Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-04-11
TUESDAY. ..........APRIL IL, 1893
The South and immigration.

One Of our Republican contemporaries
in Harrisonburg reproduces an article
which recently appeared in the DISPATCH
concerning the crowds of persons who
were Fastening to the "Cherokee Strip "
hoping TO get good tract of land there,
and comments upon ii as follows:
1--WE met recently a very intelligent gentle
man who has spent over ten years on n cattle
ranch In the indian Territory and who saw the
rush for Oklahoma in 1889, who said the Chero-
kee strip would be setiled and every homestead
of any value would be taken up In forty-eght
hours. And virginia, rich in everything but
liberation, is given the go-by.
"PeoBle VINO have always been free and who
wish 70 remain so and leave II as heritage TO
their children give us the go-by; or II one is in
weighed by the spurious wiles OF some real estate
agent, they get out rs soon as possible after
witnessing the political methods OF the best
people during ono or two campaigns
"Turkey 10 Europe is also a nne country
fertile soil genial skies. etc.-but who thinks OF
emigrating to Turkey? We tell the DIsrATcH-
""The fault dear Brutus, Is not in oUr stars,
But in ourselves, that We are underlings.'"
The charge here made by implication
against Virginians is akin to the charge of
the New York Press which VIC called atten-
ton 10 recentlY-namely, that they are
lacking IN federation" and that the fall
ure of foreigners to settle i'll this State is
due to that want. Our Harrisonburg con-
temporary Is totally mistaken. 1t is as GER
tain as anything can be that the presence OF
alarge population Of negroes In Virginia
keeps foreigners without her borders, and
the federation which is wanting is de-.
feet. il defect it be. in the character of the
would-be settler. 1t is these obiectiona-
bic colored motives that cause so many
more foreigners TO settle IN the northern,
western, northwestern, and Pacific States
than IN Virginia and the other south
ern States. Virginia possesses every
thing but white laboring popula-
ton that would induce immigrants TO
spread over all her hills and valleys.
She has delightful climate, lands which
are either rich or susceptible Of the high
est state OF improvement, freedom from
too much cold weather and from cyclones
and other things of that sort. She has
other advantages "too numerous TO men,
ton" But, as we have said, she has
large negro population, and where the
negroes are as numerous as they are III
some sections of Virginia white settlers
need never 10 DO expected. Suppose there
were 5000 whites in Virginia where now
there are 695, 900 negroes. What would re-
suit? Good schools. good churches, good
farms and whatever else we need. But
Caucasians are not gong to send their
children to schools which any considerable
number of negroes attend, and we in Viz
ginia shall have to continue to pay the
penalty of having once had negro slaves
to do all of our hard work for us.
As TO the federation spoken of by our
HarrisOnburg contemporary-that is,
tolerating" Republicanism-we must
say that if there is any spirit of "intole-
rance " manifested as against any white
people in Virginia, it is not northern men
nor foreigners who are the sufferers, but
persons who are native here. This in
tolerance" grew ont Of condition OF
things which We hope it will never be the
lot Of Virginia again to suffer.