The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1908-03-05

what % FcS&inIe Wftn oGttSs @31Ss
Conditions for the upbvoding and
DEVELOPMENT Of the South.
win-ton-Salem, n. c.
February II, 1908.
Mr.. r 8. Evans, Rutherfordton,
n. q.
Dear Sir Referring to the sub
iect We were discussing in Charlotte
In December. aud la response TO yqur
letter of recent date, relative to the
labor conditions Of the South, / re-
gard this subject as being OF vital I'M
portsnce TO 3 large number OF people
la the State and In the entire South,
concerning which they have not been
properly aroused and until they are
the Southern States will not attain
TO that degree Of citizenship, thrift
and progress to whicl We are emil
tled-by this l mean the elevation
of the laboring classes.
began the study Of this question
some years ago. / have studied care
fully the causes that retard us In the
progress and prosperity enjoyed by
Northern and Western States with
less natural advantages, and am OF
the opinion that this condition arose
ont of slavery and it's results, and
which we are more than forty years
removed from this condition, yet
we feel its effects and aye In its
shadows that still cast darkness over
the South, and 1 regard our political
conditions as growing largely out OF
an effort on the part Of an educated
and fixed public sentiment born,
fostered and thoroughly established
through the institution Of slavery.
Slavery degraded and disgraced
labor. The slave performed his task
through the exercise Of his muscle
alone without improving his facul-
Ties 10 the way of skilled and intel
ligent workmanship.
n. was even prohibited by law
from cultivating his mind, aud this
was done as a necessary agency to
perpetuate slavery, and the class of
work be performed was done without
regard or desire on bis part to i'm
prove his skill. The less fortunate
White man who was compelled to
work for support was. by the slave
holder, who alone constituted the
sristocratic class, lookel on as being
below the slave and this caused him
10 hate the work which he was
through necessity compelled to per-
form.
The status of a gentleman was al
most wholly determined by his
ability t" live in idleness and upon
the labor of others
The necessary results of this con-
dition Of society produced baneful
effect upon the development of the
Industries of the South. Labor rep.
resented nothing but the exercise of
muscle /; brain and skill were un-
developed. 1t was regarded a. a dis.
grace for white man to acknOwl-
etige that he was skilled in the arts
Of labor which belonged only to the
s ave.
| With the abolition Of slavery it
! was made possible for the v hite man
to develop into a freeman. Not
withstanding this changed condition
the Southern people still held on aud
attempted to maintain the distinc-
ton between those who lsbored and
those who were able to live In idle
ness until we find ourselves now
after the expiration Of forty years
just beginning to recognize labor
and skill as creditable. To this lit
tie recognition today the South Is
indebted for its wonderful Develop
ment in recent years, which condi-
ton has come in spite Of those who
have assumed control of legislation
and claimed to represent and It fleet
the sentiment of the South, for it
seems that there has been q sys-
tematic effort on the part of the
Southern leaders to oppose all the
agencies to which are directly at
tributable our wonderful develop.
I ment, and they still cling with q
deathlike grip to the old idea fos-
tered by slavery and which retarded
the prosperity Of the South for more
than three quarters of a century.
This no doubt is born of a desire by
this ancient aristocracy to Keep the
,'poor white" and former slave in
what they regarded as s.his proper
place." Contrast this with the
Northern States freed from these in.
fiuences, their people born and reared
in freedom with the idea instilled
into their early education-directly
the reverse Of the South-that Ia,
Dor, Instead Of being a disgrace, was
q credit.
While we were fostering slavery,
the Northern people, with much
less natural advantages and resources
directed their attention to the eleva-
ton of the condition Of the laboring
classes, recognized labor as creditable,
protected it by law, attached value
to skill and classed idleness a. a
mark of di-grace. This produced
skilled labor in every class of EN-.
plOy ment which alwavs hrinos va inc