Newspaper Page Text
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i| lournal—Jtbotfb to Jto, lolitits, State, ^gricultoe
THREE HOLLARS PER ANNUM IN ADVANCE.
ATHENS. GA. JULY 7, 1871.
VOL. XL.—NO. 45—NEW SERIES. VUR. f. NO. »H*
muter.
I of the State, with terms of sale or rent
| distinctly stated, which terms cannot
rtsusnita wekkli,
BY & a. ATKINSON,
XT THREE DOLLARS PER ANNUM,
STRICT!.TiK AD VAKCK.
■/ lire, Broad «<., over J. H. Huggins.
RATES OF ADVERTISING,
^nmmwta (tibilMRMttOMDiSlirjgri
fifty C*ht» ptr Square rfU hMt, for fire Ont, and
S«»«siy*4re Ccnu for each aabaaqaat S—rUoo,
wtar tlma uodarone reenUi. For »Ion grr period
VrratceatneU will Canada.
—
Itraiiffrattoiiu
Address by Col. Frank SeHal’ler.
Mr. President and Gentlemen of the
Convention: Upon your hind invitation
l hnvc the honor to address to you
few remarks on the policy of encour
*:pnjj immigration to our State.
This Society appointed, as for back
ns 1868, a .commit tee of which I was a
unembcr, to draft a bill to be submitted
in the General Assembly of Georgia in
advocacy of the encouragement of im
migration to this State. After a-session
of several days, said committee, under
it he chairmanship of Hon. Benjamin
C. Yancey, then the President of this
Society, drafted a suitable biH, which
was at once presented to the legisla
ture. then in session.
There It was stripped of some of its
>most important features and subjected
to the ordeal of political partisanship,
although it was to Ire justly considered
rs the expression of the wishes of the
tpeqjilc'oi the State represented by a
large assemblage of men all interested
in the great interests of the State and
-m bodying murli of its intelligence-and
wealth.
True, the amount of money specified
■in our bill was voted; but in its useful-
it was -so abridged by the changes
made, that this Society, feeling that its
just wishes and expectations for the
welfare of Georgia bad been but illy
-mmded by its ithen legislative body,
fiil: compelled, through its President,
to remonstrate against the bill thus
ja-sed, and to declare that it was not
to be held responsible for any failure
that might follow, and which eventu
ally did follow.
fey this protest we >lnnd to-day pre
cisely ujron the same footing as we did
tin 1869 in regard to immigration, be-
forethcbill was passed, mid your wishes
still awiiit fulfilment by the General
Assembly of the State. Let, then, the
blame rest where it is fully due.
It is not my purptrse, nor would such
a task be to me a pleasure, to cite any
additional masons why the Commis
sioners elected, Messrs. 1 .ester and
Weil, were hound to fail; hut I say,
that notwithstanding the changes made
in the bill, some s.ieeess would have
followed, if the encouragement of im
migration to Georgia had been confided
to men already tested in the crucible of
experience. Merely to show you that
1 disapproved, from the very begin
ning, of the manner of their’proceed
ing, and that I am far from joining in
any cry against them after the fact of
their failure is settled and patent to
every one, I cite an extract from a let
i r which I wrote from my chief office
.ii Hamburg, Germany, to Mr. Lewis,
Secretary of this Society, under date
>f October 22, 1869: " From the man
ner in which Mr. Lester, the State
Commissioner, appears to have con-
'■civcil his mission, judging from one of
his appeals which came to my hands a
few months since, I do not think that
he "ill bo successful. From Mr. Weil,
the European agent, nothing whatever
hw been as yet heard in Continental
Europe.” Nevertheless, some goiid
have liecn achieved by Mr. Weil’s
“'hots, if the laliors as indicated in the
imal official report were fully carried
"ut as enumerated. My entire expenses
m [" r Virginia did not exceed $3,000, and
* fLink w itli $10,000 the Georgia Com-
I missioned might have made considcr-
I *blv more noise in the world than they
r a PPW to have done.
u is necessary for iny purpose to re-
r*N the .Society’s bill of 1869, and I
Lave therefore to road it:
•in Art to create a Land and Immigra
tion Bureau for the State of Georgia.
Skc. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate
and House of Representatives in Gen
eral Assembly met, That there shall be
'Touted a Land and Immigration Bu
reau in and for the State of Georgia.
Skc. 2. There shall be elected by the
legislature a Chief Commissioner, with
»salary of two thousand dollars per
annum, whose office shall be at the
rapital, with power to use an official
•cal.
