The daily phoenix. (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, August 03, 1865, Image 2
.1
COLUMBIA. .
Thursday Morning, August 3,1865.
Mortality Among the Negroes.'
We receive, through Northern and
Southern papers, the most alarming
accounts of the fearful and astound?
ing mortality among the emancipated,
negroes in the Southern States. ' We
also learn from a private letter that
there are 170,000 of these people in
and around thc city qf Charleston, and
that although none of those epidemi?
cal scourges which occasionally deci?
mate" the Atlantic States have made
their appearance, the negroes are
dying "like diseased sheep." The
New York Herald, after examining the
reports "of its various correspondents,
asserts that the same* fbarf ul mortality
existe among the emancipated negroes
from Texas to Virginia. It states that
the* official, reports with reference to
the mortality among the negro regi?
ments, also disclose the same state of
things where the negro is in the mili?
tary service of thc United States.
The Herald arrives at tho conclusion
that the negro will entirely disappear
from the effects of great natural causes
like the Indian. It alleges that they
are gractuaMy disappearing from those
occupations at the North where they
were once* found in great numbers.
Their monopoly, i? says, of the occu?
pation of hod. carriers, scavengers,
porters, hostlers, hotel waiters, boot,
blacks and barbers*, has long ceased,
and the Irish and Germans aro still
elbowing them out. Carefully pre?
pared statistical data, thc ?feroAZstates,
show thafK the mortality of the free
negro is far greater than the births.
In Boston the -deaths among the
colored population exceed thc mimbi r
of births nearly two to one.
In Philadelphia, during a period qf
six months, there were in 1859, 306
deaths and 148 births. The mortality
in the extremo Southern States, it is
said, among the negro troops, is
equally groat. Regiments which have
never been in battle have, in six
months, lout by death one-half their
number. This mortality was not the
result of thc appearance of an epi?
demic.
'^According," says the Herald, "to
the best data to be obtained, it is saj*?
to state that of thu four millions of '
blacks in the South in 1860, not over
three millions arc now alivo. The
census of 1870 will undoubtedly pre?
sent an astounding result iu ?regard to
this unfortunate race. The mortality
from all accounts is increasing."
What Shall be Done With Him
Regarding the negro-the freed
negro of thc Southern States-what
shall be done with him, is a momentous
question; one requiring, nay, demand?
ing, the profoundest statesmanship
and wisdom to solve, all others con?
nected with the future of this sunny
land, and his future too,,sinking into
comparative insignificance before it.
It is a fixed fact that tho negro is free.
So it is received by those who but a
short time ago claimed and held* him
to be a slave, and so it must bc hence?
forth admitted. By the power of the
sword, that dread and final arbiters of
all political disputes between nations,
thc once negro slavo is now a free?
man; and, what to do with him, may
well embarrass thc wisest in the land,
Four millions of a helpless, ignorant
deplorably ignorant-and dependent
race, in the twinkling oj an oyo as it
were, turned loose to take care of
themselves-to ri jd tho white mau in
his pursuits, to advance in ."the scale
of civilization and thrive, or to ' retro-.
grade* and perish. The trafisjtion,
how sudden! The responsibility upon
those who Drought this state of things
about, how appalling! -How shall it
be met? WhaJ must be done? says the
Atlanta Intelligencer. Perhaps from
the past ii lesson may be learned. Else?
where, jn other nations, negro eman?
cipation from slavery has prevailed,
../.:'" !.-.:*::; . > fore;jn from any ever
??ntieioaU'd V.*: it:: idvocuttf;, that it
.wore well now to"review and profit *by
thom.
From a_^ondensed statement which
wo find in the Louisville Democrat, we
make the following extracts. Few,
that paper says, "realize the results of
emancipation, while many in general
jubilee of rejoicing, look to it as a
grand philanthropic measiu-e to com?
mand the approbatiqn of the world."
