Kanawha Valley star. [volume] (Charleston, Va. [W. Va.]) 1856-1861, 1857-02-17
!. From the. Norfolk Argus.
Master and Slave. = " a.

l. < 4 l. from the NoIlolk argus. .
: Master and Slave. = - II
While defending our peculiar. insti-
tuition from the assaults Of fanatics
at the North, we are in danger of al
lowing evils ITO grow up among our
selves from mere neglect which may,
inthe end, be more destructive than
any efforts of our protested enemies.
There arelnone among us who pro-
pose to act with o view to the ulti-
mate emancipation Of the negro race.
All experience has shown that the
black and white races cannot live to-
gether upon the same soil, on terms
Of equality. The black man must be
the slave of the white man, whatever
relation the laws may establish be-
tween them. lie must either be con-
trolled and provided for-by a master,
who has o property in his labor, or
be oppressed and abused under the
name of freedom, by the unprincipled
and selfish, who have no interest in
his welfare. The more entirely the
slave is dependent upon his master,
the more closely the interests of. the
two are linked together, the better it
| is for both. The slave. should be
made to feel that his welfare is in
Yolved in his masters prosperity, and
that it is his, true interest to serve
him honestly and faithfully. The
most faithful, and at the same time
THE happiest servants, are those who
feel that they have property in all
that belongs to their moster. His
goods, his family, his reputation, are
in certain sense theirs, to be kept
and watched over with unwavering
faithfulness. We have among US
many interesting examples of this
kind, but we fear that the number is
decreasing. The faithful old servants
who chung with such unwavering de-
votion to the fortunes Of the families
to which they belonged, rejoicing in
their prosperity, suffering willingly
in their reyerses, proud of their good
qualities and ashamed of their vices,
are passing away from among us, and
their places are supplied by sullen,
moody eye servants, ever anxious to
complete their task that their time
may be spent in amusement, or in
procuring the means Of vicious indul-
gences. The servant comes to think
his own interests are different from
his masters. His mind rebels against
sanitary control. He claims right
to- a certain degree of freedom. lie
lis, in fact, partly emancipated, and
on that account feels his bondage the
more. We are in the habit Of attrib1
uting this change in the character Of
servants to the efforts of abolitionists
to make1them DISCONTINUED with their
condition; but it would be &ell>to en-
quire whether there are Lot other
causes, nearer home, which will ac-
count for this deterioration. III. !
Some of these causes we shall en-
deayor to point ont. And one OF
these is, the hiring ont OF negroes.
The hirelingy loses his interest in his
masters welfare, for he sees him but
seldom and, few kind offices are per
formed between Them. tie has little
interest in him for whom he labors, it
may be only for single year. He
has no motive for labor but to please
his employer, for the time being, or
ito escape from the punishment, which
his Incidence and uiffaithfulness will
bring upon him. He soon learns the
measure of his employers forbearance
and conducts his labor accordingly.
HIirelings are proyerbialiy tho worst
servants, and especially those VINO
are in1the habit Of changing their pla-
ees from year, to year. Yet there
seems to BET necessity for hiring out
slaves. Theynay be the property OF
minors, and it may DO better even for
the slaves to Be hired out for o few
years. than toibe sold ont Of the fam
ily in which they have been raised.
A master may for the timehave more
lsborers than he can we'll employ,
and it is much better that they should
be hired out than maintained in idle
ness. 5al tstR ::
81 We do notsthink it wise Or expedi-
y-,s{.st 49, n {. .,,of hso r1y0.