The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-08-17


or IN ten years, It would be very serious
business. But they are going to go year
after year so imperceptibly as not 70.
shock our industrial system too 1ncon-
Svenlently. Any man can walk out In
Richmond and see the process at work
There are now white men engaged in!
building labor. engineering labor. me-
chanical labor, street work, barbertng,
and such lesser trades where white men
never were seen before. There are at
least two white coachmen in town to
my knowledge, and white girls arc serv-
ing in restaurants and laundries without
being ait all despised. This thing Is going
on all over the South, as have seen
St Louis, and from Atlanta to San An
tonic. The negro is frozen out OF the
skilled trades by the Competition and
contempt as the Sun says, of the
unions; and 1t is only matter of time,
judging from these indications before
our eyes, when the commonest labor Will
be hard for him to find. Even white
farm labor is developing at the South. I
know how it is in the rural districts. be-
cause have visited them and have look
ed around A negro can live, at pinch.
upon what dog can, and any sort OF
clothes and any sort of shelter will do
lOi diIO Ills 1dtlllly. lSAelOl0 l1O
average negro lives from hand to mouth.
and works only when he needs little
ready cash for luxuries. Farmers cam
not hire him for more than a little while.
and IL the darkies do consent to work
they cannot be depended upon. SOM shines
even from day to day. So white men
are reduced to doing their work them
selves. AS our Impoverished country
people are beginning to afford it, they are
h,,xvi F,,-
corn mower. with which a couple Of in
tellfgent white men can do the work Of
room full of negroes. BY and by ne
groes will find that they are not wanted
on the farm.
And so the competition Of the new ag-
riculture like that Of the new Industrial
Ism will push the negro closer and closer
to the starvation point
1t is with these things going on before
me that say let US hasten the inevitab BILE
and further our progress by putting no
sentimental obstacles in the way of ma
lures elimination of the blacks
The Sun wants to know why foreign
immigration does not seek the South.
1t is because the cheap black labor IS
mere. and its presence keeps down prices
IN the labor market The foreigners
nave come here to better themselves
financially and socially. Shall they seek
negro level? But we of the South must
reach out for Northern, Western and
european immigrants. particularly for
both agricultural and mechanical labor
ers. Some are here now. others are COM
Ing in every day, but we want them to
come by the thousand and hundreds of
thousands With their coming labor will
rise in dignity and in price and we shall
have the same labor conditions that en-
able the great Northern factories and
the great Western ranches to carry on
their business successfully. If they can
do 1t, we can.
The editor Of the Sun must see this as
I do. If he will stop and think it over.
And hope you will. too. because I be-
'1eve that this cheerless solution is the
only real and reasonable solution of the
dreadful negro problem
JEFFRY MONTAGUE.
Deep Run Hunt Club, August 1, 1902