Sw. 3. It shall be the duty of said
’ Lief Commissioner to supervise and
direct all officials connected with the
fi'ireau of Immigration; to prepare
’ u< '“ publications as he may consider
’'■«wry for a full understanding, at
*“<1 abroad, of the aims of the
and the inducements which
fr'j^^ers to settlers and capitalists
i™*jinked States arid from Eu-
su . l', ,0 them to be printed in
-arv • , u he shall deem neceo-
’ 1°, <aus e the preparation of u
fratui* < lc showing the usual
map ^"‘.“ complete geographical
line* « , ” lcal formation, isothermal
ami m * „ “ nes of the leading staples
,l'i. |. 0>l ,m P ,,r tant agricultural pro-
i;,,.' I ,r, *l K *:• digest of the laws
I a I ■ . the Inildilig and
be altered while the lands remain for
settlement on his books; that no lands
shall be received by him for settlement,
except as are of his own knowledge, or
by proper vouchers, suitable for the
settlement of emigrants; that all lands
entered shall be accompanied by proper
descriptions (schedules for which de
scriptions he wall prepare and furnish
upon application to land owners), and
by •*aurvey of such lands; that he
snail solidt, receive and hold in trust
free donations of lands for emigrant
settlers, said lands to have the priority
of settlement over all others entered on
the books of his office; to - transmit
from tirae to time copies of the land
descriptions to each of the European
commissioners; to see that the titles of
such lands are clear, and that such
lands are unencumbered—the expenses
of all such descriptions, surveys, and
examinations of titles and of freedom
from encumbrances, to be borne by the
landholder.
To collect and receive all commission
fees for the settlement of lands, imme
diately upon the conclusion of the bar
gain between immigrant and landhold
er for the purchase or lease of lands;
also, the commission fees that may be
due for the procurement of agricultural
laborers, artisans, and mechanics, etc.,
to make regular payments to the for-
eign agents appointed, and domestic
agents he may employ, of their shares
of the commission fees to which they
may be entitled.
To establish a suitable Emigrant
Landing Depot in the city of Savan
nah, in which emigrants, upon their
landing, may receive shelter; to license
suitable boarding house keepers in that
city, who shall agree to board and en
tering emigrants at a rate of compen
sation to be fixed by him ; to appoint a
bank, merchant or broker, at whose
office the emigrants from abroad may
exchange, at current rates, foreign for
United States moneys.
To see that no infectious diseases as
brought by emigrants; that such be
may land in u state of sickness be
placed in a hospital; to appoint one or
more emigrant physicians who shall
agree to attend emigrants at fixed rates;
to permit no criminal, poor-house or
work-house population to land.
To establish such regulation E2 may
E rotect the emigrant from imposition
y designing persons ; to permit none
but authorized persons to enter the
Emigrant landing Depot; that he
shall receive, investigate and cause to
be redressed, all claims for damages by
foreign emigrant passengers, on account
of inaufficicnt accommixlationf, bod or
insufficient food and harsh treatment
on ship-board, and that he have power
to seize any vessel against which such
claims for damages may be decided by
the proper court.
To keep a book in which the dates
of arrival, ship names, ages, sexes, na
tivity, occupation and the money means
brought of all emigrants are recorded,
also where they settle, or the occupa
tions they elect, how much land pur
chased or leased and on what terms,
that he shall make the requisite con
tracts at stipulated rates to forward
emigrants by railroad or steamboat to
the interior of the State.
That he finally submit a yearly re
port of his operations, and those of the
officials of the Bureau, to the Governor.
Ski”. 4. There shall be one or more
European Commissioners appointed by
the Governor, upon the nominations of
the Chief Commissioner of Bureau.—
Said European Commissioners shall
have power to appoint local agents in
Euroj*. The salary of European Com
missioners and the per ccntage upon
sales of lands allowed to local agents
shall be prescribed by the Chief Com
missioner.
Sec. 5. There shall be elected by the
Legislature three persons who shall
constitute the State Board of Immi
gration, whose duty it shall be to meet
quarterly at the office of Chief Com
missioners and to examine into the
conduct of the Bureau, and shall re
port quarterly the result of such ex
amination. They shall also be an ad
visory body to the Chief Commissioner.
Said Board shall be paid their travel
ling expenses and five dollars per day
each, whilst in actual discharge of duty,
but for not longer than five days at any
one session.
( Skc. 6. The Chief and Eu ropcau
Commissioners shall receive, in addition
to their salaries, 24 per cent, each, aris
ing from sales of lands made to emi
grants, and charges upon hires of labor
of emigrants furnished by each respec
tively, provided all liabilities of the
Bureau have been paid. Said per
centage, to be appropriated by resolu
tion of the State Board of Immigration
at their fourth quarterly meeting.
Skc. 7. In order to make the Bureau
a self-sustaining institution the Chief
Commissioner is hereby authorized to
collect from the landholder five per
cent, of the value of all lands sold to
emigrants; to collect from the employer
$5 per capita on nil laborers and do
mestics furnished, at the rate of $5 per
annum on leases to tenants, and $10
for every skilled laborer, mechanic, ar-
tizan and miner.
Sec. 8. The Chief and European
Commissioners shall be removable from
office by the Governor, upon the advice
of the Board of Immigration, showing
satisfactory cause.
Sec. 9. The persons elected to con
stitute the State Board of Immigration
etc., while the Foreign Commissioner
was, it appears to me, left to do precise
ly as he pleased. Supposing now that
he do nothing, we have in reality no
right to find any fault with him. Both
Commissioners were quite irresponsible,
it appears, and the Legislature had en
tirely omitted the great feature of the
State Board of Control, consisting of
three disinterested, eminent citizens of
Georgia, to which this Society had at
tached particular importance.