Passing on, it says:
There are now in the West Indies
Islands, 150,000 square miles of the
most productive land in the most sa?
lubrious climate in the world, lying
fallow, a desert waste, in consequence
of this measure of emarieipaiion. The
.freed negro basks in idleness and de?
gradation in a land of flowering beauty
and fruitfulness comparable to the
garden of our. first parents. Broad
ports, in wdiieh navies might ride, are
deserted and empfy. Beautiful fields,'
over which abundant sugar cane float?
ed in plentiful lavishness, are grown
rank with weeds. The coffee planta?
tions are deserted, and the precious
bean grows wild in the places where it
once was cultivated. On every side
there is the mark of ruin and desola?
tion. The wild grains are the sign of'
a past posterity ; the degraded negro
the successor of the enterprising and
I vigorous white. This, in au extent of
I territory equal to Georgia, Alabama
I and Mississippi. Cuba takes off 4,200
simare miles, and Cuba, where slavery
I still exists, is prosperous. With other
j deductions, there will remain 54,000
j square miles almost, if not entirely,
i uncultivated.
Can any land compare with what
! those islands were, and are, to pro
\ mote the negro race and to advance
him in the seale of civilization? Can
imagination paint a picture more con?
genial to a ruco sprung and multiply?
ing under "Alric's burning sun," than
is presented in the one drawn in the
foregoing extract ? But it is to residts
we must look, and so must ali upon
whom now devolves the responsibility
of providing for the negro. They are
startling and no hiss true than start?
ling. To profit by, let the*reader note
them well:
In 1834, when emancipation took
place,]a brilliant career of prosperity
was foretold. Let us see what has been
the actual results:
In 1800, th? West Indies exported
17,000,000 pounds of cotton, and tee
United States 17,689,803 pounds.
They were at th's time, it will be seen,
?carly equally productive.
'Let us, however, examine one island
-Hay ti-where tRe results of emanei-'
Ration aro best seen. This island is
'400 miles in length, with a maximum
width of 103. The number of square
miles is 27,090, of wliieh 10,091 are
composed inthe Haytien or negro re?
public, and the bidance in the Domi?
nican. Its popi?ation was estimated
from 550,000 to 650,000. Its climate
and soil is incomparable. The carin
abounds in jewels-in precious mine?
rals. Xiold, silver, copper, iron, tin,
sulphur, rock salt, jasper, marble, are
found. *
Tho islands sit like jewels in the
golde? seas. The tall and graceful
palm lifts its fringed top over plains
of verdure starred with rare flowers.
The spreading mahogany lifts its dark
Khadow over velvet grass that bounds
the borders of fair, bright rivers.
Birds,, with rare brilliant plumage,
flash like gleams of light among the
scented foliage. Broad, fertile lagoons J
shine among the groves of orange,
citron and coffee, and every hill and
promontory is rounded into a graceful
outline of beauty. To describe the
scenery seems reveling in descriptions
of poetry and romance. Plantains,
bananas, yams, mangroves, millet,
oranges, maize, pine apples, melons,
grapes, grow in wild uncultivated
abundance. , Cultivation produces cof?
fee, cocoa, sugar, indigo, cotton and
tobacco.
In 1790, Hayti supplied half of
Europe with sugar. It was a French
colony, with a population of 500,000,
of which 38,;-*60 were whites, and
28,370 free degroes. The remainder
were slaves. Under the fever of the
French revolution, a spirit similar to
that our country now feels, the doc?
trines of liberty and fraternitv were
applied to the colony.
In y93, Hayti was freeH. There
have been seventy years of experience
with the most disastrous results. If
'the negro has any capacity for free
government, it ought to be shown in
Hayti. ;
Let us make a statistical comparison
and see tho residts. In 1790, the
value of tho exports were ?27,828,000,
the principal productions being as
follows: Sugar, lbs., 163,405,220; cof
Ifee, lbs., 68,151,180; cotton, lbs., 6,
236.126; indigo, lbs., 930,016*.
Let us tako a view nearly forty years
after, when this emancipation was "to
yield ::v.cb a splendid return" to
philanthropic world. In 1826, the
figures stood thus: Sugar, lbs., 32,
864; coffee, lbs., 32,189,784;.cotton,
lbs., 620,972; indigo, none.
At this day, there is no sugar ex?
ported, coffee and logwood being the
only exports. The coffee is gathered
?ftild from, the mountains and tho
abam?oi?jk French plantations. All"
that is rl?ured to be done is to cttt
down the tree and carry it to market.
