The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1894-11-15
THE SUBSTITUTION OF NEGRO
LABOR IN THE COKE MINES.

THE SUBSTITUTION OF NEGRO
LABOR IN THE COKE MINES.
Perhaps it would be n good thini
for negro laSorers TO be distributed
more generally over the country. es
pecially in the Industrial regions o
the middle and northwestern states
Upon the policy that any young maj
would do better thrown upon his owl
resources, away from the surround
ings of his youth and friends, il
might be well for this race to expert
ment with new and untried environ
ments. 1t would certainly break up
racial cliques and compel more indus
trious ha Its, but in suggesting any
change to them we feel like we are
advising incompetents to enter into a
hard race for lie. The coke regions of
Pennsylvania are losing all patience
with the refractory Huns that keep
them constantly in hot water, and aye
Offering inducements to large bodies
of negroes to take the places OF the
Huns. They say they would get by
the exchange a much more orderly
and law abiding class Of miIe No
doubt it will lie an advantage TO the
owners Of mines, but our couc-rn If
more especially about the negroes
whom they are attempting to en'ice
from their natural field of work a.
farm laborers The Southern p ople
have so long been associated with the
negro that every broad minded and
liberal man in the South regards the
Tace as words, for whose prosperity
and happiness the Southern people ere
responsible, and in that light we must
regard the subject of their tral sporta'
tion in large no lies to the coke re-
gions of Pennsylvania
We believe it would be an advan.
tage in the way of money making to
number of negroes if they went, not
in body, but as otter laborers go,
depending upon their independent,
individual efforts. III this way some
of them would make more money. but
even then they Must remember there
are hard,hips which could be borne
by the white laborer, but perhaps NOT
by the negro laborer. The negro does
not stand well cold climate. He il
frequently attacked with lung disease
and goes off rapidly in what is know
among them as "galloping consump-
ton" A mining lite, We imagine,
would be peculiarly prejudicial to
their health. They have been accus-
toned to work in daylight with con-
slant baptism of sunshine, as farm
laborers. The change to dark mine
with its noXious gases and constant
dampness would soon make threads
upon their vigor and they would soon
yield and becyme decrepit men, I'M
able to take care of themselves, and it
this occurred with q large number of
hhSul VIC MOuih NV hhu buo pcOplS
OF that region as indulgent and a.
charitable TO them az their own peo
pie, the whites of the Southern states
Notwithstanding whatever they may
now think of the friendship to them
of the Southern people.
They have tried the experiment under
much more favorable auspices. They
went to Kansas in large bodies several
years ago to engage in farming, a bus
mess more cougenial to them, but it
was a failure They could not stand
the climate and all of them who could
come back did come back.
We believe it would be good thing
for the race TO be broken up socially,
industrialiy and politically. Too many
of them, even in the South, in certain
limited locality following old social
and industrial habits and having as a
race the same political affiliations, is
preJudicial to their individual develop
ment, but we do not want TO see them
risk too much even for the taiDmept
OF a higher standard OF manhood and
We cannot advise them to accept the
offer of these mine owners of Penu>
sylvapia. There is work enough to
which they are accustomed in the
South to engage all OF them and make
all of them prosperous il they would
voluntarily exhibit the same industry
here that they would be compelled to
exercise in Pennsy lvania or literally
starve, and it is best for them to re-
main in the South and engage in that
work and depend upon the Develop