The failure of the Georgia Bureau
has done much harm; some of the best
friends of the policy appear discour-
~ id by it, and the important matter
State aid and State protection is, in
eoneeqoenoe, lightly*' though* of, and
a feeling has sprang up that this great
interest of the State must be left en
tirely to private effort and speculation,
But such a line of conduct by our peo-
f le I sincerely believe would be, (and
hope to give some reasons therefor
hereafter,) productive of very injurious
consequences to the State; and that it
would, instead of ever establishing im
migration, lead to the very opposite,
forever checking it. Let us not lie
blinded by the easy successes which are
brought about by paying an emigrant’s
passage, and which many believe to be
the alpha and omega of immigration,
while it is but a small part of a regular
system. That immigration which this
Society has always advocated, and
which it must advocate now, if it wishes
really and truly to establish a perma
nent immigration into Georgia, is based
upon the introduction of capital and
men of means, of actual and iudiqcnd
ent settlers, holders of real estate, in
dependent farmers aud planters, such
as you are yourselves. It can never be
based upon a system which aims solely
at bringing here men under contract,
who will leave you whenever ill-will or
interest—those two potent factors in
man’s nature—are called into play by
them against you.
Gentlemen, history teaches it in ma
ny modern examples. Look at Brazil,
at Chili, at Russia, where the States
themselves stepped forward to bring
hired emigrants. Up to this day, though
immense sums have been squandered,
no regularly established immigration
has been founded there. It is feeble—
languishing; and although these States
were well thought of when they first
came into the market for emigrants,
quite popular as future homes, to-day
emigrants from the old countries as
anxiously avoid them as they formerly
sought them. And then look at the
development of a spontaneous, free, in
dependent immigration to this country,
baaxl upon actunl settlements!
. Immigration, as far as our needs go,
If we induce a man with property to
settle among us &nd«fo invest that
property in real estati&he becomes at
once as deeply interestSnisxte are our
selves in the weal orwoe of
home. Almost insensibly to hi
such as we feel for the proi
our State, will grow up i ~
for we ourselves sowed the
being whin we admitted him as an
equal, and when he became part owner
of the soil that bore us and our ances
tors. His association with us can never
in any respect become an injury to the
State; it becomes, on the contrary, a
real, and a lasting moral and material
support. It increases our strength, cur
ttuence, our intelligence; it lessens
r burdens and doubles-our riches.—
The children that are born to him will
be true Georgians, as we are ourselves;
for the native-born citizens of Georgia
are but children and children’s children
of immigrants. Who of us can, re
membering that fact, be in heart an
enemy to immigrants and immigration ?
And much less will he be apt to be
such, if in the true spirit of an Amer
ican, he bears in mind that his country
is a legacy of God to persecuted man
kind. He laid bare this immense and
teeming continent, hidden for centuries
to Christian civilization, just at a time
in the world’s history when religious
and civil strifes tore ail Europe—when
the power of rulers caused liberty to
languish more and more, and finally
entirely to disappear. And lo! when
everything looked the darkest, there
arose a new light, a new interpretation
of liberty in the far West, and the per
secuted of all lands went their way
thither to partake of it. The fathers
of the revolution well understood the
mission which God had given them,
and it is the duty of their sons to fol
low in their path. We cannot better
show that we understand the grand
mission given us, than by cordially in
viting and aiding every worthy white
immigrant that seeks our shores; we 1
thus honor ourselves and our country.
...:n c i._ ' I
That immigrant will never forsake us
when troubles should come over our
land ; for is he not fixed to the soil?
Proudly can I point to the record of
recent immigrants to the Southern
States, thougli small in number as
compared to our more fortunate sister-
Statcs, during that long and painful
struggle which is the cause of the con
sideration of the policy of immigration
among us.
On the other hand, the laborer whose
travelling expenses we have to advance,
what earthly interest has he in us and
our State, save the wages he is to get ?
Consider, we tempted—wo purchased
to be the followers of the better and
well-to-do. class of their countrymen,
than their precursors.
From all I have said, it will be ap
parent tliat the true system of immi
gration is that which aims at the intro-
auction of actual independent settlers,
and which combines with it, as a sub
ordinate branch, the introduction of
laborers of all kinds, who pay their
passage or whose passage may even be
pud. We then shall neutralize, as
much as lies in our power, any injurious
effects that might otherwise follow.—
For consider what the effect would be:
Around eaeh actual settler there would
gather in a very short time a lot of
laborers that followed him, when they
heard that LAsy would find work at
food wages a hia aeighbarfiood. TKe
idea, “ there is one of ours settled there
who does well, and who will look after
us,” powerfully influences them. Sup
posing a county receives a hundred
such actual settlers in a year, a thou
sand or more laborers would have gath
ered arouud them, forming an excellent
labor-market for the farmer and plant
er. The laborers would be knit together
into a firm bond by means of the ac
tual settlers to whom they would look
up, whom they could consult. Much
of the bitterness and solitude of sepa
ration from the old country is done
away with. When troubles’and disa
greements come, they do not leave the
county, but go from one farm to another
as our native laborers do; and we have
secured, without risk or expense, a
laboring population. I learn with
pleasure that experiments in Jones
county with imported laborers whose
passage was advanced, have thus for
been satisfactory. The instance is too
solitary, too recent, to build any the
ory upon it. Let us enquire in Jones
county five years hence whether their
system, unaided by actual settlers, has
built up a free, spontaneous immigra
tion worth the while to talk about.
