The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1881-04-22
KANSAS AND THE FREEDMEN.

the subject before our readers if the cleo
tIon is held.
KANSAS AND THE FREEDMEN.
The leading public prints Of the
country have abOuRded recently, in
rum0rs Of the renewal, on q large scale,
of the negro exodus 10 Kansas during
the coming season, and these reports are
confirmed by the statement, published
elsewhere in this paper, of Rev. G. w.
Henning, OF the state board having in
charge the care OF the freedmen coming
from the south to this state. He says
that the exodus has already begun again.
and that large numbers Of the cOiored
people of the old slave states are NOV
ing or preparing TO move into Kansas,
which, as the "home OF old John
Brown" IL associated with all those
glorious results in behalf of which he
braveIy yielded up his life. Mr.. Hem
ming further says that the board has re-
ceived tenders from southern CONNER
cial centers Of unlimited means to check
the exodus, but this. he adds, Is beyond
its power. A persistent course of civil
and political oppression in the Sonth is
bearing its inevitable fruits, and the col
Ored man, who has not lived long enough,
as yet, in the new atmosphere Of free
dom TO turn and rend the forces which
would perpetuate his civil subjugation, is
fleeing from the domination of effete
prejudiccs and Is seeking a more auspi-
cious atmosphere for development and
progress in the free north. Heaven for
bid that Kansas, which was the first
bloody battle ground in that memorable
contest which settled forever the problem
of human equality in America,
should close its doors to the
oppressed Of any land. much less to those
of its own sister states. But the past ex-
perience of our commonwealth In rela-
ton to the movement admOnishes US
that it will not serve the interests Of any
of the parties concerned to contemplate
so grave a question as the exodus from
the standpoint of sentiment alone. The
sweet air OF liberty, which is waited
NCEO5o SuC OO0dAACoo PiNtAo va AAoHOoc 40
doubtless full of invigorating delight to
the men and women who have lived in
the low atmosphere OF Il social oligarchy,
under whose economy labor is demeaned
to the most degraded level and
where civil and political prescription is
the price of servitude. But men and
women are not chameleons, and the con-
ditions of their subsistence are founded
upon q more substantial basis than
splendid generalities. The vital inquiry
to be considered in connection with this
matter is: does Kansas offer a safe, le-
Ultimate field for new installment of
the class of citizens in question! Can
it be of any possible advantage to the
state or the freedmen themselves 10 du-
plicate the immigration which taxed
the resources of the commonwealth last
season TO their utmost limit? Does a
country as new as Kansas, and local
ity where there is comparatively SO
limited demand for labor, offer a re-
munerative field of occupation for per-
sons who have no capital aside from
their muscle to contribute to the devel-
opment of the resources of the state?
The population of Kansas, as is well
known, is made up TO conspicuously
large extent of persons Of limited means
from the older states, who, as rule,
have been tempted to come hither by the
chances always afforded in q new coun-
try of obtaining cheap lands and secur-
ing homes for u small outlay. They are,
in the main, persons whose education
and surroundings have inculcated les
sons of close economy, and who, by the
pursuit of that habit, hope to get ahead
in the world. They almost invariably
do their own work, and only employ Ia.
Dor under stress Of absolute necessity,
The exodusters, rs a rule, bring nothing
with them from their southern
homes but the clothing on their
backs and the household goods
with which their poor homes are furn.
ished. They have no money with which
TO purchase land, and if they had, the
conditions of our soil and climate are
not congenial TO the agricultural pur.
suits to which they are accustomed. The
towns and cities of Kansas are already
more than supplied with the class of un
skilled labor which the exodus of last
season augmented, and we fail to see
how the predicted influx of the same ell
ement to Kansas this spring can result
in anything but disappointment and suf
fering 10 the freedmen themselves and
marked damage to the general interests
of the state.
) The south is the natural home of the
r colored man, and barring political con
siderations, all the conditions by which
he is surrounded in that section are ia
vorable, in the highest degree, to his per
manent welfare. This position is al
r the more tenable IN view Of the fac
that the negro is an essential factor il
the development Of that favored portion
| of the American Republic, and if i
} were possible, It were better for the
freedmen to bear the oppression which
r in the very nature of things, is bounC
to be short-lived, than to brave TIT
uncertainties Of radically new methods
3 of life in a cline that is hostile t.
the very genius of their nature, II
9 however, the lash of political per
secution is more than quivering flesl
can bear, and it is ordered that the mad
I ness OF the dominant party of the soutl
}. shall prove the agency of its own de
struction, by driving from that section
the element upon which its very life de
/. ponds, let the coming exodus be directed
r to older and more opulent states thar
Kansas, to centers where employment
e can be furnished to labor, and cOmmun
!, tiles whose large wealth can be employ
: ed IN assisting a class of unfortunate
e humanity in whose behalf Kansas has
r already done such noble part.
.
c PRINCIPLE VS.. DEMAGOGUERY
Il The christian world is looking witt
e considerable interest upon the contest IL
e England between the well known Charlie
4 Bradlaugh, atheist, and Rev. Henri,
o Marley. They are opposing candidate
for parliament for Northampton. Mr.
II Il