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A well-informed capitalist and slave-holder remarked, that negroes could not be employed in cotton factories. I said that I understood they were so in Charleston, and some other places at the South. "It may be so, yet," he answered, "but they will have to give it up."
The reason was, he said, that the negro could never be trained to exercise judgment; he cannot be made to use his mind; he always depends on machinery doing its own work, and cannot be made to watch it. He neglects it until something is broken or there is great waste. "We have tried reward and punishments, but it makes no difference. It's his nature and you cannot change it. All men are indolent and have a disinclination to labor, but this is a great deal stronger in the African race than in any other. In working niggers, we just always calculate that they will not labor at all except to avoid punishment, and they will never do more than just enough to save themselves from being punished, and no amount of punishment will prevent their working carelessly and indifferently. It always seems on the plantation as if they took pains to break all the tools and spoil all the cattle that they possibly can, even when they know they'll be directly punished for it."
As to rewards, he said, "They only want to support life, they will not work for anything more; and in this country it would be hard to prevent their getting that." I thought this opinion of the power of rewards was not exactly confirmed by the narrative we had just heard, but I said nothing. "If you could move," he continued, "all the white people from the whole seaboard district of Virginia and give it up to the negroes that are on it now, just leave them to themselves, in ten years time there would not be an acre of land cultivated, and nothing would be produced, except what grew spon- taneously."
The Hon. Willoughby
Newton, by the way, seems to think that if it had not been for the
introduction of guano, a similar desolation would have soon occurred
without the Africanization of the country. He is reported to have said:
"I look upon the introduction of guano, and the success attending its
application to our barren lands, in the light of a special interposition
of Divine Providence, to save the northern neck of Virginia from reverting
entirely into its former state of wilderness and utter desolation. Until the
discovery of guan - more valuable to us than the mines of California - I
looked upon the possibility of renovating our soil, of ever bringing it to a
point capable of producing remunerating crops, as utterly hopeless. Our
up-lands were all worn out, and our bottom-lands fast failing, and if it had
not been for guano, to revive our last hope, a few years more and the whole
country must have been deserted by all who desired to increase their own
wealth, or advance the cause of civilization by a proper cultivation of the
earth."