Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1901-12-18
THE SOUTHERN LABOR QUESTION.


THE SOUTHERN LABOR QUESTION.
A Sensible Georgia Woman Looks
1t squarely In the Face.
AS the years roll on 1t becomes more
apparent that Georgia must have
more reliable class Of farm laborers
than at present. Otherwise the farm
lands will depreciate in value and pass
into the hands Of mortgage and loan
companies, because a living and taxes
cannot be made from the soil under ex-
listing conditions.
It would surprise many students or
political economy to know how near
we have approached to this unhappy
condition. Something must be done to
induce farm labor to come in, and
whether it will be Chinese. Negro or
foreign white labor is not half so i'm
portant as to get enough labor to cul-
tivate the soil for its present owners.
The stalwart Negro labor has gone to
the railroads, the mines and rough la
Dor Of manufactures.
Cotton picking and cotton hoeing Is
largely dependent on Negro women and
Negro children. White farmers seem
obliged to keep their own children In
farm labor the best part Of the year to
be able to pay taxes and buy food and
clothing. Much Of the non-attendance
in school grows out Of this unhappy
condition, because the question of food
and clothes precedes that Of book ed
ucation by reason of necessity.
A great many people have given up
farm work because country schools are
next to nothing and whenever they
could get a job in town and send their
children to school they preferred to dc
| it, as the conditions are disheartenine
when farm labor cannot be depended
on from one day to another. The
promise Of job at so cents or 81 day
will stop a mule and plow no matter
how urgent the fate Of the crop may be
to its owner.
Nobody will work on Saturday after
|
If it sprinkles in the morning, that
stops the work for that day. If any
hands wages are docked for late ar
rivals he will go elsewhere for jot
and take delight in your confusion
and perplexity.
And yet taxes never come down g
penny and the strain increases every
year.
From the standpoint of a plain north
Georgia woman, it seems that we could
not do better than to pull the brides
off and tell the Chinaman to come
along and make living for himself as
we'll as the land owner.
We need not be dreading impure
men and women Of the yellow variety
or If we do dread it we may acknowl-
edge the fact that it is because we have
been so long used to such conditions.
So long as the Chinaman is a labor
er and not voter, so long will his la
for be devoid Of some unpleasant fea-
lures.
1t Is proposed to keep the Chinese
exclusion act in force by making the
limit perpetual.
How can this be done when the Chi
nese are by long odds and far away
ahead Of all business peoples in the
Philippine islands?
Everybody says the Chinese are the
thrifty inhabitants Of Manila.
But some will say we have got al
we can stand up to now, with Negroes
that fill the towns and cities with va
grants and the police courts with vio-
lators Of law and the chaingangs with
criminals.
The best way to overcome these un-
fortunate conditions Is to bring In
enough labor to make them get to
work and be glad to do it. We have
been afraid to do anything Of this sort
because the politicians are anxious to
keep up the representation in congress
Will somebody rise up and say, where
is our southern politics and what 1t
amounts to in this country? The DEM
ocratic party has about gone to seed
in a national view Of it's condition.
What's the use Of standing in ones
own light merely to keep up a wrangle
on political questions in the house and
senate?
We need labor, we need capital, we
need money, we need enough profit
from farm lands to keep up proper
cultivation and repairs.
We have got to do something to in
duce labor to come to us or we may
hang our harps on the willows and quit
singing the song about "the land Of the
brave and the home of the free" We
are face to face with a burning necessi-
ty to procure muscle and reliable labor
in the south.
| We must have 1t or relinquish the
soil into the grasp of trusts and loan
syndicates.