The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1883-08-25
Senator Batter on Negro Labor.

Senat0r from south Carolina.
writes TO the Charleston News aud
Couries: In your editorial of the
2Sth inst. on "The Negro as a
Iaborer,' you have fallen into two
errors. First, when you say Sen
ator Butler took an extreme and
rather rash view .of the subject,
we think, when he said there was
no time sinte 1865 when the labor
has been more untrustworthy.
and that we could spare two hun.
dred thousand negro laborers -
and second when you say,
:" And yet the stubborn tact stares
MS in tue face that hs is the only +
laborer we have, aud that II is alb. .
solutely impossible to do without \
him, bad as he is.r
\ moments reflection would |
have convinced vou that could
never have said "we could never
nave said We could safely spare |
two hundred thousand of negro
laborers,n for the best reason in
the world, that there are not more |
than that many NEGRO laborersn
all told in the State. What | did |
say at Marion, or meant to say, |
was, that we could safely spare |
two hundred or two hundred and !
fifty thousand negroes from the |
State, aud | repeat it. said the
same thing when the SO called
exodus was going on from Miss.
issippi few years ago, aud when
"a "great outpouringn OF the
blacks was talked of from this
State some time later. lam per-
fectly candid in that opinion, and
believe IL would be better for the
whites aud better for the blacks.
1t would eQualize some things now
perilously unequal. II would
bring about an equilibrium between
the races, and give the white man
q clnnce by taking ont OF his path
the ruinous competition Of cheap
negro labor. 1t would give the
negro chance by removing him
rom from the maglign influences
of large masses of black people
and bringing him in sharp compcti.
tion with the more vigorous and
thrifty white race. But the rea.
sons for this opinion on my part
are too numerous to bo set out IN
this connection.
As to the second proposition,
"the negro is the only laborer we
have, aud that 1t is absolutely i'm.
possible to do without him. | EN-.
phatically deny. think Major
McLucas, very intelligent and
intelligent and obser,ant man
stated II correctly IN the discus
sion Mt Marion when he said. il
substance that the white laborel
of the State has Increased il
efficiency 80 per cent, and that the
negro laborer has decreased II
the same proportion. The mos
progressive and prosperous sec
tions of the country are where th,
white labor predominates, and !
: the white labor should be entirel,
withdrawn we should have
"howling wilderness" in less thar
quarter Of century. II on th,
other hand the colored laborerl
should be gradually withdrawn an
! their places supplied by the whit
race, we should have the most pro
gressive enterprising farmers il
, the world within the same perio
/ do not underrate the value AM
) Importance of negro labor. Itha
J done much and may do much more
: In the mines and otlier in ndustrie
requiring muscle they are excel
lent, but where brain and intelli
gence are required, as in diversi
fed farming they are not q success
| say there has been no time sine,
1866 when the labor has been NOR
worthy than now," becaus
) | hear the complaint on all sides
9 from black as we'll as white, and
! must conclude it is so. My owl
+ observation and experience tell
: me 1t is so. And, while | appre
D eiate the negro labor at its fu
+ value, and concede all that
I claimed for ..it, the proposition
endeavor to enforce is that, it
u is becoming more and more del
: cient year by year as agriculture
! labor, it behooves us to be lookin
s about for a remedy, if one can b
G had. That is all. There is SOM
!. thing more involved than the nun
Il ber of pounds of cotton and bus
els of corn and rice we can MAX
with negro labor, and IT is abol
time we were beginning to inqnil
Il what that someting is. | do II
a like to take a pessimistic view
thinva / am 0pnarallv more /