Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1884-09-21
THE POLITICAL FIELD.
SENATOR JONAS ON BUTLER.
ne Csnsrsdiets the 0enersrs Statements
About seushcrh Labor.
fvew York Times.I

ne csntradiets the 0encrsrs ssasemen"
About southern Labor.
New York Tiines.l
United States Senator Jonas, member OF
the National Committee from LOUISIANA,
made the following statement yesterday 10
reference 10 an assertion made py 1enera,
Butler: 81 find In the papers reports OF
the speech delivered by General Butler al
Newark. n. J., on Thursday, from which
I extract the following: How can you
lsboripp -men expect 10 he prosperous, with
the narpcr labor Of the South coming
into direct competition with your The old
sIaye-masters hold them with rod OF iron,
and thew have their labor for one half what
Won have. They como into direct COMPETE
lion with YOU. This il q question OF labor.
Won don't want panper labor over here
from Europe TO compete with you, and yet
we have I'm this couatry four million or
moro Of laborlng-men and women OF the
south who are working for hail The price
,hat you are, and the souf1crners boast that
they can produce manufactures cheaper
then YOU cin. So they can, when they do
moi nay their men anything. Those men
have votes a. you bayc votes. but II Is no
use for them TO put them In the ballot-box.
Tbey are not counted fairly, and every
man ia this country knows 1t. ! want you
10 reflect upon this. IL Is serious thing
II the thousands OF masters OF the slave
can make their negroes. as they call them
st;II. work for one half what you do, then
your wages must come down, and what
IL The use Of tariff in your favor II this is
10 90 on?'
"Noihing could be more unfair or un-
true than this siatement. and General But
Ter is n man OF too much ability and IN
formation TO have made 1t without an in
tcnt,on to mislcad. His evident design Is
10 prejudice the workingmen oil the North
arainst the people OF the South. The
coored people OF the South are engaged
almost exclusively in agricultural pursuits,
in the cultivation Of cotton, tobacco. and
cane. raw materials. which are grown to
very limited extent in the North, and
In the production OF which they
do not come into competition with
any class Of laborers in the North, as Gen.
eral Butler knows full well. These colored
laborers are not paupers. nor do they re-
ceiye pauuer wages. On the contrary. they
are better paid and cared for than the same
class Of unskiled laborors in any part oi
the North. They are in nowise slaves, nor
do they acknowledge any masters. On the
contrary. they make their own contracts,
| and there Is frequently sharp competition
for their employment. OF course, they often
| change employers.
"The operatives in southern factories
and manufacturing establishments are al
most exclusively white, and receive, as 8
rule, better wages than are paid TO the
same class OF workmen in the North. In
deed. most OF the skilled operatives and
workmen have been brought from the
North. They certainly would not have
changed their homes except for some pc
euniary benefit TO be gained.
"rhe charge that the colored men are
not permitted TO vote and that their votes
are not counted is a stale aud oft-refuted
SANDER. II they are paupers. us General
Butler asserts, they would have no right
TO vote, hut as they are honest and Indus
trious laborers they do vote. In fact. they
cast nearly the entire Republican vote OF
the South. Thousands OF them are intelll-
gent enough to know that their best friends
are to be found in the ranks OF the Demo-
cratic party, and consequently they vote
that ticket regularly. SO far as have been
informed. none OF The colored people in
tend 10 vote for Butler, which, | suppose.
is the reason that he stigmatizcs them as
| 'paupers.'