The cultivation has ceased. The sta?
tistics of 1840, the latest published,
are of exportation: Sugar, noue j cof?
fee, lbs., 30,608,343; cotton, lbs.,
544.516. . *
?fellator Sumner, ii? a recent speech,
estimated tho exports of Hayti at
2,683,000, and Mr. Sumner *is an
abolitionist. In 1790, the exports
were 27,82S,000. Was such a spec?
tacle ?f decay ev^r witnessed before?
Hayti, which seventy years before sui>
plied half Europe with sugar, is now
supplied from tin; United States, or
rather, was before the war.
The wrjter then tn: ns to Jamaica.
Facts and figures arti presented which
.ought to, if they will not, make a deep
impression upon both our Government
and people. Hi- says :
Let us now turn to Jamaica. It is
I about 1?0 miles long by 50 in width.
?"Its area is about 64,000 Square miles,
j The last census was taken in 184-4,
; when the population stood as follows:
j Whites 15,779; negroes, 293,128; mu?
lattoes, 98;529. The white population
is dying out through ihe blood of the
negro.
The negroes freed in 1S33 were te
serve five years apprenticeship- Th
planters were paid 630,000,000 for thc
loss of service.
Tlie value of exports, as published
in Harper & ISrother's Cyclopedia ol
Commerce, before and since emanci?
pation, is tis follows:
BEFORE EMANCIPATION.
Yen rs. Value of Exports
1800.!.?3,033,23!
1?10.,. 2,303,57<
AFTER EMANCIPATION.
! 1853.?S37,27<
j 1854. ?.J32,:)t<
Here is a decline of three-fourths
Another way is to estimate the ?pian
tity of the productions before am
since. In 18* >5, two years before th?
prohibition ot African emigration
the productions of Jamaica were a
follows:
PKODT7CTIONS OF JAMAICA IN 1805.
Sugar-hhds. 150,35:
Jilin"? -imni-li. 40.S3
Pimento--lbs.-..?..1.041.54
Coffee-lbs.17,'.Hit,?)2
Then the productions wert; at th
highest- point They afterwards dc
cUned, and in 1834 it stood:
Sugar-hhds. 84,75
Hum-punch. 32.11
Pimento-lbs. 8,605,40
j Coffee-lbs.17,725,7a
I The first year after emancipation
j productions declined nearly 1,000,00
! hhds,; coffee declined 7,000,00 (jibs
j This 'decrease steadily continued, and
in 1856, the productions cjf Jamaic
stood:
Sugar-hhds. 25,75
Rum-punch. . 14,47
Pimento-lbs.0,848,62
Coffee- lbs.3,320,11
The only article which has increase
is- pimento,mor allspice. The reaso
of the increase is that the pimento i
not cultivated, but grows* wild i
many places.
From a report made to the Hons
of Assembly during the years 183'
'40, '50, '51, and '52, we find the fo
lowing: Sugar estates abandoned, 12!
sugar estates partially abandoned, 7
coffee plantations abandoned, 9(
cofl'ee plantations partially abandoi
ed, 66; making a total of 891,187! I
the five years succeeding emancipt
tion . there were abandoned: Sug;
restates 140, comprising 108,032; co
fee plantations 465, comprising 188
? 400.
Added to the foregoing, it is state
that the "Cyclopedia of Commerce
says "the negro is rapidly reeedii
into a savage stat*;, and that unie
there is a large and immediate supp!
of immigrants, all society will come '
a speedy end, and the island (Jamaic
become a second Hayti.'*
Such are the results of emaneipatic
elsewhere. What they will be hi tl
Southern ^States, time only can te
Certain it is that if the negro be savi
from receding into a savage state,
can only be by some well r?gul?t
system of labor, and that this syste
must be devised by the wliite man
hu will devise none for himself. Mo
than this, fhat system must be devise
not by those who are ignorant of 1
habits, his disposition, his nature, ai
why never associated with him, b
by those who do, and who have bei
with him as a boy, and grown up wi
him tus a man. His labor and conti
left to New England dictation, ai
the South would soon become a st
ond Hayti. His political Ind soc:
status, if left to the Boston fanath
would soon make the South anoth
Jamaica, and the negro race in
"rapidly needing into d savage statt
[To the">cm.bined wisdom, therefoi
? .
