The Bossier banner., 1892-04-21
THE SOUTHERN PLANTER
Why His Condition Shows So Lit
tie Improvement.
He Has Failed to Put Into Practice the
Lessons Taught by Experience,
and is Still Slave to the
Storekeeper.

The Memphis correspondent of the
New York Times has the following to
say in relation to the condition of the
planters of the south, and the causes
operating to keep them from showing
that degree of material progress no
ticeable among their brethren engaged
in agricultural pursuits in other por-
tions OF the country:
The men who brought about the convention
recently held il this city for the purpose OF in
quiring into the causes of and providing
remedy for the prevailing agricultural and
business depression in the cotton states uncon-
sclously suggested the underlying cause in the
name selected for that body. They called it
the Cotton Planters convention" That word
planter" tells the story, at least so far as the
Mississippi valley is concerned. 1t is inherited
from the time before the war, and represents in
two syllables the evils of the economic system
that obtained under the institution Of slavery,
without the counterba.ance of it's advantages:
There were then no farmers in the cotton
country except among the poor white trash, "
who didn't count. The producer of the great
staple insisted upon the high sounding title of
planter, and, as general thing, his expendi-
ture and business method or, rather, lack Of
method, were in keeping Herewith. The labor
thdU bLlCu LIS IdLluS WAS Luo HuOSb uOCIO OA
earth, and perfectly adapted to the climate and
the nature of the service required of it. But
for that and the fertility of the soil he would
not have been abe to keep afioat at all. The in
crease OF his SLAVE Ur9pefty represented his
growth in tangible wealth. for he had bit little
except his negroes and his realty, Which wodld
have been valieless without them This dis
agreeable fact was brought home to him before
the war was two years old; and within six
months after the emancipation proclamation
was bankrupt; and that in the most compFe-
hensiVe sense of the term.
He had broad acres that produced only d
tythe of the former abundance, for lack of
t&ose strofig black hands, and worse still, there
was nothing for him to eat; for the planter of
the valley raised nothing but negroes and Got
ton, together with corn enough for his slaves
and mules, when the season was kind enough to
make it for him. This did not happen more
than three years out of five, and in consequence
the western fiat b6atrhen waxed rich on the
sale of their cafg6es of grain and forage. The
planter considered the breeding Of stock and
the production Of food crops only as incidental
to the main purpose; and not worth c6nsidefa-
ton in comparison with cotton. The pl6dding
farmers of the west relieved him of all trouble
on that score. So, year after year the lions
share of the profits realized from his pet crop
found its way into the pockets Of the 200 acre
man iii Ohio, Illinois and Iowa, while the
remainder went for pleasure or the Dur
chase Of more land or negroes These values
nullified in the tremendous reckoning that came
at last. he found himself with empty barns and
no meat-perhaps without so much as chicken
for his dinner
There were exceptions, but the rule was as
stated. Nowhere else was there class of peo-
pie so abundantly favored by nature, aud yet so
destitute of substantial resources and material
comforts; and when the bottom of the indus
trial system in vogue dropped out, their facti=
tious prosperity stood exposed as a barren ideal
ity.
The twenty years following the close of the
war have seen the cotton producer of the valley
rehabitate himself to some extent He has found
that free negro labor is not the bugaboo he had
expected. His houses and fences have been re-
stored, after fashion, and he is
day just as well off as he was in
1861 barring the loss of his slave property
But he has learned little in the school of ad-
versity, or else he will not turn the lesson to
account. The substance of his former state be-
ing swept away he gfasps at the shadow. The
aggregate value Of his principal crop has, in
deed, increased but that was inevitable from
the natural growth Of the negro population
coupled with the addition of hundreds of thoti-
sands of white men, whom stern necessity COM
peeled to seek support from their own labor in
the cotton fields. But most of these latter be.
longed to the class of small land -owfiers in s'the
hills" The large plantations in the valley have
remained practically intact, and they are con
Quoted in much the same way as before the
war. Then it was negroes and cotton; now 1t is
cotton. The corn crop Is still an incident II is
cultivated with "a lick and promise as of
yore, and when Heaven pleases enough is pro-
duced to feed the mules. The grinding of corn
for bread is not thought of. The reliance is on
western meal-an item of expense which even
the improvident ante-bellum planter avoided
when he could. No care Is taken of the few
hogs and cattle on the place. They are left
to pick up a living as best they may and IN
winter and times of drought their scanty num-
bers are still further reduced by cold and
starvation. The beeves and hogs are scarcelv
fit for food six months out of the twelve. and n
half dozen of the cows win give about as much
milk as one well-fed Jersey does
The standing excuse for this state of things is
that nobody can have any luck with stock on
account of the thieving niggers" Truly, It is
altogether matter of luck, for not more than
one planter in a hundred pays any attention to
his stock. 1t Is allowed to run wild, and. of
cotrse, gets scattered and lost. A hog killing
in the bottoms means hunt with dog and gun
in traditional Black Forest style, and like Gra.
tianos reasons, the animals when found ara
not worth the hunting. One may travel 200
miles through the delta without seeing a single
Sueep. 1uey cdH nOb De raised on account of
the dogs" The hawks and minks are resnonsi
bic for the dearth of poultry. And SO it goes to
the end of tine chapter
The natural consequence of such disregard of
the ordinary resources of a country life is that
the people have no variety in their food. There
is no civilized people Of equal pretensions who
so lack the materials for wholesome and an
petizing meal as do the dwellers on large plan-
tations in this region. The staple diet is corn
or wheaton bread, salt meat and coffee. save
with those who have the means and inclination
to procure other things at the groceries.
Passing along the streets of this city vhere
the groceries and produce houses are situated
one stumbles against packages ready for shin
ment to the country that would make north
ern or western farmer open his eyes in astonish-
ment. He would see coops of chickens. boxes
of eggs, crates of cabbage, boxes of condensed
milk, buckets of butter-in brief a general as
sortment of articles which every tilIer of tho
soil should produce at home, and the valley
folk could produce it If they would But thew
are content to have their dairy in Iowa their
poultry yard in Missouri, and their vegetable
garden anywhere, except on their own land.
Such lack Of thrift could have but one result
The planter who has credit enough spend the
proceeds Of his cotton crop before it is gathered
and sometimes before it is made If the Weld
proves good one and prices fair he paws ont
of debt. but only to plunge in again at the OMEN
ing of next season. Should the crop be short
he must begin buying on time at high prices
with balance against him before n furrorr bas