The sun., 1901-07-28

lished By the Rrssdmsn's bureau. IN,
cotton plant could not bs succsssfuliy cultl
vated under such conditions, and In Dscem
Der, 1895, IL looked a. II the lands would havs
to lie Idle II only negro labor should DO pro-
curable. For Q time the planters attempted
TO bring about an inflow Of white emisrsnts
from Europe or from the North. The attempt
failed: Of .ois emigrants who arrived al
New York between Jan. 1 and Oct. . In 1895
only u found their wsy 70 Mississippi. While,
however. few emisrants came from Europe.
there were causes at work which led TO the
immigration Of the class Of persons from
the North who came later 70 bear the name
OF -carpstbaggers These oausos were
the chsapnsss Of the lands and the high prios
Of cotton AZ the close Of hostilities cotton
was worth dollar q pound. and land could
be bought for . song. A plantation three
miles from Corinth was sold at % cents an
a@e. Many Of the immigrants from the
North had been soldiers In the Union Army.
and during their stay In Mississippi had
been attracted by tho prospects Of pront
N cotton growing The Lnion soldiers
Who settled In the State after being mustered
out made frsqusnt appeals through private
letters and through the press TO their North
srn friends to join thsm. They testified
that our treatment by the oitisens has been
uniformly kind. their conduct toward us
has been open and generous. and We have
many times been under obligation 70 them
for kind services The outcome Of such
representations was Q considerable inhux
OF emirsnts from the North. who believed
that, by the introduction OF scientific meth
DDS. they could rsvolutionlzo cotton plant-
ing. and that they could make free-negro
labor yield greater returns than the Southern
whites had derived from the slaves. Neither
Of these expectations was fulfilled. No
post-belluni planters were so quick to oorn-
plain Of the untrustworthinsss OF negro
labor a. were those who had helped TO eman-
cipate the black 80 far as rsvolutionising
the methods of cotton culture was oonoernsd.
majority Of the Northern planters were
unsuccessful. and. with the Inauguration
Of the reconstruction policy by Congress
in 1857 they virtually abandoned planting
and became ofioeholdsrs. In view OF these
facts. Mr.. Garner deems Il incorrect 10 call
them "oarpstbassers.' They did not go
South TO get ofloes. for. at the time. there
were no ofrioes for them to fll. The causes
which had led them TO settle in Mississippi
were purely economic and not political
The genuine -carpetbassers. who came
after the adoption OF the reconstruction
policy, were comparatively few In number.
The failure Of the effort 10 procure a sup
ply Of white laborers by immigration made II
necessary 10 fall back upon the negro. The
chief difficulty was to devise a plan that
would secure reasona BILE return to the
planter and corresponding reward for the
toll OF the aborsr There were certain eco
nomio elements that at first sight seemed
likely to facilitate the solution OF the prob
lem. The white man owned the land. the
stock and farming Implements: the freed
man could supply the labor. The relative
value, however. OF each contribution WAS a
question to be determined by experiment.
The arrangement most commonly entered
into betw cen the landowner and the negro
laborer was the 40 called share" system.
The planter agreed to furnish the land the
seed. the farm implements and animals. and
to guarantee payment for any food supplies
which the freedman might need. On the
other hand. the freedman was 10 plant, Guilt
vate and gather the crop for q certain por-
ton Of 1t. This portion was usually one-half.
II appears that the share system proved
to the planters Of Mississippi
In 1895 and 1857. On account Of ovsrnows.
droughts and insects. the yield was not suf-
fcient 10 pay for the food and clothing OF
laborers. The failure was not due solely
10 unfavorable seasons. but. In great meas
ure TO the untrustworthy character Of negro
labor Even now the negro Is not model OF
frugality and foresight Much less
was he such model in 1903. His undertake
ngs nearly always resulted in failure. He
was peculiarly united for the cultivation
of the cotton crop. which requires atten-
ton during the greater part Of the year.