The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1881-12-07
The Ola and rev son1h
.he Philadelphia 49, .

SINCE the war, great eAAl8e AAs $500
Mace in the cultivation OF COTTON, =
shown by the Atlanta Exhibition. IL tue
era of negro slavery. cotton Ptahtation
was a large area, OF which q poftlon va
lazily cultivated by the bl acks, Mnlie s. the
rest lay faIlow 10 recover from tne eilecls /
~ the reneated cultivation OF the same
~ 80 The culture was land-5utchery of the |
svorrt sort. and slavery was forced to seek
..yar fresh fields for extension, having
biigbted those which it first. took up
Hence the struggle for the admission OF
Texas the annexation of Northern Mexico, /
and the admission of slavery TO he Terri
tories Hence. also, the attempt 70 secede /
v,ban the eountry elected a President who
was hostile to the extension OF slavery,
although ready to tolerate its continuance |
The impoverishment caused by the war put
an end. for the most part, to the plantation
svstem. The growth of small farms OF ten /
acres and upward is one of the most marked
features of the industrial movement 10 the
Soutb As A matter OF course, the cuttiva-
tion i much better than it was. Food IS
grown "a well as cotton, and the cotton Is
imnroyinq in quality "a we'll a; extending
in area. The South still deies the compe-
tition of Surah and of Egypt, and promises
10 bring this staple to a perfection not
known in thu days of slave labor.
We have never seen more palpable
misstatements in the same space.
A dense cloud of ignorance has ex-
cluded single ray of truth from the
mind of its author. There is some
excuse for tyro's ignorance of the
South as it was in ante-bellum days, If
he lives where habitual misrepresenta-
ton of her people and condition has
been the rule for nearly half a century,
but there is none for such ignorance of
the present condition as is displayed by
the writer above quoted.
In the era of negro slavery cotton
plantations were not ''lazily" nor
slovenly cultivated. There were excep-
tions, but as rule they were cultivated
with skill, and plantation labor was
model of system and industry The
plantations were kept in perfect order.
Business was conducted with clock-like
precision. bitches were kept open.
Water courses interseeting plantations
were Strengthened and confined in narrow
channels. Underbrush was not per-
mitted to grow on the banks. Where
lands were undulating, hills dltchlng
prevented them from washing into gull
lies. Lands were rested by alternating
crops. from cotton to grain, and from
both by pasturage. Fertilization was re
sorted to when necessary, and was 1t not
unfreauent that lands naturally barren
were made rich by artificial means. The
Weld per acre of cotton and corn cult,
waited by slave labor was largely in ex,
cess before the war, of the present yield
when cultivated by uncontrolled negro
labor, for the simple reason that being
compulsory, work was done expeditiously
and at the right time. The failure Of
corn raising in the South since the war
is due to sluggish and untimely cultiva
ton. Corn must be worked in the right
way and at the right time, or it is lost
Cotton is of slow growth and the plant
can live despite of thriftless and i'm
prOyident culture. The sections Of the
cotton growing region in which the land:
have not deteriorated, are what are
known as the >uplands in which labor
was performed mostly by the whites be-
fore the war, and since emancipation the
labor has been done either by them, OIL
under their direct control.
The writer in the American shows his
ignorance in attributing the struggle fol-
new territory in the South to a motive
of the planters to fly from impoverished
lands. The truth is that no people OIL
earth were ever more attached to then
homes; or took greater delight in max
ing them comfortable and at the same
time the abodes of an elegant and refined
hospitality. The struggle for the ex
tension of Southern territory originated
in higher and stronger motive-a
motive of self-preservation--a desire t.
preserve the sectional equilibrium. |
the writer was informed, he would know
that the contest between the North anC
the South with reference to this matter
of sectional supremacy commenced
almost as soon as the government of th'
United States was formed Sectiona
jealousy was signally displayed by tn
New England States when Louisian
was admitted into the Union nearl.
eighty years ago. Massachusetts mad
it the occasion of threat to secede from
the Union on the ground that the &C
QUESTION of the territory of Louisian;
would add weight to the Southern ex
tremity of the Union, As time pro
crossed and sectional hostility develop
ed in the North, the motive increased
with the Southern people to acquire new
: territory adapted to their institutions
Their object was not to provide an es
cape from impoverished lands as thu
} American ignoFantly states-nor to in
crease the number Of slaves as othe
no better informed writer's have said
but to preserve the balance of powe
between the North and the South fol
the maintenance of the equality of the
Southern States in the Union and tn,
preservation of the government as i
was originally established,
i GounH nootrSna