The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-08-30
Ghs messrnarr.


II
The contention that the south CAM
not cultivate cotton without negro la-l
Dor is entirely and the soon-l
er the fallacy of this statement isl
shown the better IL will be for our
section Of the country. The man whoI
makes the greater profit on the %cottonl
crop is the man who depends on hisl
own labor and not hired help for pro-I
ducing cotton or any other farm prod-l
uct.
What III south needs is not largeI
plantations cultivated by hired negroI
or white laborers, but small farmsl
where the owner or tenant does his
own work. The idea hat cotton fields
cannot be successfully cultivated byI
white labor IS bsurd
Negro labor at the south has becomeI
scarce and is growing scarcer eacnI
year. There are two causes for this
c~ondition-the great emigration Of mel
groes from the rural districts to tneI
southern cities and to the northarnl
states and the education Of the negro.
1t cannot be denied that the educated|
negro, that is, one who has gone tol
schoo and received a smatterinS OF
learning does not care to earn d Hveii1
hood by the sweat Of his face in %cottonl
or corn fields. AS a rule as soon as
he learns to read, write n cipher, he
considers himself above the mental ocj
cupation Of chopping cotton or hosine|
corn. The southern cotton and corn
fields are fast becoming depleted of
the old time 2bGers through theseI
two means.
For the south to hold it's position asI
the producer of the worlds supply. of
cotton it must look elsewhere for the
necessary labor. 1t must come either
from the Importation of Foreigners
who are willing to take the negro'sI
place or from those who are able tol
secure small holding for themselves
Were there today scattered over the
cotton belt a large number of THRIFTY
foreigners, settled upon small farms|
owned or even leased by them who
depend upon their ow.l labor for the
cultivation of their fields this s~ectionl
would begin to bloom like a garden.
The south has a serious probleml
confronting it, caused by the rapidly
increasing scarcity Of that class Of laI
Dor on which it has depended ever
since the New England people. findingI
slavery an improbable investment mi
their bleak climate, turned ove their
slaves at a great profit to the southernl
planters and h~ouseholders, For the
first time since the introduction of sla-I
very in the south labor has becomeI
SO scarce is to threaten the agricul1
turaI interests of this section.
There are two movements on FOOT
though. which are calculated to relievel
this embarrassment. One is the estab1
Iishment Of a line of steamers betweenl
New Orleans and some Italian port foTi
the purpose of inducing i~mmigrantT
from the latter country to come to thel
south and the other is the bringingl
to his state OF q number of 1~taliansl
to work on the railroads that are beingi
built in the eastern part of his state.l
Both these measures will be the open-I
ing wedge in the way G. inducing I'M
migration of foreigners to this %sectio1I
of the country. Heretofore all the for1
eigners who have come to this country
seeking homes have landed at New
York or some other northern port
and have been induced to steer clear
Of the south because Of the negro labor
which we have here. 1t is now hoped
thai this new steamship line will land
at our southernmost port a large NUM-
Der Of foreign laborers who will take|
up there abode with US, and that I'M
this way the scarcity of labor in tfeI
southern cotton and rice fields will bel
overcome.
The several hundred Italian labo-7
ers who are being brought into this
state to do railroad work will also openl
the way for others. AS soon as this
class Of labor finds That it is consider
ed Preferable to the lazy negroes bS1
the southern people and that it CAM
compete successfully with the latter
we will have all of it We want. Them
we will be independent of the negro asl
We should have become long ago.
THrr coruuu.c ~0rroN -non