
North he must contend with long winters,
which entail expenses for fires and extra
clothing and subject him and his de-
pendents to hardships and sickness, of
which they know little in their Southern
homes. And again, at the North even
farming is not only harder pursuit, but
it costs much more to engage in it success
fully. Land is higher, to begin with, and
its cultivation is more laborious; and it
takes costly machinery to compete sue
cessfully with other farmers. And crops
are more uncertain, while other expenses
attendant upon the necessities of food
and shelter are largely in excess as to cost.
But, despite all these drawbacks, there
are opportunities in the North which are
very enticing. But the chief considera-
ton is that the colored man is free and
respected according to his worth. He
has the highest privileges in the great
pursuit of his Intellectual, moral, and
financial advancement. Neither knowl-
edge orreligionis is refused him, and no man
envies his success in accumulating prop
erty. AS far as his attainments go he will
be treated as a white man. But he will
not have, nor should he claim, any in
diligence on account of his color or pre-
vious condition. Within the scope of
what he may reasonably ask he will
receive protection and encouragement.
But should he expect to enact the role of
a martyr and receive more than is ac-
corded, as man to man in the hard strug-
gle Of existence, he will be mistaken and
disappointed. But all other questions in
this matter will yield precedence perhaps
to one vital point. Is the colored man to
have any secure political existence in the
South? If not, the North is the asy-
lum and home for him. But we believe
this question is being answered in the af-
firmative 1t is necessity of the situa-
ton. He is the power welded to the
soil. He cannot be divorced from it, and if
in any large degree the white man here
after abuses this force, which means his
own success as well, it will retaliate in
kind. The white mans necessity is the
co!ored mans opportunity. Let the
negro learn, not by harsh measures, to re-
sist, but by mild measures to refuse.
Let him exchange his labor for his rights;
power as worker for protection as a
man and citizen; work for votes. In this
view he holds the mastery of the situa-