Secondly, in its material aspects *.
A few facts will make the difference
r if. n.y^STif-
changes that had been made) happening I which so much has been theorized and .
to haven copy vith me, I communicated philosophized, and in which so little has have myself many a t
if to the head of one of the largest I been achieved, because we rather list- hearing as State agent, when, ns a pri
shipping houses in the world, whom I Jened to foolish declamations, pro or j vate agent, I would not have been ad-
■ A \
Mitt I * nt ’ 1
receive;
sought to influence favorably towards
the encouragement of immigration to
the South. His remarks to me, after
careful reading, were substantially the
following’: “ I have not seen any im
migration law by any State of your
Union, which would, it appears to me,
inspire our emigrating, well-to-do form
ers with greater confidence than this
law wilL It is explicit, and I see pa
ternal care for the new citizens charac
terizes it. Should your State carry it
out liberally’and in that spirit, in the
bands of men of talent, its success
would, I think, b*eminent.. With
this lawtyou give the settlers nil those
securities which will be necessary to at
tract them to your part of the country,
and for which they will look ere they
entrust themselves to your hands.”—
My own study of the question during
a two years’ absence in Europe, entirely
occupied with it, has convinced me of
the soundness of these views, and were
I charged with the execution of that
bill I should unhesitatingly and with
the greatest confidence enter upon my
task, assured that the founding of a
permanent immigration with it, is but
a question of its intelligent and faith
ful execution.
Here, were all the obstacles in the
way properly understood, I might bring
him to come. His was no free, hearty consider t hat a very moderate estimate.
into four distinct (flasSeSf -icf; ft*1H0ftffi8 Of ri&easity. '* It wOuuT Treat T87d, (fore
.,^1..?! , . ,M ! and to prejiarc
I’uiii. " , ‘ 1: ’ taxation, com-
l ' lii-’li "m *; l,no w *th such other States
I'uiMin. "‘ , ‘ m 10 suitable com-
’''■n film! r' e 5'^^ of the emigre*
:u,d JTJJ? Of the Union,
'"riit ,,f?n , * nd the settle-
tol!»» ch *Y hall 1 “PP'y to this
'A Af |»n!, an, at all
R'r the sMti 0,1 the hooks of his office
• "e-tio rrr r u rciRn and d °-
•O'srarits, by the landholders
each of which requiring a particular
line of action to induce it to proceed to
a new, untried and unknown State;
and which, according to the difficulty
in inducing it, may be enumerated as
follows:
1. Independent men with means, who
emigrate to be more independent in
their new home than they were in their
old one. They are the most difficult
to induce to go to a new untried State;
and without the State Government of
fers to them sufficient guaranties for
their security, personal and material,
they will never go there. They, of
course, pay all of their expenses.
Among them the most valuable and
desirable to a State are the farmers of
smaller or larger means, who work
their lands themselves and with the aid
of their families. They will readily
be followed by their acquaintances, and
will attract as many laborers as may be
required in the neighborhood where
they settled, by simply writing for
them ; these laborers forming a ready
market for labor to our planters and
fanners on whose lands the actual set
tler went. Good, cheap lands, easy
access to market, number and money-
value of products, and salubrity of
climate will determine them. They
may be drawn, in order, as to greatest
numbers, wealth and thrift, as follows:
1. From the German Empire, includ
ing Alsace and Lorraine. 2. From
Denmark. 3. From England. 4.
From Switzerland. 5. From Holland.
6. From Austria. In very inadequate
and sparse nuftibers from the other
countries of Europe.
2. Artisans and mechanics xcho pay
their own passage money. They will
with great nicety, inquire os to their
surety in finding work; the rates of
wages and climatic influences will next
determine them. We may draw them
in order: 1. From England and Scot
land. 2. From the German Empire.
3. From Belgium. 4. From France.
3. House, garden, farm and planta
tion laborers, who pay their own passage,
will generally, without much inquiry,
go to where their own countrymen are
already settled in respectable numbers.
but they will be very hard to move to
new States unknown to them. My ex
perience has proven efforts upon them
almost abortive. They may be deter
mined only when they have no friends
whatever in the New World, and after
they have taken confidence in you,
think that a good field for them would
be a new propaganda in a State from
which emigration has hitherto been
snfall to this continent; yet this would
take considerable time and means.
few dollars, more or less, travelling ex
penses very often determines them.
4. Artisans, mechanics and laborers
of all sorts, for whom yon offer to pay
travelling expenses. Go where you will
in the old world, you may get them
hall hold office for the terra «>f two nnr ] j n numbers without end, with von’
1 <1 AM AM A ..i iLn ... .. . .. . •
years; and, in the event of the resig
nation of any person, the Governor
shall fill such vacancy.
Sec. 10. In order to carry out the
provisions of this bill, the sum of ten
thousand dollars is hereby appropriated
for the year 1869, and the Governor
shall draw his warrant upon the Treas
ury for this amount in such sums as
shall be called for by the State Board
of Immigration.
