The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-31
rHAT corroN FAMrNr,


 Some days ago The Advertiser referred to the statement made by Mir. Carnegie, to the effect that the negroes of the sodth could prevent a war with England by rec fusing to make any cotton. The Christian Recorder, colored newspaper of Phila- delphfa, appears to hold an equally ex- treme view. saying.
 to tie up the whole cotton interests theae. the miners did with coal. in Pennsyiva- na They soId an msse ss ,ss the miners refused to work, and though the country suffered, yet few weeks re; stored normal conditions. for the ,,Ss. co .l But the negroes in the South could. in a few weeks. destroy a crop and thereby take out , of the pocket of the the southern groes would have to suffer some, but they would suffer least because they are al- ready inured to suffering and privation; ! rich planters and cotton merchants, whose whole business life depends upon this staple product. could not. The truth venience and prescription which the white people of the South compel the negro to bear. they know his worth, and have an abiding faith in his loyalty and indus try.
 That is about as valid an argument as would be the assertion that the farmers could starve the world to death if they | would all quit raising food crops. In the | first place, the argument assumes that all the cotton of the South is grown by | negro labor. which is not a fact. It is true that the greater portion of the crop is thus raised. but If all the negroes of the South should die or quit work at once. there would still be some millions of cot ton bales raised. Of course, the crop would be short and the price high, but | that might be a real benefit to the white farmers.
 But the greatest error in The Recorders reasoning is in the assumption that the negroes would suffer less than the whites. The Recorder ought to know that the negroes, especially in the cotton belt. are mostly tenants. cultivating the land owned by the whites. If these tenants should refuse to cultivate cotton, they would at once be thrown out of employ ment, with no resources and nothing to | live on. The famines of India are not | more destructive than would be the fate of the negroes if they should refuse to grow such crops as the landowners de- sired. The whites might suffer to some extent, but the greatest hardship would be on the negroes who would have nothing between them and starvation.
 We agree with The Recorder, however, in its declaration that the people of the | ETn aa hou an abiding faith in his loyalty and fdel- ity." We do know 1t, and though our l faith is sometimes sorely tried by the unwarranted interference of those who know little of the negro and his nature and needs, we have no wish to see him | suffer- At the same time We resent the | imputation so frequently made by North ern people to the effect that all the obll- gation is on the white people of Fhe South. Some of those critics talk as f the Southern people owe everything they have to the negroes.
 It is long way from being true. For more than one-third of a century the white people of the South have borne the negro's burdens as well as their own. They have given him his home, provided him with work, fed, clothed and educated him, and have borne with his weaknesses, | his failures and his incompetency in way that no other people would have done, or would now do. The work of the negroes is of almost incalculable benefit to the South. but they get their share of the benefits, aud would have little cause of complaint if all matters pertaining to the two races were left to the white and colored people of the South to settle The no-cotton idea is an irridescent dream.