Labor Convention.

Labor Convention.

A report on the 1871 Alabama State Labor Convention of Colored Men held in Huntsville published in the Morning Republican (January 18, 1871)

From Gale. 19th Century U.S. Newspapers. ©2008 Gale, a part of Cengage Learning, Inc. Reproduced by permission. www.cengage.com/permissions

Morning Republican

1871-01-18

Newspaper article

Labor Convention. A Labor Convention of the colored men of Alabama was held in the city of Huntsville, during the first week of the present month. The proceedings of the convention were of considerable interest. The report on the condition of the colored people of Alabama, which was unanimously adopted, presents certain statements of fact, of which we make an abstract. The general conclusion of the report that the present condition of the colored people in that State "is infinitely worse than that of any other class of laborers," is sustained by the following statements. In portions of the State, no colored man is allowed to deposit his ballot without endangering his life and jeopardizing the welfare and safety of his family. The landholders have formed combinations to have their large estates cultivated entirely for their own advantage, at the expense of those who till the soil. In the country they are almost entirely deprived of educational surroundings, and in some localities "nigger" schools are not tolerated. The poverty of the people is a serious obstacle in the way of supporting ministers and keeping up churches. Taking these matters into consideration, the conclusion of the committee is as follows: It is the opinion of your committee that the panacea for the evils enumerated in the foregoing report is emigration. We do not believe it to be consistent with our Interests to remain in this or any other State that has been blasted by the curse of slavery. There are millions of acres of the public domain in the broad and free West, where we, in the words of the immortal Lincoln, "a landless, homeless, and houseless people," can find homes, peaceful, free and happy homes for ourselves, our wives and children—homes - homes that after our departure from this world of sorrow, we can bequeath to our children with the satisfaction that it will be theirs for all time to come. We would most respectfully urge this Convention to instruct the delegates to be elected to the National Labor Convention, to be held in the city of Washington on the 9th of this month, to consider this question carefully. Should the views expressed by the colored men of the Committee be concurred in by the people generally, and be carried into execution, it would require but a short time to bring into view a new aspect of the labor question. The only hope for even a short continuance of the system of cotton culture which prevailed during the existence of slavery, lies in the employment of the colored laborers who have heretofore carried it on. The coolie project is dead beyond redemption, and the use of European immigrants has been demonstrated to be expensive on a small scale, and impracticable on a large one. Hence, the action of the Alabama Committee is worthy of a due amount of consideration.

Huntsville

AL

USA

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1871.AL-01.02.HUNT