In the bill passed by the Legislature,
the Domestic Commissioner (in place
of Chief Commissioner) was merely
directed to “ faithfully devote himself
to the encouragement of immigration,”
little trouble, only take care that the
authorities do not order you to quit" for
having enticed any to emigrate. They
will make little inquiry as to the climate
and food; they are anxious to be able
to get away. They may become a real
blessing to States which absolutely suf
fer from the lack of cheap labor; but
tha^falaiWQg has its shadowy sides, and
may become, in the nature of things,
even somewhat of a curse.
What, now, is the relative benefit to
oar State as between farmers with in
dependent means and laborers for whom
ws pay the passage ?
First, considered in its moral aspect
in value between actual settlers and
mere laborers apparent at once. As
State Agent of Virginia, I seat a con
siderable number of actual settlers from
Europe to that State during 1869 and
1870. I can prove by my official doc
uments and the settlements actually
made that each settler brought on an
average to Virginia two thousand one
hundred dollars Prussian money, in
cash, besides the personal effects, seeds
and agricultural implements, which 1
calculated to be worth five hundred
in each case. Go to Castle Garden,
N. Y., and look at the immense quan
tity of baggage brought, aud you will
scent, too, that lie ought to pav the
penalty of any disappointment, should
any come, liccause he rather thought
lessly went to a foreign country of
which he knew nothing, and which of
fered him but slight guaranties, that
that which was promised him would be
his. It seems to us, likewise, that he
ought to feel something akin to grati
tude that he was enabled to escape
from a condition of penury to one in
this country, under evmz unfavorable
circumstances, of comjwrative prosper
ity and future hope. He should not be,
therefore, cross and ill-natured, when
the troubles come, t>s they are sure to
come, sometimes of his own making;
and he ought to blame no one but him
self. Will he do so ? Will he remem
ber his previous condition ? Ah, here
is the rub! He will do neither; actual
experience and human nature emphat
ically answer, no! He will blame his
employer for having enticed him.—
From that moment a desire to change
will influence him. The next we hear
of him will be somewhere among his
own countrymen “out West.” to wnom
a natural longing has ever drawn him
since he entered our State and saw how
deprived of all society, of all associa
tion with his like and kindred, he must
for some time pass liis life. To justify
his act he will explain to his people;
write home, paint in dark colors, warn
them. If las complaints were just, so
much the worse for us and the cause of
immigration; if unjust, the effect will
be temporarily the 6ame—of keeping
people from our State until others
should come and give a more favorable
account. Nor will the injury stop
there; a more valuable class of immi
grants, people who have something to
lose, will be deterred from coming to
our State.
eon, than went to work, is nothing but
a business, on a gigantic scale if you
will, which must rest on commercial
law, commercial interest and commer
cial honor—a business which must be
just as well practiced and studied as
any legitimate business, during the
progress of which there will be some
false steps, failures and disagreeable
experiences, as there have been in every
great and expanding business which, at
first struggling to make itself known,
now yields to its wise, unflinching con
ductor a princely revenue.
From this short and imperfect sketch
of our first main point abroad, you
will see the falsity of the popular im
pression here, that all we have to do to
get emigrants would be to send a roan
out to Europe, perhaps the first one
that wants to go, who would take the
emigrants by their button-holes and tell
them all about the Paradise they would
find here, (foi I never saw an agent
yet that had not a thousand reasons
why his State was better than any
other,) and that forthwith these emi
grants would consider such invitation
as the greatest boon conferred upon
them, perhaps foil around his neck and
thank him, and then go with him
wherever he wanted to take them. You
will hardlv believe to what extent these
my remarks to an end; but further j ideas prevail; men who otherwise think
expositions are necessary ere the im- slowly and carefully over a business,
Far be it from me to raise my voice
against a remedy, so obvious, of any
man’s necessities which induces him to
advance money so that he may obtain
laborers to till nis fields. It is perfectly
right and proper that a man thus help
himself, if he can; but I protest against
the pernicious idea which appears to be
spreading more rapidly than people
think, that that is worthy the name of
encouragement of immigration, and
that there is nothing else to be done.
And as solicitous as l am that Georgia
should cordially adopt our bill of 1869,
as detenniued should I for on opponent
of any move which is to. induce the
State to lend its influence and its money
solely for the promotion of tha\ kind of
immigration. I should rather see the
State make an appropriation for the
introduction, as a free gift to every
farmer, of one of mv friend Colonel
Howard’s Merino bucks, whom he con
siders the no plus ultra of emigrants
for Georgia.
