Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1885-02-04


| as against 200 whites. James Island, with
| white population of 100 souls, has abou
$500 negroes"
"What proportion of the land is nov
/ owned by negroes?'' "You must remembel
| that prier to the war the landed proprietor
of the Sea Islands were the wealthiest mel
4 in the State, men who lived like barons OF
large estates surrounded by their vassals
| Outnumbered by the negroes, and bitterly
| opposed by them after the emancipation
| these planters had to flee to the mainland
| and only returned after the Federal govern.
ment interposed in 1866 ind restored to them
| the possession of their estates. Ths first
year of the reoccupation was prosperous, but
| crops failed and the fatal cotton worm came
| in the years 1888 1869 and 1870 Then as q
| last resort new methods Of cultivation were
! adopted. Very much smaller tfaots of land
| were planted, but these were thoroughly
| drained and highly fertilized. This scientific
! experiment was successful and both blacks
! and whites were prospered by it. The nc
groes fi57g cfwn 1000 of the acres of Edisto,
| 500 acres of Wadfns1aw, about 1 900 acres
I OF .t:arnes Island and 4,50G acres of Johns
Island.'
"Can the negroes afford to plant accordiin ne g
to the new system?" "Of course they do
| not fertilize SO heavily and do not make SO
| much of subsoil draining. You see the new
| method, while it increases the yield to the
acre, is rather expensive. The best drainage
costs from $40 to $50 per acre, while the
cost of manures adds from S2G TO $40 per
acre to thig figure. The yield of cotton is
commensurate with the extent of the fertili-
zing and draining. Under the old system
the yield was from 80 to 100 pounds to the
| acre; the average yield on the plantations of
| the whites is now from 200 to $50 pounds to
/ the acre, while in exceptional instances prize
| acres ha75 7sefHa1 as high as 575 pounds.
On James Island, whefe fhe processes of cot
ton raising most perfect, il IS not very
unusual for an acre to yield 4OU pounds.
These estimates made in lint or ginn, d
cotton. Perhaps the average net profit of
the island plantations may be set down Us
$50 per acre, though in some instances the
net profit is twice this figure. Of course the
blacks have to work more economically when
in their own employ snd SO they achieve
less.'
''Do the negroes prefer to serve their for
mer masterss ''No, as rule they are am
bilious to work to- themselves. Of course
they do not accumulate mtich; for they love
to live fully up to their income. But they
are progressing, and l believe are more
prosperous than in any other part of South
Carolina. Nearly every head Of family
owns a small house, o horse mule, COW,
few hogs, buggy and a stock of farming
implements. In 1880 the coiored people of
Edisto Island alone purchased over 800 horses
and mules, 800 carts and 100 buggies. The
negroes are peaceable and la17-abidiRg, save
in exceptional instances when some Of your
northern speakers address them; ana we
have almost forgotten that they are the t1ir-
bulent element from which we fed at the
opening of the war Their advancement is
Just commensurate with that of the white
planters. They raise cotton a little cheaper
but get crop which is one-third smaller
''Is there much northern capital in the
islands," ''None at all now. Northern cap
.4,Iso LIANT
these islands, but they were inclined to dis
regard all the traditions of cotton culture
and substitute their own theoretical knowl
edge instead; and they failed
''Do the Sea Islands grow anything except
this long cotton?' ''Some corn is grown and
some of the smaller grains. On st. Johns
Island such excellent tobacco has been grown
that the cigars manufactured from it sold as
high as those imported from Havana. Indi-
go and rice were largely grown on Edisto at
one time but these industries have decreased
latterly in importance and amount to almost
nothing now"
elbow did the negroes get start on their
own hookss" ''We have what is called a
two-day system, by which laborer works
for planter two days in the week and re-
ceives in return the use of from five to seven
acres of land, q home free OF rent and as
much wood IS he needs. We also have a
system by which the laborer cultivates two
acres for the planter and enjoys the use of
five acres for himself. Gradually the labor
earns enough to buy a few acres outright"
"Do you know of any conspicuous in
stance of colored success.' ''There is
gro named John Thorne who is reputed to be
worth $50, ,0G0 and who is quite a capitalist
in his way. He came to Edisto in 1872 and
purchased a tract of 75O acres, paying S6, 200
for it. This purchase was made in the in
terest OF q cooperative association number
~
impecunious whites and blacks alike, char
ging from fifteen to twenty per cent year
as Interest," proceeding which is common
although the legal rate of interest in the
State is seven per cent. So prosperous are
the negroes that we have found it hard to
get enough plantation help at any price.
The negroes also fish and hunt good deal
after crops need no more attention"
GLOW about education in your out-of-
the world islands:'' ''We feel ahead of the
portions of the State in some re-
spects. In Edisto we have four negro schools
with 657 pupils. The school sessions are
from four and half to six months. We
have two white schools in Edisto to meet
the wants of our half hundred children of
school age. In Wadmalaw are five negro
schools taught by white teachers, with an
other school i'll prospect, as against one
school for our seventy five white children,
and this one school so inaccessible to
have only membership of fourteen pu-
pills. On johns Island are twelve colored |
schools and no white schools. James Is
land has five colored schools and white |
schools. Of course spread over so
much ground that the educational problem |
is d complicated one, and cannot be adj |
equately solved with you in the favored |
North. In Edisto, for instance, the few !
white ladies SO isolated from each other |
that in order to divert their attention a |
Of fhar, how fo1-o heavy
work for the plantation hands, an occupa- |,
lion which lady of my acquaintance |
made to net her S400 one year. You would |
lot say that there is healthy state of So |
,iety in most of the islands, I suppose. |
rhe colored people flock to church en- |
nasse of Sunday, and love to spend their |
evenings during the week in prayer meet |
ngs and revival services" |
docs the population increase rapidly"
1T would I think We're it not for the care |
essness of the colored people or their econo- |
ny in the matter of calling in medical aid, |
specially in the case of the young Slavery |
vas an institution which deserved to die, but |
t has this advantageous feature: The negroes !
enjoyed prompt, frst-class treatment in case |
If illness. Infanticide also prevails to some |
,xtent, 1 regret to say"
care the colored people superstitiouss"
More so with us than where the railroad, |
telegraph and other great institutions have |
zone. You know the caterpillar was d fear |
jul scourge with us until we discovered a |
'emedy in Paris green. The negroes will not
lse Paris green on the ground that the cater
pillars are a visitation of divine wrath. A
in the direction of iutemperance is
ne one fault of the negro in some places"
(Which is the coming city of the South
,ast-Charleston or Savannah II am not |
N oracle in that matter. I think Savannah, |
which has about Al 900 inhabitants now, is
It present growing the fastest. Its exporta-
ion of cotton and rice, and latterly of naval
torres, (you noticed the barked pines from
he railway train) is slowly but steadily in
reasing The trade from the Bahamas,
Vest Indies and States of Central and South
America has latterly been diverted from both
,orts and absorbed by the large northern
,orts Charleston, with population of
6, 900 inhabitants or thereabouts, is get
ing more enterprising it sees trade belng
oncentrated at New York, and makes tol-
rably good showing. The total trade of last
ear was nearly So, ,0O0, 900, the local manu-
actures reaching s9,000,00O. The phos-
,hate business is growing rapidly. Cotton
pinning has more than doubled itself during
he last four years Much has been done to
via Charleston between Chi
ago, st. Louis and the other cities of our
reat Northwest on the one hand, and the
'ahamas, West Indies and South America on