The Portland daily press., 1899-01-27


In the pcreags under cultivation we
find q. COZ acres less land cultivated BY
free labor and the value per acre has
fallen from between eight and nine dol.
lars In 1850 TO between four TO five In 1880
This item alone shows n loss approaching
two millions Of dollars The next Item,
nearly seven aud one-half millions In
1850, has vanished entirely In 1880. when
the Emancipation Proclamation was pro-
mulgated the letters fell from the slave
and he was his own property. For some
time he was nominally held and partially
controlled, but he knew that he was free,
though he didn't know what IL meant.
Many more people live In the towns now
than formerly. which MAY account for an
advance In this item In 1890. l do not re-
gard II as a sure Indication OF prosperity.
The next item money and obligation
being money in bank, stocks. bonds and
all other securieties would better represent
/ should suppose the wealth OF - oom-
munity than any other In the list, for IL
represents their surplus IL Is less than
one-seventh In 1890 of what IL was In 1850,
merchandise" meaning stocks OF goods
in store, on sale. shows M material
change Capital in manufacture" has
about doubled which means only that
there was less than t3s, 100 SO employed In
1860. "1ools, machines, crops and pro.
visions" ION plantations) Is much larger
today because there are many more plan
tations though they are smaller, but each
must have the necessary tools. There Is
an explanation of the difference (propor-
tionately a very large one) In the item OF
household and kitchen furniture. In
1850, furniture to the amount of $3.50, was
exempt from taxation. what relation they
bear to each other for purposes OF com
parison we cannot therefore tell. In the
value of domestic animals there is a
difference of over nine hundred thousand
dollars in favor of 1860. This then is the
sum. In ono county, n central one. and
one better than the average, In repre-
sentative state, the wealth of the county,
AFTER deducting the value of the slaves
from the valuation of 1860 is over three
and one-third millions less In 1890 than IL
was In 1860. IL this represents fairly the
proportional loss of wealth throughout
the whole Confectionery IL would be
matter of interest to know what sum
would represent the grand total OF loss.
hope / may be- permitted to say word
regarding the way the people OF this
county, talk about the war, ana Its re-
suits have had many conversations
with the leading men, and the universal
opinion IL that I'VE are better without
slavery, out we don't believe the negroes
areInearly as well off 1.-The great lesson 1t
seems to me that the white people OF the
south will have Is to learn TO bring tbenf-
selves up in the scale of wealth, and per-
sonal value to an equality Win 10 people
of the Free States, is that they must learn
90 work with their hands, and their
brains and be as PROUD of themselves as
makers (of something) as they were as
masters. IL is not difficult to see why the
south is very slow in man ufactures, they
have not the population TO provice opera
tives The negro Is in his present con-
dition Of no value in any line of mechan-
ical effort. Even as "A cultivator OF cotton
he Is of almost no value If not directed.
lie Is to all intents Il child with no idea
of what to do or when TO do IL unless he
Is told he is an improvident child II he
has "a little money he will dc no work till
1t is gone. he is happy child. No cares
press upon him. lie has no anxieties,
and no ambitions l think the South is
poor. l think il Is poor because the white
man does not work. l think the white
man does no work because he feels that
in doing so he would be placing himself
on an equality with the black map, and
till he gets rid of this notion or rid of the
black man | don't See how he can get
much beyond which he is today. The
problem he mas before HIM Is a hard one.
Who shall help him to solve itp
Yours truly,
EDWIN S. DRAKE
In the evening Hon. James p. Baxter
presented a most scholarly and interest
ing paper on 1.-The Genesis of New Eng
Land