good tobacco requires much care, which
extends over about a year from the time the seed is planted. Some parts
of the work demand a measure of judgment such as intelligent negroes
readily acquire. They are, indeed, better fitted for the task than white
men, for they are commonly more interested in their task than whites of
the labouring class. The result was that, before the period of the
revolution, slavery was firmly established in the tobacco planting
colonies of Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina; it was already the
foundation of their only considerable industry.... This industry
(cotton), even more than that of raising tobacco, called for abundant
labour which could be absolutely commanded and severely tasked in the
season of extreme heats. For this work the negro proved to be the only
fit man, for, while the whites can do the work, they prefer other
employment. Thus it came about that the power of slavery in this country
became rooted in its soil. The facts show that, based on an ample
foundation of experience, the judgment of the Southern people was to the
effect that this creature of the tropics was a better labourer in their
fields than the men of their own race.

"Much has been said about the dislike of the white man for work in
association with negroes. The failure of the whites to have a larger
share in the agriculture of the South has been attributed to this cause.
This seems to be clearly an error. The dislike to the association of
races in labour is, in the slaveholding States, less than in the North.
There can be no question that, if the Southern folk could have made
white labourers profitable, they would have preferred to employ them,
for the reason that the plantations would have required less fixed
capital for their operation. The fact was, and is, that the negro is
there a better labouring man in the field than the white. Under the
conditions he is more enduring, more contented and more trustworthy than
the men of our own race."

The negroes have many qualities such as are sure to heighten their value
in the eyes of employers and business men. On the whole, they are a
contented race when fairly used. We can hardly think of them as becoming
political agitators. They know too well where their interest lies to
favour strikes, and so become the victims of those who professionally
foment them. It would also seem that they generally contract a kind of
affection for those who employ them and who use the