New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1854-06-21
RECORDS or 4 TOt'R AAOyG THE SLAVE
PLANTATYONS
THE WAGES of SLAVE LABOR.
I'll. ,.,,or,ri,worihy Of his bir..~

il may be useful IA inquire what the wages Oh save
labor that may know what We have TO coh'ena "''
and 10 what wages white must consent 10 conc dNn
10 in their competition with slave labor Wac iha Ao''
has been conn,- the production Of one staple only 81
food with the exception OF small amour, OF sugar, ana
10 III growth of article OF manuiacure and one ar
ticc OF useless Injury and but small Pef cenase Oh
rau the real farm sborers have not felt Ihc effect OF The
onpetton of class who be clothed and fei for ess
than forty ,lnrs year, which is the total wages Of
their labor.
To poye hi.. we shall give the feeding ahI clothing
,,ons nj some OF the best plantations in the South. where
the people are provided for in the best manner The
half starved and ragged portion may be imagined without
description.
Our notes are taken from travelling memorandum
, ON two ourneys made in private carriage several
wears ago through the States OF Missouri A'A'"s ~'"
tuctv Tennessee Mississippi, louisiana, Alabama
Coorgia south Carolina North Carolina, Virgins, and
se.r, subsequent visits those States and Fordn, with
opporun,s seldom enjoyed BY any traveller tor learning
fac,s in relation 70 our peculiar Institutions
In pas.in from ST. Louis down through the sonih part
Of Missouri we ind the lnnd generally cultivated Ia sn'
farms and many OF the owners carrying on Nle mining
a. extra work Here the slaves generally Snd
in small numbers often the mother and children ~ one
neighbor and the husband and father by another They
generally live in the ki,chen-the husband visiting his
a
He is sometimes ebarred the privilege OF going to wies
.. house as punishment, Negroes that live in the
kitchen generally live about well ms their masters
family and that s often mean enough The wrter-upon
a Journey made in January lsi5, from St. Louis south
ward 800 miles through Missouri, Kentucky tennessee
and Mi.sissipp-ony vegetables upon the table
four tines Corn bread ard hog meat, and nothing Else
nothing vegetable but the bread no Hour, excep, hari
greasy biscuit forms the almost ntrc living oil the lnao
i,an,s white and backtho latter seldom get any Hour
bread Yet this a country where sweet potatoes VIII
grow almost spontaneously but they'd not quite So ana
hogs DO the meat of the the universal food OF all
classes.
The necros ration. when dealt three and half
Mound, of bacon and peek and hall OF corn-mea per
week. The average price of bacon in the years the
writer visited that region three and hall cents
pound the average price Of corn twenty cents 'uShei
This would make the cost Of boarding negro man say
twenty cents weekten dollars and forty cents year.
The contract price for clothing when hired out is twenty
dollars a year In families it does not cost that
reero man can pillow the ground and tend forty acres
of corn-the average yield in these States about 'hy
bushels Per acre.
In Western Kentucky snd Tennessee tobacco Is staPe
crouthe Weld about pounds per acre, worth y to ~
cents per pound Three TO SIX acres uo "''N 'o' o"'
hand 10 cultivate.
TEN prevails Here some of the details;
Joeuh Dunbar SINCE dead has 600 acres in plantation,
and $50 negroes 80 OF thom field hands All live in fam
lies each one having small house, in collection called
the quarter Each field hand is furnished pounds OF ba-
con and peck of meal per week and this oil cooked
in common and dealt ou in raons. The children ana sur
Mus hands are fed separately witnessed the children
feeding At a signal on the bell thirty or forty children
cnme 10 10 the DOLLHOUSE for dinner crumbs OF Dread III
wooden trays had gravy from the great meat cauidron
uoure over them and as many young negroes az could
ouat around tray ate with their hands The gravy Is
sometimes thckened with boiled meal and sometimes this
il sweetened with molasses the corn meal mosehed
Nth lard The first meal sent to the field hands about
II o'clock each ration by ITSELF the second Is given at
dark when they come in from the field. They often retain
portion Of the supper for breakfast before they go to the
field at daylight The negroes are all clothed IN cotton
and lnsey made the plantation All the corn ana meat
is made Mt home and little TO spare Works forty mules
and horses and twenty The houses at the quarter
are remarkable for comfort some OF them actually nave
beds and other housekeeping articles All the children
are kent in nursery Sucking mothers come from the
field three times day to suckle infants Regular mar
riaoe upon this plantation is strictly enJolned
The following are the facts in regard to Cod Sprung
pafoou below Natchez 100 acres $50 in cultivation,
works go hands makes 500 bales OF cotton, buys most
meat feeds 81 lbs Of bacon per week when we have ~
and u pecks of meal, sometimes little short People
live in families and cook for Themselves Son nave
dhes and some roast their bread and meat IN the ashes
Make tie dough and wrap piece OF TAT meat III II ana
roost II they wait for it cook enough 1t IL very good
that way The cooking all has to be done Ut nglt as
they 90 10 the field daylight and work TIL dark. very
few Of these people have any beds or forms OF any And IN
their quarters. The owner says the nsse's w" s'" '
pigs in spite OF the lash u
Hunger breaks through stone wsls'
The marriage relation much cared for on this pan
taon Negroes are allowed to raise chickens ana Vge'a
bes for their own use, working Sundays and moonlight
nights No whites the place but the oyerseer or upon
two or three adjoining plantations Oyerseers carry WHIPS
and keep reyovers in their Not much use tor the
latter-the former used occasionally
The plantation OF VIM. Feraday, on Lake Concordia
La opposite Natchez consists Of $500 acres al Oeo"
the level of high water in the river and lake, which Is
branch of The old bed Of the Commenced clearing IA
Iso. In1s45 had l,COO acres under cultivation The
most Of the timber il sweet gum cottonwood and cypress
and the land Of a swampy character, and good deal oil
sickness though only deaths in five years among the
ueope of which he hes Js and works 10 IN the hed DC
.des carpenters bscksm!hs and houseseryanis the re-
maiuder are children Has large airy building Tor nos
,,l and pur,e in constant attendance. Physician en-
Moved by the year. Rations 81 lbs. OF bacon week,
with plenty of good corn bread and sweet potatoes anu
other vegetables. Negroes have gardens ana s'o mex
eu-houses Al are well clothed and all are required to
a nd worship every Sunday, at which the owner reals
the Bible and talks, and some ofthe negroes eHhor One
OLD negro upward of 100 years old says he has boon owned
bv ten matters and punished lie quite az lb-
er row 10 30 as he pieeses
Tho crop on 900 acres il about 200 scres OF corn
psned in drs 81 feet apart, with stalks 20 inches apart
email quantity of land devoted to oats and potatoes and
the residue in cotton, which viii average bale To the
acre say ten bales to the hand. Corn all made on the
place and meat all bought. Cstern water made use Of
beeaue !. is considered healthy than eny other Nc
groes managed By an oyersecr aud black drivers The