The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1881-01-19
Wednesday, Jan. 10, 1881.
1.-THE Labor Question in South Caro-.
nna.S

Various Of onr exchanges have recently had
something 70 say about Labor In South Car
olina. And. In our opinion, the only dcma.
gosical work of the last session of our l.egis'
lnture wasa futile attempt to control "labor"
under tho guisc Of Furnishing negroes for Vio'
lation OF contract to work on the farms.
This week we reprint an article on the In
Dor subject from n late issue Of the Charleston
INcus and Courier. Among other matters con-
tanned therein Is q repetition If the asSer-
tion about the supcrabundance of colored cit
liens in South Carolina, alleged to have been
made by the Hon. NJ. c. Butler, who repre-
sents US In the United States Senate. In the
first place. we do not believe that the Honor
able Senator ever uttered so foolish and alb
surd All expression; and. In the second place,
II he did express the opinion imputed TO him
i, Is perfectly certain that he could not find in
all South Carolina "a bakers dozen" OF prac-
tlcal men with common sense whom he could
lead into such a fa,lacy. With thousands Of
acres Of fertile land In every county OF the
State lying idle and going to waste for the
want Of labor to TIL the soil, we are unable to
see how any friend OF South Carolina, outside
the lunat!c asylum. could encourage or lead
the negroes TO go elsewhere. In Abberille
county tucrS arc ABOUT I'VE tIlouSdIlu AcsioSs
and about three thousand white voters, and
yet II appears from the Auditors books that
only about one-fourth OF our lands are in cul-
aviation. With o knowledge of this condi-
tion Of affairs, we take any man who would
the colored people away from thtscoun-
tn to be little less than a public enemy.
Every man. whether white or black, who
allows and makes q bag Of cotton Is a public
'benefactor, and contributes just that amount
10 the wealth Of the county. 1t is from the
flow OF little springs that tho great strt am
derive their strength, and In like manner it Is
by the contributions Of individual far, ers
that the great volume or money Is Increased.
Jnstead Of having too many negroes in Able
VILE county, we need twice as many as we
have. Nearly every farmer in the county
could give employment TO one or more color.
cd families and find themselves greatly bene-
flied thereby. II our citizens had tenants TO
the capacity Of their farms, the rents would
soon make us the richest people In the world.
But as II is, there are farms here containing
from three hundred TO five hund:ed acres,
with only one or two tenants who Guilt
rnte perhaps one-tenth of the land.
The attempt OF the Legislature 10 control
abor" by the act TO punish persons for entic-
ing laborers away from another's farm was
unworthy Of the best and most thorough.go-
ing General Assembly that has me. in South
Carolina since reconstruction. The best aud
Only true way to control labor Is to treat the
hired man lairly aud reasonably and to pay
him good w~ages-certainly all that we prom
Use. We have had practical experience with
laborers and mechanics ever since the war,
and have yet to find the first cause of general
complaint. Good pay and fair dealing has
never yet failed TO satisfy both employer and
employee. By this rule. when either becomes
dissatisfied a settlement cures all source OF
trouble. Why any man should want a labor
er on his farm after he had become dissatis.
fled, Is more than we can und rstand. When
ever on employee is not loyal, he should, In
our opinion, be dismissed immcdiatcly-we
would have no unwilling laborer about us.
Whenevcra man can do better for himself by
working for another than lie can for us, we
not only cheerfully consent, but advise tho
change. A poor mans muscle Is his capital,
md he should dispose Of IT to the best adran-
. tage to himself and his family. Holding this
view OF the matter, whenever we canuot az
E fo-d 70 pay ns hssh-as another for labor. or
help OF any kind, We just let the ertpioJ~@<
as he should do. In our opinion a man that
talks abou. being unable to control labor"
only proclaim s his own unfitncss for the busi-
ness he pursucs.
We are perfectly sick and tired Of al, this
talk about controlling !a ees. ITrs.-
, cisc9~ Kearncy and his followers some time
ago undertook TO control capital" Weknow
or nothing to equal the atrocity except the ef
iort to control labor" Combinations or laws
to make either subservient to the other Is an
outrage upon justice. The laws should be a
shield to the poor and weak, and not AN en-
CINE to crush and Cypress them.