The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-08-13

~ .NtFtt. EBstA T IL
your eohsioerahl. class of white men
Hho enormously htiieN. that cheap
ignorant. negro labor Is an asset OF
your section. These arr he men who
FANCY theA arr making money ~ ex-
plotting the ne2ro-mtu h viii sell
cheap goods 1t eXoi hitant prices. fur
nlsh supplies II high rates vi interest.
q fancy shat their plantations are
more profitable 10 them because the
tenantrN lacks the independence and
a ambition of a white ~tenantry. As =
matter Of fact. these people them
selves would be NOR. prosperous If
the country had q wholly Intelligent.
progressive and thrifty wor<in- class.
bNt ever II q few men here and there
should suffer by the change, the great
need of the southern rural country is
homes rather than plantations. it
should become a vastly more pros
porous white democracy Of thrifty
homecoming, small farmers.
THE South has the conditions
necessary, not only for growing stuff.
tut for growing people. 1t must not
become a section whose farm pro-
ducts are increasing, but whose fam
people are dtteriorating. What IS
the use Of growing grain if only 10
feed a people who are not worth
keeping alive You have indeed Il
country favored Of HEAVIER With its
ample rainfall, its kindly climate
Which enables one to do outdoor Ia
tor all the Year round. and Yet is no
where too e~nerNatlnS to prevent white
men from working at anything, Noa
haN but to realize upon your oppor-
tUnities to become a mighty people.
Il went to the South quite prepared
to so away hopeless; instead | go
away optimistic. see no reason for
p~eSSinliSn. 1t is plain that your soil
has been Very badly treated. hut it
can be easily built Up. and Your negro
problem, while oppressive, is hopeful
in the light of the fact that the ne
groes constitute such a minority in
your population. and your people
seem to be steadily gaining wisdom
in their management OF the problem.
In what | have said, however,
about the importance of making 4
great empire OF homecoming, small
white farmers" Mr.. Evans continued,
You must not assume for a minute
that / believe in any policy Of injus-
tice toward the negro. ] do not. on
the contrary. the supreme message
should like to send the white peo-
pie Of the South is just this: You are
white men and it is characteristic OF
white men not to be afraid and to be
generous. You have no reason to
fear the domination of the negroes
and YOU owe it to yourselves to he
generous to them. would even en-
courage the negroes to own land
but would have them acquire land
il, districts Of their own instead Of
having the negro farms mixed in
with the white farInS-thereby fur
Their scattering or diluting your al
ready TOO small white population and
retarding the growth of. that richer
social life possible only in the thichly
settled homogeneous white
ties. IN my opinion. the negroes
themselves would be helped by flock
ing together in communities Of their
own. provided their native leaders are
actively helped by the white people
and trained under the Influences Of
such institutions as Hampton and
TuSkesee.
Moreover. both races viii b.
helped. in any event. by giving the
negro a common school education.
was very much pleased to see how
much the South was doing in his ui-
rection, ard how gladly. Ignorance
in any part Of its population cannot
fail to hold back q people or a state.
An ignorant population helps no
body. Your white people need I"
wake up to the fat that so-called
cheap labor. uniWeilisent labor, j.
never really cheap. know this is
+ u -l1olt ob0 - - ,D''' -
ric.l and can see that the same Ting
holds good in the South. Some Of
our minimizing farmers IN South Al
RIGA regard themselves IS having done
A big thing when they set together
and try to keep down the price 81
labor to six pence t12 cents a day.
but such la Dor is not half 50 proht-
able as the intelligent. educated lahoT
in New Zealand where a high grade
If diversified rming has been de-
velOped through nteflgence ana a
good lahorer at harvest time gets as
much As ten shillineS tS2.o0) a daE.
We import butter, cheese ana other
proht-producing farm products from
our New Zealand brethren. n they
make more money with their high
priced intelligent white labor than VI
do with our So-called cheap negro IA
Dor. The New Zealand farmer, when
work grows pressing. gets a piece 81
lab~or-SaVinS farm machinery Which
doesn't need TO be fed when the rush