Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-01-10
THE EXODUS
OF COiored People from Sonia Ca-OiiEa
TO Misunderstanding Like al
Since the Days of
PEaraOb-As Soon as Another Crop IL
Made There VIII Be Another
Grand Hcgira.
Elseaela county eo5resg9nYasnse OF the Charleston

Elgeheld county correspondence OF the Charlesto
News and Courier
There is no Disgusting the fact that mos
alarming condition Of things exists in Edge
fed county, in consequence OF the exodus @
the negroes to Arkansas, which began NOR
than a week since and has continued withou
intermission up to the present time. 1t i
estimated that already about one-fifth of tht
entire negro population of the county, o
more than FIVE thousand persons, have gone
and the fever Is still spreading. There ha
been nothing like it since the days of Pha
raoh, and the situation may well occasion
the deepest anxiety for the future. In III,
ridge section of the county, extending from
| the Lexington boundary 10 this place alops
| the line of the Charlotte, Columbia and An
| gusta Railroad, and east of this road to tbs
! Aiken county line, embracing a stretch Of
territory twenty-four miles loBg and four &c
five miles wide, it is estimated that at least
| four-fifths of the negroes have joined the exc
dus. The townships most affected by the move
| ment are Shaw, Ward, Norris, and portions
of Mobley and Pickens. Some of the most
| extensive plantations in this section, on
which large numbers of negroes were for
merly employed, are now without one col
! ored Iaborer, and the outlook is gloomy
| enough to cause widespread dismay. The
reports heretofore published in the news.
papers nave noI exaggerated single feature
! OF this unparalleled movement; entire settle
ments have been depopulated, and the public
roads leading to Augusta have resounded d ay
and nigh: for the past week with the shufiling
| tread OF a picturesque and motley caravan.
| There has been but little difference IN
THE STATEMENTS OF THE EXODUS PEOPLE
to the causes which have led to their depart
ure. The invariable complaints have been
| that the negroes enjoy no political rights
that they cannot vote at the elections, and
II they do vote that their ballots are not
countedi that they have a-.ef-ee~..e-.i-,-.
in the government, and that their rights are
in the keeping of Hostile political party.
Another complaint is that the rent of land is
so high and the prices of provisions SO e.or-
bitant they cannot make living. "For ten
years" as they express it, Eve have tried to
make money and have not been able to do so.
We are poorer now than when we began, we
have less-in fact We have nothing. We
have not lived extrayagantly, We have exer-
cised all the economy we knew how TO use,
and we are going further down hill every day
There is no help for us here; there's no use in
trying to get along under the old conditions
any longer, and so we have Just determined
to go somewhere else and take a new
start" Another caase Of the exc
dus is general dissatisfaction at the passage
OF the stock law, which the negroes claim
to be the straw that broke the camel's back.
To this cause more than TO any other conlbi-
nation or circumstances may be attributed
the determination of the negroes TO carry out
the exodus scheme without delay. They
claim that their wishes and necessities were
not consulted; that they were not asked or
allowed TO sign petitions against lis passage;
thet the law was passed in spite of the pro-
tests of the larger part OF the people of the
county, and that under its provisions they
E,,1 Il.
flesh of few i'll favored hogs they depended
for their supply of meat, and the little milk
and butter they could get from their cows
helped to keep the wolf from the door. These
supplies taken from them, they did not see
how it was possible TO get along, and so they
concluded TO 90 'un:o land" described TO
them as
GLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY"
General B. +. Nicholson, large planter
NEAR ttfdge spring, satd: - the exodus was
almost entirely political move, aggravated
by the passage of the stock law the dread of
the next campaign, the short crop Of the
present year, and the fact that many of the
negro farmers were closed out by the mer-
chants and planters, to whom they were in
debted for rent and supplies. Between Ridge
Spring and Johnston's about one-half of the
negroes have gone. had thirty hands en-
ployed on ny plantation aid Lost tHenty-
Ave of them. Their places have been sup
piled, however. The negroes who have gone
were the rich ones, and those who are left
behind are poor. There's not negro on |
my place, with the exception Of two who re-
manned with me after their companions left, |
who have bushel of corn or any otaer sup
plies. Most of my hands want to work next |
year fo@ wages; intending to live closely and |
save their wages, so that they may be able to |
leave the country next winter. The exodus |
will result in short crop next year and |
some suffering. 1t will probably be |
two or three years before the country
will recover from ii, but in the end |
it will prove to be benefit" While was
at Ridge Spring yesterday ] sauhtered into
a group Of negroes who were standing on the
street earnestly discussing the exodus. After
1iliSent pumping they said that .'there's no
use talking about it, the colored people have
Just begun to go. We are all going just as
soon as We can get off," When / told them
hat thes were foolish to think of such
hing unless they had little money to live
IN after they had reached their destin alton
,ne of the blacklist negroes in the lot replied
Boss, I'd iist as leave die wild de whcopin'
cough to die wild de measles. III we stay
lere ives gwine to die, and we'd Just as good
perish by the roadside on de way to Bockan-
as as to die in Souf Carolina" According
o these people, as soon as the next crop is
a
olored laborers remaining in this section of
he county viii follow those who have
.lreatiy gone. The eelored people with
Thom / have talked bitterly complain oil
heir treatment under the present admins
ration of the laws. | have no doubt that
IANY OF THEIR STORIES ARE WITHOUT
VCVSDATtoE,
ut the TACT remains that they feel they are
pjustly dealt with, and this sentiment will
cry probably induce them to seek other
ONES. Ii is said that there is a scarcity OF
abor in other counties in this part of the '
tate, and although no emigration project is
ct on foot, there are ominous whisperings
q Aiken and RarnwelI counties which do '
OF promise we'll Most of the negroes in
ae section of country from which the exo-
US was made worked under tenantry sys-
IN. They rented land and worked it on
leir own account, paying stipulated
mount OF cotton for every acre OF land
nder cultivation The rents have been very
Ugh. Through this section the rule has
zen to rent certain amount oil land for a
,rtain quantity of ready ginned cotton, the
mt being one bale of four hundred and fifty Z
ounds for from six to ten acres of land, the v
nant Being required to furnish his own a
rtilizers, stock and farming implements. C
he result of the system was that, after !
lie guano and supplies had been paid
r, there was nothing left at the $
ID of the year for the laborers. a
UGH of The land was rented in this way. a
n soil is very thin, and without heavy
rtiljzing will produce nothing like fair
op. To give an example of how the sys- i,
IN has worked l will mention the case OF p
! industrious, Woodworking, frugal negro o
rmer, who rented daring the past year C
rty acres of land, the stipulated rent being s
ur bales of middliDg cotton, weighing four
inbred and fifty pounds each. He was 6
mpelled to use two and half tons of COM
ercial fertilizers, for which he had to pay n
even hundred and twenty-five pounds of a
lt-cotton, or two and half bales. He
id seyenty-fve dollars for mule to pillow IL
crop, bought his own provisions on time, IL
wing a lien on its crop to secure the same, q
-nished his own labor and made seven 81
les of cotton. The yield was very little p
ort OF an average crop, and at the end OF +
2 year he had a half bale of cotton TO pay
his mule, his lien and his labor. The g,
tural conclusion is that the rent was too
III and that this farmer who rented under 4
: tenantry system, and whose condition
ords fair illustration of many Of his
ss, either had to steal or starve. A