Year: 1879




SAS. ..


Letter to the Philadelphia Times.]


New ORLEANS, April 8.-Thereis no use try
ing to conceal it longer. The cotton districts
are threatened with new disaster, one which
is likely to bring much embarrassment to the
planters. People were inclined at first to
look upon this negro exodus, as it is called, as
a farce and roaring one at that. That feel
ing has disappeared now, and in its place is
one of alarm. 1t must be understood at the
outset that the negro is necessity to the South.
His place cannot be filled. Without his la
Dor the State might as we'll 60 into bankrupt
cy at once and the State officers lock the
doors of the capitol, pack their little carpet
bags and emigrate to Kansas with the darkies.
This thing is called an "exodus." That is a
mild term for it. 1t is stampede, andnoth-
ing less. 1t Is safe to say that there is not
negro in the whole cotton district who has not
a touch of the fever. The sugar districts are
not yet affected, but there is no telling how
soon they may be. If the cotton fields should
be deserted, it would not be at all singular if
the canes were left to take care of themselves.
Already serious difficulties have resulted from
this emf grafton, which, apparently, is but in
its infancy. Where it will all end no one can
tell. While Louisiana is beginning to suffer
considerably, Mississippi is in much worse
condition. The outlook is a grave one, and
Southern men are forced to give it their serious
attention.


WHY THE NEGROES EMIGRATED.


How the stampede originated is mystery.
The negroes themselves tell different stories.
1t is strange disease that is taking them off
-one that is more catching than yellow fe-
yer. One thing is certain, they are the vic.
tins Of concerted plan, and there is gene.
raj belief that few persons are going to make
fortunes at the expense Of thousands of the ig-
norant blacks. Kansas, "Bleeding Kansas" !"
has been held up to them as their Arcadia.
1t is the old cry of forty acres and mule.
Every one of them expects land in plenty in
the new country which they are about to ex-
plore. Milk and honey are to be had with.
out work. So strongly are they impressed
with this doctrine, that they sell their entire
possessions for just enough to pay their fare,
being assured that all will be well as soon as
their feet touch the promised land. No other
State will do. 1t is Kansas where they are
going, and all the argument and all the logic
in the world could not shake them. The
stampede, which is now fully inaugurated, is
undoubtedly the effect of several causes.
First come the land agents with marvellous
stories. The negro is told that he can have
all the land he wishes for the asking, and the
more wonderful his statement the more firmly
does the black man believe in it. Then again,
the negros condition, it must be admitted, is
not OF the best. He cannot understand the
position in which he has been left by the war.
In the old days he was fixture on the plan
tation. 1t made no difference what the state
of the crops was it was perfectly immaterial
to him whether the planter was pressed for
money or not he belonged to the plantation,
and there be remained. Now all this is chang
ed. The negroes can't realize that they must
earn their own living. Hundreds of them
have for years been hanging on to the plan
tations without earning their salt. They have
remained simply because the planters were
10th to turn away old servants who had fol-
lowed them in years gone by. Had it not
been for the hard times and the financial dis
tress, Kansas would not have been thought Of.
Planters have put their best foot forward to
keep above the water. If the employer has
no money the employee must suffer. That
is Just what is the matter now. Especially
in Mississippi, is the condition of affairs in a
most deplorable state. There is no money,
planters cannot get advances, and the cred
it system is almost at complete standstill
The negroes cannot hel p but be affected by it.
No one denies that their condition is deplora-
BILE, but what can be done? A negro is al.
ways more or less in dependent condition.
He pays ten dollars an acre rent, but when his
cotton is sold he,is almost always in debt.
Especially is this true just now. Nearly every
negro sold his cotton at disadvantage, and
his condition is much more deplorable today
than year or two years ago. The whites
who helpe plunder the State under the car
pet.bag rule, claim that the planters cheat the
negroes at every turn. To what extent this
is true l cannot say, but if the negroes of the
upper country are so illtreated as it is claim
ed they are, why haven't they long ago gone
to work in the cane fields? No one ever
thought of pretending, even in the palmiest
days of the returning boards, that the negroes
of the sugar districts were bulldozed. There
are plenty of them there, and the very best of
feeling prevails.


FLYING FROM A MASSACRE.


Any one who is at all familiar with the