I do not believe that any'man would
do me the injustice to say that I am
against that cfoss of immigrants; on
the contrary, I desire that every worthy comc ’
white immigrant may find a happy
home in our South. My intention is
simply to impress the people of the
State and the legislators that will be
called upon by this 8ooety, I sincerely
hope, again to consider the subject of
this address, with the conviction, which
a deep study of the sulgect and a long
experience’ abroad have already riven
me, that we must never expect to build
up a permanent and beneficial system of
immigration upon such a baas. I de-
quarter) I directed to Virginia from
my chief office in Hamburg, Germany
sixty-three settlers, with together one
hundred and thirty-seven thousand
Prussian dollars in cash, or per head
two thousand one hundred and seventy-
five dollars, Prussian money. Eight
or ten settlements were made in one
county, Lunenburg. In consequence
thereof, I was informed at Richmond,
upon my return, lands had risen one
hundred per cent, in six months, at the
rate of two hundred per cent, per an
num ; and in consequence thereof, at
the next valuation of real estate the
county tax will yield double what it
did the year before, at least. The most
bitter opponent of immigration in the
county, every farmer without distinc
tion, is thus made practically a free
gift of the value of his estate, conse
quent upon but a few actual settlers;
while the whole State is directly bene-
fitted by having a tax doubled which
by the former. I hold that A^essre.
Lester and Weil would have deserved
the thanks of the State had they sent
us a score of actual settlers into even
one or two counties. I do not here at al!
enter into the calculation the generally
superior intelligence possessed by farm
ers in occupancy of land over mere
laborers, since I cannot express it in
rouud numbers.
It is hardly necessary for me now to
say any thing on the’ vastly inferior
value of mere laborers upon the de
velopment of the general interests of a
State. I hold that where they are suc
cessful they enrich uidvidtials—not the
county or the State. My neighbor is
wealthy and can send for them ; I am
poor and cannot. Heownsonethousand
acres, and I do also. He saved some
cotton at the end of the war, or had
some cash hidden, and I did not, hav
ing invested everything in Confederate
bonds, I|e gets along well and cat)
stand one of two bad cotton years, and
I cannot, having nothing to fall back
upon. Does his success with his labor
ers make me any better off? Not at
all; the money-value of my lands re
mains just the same, and I do not
that he coiild sell for much more,
though he holds his landatexhorbitant
figures, there being no purchasers aud
hardly any transfers in the county, save
sales for taxes. Gentlemen, years may
elapse and a thousand of laborers might
be imported, and yet you would not
see a tithe of the improvement in the
value of your real estate that is, almost
magicallyt the consequence of the ar
rival of actual settlers.
The eventuality consider, too, that
these laborers may leave you one day
in a body, disgusted—leave the county
aad the State. Besides the damage to
you individually, what loss to your fu
ture prospects 1 Your recourse must
be to the inevitable negro, and you may
say vale to immigration for years to
portance and soundness of our bill are
generally appreciated.
All over Europe there are agencies
established whose business it is to at
tend to everything necessary for the
outgoing emigrant, who give advice,
receive the passage money and secure
the berth. Every little town in the
German Empire, in Switzerland, in
Scandinavia, in Denmark, etc., has its
agency. In. all these countries they
are under governmental supervision
and have to furnish bonds from one to
ten thousand dollars for the due ob
servance of all emigration laws. Heavy
penalties are imposed, when they are
infringed, and especially should' any
attempt be made to purtuadt any citizen
to emigrate; that is looked upon as a
kind of treason and punished accord
ingly. This is one of the laws of the
German Empire:
“ $114 Code ok Penal Laws : *
“ Whosoever makes it his business
to mislead subjects to emigrate, shall
be punished with imprisonment from
one month to two years.
“ A like punishment shall receive ha
who makes it his business to mislead
foremen, assistants or laborers in man
ufactories to leave the service’'of their
employer before the expiration of their
contract, to enter the service of foreign
owners of manufactories.”
The following are some of the inter
pretations of this law by the courts, as
furnished by the Crown lawyer:
“ 1. The words, 4 makes it his busi
ness,’ do not imply any repeated viola
tions, and the law is to be enforced
whenever it appears that the act is to
he part of a business, or that there is
any intention to repeat it.
2. It is not necessary that there be
any desire or prospect of gain.
3. To ‘ mislead’ is to be construed
influencing the will of another
through artful means.’ It is not re
quisite that there be any deception',
simple persuasion is sufficient.”
4. It is not necessary for punish
ment that the act of emigration really
took place.”
I give you likewise an abstract of
the Royal Danish Law. entitled—
Ijor om Tilsyn mrd Udvandrcrrs
Be ford ring. Kjobenhavn, den lute Mai
1868:
Ҥ1. No one can act as emigrant
agent without permit. * *
$2. The permit can only be given
to persons of age and of good reputa
tion living in the State, or who have
resided here for five years. The Min
ister of Justice is, however, empowered
to modify the term of residence. *
Whosoever makes tuul use of this
permit, especially in falsely represent
ing matters to emigrants to persuade
them, may at any time forfeit it. *
“ $3. Before the receipt of the per
mit the applicant must give bonds to
grow wild when they talk about immi
gration ; they have done immense mis
chief, and the first tiling we have to do
ia to knock such and Rke ideas out of
our heads. There is another class who
go to the opposite extreme—great sages
that cannot disentangle their thoughts
from a contemplation of what things
used to be, who want even now to build
a Chinese wall around our States. It
is natural that such men are among the
bitterest opponents of immigration.—
They will confidently tell you now:
“ I told you so—you never can bring
these people;” and inwardly rejoice
over the failure of the Georgia Bureau.
