Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-11-07

an incident of their first initiation into
prosperity about which they have here
tofore known but little. If we assume
that this kind of thing Is to continue,
we will make a mistake. 1t Is not the
rule for people who make money by
the sweat pf their brows to continue to
throw 1t away. In the course OF time
they generally begin to learn the wis.,
dom Of being provident
A tendency Of the time is a general
demand for higher wages and grow
ing dissatisfaction with the cropper
system. Laborers who have been
working at from $40 to $14 month,
are beginning to talk. Of SIS or $40, and
those who have been getting along
reasonably we'll working for a part OF
the crop, are now talking Of buying
mules, tools, ETC., and paying standing
rent. Both propositions are natural
developments Of the times. Fair prices
for cotton stimulate its production, and
the eagerness to make more cotton
makes a sharper demand for more Ia
bor. The demand Is causing the In
crease in price. People who have
made a pretty good thing working on
shares see how, under existing condi-
lions they can make more working for
standing rent.
All these conditions are legitimate
and need to be faced. They cannot be
lodged The wage scale has got to
be increased in many instances, ana
where a farmer, whether he be white
or black, insists on operating on basis
of standing rent rather than on basis
of a part Of what he makes, he Will be
able to find some one who will pro-
vide such an arrangement.
AS we see it, If conditions keep on
improving as they have been, or even
hold up to their present standard, the
labor problem will continue to grow
more pronounced.
There is no easy way to settle or
regulate this problem; but we believe
that by use Of the proper means the
threatened troubles can be minimized,
and the secret lies in providing better
homes for labor on the farms.
Look all over the country, and we
will find that the best satisfied labor Is
that which is most comfortably
housed.
Most of our readers will agree with
us in the statement that the average
family of negro farm laborers knows
very little. about comfortable living.
1t is something that they have never
been accustomed to. Many Of them
are little better off in their homes than
they would be out Of doors.
But however. unaccustomed any
man may have been to comfortable
living, give him taste Of 1t one time
and forever after that will be the chief
end of his desire. This applies not
only to negroes but to whites as we'll.
The tendency of the average land
owner for years past has been to get
along with as little expense in the
shape Of building improvements as
possible. He has left his laporerS 10
live in almost any kind of an old shack
that would at all answer. In most
cases his policy has been dictated by
necessity at Its inception, and main
tanned afterward as the result of neg
lect.
1t is plain, however, that the farms
need to be fixed up. The time has
arrived when 1t is again profitable to
spend money on good buildings, and In
this we believe will be found a COM
plete remedy for the situation. The
landowners who are able to offer the
best and most comfortable homes for
their laborers are going to have the
least trouble in getting the best labor
that Is to be had at the lowest wages.