A'
m .*
of tho whole nation, in tho name of
humanity, we appeal, as well for the
negro as tho white race; see to it that
the results following emancipation in
tho "West Inala Islands do not folio-w?
it in these Southern States. "We feat
it not if the negro be made to feel and
know that "by the sweat of his brow
?he must earn his daily bread;" that
the freedom bestowed upon him is not.
to be wasted in idleness; that he is
free? but free only to labor, and to ob?
serve all thc restrictions which law,
order, society,, and morabty, impose
upon the white man; and that the
mark by which the Creator has de?
signed he shall be known as being of
a distinct race will not be wiped out ;
that this is a white man's government,
the negro being governed in it.
Taught this, tho negro may escape the
fate of his nice in the West India
Islands, and the Southern States, in
their productions, tiro same sad results.
In a word, yielding freedom to the
slave, let it, for the sake of humanity,
and for ci\*?ization,%prove a blessing
and not a curse to lum. This in' his
changed relation to his former master,
is what his former master, if it be left
to him, would honestly endeavor to
promote. Otherwise, the future, who
can divine ?
From Orangeburg-.
A gentleman who has just passed
over the route from this city to
Ornngoburg writes as follows:
The corn looks generally well; the
kite rains have savecrtt. The pests are
thriving. I did not note any potato
patches, but saw that farmers were
setting out the slips. They will need
to save their fodder heedfully, in order
to secure an adequate supply of forage.
Hay should also be cured in as large
quantities as possible; and as the
working ol the corn has been gene- |
rally careless, and there is a deficiency
IK t ry wher? of plough force, there? is
an abundance of grass. The fields
aro generally grassy. The seasons
will make the crop, rather than the
labor. The area of cultivated ground
is- vastly loss thar, usual, owing to the
lack of mule power, the great diminu?
tion of workers in the fields, and the
mon? sluggish working. Most plant?
ers report less than half thc usual
quantity of land put in cultivation;
so that, even though all the culture
shall be yielded to the provision trop,
there will still bo a bare sufficiency
for the support of flic country. There
will be little or none for export. There
is but little cotton planted. Buy all
you can, giving a ; high as thirty-five
to forty cents in greenbacks. If yan !
have ?1(10,(100 to spire, invest in cot- .
ton at these prices. We will share the 1
profits, you finding the capital and I j
the counsel. Wie couutry everywhere \
improves in warlike virtues. Robbery
is the order of the day, precisely as if
war prevailed still. Farmers groan \
over -"fields stripped of matin A>rn.
The good wives groan over melon j
patches denuded of all fruit long be?
fore it ripens. Housewives report al
dreadful mortality among the poultry. |
Hen roosts ure as little safe ?es qyer. j
If tho sun did not make a report of
his own rising, there^re few chanti
deers left to crow over the breaking of
day. Beatings and shootings occur to
impart a more tragic interest to events,
and disturb the monotony of life by
tho occasional introduction of death.
Briefly, we aro re-approaching the
dark ages of feudalism, when the
strong robber, founded aristocracy and
nobility, and made a glorious family
name and record out o? ruined towns
?fud plundered coffers. We are ra?
pidly arriving at conditions which
lead to feudal iordtjJaips, and possibly
new Magna Chartas. We shall get
buck in time to the old virtuous law,
"That they should take who have the power,
And they should koop who can."
Hurrah for Rob Roy! We shall have
to legitimate his practices, if only to
assure men of good titles for what
they procure by virtuous practices.
And virtuous practice is manhood; and
manhood is power; and might is de?
cidedly right. So let Gov. Perry look
to it, and so endeavor to shape his
government as to please and satisfy
all those who, after the settling down
of the waters, shall find themscU'es
on the topmost wave. The weat her is
too hot to meditate any idle reforms.
Let us leave them for colder and tamer
ages. A quarter of a century hence,
our gaand-children may degenerate
into merely good citizens, with too
little energy to steal.
The Washington correspondent of
the New York World says Gov. Perry,
of South Carolina, will not b9 dis?
placed, it is said, by tho President,
though there seeim to bo strong feel?
ing them in favor of it.
White labor ia in i-TO&t demand in
the wheat raising regions of Texa3.
Local Items.
Something should l>o dunc to stop tho
raid on tho bridges ?lx>ut the streets. Very
few of them are left, and these few ar?
daily "getting small by degress and beauti?
fully l*!ixs"
"We are pleased .to uoticn that Al?ser?.