Both, you perceive, are extremists,
mitted; and I could show you cor; *-
pondence wherein Government desired
my opinion as to the project started by
• private American agent.
In fine, I express my conviction that
no gentleman would, without his State’s
commission, go in the emigration busi
ness to a foreign country that knows-,
anything at all of the difficulties aud
the distrust that await him.
In another point of view it is highly
desirable that our State have some
official representatives abroad. It will
make known the State and prevent tfoit
‘ nil be swallowed up in the name of tho
United States, even our identity. Ilia
judicious conduct would result lnThaW
and great benefits that are dependent
upon immigration, such as investment
of European capital in new railway
and steamship lines. Hon. Adolph
Godeffroy, the President of the Great
Hamburg Ocean Mail Steamship Line,
assured me that neither his nor any
other European steamship line would
ever send any of their steamers to a
Southern port unless it lay in the road
of immigration. Although not charged
with any such business, my mere pres
ence in Germany as a State agent of
Virginia led to an interesting corres
pondence, sought by < tcrinan, bankers,
as to the rentability of the investment
of money in Virginia railways. It U
my firm opinion that with immigration
we might have influx of vast capital,
rail lines in every part of the Htatc, a
direct communication with Europe,
while without it we may wait years for
either.
Note the effect upon Peru. That
State sought immigration in Franee,
but recently. Save the romance that
lingered around it from the days of
Cortez, it was there ns unknown as is
to-day Georgia- The active propaganda
of Peru involved the laying bare to
Paris capitalists of the 'wealth of the
State, and simultaneously with the pro
curement of immigrants capital poured
into it. When at Paris shoitly before
the breaking out of the war, 1* was in
whose counsels to follow would be in- j formed that ten thousand FrencL-
jurious to the State, as far as immigra-1 men were proceeding to Peru during
tion is concerned; for neither have j 1869. I saw in the Paris guzettes a
ever bestowed one earnest thought j Peruvian government loan of one hun-
upon it. I dred millions of francs that had been
The other great point is State eo-| subscribed at Paris alone! We ere apt
dorsement of your agents and State' to declaim against those dccrepid South
security of your promises. My own American Republics, but these Repulv-
expcrience lias shown me that had 1 lies are wiser than wc are in Georgin;
not had the State’s commission and se- j they go in for immigration and eapitnl
curity, I never would have obtained j from Europe and do not grqdge a t
the necessary aid abroad, had I eves ‘ hundred thousand or a half a million
promised twenty-five per cent, commis- ( of dollars to get it, while we have t<»
sions. State outhonty, coupled with; make a battle against popular prejudice
the inducement of commissions, have and legislative opposition to get a mis-
tnainly obtained for me the success I erable ten thousand dollars!
met with. You see now why private I saw lately a curious assertion in a
societies invariably fail; and why even paper to the effect that we can get the
States failed that could offer uo pecu- emigrants, but we cannot get the lauds
uiary compensation, but mainly relied to settle them on. The writer did not
upon their pamphlets, which, scattered explain, and leaves us therefore in the
broadcast, were to do wonders, but dark; but this brings me to the last
which no one read. Not one settler point I wish to mention to-day: Enough
has ever gone where such means were lands, at reasonable rates, must be gotten,
employed. and how f
immigration upon
sire teat plenty of laborers should come
to relieve the necessities of our indus
trial interests; but I want them rather
Supposing that I now have satisfied
you as to the desirableness of the set-1
Uemeotof our opooconied lands by ao-l
tual, independent foreign settlers over
a system which ancs.at bringing into
the 8tate women laborers zthoie peesagei
you have to pay, you will ask me, I
44 How are, vfe to get these seCdera!”!
1 unhesitatingly arra^cr: Through the
conlial mod liberal aooption by.the Gen
eral Assembly, of the Society’s lull of
1869, which. 1 cited in the beginning of
ray remarks. When I learned, oil the I
Continent, in 1869, that that hill had
been adopted, (not knowing then of the
lam no advocate for a mere empty Georgia lias no public domaiu ; it
honor, when I insist on the State’s therefore, as provided for in the bill,
the amount of at least three thousand
commission to the Foreign and Domes- depends upon the landholders to show
tic Commissioners of Immigration for liberality and enter any lands they wish
Georgia, and it is with no disrespect to to sell with the Commissioner. There
those who propose to start private im- need not be any immense amount on
migration enterprises, when I say that his books; he may start business w ith
their management is much more likely ten thousand acres; let him only take
to result in evil instead of in good, and care that they meet the conditions o4'
that for the full success of the policy, accessibility, fertility and reasonable
which is so important a factor in Geor- price. There are enough hearty friends
gia’s future welfare, the State’s man- of immigration in Georgia who own
agement and supervision is imperative, land, to obtain ten times that amount
Let us always remember that we actu- from them.
ally are sedcitig something in a foreign But as the tendency will be to raise
land; that land has its peculiar notions the value in any section immediately
concerning us, and its peculiar cus- upon foreign settlement' being inadc„
toms; we must satisfy them if we wish as experience abundantly shows, lands
to succeed. One of these notions is should be procured, step by step, in nil
that all private emigration agents from parts and counties of the State. Here,
abroad arc swindlers, cheats and sellers local real estate agents will be of great
of souls. Try at the great ports and assistance.
