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will be laid down in grass, as preparatory to the pasturage of cattle; and in either case, the farmer will need fewer assistants than if he continued to raise grain or Tobacco. There has been a manifest tendency in this direction during the last four years, accelerated by the introduction of such implements as the Mower and the Hay-press; and this tendency will rather be increased in view of the probable demand for hay, both in the cities, & for the use of animals in the mines & quarries, soon to be reopened, or newly developed.

It is also probable that our present towns & villages will be enlarged & improved, & many new ones located & built up. To them will gather the various mechanics & handicraftsmen, both immigrants & those now living dispersed through the country; and their ordinary supplies will be drawn in great part from market gardens to improved farms in their immediate vicinity, which will be cultivated almost wholly by white labour. This new policy, already inaugurated, will be hastened in anticipation of an increased demand for such skilled labour. When the present race of black mechanics - who for the most part have been trained by the care of their former masters - shall die out, it is not probable that their numbers will be supplied from people of their own colour. It is believed that but few of them will have patience to train their own children, or enforce the necessary discipline; & white men will prefer to instruct those of their own race.

Those, and other causes which might be mentioned, must increase the number of unemployed blacks. What disposition is to be made of them? They cannot continue as the mere pensioners of the Government, drawing their daily or weekly rations of food. If they remain idle, they will become more demoralised than they now are; and it is fearful to contemplate the suffering which awaits them during the coming winter, should the season prove rigorous. Improvidence, or want of means, must render them liable to disease or exposure to contagions, & from ignorance, carelessness, & want of medical attention they must perish by thousands. The Government then, whose ward they have become, must provide employment for them. Do you ask how? I answer, 'On public works.' 

It is believed that there are enterprises of great movement, sufficient in number & magnitude to absorb all this surplus of labour for years to come. Works which 

Transcription Notes:
---------- Reopened for Editing 2024-01-22 10:26:02 Made a handful of corrections. Two questions remain. ---------- Reopened for Editing 2024-01-22 19:56:15