Muller & Sonn have resumed their grocery,
business. One by One our old merchants
are''coming! out"-which shows that they
arr flot all "dead, but only sleeping." Mr.
C. H. Baldwin, who for several years con?
ducted business in thia city, is also-making
arrangements to commence . operations
again-at Allen A Dial's old stand. Wo
wish them all success.
ROBBERT.-Mr. C. A. Bedell's store, and
tho one adjacent, were robbed again on
Tuesday night-making tinco times within
a month. This time the robbers appeared
to have worked very deliberately, as a frosh
wagon track, loading in an Easterly direc?
tion, was discovered in thc morning; and, it
is supposed, tho stolon Articles were carfted
off in that way. Wo hope Col. "Haughton
will give his attention to the matter and
have a sufficient gu ird put on, as robberies
are getting to b<- of such frequent occur?
rence as to make it very unpleasant.
The issue of the Roman Catholic
Directory for 1805, under the authority
of the lute Cardinal Wiseman, gives a .
concise view of tho Church of Homo
in England and Scotland during tho
past year, and especially its progress
in London. The ecclesiastical staff,
which was immediately under Cardi?
nal Wiseman numbers no fewer than
1,338 priests, (including 17 bishops,)
for England, and 183 priests for Scot?
land; (including four bishops,) making
a total for Great Britain of 1,521
priests. There is thus an increase
during the year of no fewer than 71
priests in England and 5 in Scotland
in all 7(1. In England, thexe are Oil
churches and stations: in Scotland,
191-making in all 1,132. Thus, there
is un increase of 34 churches in Eng?
land during thc year. There are also
9H monasteries in England. There
are none avowedly as yet in Scotland.
There Ls an increase during the year
of two of these institutkms. There
are 197 nunneries in England, and 14
in Scotland-in all 201, showing an
increase during the year of 5 in Eng?
land and 1 in Scotland, There are 10
colleges in England nnd 2 in Scot?
land, which is the same number as
last year. Cardinal Wiseman, in order
to illustrate to his andienet- at the re?
cent Catholic Congress -at Mechlin,
trie progress of his operations in Lon?
don, showed the number of churches;
nunneries, monasteries, and orphan?
ages for 1829, 1*51 and 1863; and,
bringing down these figures so far as
we can with certainty to the present
date, we see the more readily tho
steady and rapid progress which the
Church of Rome is makiag, especially
in London. In 1829, then- were 29
churches ?ind 1 nunqg?ry; in 1S51, 40
churches, 9 nunneries and 2 monaste?
ries; in 1865, 117 churches, 31 nunne
eies and 15 monasteries. It will thus
be seen that Cardinal Wiseman had
really much ground for boasting of
progress. From his arrival in Eng?
land till his death, there have been in
and about London alon?.' no fewer than
71 churches built, 22 nunneries and
13 monasteries established, beside*
orphanages, hospitals and schools. "\
No CELTAS OP BEES.-Mr. Teget
meier, of the Entomological Society,
maintains that bees have no instinct
in shaping their cells, as^ has usually
been supposed; but thc form is tho
consequence of the law of the pro?
perty'of space, that of seven circles
of equal radii, six will just surround
the seventh. The eel! of the bee is
invariably hemispherical at the com?
mencement, and the section of a" cell
not in contact with another is always
circular.
Considerable lager beer is drank in
Philadelphia. Two brewers have sold
there during one month, to dealers,
12,772 kegs of beer. Tho cost to the
retailers was S:i4,702. * Euch keg ave?
rages 95 glasses, thus giving 1,223,340
glasses. At five cents per glass-tho
price obtained-the sum of $60.287.50
was realized, making the profits of tho
retailers 615,065. This is all from only
two small breweries, and 'there aro
thirty such establishments in that city.
The famous vessel, Alexandria, in?
tended for a blockade runner, has
been turned into a river boat, and
plies between London and Gravesend.
She is a novelty on the Thames, J s
die is the only boat that luis cabins
upon deck, in the American style.
Mists Maria Mitchell has boen ap?
pointed Astronomical professor in th?
Vassar p9maio CoUogo, Poughkeepsie, ?
;ho only knevrn instance of a lady'a
?olding mich a position. Mis?. M.. ?3
he di~>co7erer o? a comet which bcara
\rr name.