is a fact that today many of the best farms of the
South have been turned into pastures because of the lack of labor; other
farms have been sold, and still others are growing up in weeds because
there is no one to till them. This condition obtains in a very marked
degree in almost every southern state. Certainly in most of the
Agricultural Sections.

Before investigating the cause of this condition, men of influence and
power have hastened to proclaim through the press and otherwise, that
the responsibility rests upon the Negro. They say that the Negro is
lazy, worthless, criminal and will not work and therefore they are
compelled to have immigrants to work these fields. That there are lazy,
worthless and criminal Negroes, we do not deny, but we do deny that as a
race they are such.

The facts are these: first, the South, unlike other sections of the
country, has not had thousands of immigrants to come into her borders
year after year to do her work, but has depended solely upon the
increase in her native population for this purpose. This increase has
not kept pace with the marvellous growth and development of that
section, hence, the cry for labor. Second, scarcity of labor in that
section is due in part, to ignorance and a false idea of real freedom.
Men with such ideas do not work long in any one place, but rove from
section to section and work enough to keep themselves living. This labor
is not only unprofitable to the individual, but is not satisfactory to
the employers. Third, the labor trouble in the rural South is due mostly
to the way in which the landlords and merchants treat their tenants and
customers.

The great mass of Negroes in the South either rent the lands or work
them on shares. This rent varies according to the kind of crops that are
made. If the tenant makes a good crop this year, he must expect to pay
more rent the next year, or his farm will be rented to another at higher
figures. Of course, the Negroes are ignorant and are unable to keep
their own accounts. Sometimes these Negro farmers pay as much as 50%,
75% and 100% on the goods and provisions which they consume during the
year.

This method of renting lands and selling goods according to the
condition of the crops, is repeated year after year. I know ignorant
farmers who have been working under these conditions for twenty-five and
thirty years, who have never been able to get more than $15 or $20 in
any one year during this period. The