you will soon find out. No private Joint-stock land companies, iqioii tho
endorsements of the mao can aid him. basis of settling alternate sections they
Few respectable people will associate own at a low, the others lastly and at
with him. This is owing to the many the highest market price for profit and
outrages committed by American enn- working expenses, can and would Ik.-
gration agents upon the emigrant— established, who would entrust the
They now meet everywhere with popu- Commissioner with procurement of.
for ill-will and resentment—everywhere settlers.
the emigrants arc warned against them. New railroad lines ate being opened
The press, with its peculiar facilities, through comparatively new sections in
Is it unnatural that abroad people look in the lands which owner* on the road
upon a business which series to divert have subscribed.- These companies will
the best citizens of the State, as one to want to sell that land and would read-
be fettered as much as possible, aud ily co-operate with the Commissioner,
not to he tolerated, if they can; and There is, for instance, a new road to lie
in any case withdrawn until six months against which popular vengeance will built from Athens to Rabun Gap, to
after the time the agent has ceased to rise if injustice be done? I find it per- 1 open up another highway “ out West”
fectly natural. _ 11 have no doubt, from the character
, No European government, except the means of the men who have
up to ten thousand rix dollars. * *
These bonds are security for all the
obligations of the agents toward the
emigrant as well as against any tres
pass of this law; nor can the bond be
act as an emigrant agent. The amount
of the bond given may at any time be
increased to the highest figure.”
If, now, native agents arc under such
dose supervision, it may be presumed
that foreigners who infringe tnese laws
arc quite summarily dealt with. Such
is the case, as I learned at Berlin, Ko-
penhagen aud elsewhere. Mr. U. S.
Consul Kreismann, at Berlin, informed
me wh^q I visited him, March, 1869,
that the law’ just cited hod actually
been executed in the case of two
American emigration agents, and that
neither Mr. Bancroft’s, the American
Minister's exertions nor his own, could
save them. -
Our business in inducing immigra
tion (always remember that of actual
settlers, or men who nay their passage,)
is mostly with and through these agen
cies. If I can interest them—satisfy
them that the cause for which I work
is a good one—convince them that my
State is better than others in the field—
prove to them beyond cavil and doubt
that I am a safe person and mine a safe
spots them ere yet they have arrived, the State, whose capital partly consists
Russia, now-a-days prohibits emigra
tion. Any man that has satisfied the
duties of his citizenship may go, and
from some he is absolved, if he wants
to go. But every government, save
Britain, as indeed is its duty, inquires
rigidly as to the chances of success
which the various new projects that
continually are made known on the
Continent have for its outgoing eitfoena;
and if it is found that any country, as
was Brazil, would endanger the emi
grant’s welfare, emigration thence is
forbidden. Per te no one cares whether
the emigrant go to Minnesota, Georgia
or California. No State agent need
therefore fear on that score, but he need
not hope that he will find any govern
mental aid or sympathy. He will find
due respect as the representative of a
State in a certain business, but he will
perceive, nevertheless, something of dis
favor, reticence, at the outset. It will
now depend upon the man we send, his
conduct and his character, his knowl-
business, they will begin to lend an ear edge of men and of honorable means,
to my statements. But to invoke their ana his tact to dispel any doubts as to
active exertion, I must show them that
they can make some money; without
that I might he the agent of Paradise,
and they would not move. Finally,
the basis arranged, they will ask secur
ity their commission will be pud,
or rise eaA on delivery. None but the
security of the State, as expressed in
onr bill, will satisfy them. •
Gentlemen, this Immigration about
the reliability and soundness of his
project and himself, ere he can believe
himself to stand upon secure ground.
If he has, at last, been successful in
making some satisfactory settlements,
that foot will strengthen him abroad as
much as it would with our people, and
I know instances that State agents have
then received official courtesies and
that their States were officially recom-
taken it in hand that it will lie built,
nor do I doubt tiint they would readily
aid the Commissioner in a cause so ob
viously to their interest, with a for-
sigh ted Jibe rality.
There need, therefore, lie no appre
hension on that score, and we may put
it down as a maxim that if we present
a purchaser we will find land; even
the greatest opponent to immigration
would not wish to fom;o its benefits.
I, at least, never hea-d of a man yet
who, desirous of settling in Georgia,
was not fruited to his wishes.
Based upon all that which I have
said, I now call upon the Society to
make another effort in behalf of immi
gration, and to call, through a commit
tee, upon the incoming Legislature of
the State to adopt the Society’s bill of
1869. It conla not in justice refuse
this second appeal by a body such as
you are, strong through the* great in
terest it represents, its numlicrs and its
wealth; especially as the subject is so
great and important, the result sought
so beneficent and the meat s asked for
so small. Moreover, our bill is self-
sustaining, after the legislature has aid
ed us to start it; not a dollar need be
lost, if the management be prudent,
faithful and energetic.
1 thank you for your kind attention.
Sulphur beds of great extent and
rcmarkrble purity have beeu discov
ered in Southeastern Louisiana.