Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1904-03-18
White Labor in the South.


O00, 600 and the certainty that the an
nual product of this staple will equal
or exceed that sum in value for years
to come, the South is making bid for
| white labor that will not be long resist
ed. Labor goes where reward for hon.
est toll is assured, and the condition
in the South are now such that the
white man may rely upon profitable
employment, with abundant opportu'
mites for bettering his condition, with
out which there is no incentive to Ia
Dor. The development of the cotton
industry in the South reads like a
romance, and it's results must be a
revolution in the wage system and
methods now employed in caring for
this great industry and developing
other branches of the country's wealth
fcf resources.
In the decade following the civil war
the South produced about $500, 900
bales of cotton annually, which were
disposed of at fancy prices. Then
came an increase in production and
decrease in price, which resulted in the
planters securing about the same money
returns as in the first decade. Within
the last few years, however, the pro
duction has increased at an enormous
rate and now amounts to about 10, ,000.-
900 bales annually, with a value of
about 500, 900. Cotton factories
have been established and the center
of the fabric manufacturing business
removed from New England to the
South. This was the first long step in
the solution of the labor problem.
White men were required for skilled
work in the mills. Their wants and
needs caused the establishment of 9TH
er manufacturing industries, calling
for the services of more white labor
The bars have been broken down and
the white man has established his po-
sition in the field of labor in the South
without losing his self-respect or his
social standing. White manual labor
is no longer considered with the dis
respect that was one of it's burdens in
slavery times.
Men who have studied the labor con.
ditions in the South are now most en-
thusiastic in encouraging white immi-
grafton to that section. The results
of the last few years have shown that
white men not only excel the negroes
in the work in the mills and factories,
but that they raise more and better
cotton than the negro workmen, are
better paid, have better standsrds OF
living, and add greatly to the prosperity
of the communities il which they have
located. It will be a surprise to peo-
pie of the North, perhaps, to know
that white men are now doing most of
the work in the cotton fields. The
Census Bureau statistics show that OF
the "a 600, 900 acres Of cotton raised last
year white labor worked 14,500, 900
acres of it and nearly 100000 acres
were worked by white managers,
men who rented small tracts and hired
negro laborers to do a share of the
work. These facts should effectually |
explode the old argument, used by i'm
migration agents interested in BOOM
ing Western lands, that the white
man cannot work cotton profitably !
and cannot endure the semi tropical |
climate of the cotton section. 1t should
show how much more proftably white
men can raise cotton in the South than |
wheat in the cold Northwest. The
South is enjoying the blessings OF
remarkable prosperity, and there Is
nothing more natural than that the
white people shall improve the oppor'
tunites of sharing it. The South as
The Post has before remarked. is COM
ing into her own.-Washington Post.