Year: 1878


70. Wyatt Aiken, In News and Courier


What the resources of South Carolina are,
few men have an adequate conception, but ev.
cry one knows that those resources may as
we'll not exist as to remain undeveloped. 1t
is evident, too, that development will never
come unless we have an increase of population,
and we shall never have perceptible increase
except through immigration.


Few persons have proper conception, too,
Of what is meant by immigration. One far.
mer brings foreign family to his farm, and
a machinist picks up rowing mechanic, and
this feeble effort at an increase is then spoken
of as immigration; whilst the scattered new
corners are not sufficiently numerous to do
more than fill up the vacant places caused by
the migratory disposition of our people. In
migration will never become general, or q
potent factor in the development Of our State,
we very much fear, until State legislation con-
duces somewhat towards attracting it. How
or when this will be done, we do not propose
to suggest; we only hope it will be done, and
to remind our law makers that it has not
heretofore been done.


A fortnight ago we had the pleasure of
spending a few days in company with a dis.
tinguished Northern man in several parts of
our State, and whilst we were somewhat
amused at bis inquisitiveness, we were morti.
fed at the utter failure of our people to reply
satisfactorily to bis various interrogatories.
He expressed himself somewhat surprised
that We had no signal service station at our
capital. 1t is perhaps the only capital, he
thought, in the Union where there was not
one He einqured about everything, from the
geological formation, the neurological depos.
its, the altitude of our courthouses above the
sea, ,(and asked scores of such questions down
to the price of pound Of bacon or bushel
of corn, and as he told us, he discovered that
our people knew more about the difference
between the credit and cash price of such ar
ticles as they should grow upon their farms,
but which many Of them bought, than they
did about anything else.


When intelligent immigrants are prospect
ing through country into which they pro-
pose moving, their first inquiry is as to health,
and this is generally estimated by the altitude
of country above the level of the sea. This
gentleman told US he had made that inquiry
whilst in the State of almost hundreds Of citi-
zens, and to his astonshment he never met a
man that could tell him except in sort Of
conjectural way, the altitude Of his locality.
This is only one of the many points upon
which information is always wanted by i'm
migrants, and Of which the citizen will be
ignorant unless the State takes steps to en-.
Tighten him. While we are yet too poor to
have established those various boards from
which all such information could be easily
obtained, there is no question but that if we
had an efficient State Board of Agriculture, it
would in great measure supply the means of
properly educating our people upon these and
all kindred topics upon which they should be
posted.


All classes of immigrants, whether they be
farmers or artisans, prefer colonizing to NOV
ing in isolated families into new countries
They have their peculiar likes and dislikes ;
their diet may be peculiar; their ideas of So
cial, educational and religious commingling
may differ materially from the established
usages of an old country where society has
become staid and settled. For these and 9TH
er reasons the better classes of immigrants
generally move in colonies, and this is the
class that we 80 much need in South Carolina.
But our citizens should know and remember
that this class of ofimmigrants will not 60 into
any country previously occupied unless By in
vitation of the inhabitants, or unless some tan
gible inducement can be presented them.
The land-grant corporations and railroad
companies of the Northwest offered to immi.
grants fertile lands at wonderfully low prices
and upon most reasonable terms, and these
inducements created, prior to 1881 flow Of
immigration into that country that was sim
ply marvellous. The lack of confidence in
those companies, consequent upon the panic
of 1873, has somewhat checked this tide from
foreign lands but, as we have said in pre-
vious article, farmers in the older Eastern
States are taking advantage of the reduced
cost of living, and are selling their homes and
moving to tho West by the thousands. This
will rekindle the enthusiasm of the producers
in foreign lands to emigrate to America, and
We anticipate hearing of as great an influx
by next fall as we had prior to 1873. The
vital question with us is, can we not change
that current, and induce it to flow in this d.
rection ?


We can if we will, and if we will, we must
determine to offer them cheap homes. Every
real estate owner should be an agent in be-
half of immigration, and contribute his mite,
be it ever so small. We repeat what we
have previously written, that there are hun.
dreds of our citizens owning acres of land
that are to them burden, and from which
they realize not cent, perhaps, beyond a
living. These men must be instrumental, and
chiefly so, in turning the tide Of immigration
southwark. They must organize themselves
into clubs or societies of cooperation and for
cooperation.


We therefore suggest to any and all citi'
zens of the State, who own from 1000 to
5000 or 5000 acres Of cultivatable lands,
(and there are many such,) to visit their neigh
bors and consult among themselves, and de-
termine whether they cannot throw upon the
market from 5000 to 10000 acres Of land at
mere nominal price, provided they will be
settled up by a thrifty, energetic and econorn-
cal colony of producers. If there be in such
communities farmers who own tracts of but
100 or 200 or 500 acres of land, they are not
to be ousted nor overlooked, but let them, too,
join the organization, and reduce their area
to enough to make living upon sell por.
ton of the remainder to the colony, and hold
the balance for sale at future time. When
such an organization Is formed they should at
once advertise the fact, and if they are uu-
willing to do so, if they will submit to US the
terms of the organization and the conditions
upon which they will sell to colonies, We will
guarantee them wide circulation of their
proposition; and if it is made with liberal
spirit, we will almost ensure them colony Of
worthy settlers, And we here earnestly in
sist that if these real estate owners are anx-
ious to see our State rehabilitated and prosper