Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1862-04-17
How they Reason about the Negro Exo-
dus at the West

How they Reason about the Negro Exo-
dus at the West.
In Ohio. the farming population is as ex-
cited as Governor Harris has been reported
to be in Memphis Two thousand day
are sending petitions to the Legislature to
prevent their ingress into the State. And
an Ohio farmer. in plain but solid style.
thus writes to the Crisis, why farmers object
to negro immigration:
1 thought while writing to you on other
business, would tell you some of the rea-
sons why we think the negro should be pro-
hibited from settling in Ohio. And first
we believe it is driyswe owe to- the white
men who are now in the ranks Of the army,
fighting to maintain the Constitution and
Laws, to keep their places for them until
they return, and not permit their places to
be filled by niggers while they are fighting
our battles.
Let me illustrate Jim Reynolds, his
wife and four children, were living in a
house which he rented of Mr.. John Eaton,
when the war broke out The President
called soldiers-Mr. Eaton is Union man
and has large farm and much property to
see to, and cannot enlist. Jim is full of
patriotism, and relying on Mr.. Eaton that
his family shall be taken care of. rushes into
the ranks of the army, for what? To save
the Government and the property of Mr..
Eaton-Jim has none to save But after
Jim is gone, his wife cannot procure wood,
clothing. or provisions she has to leave
Mr. Eaton's house and move home to her
poor old parents, where by constant labor
and anxiety, her health fails her-children
becomes ragged and destitute The war
goes on-in the vicinity of the two contend
ing armies society became disorganized-
the slave runs away from his master. and
having been made to believe that Ohio is q
paradise for nigger. of course they came
here. Yes. old black Tom takes the advan-
tage of the presence of the army in which
Jim Reynolds is fighting, and runs away
from his master in Kentucky and comes to-
Mr.. John Eaton and others, as Jim used
to do.
The war finally closes and Jim receives
an honorable discharge and returns to his
native place. He finds his wife emaciated
land her constitution broken-his children
ragged and beggars. He thinks. to better
their condition, he will 60 to Mr.. Eaton,
snd rent the house hs left. Mr. Eaton tells
him that, be has rented the house e black
IUnss vi uS sos y -. KS1zzny-
Was in the army in Kentueky his = q
hard stroke on Jim; still he hopes, aud asks.
Mr.. Eaton if those rails are made yet that
they talked about before he went to the war;
Jim says be has nothing to do, and would
like some -four for his family. Mr.. Eaton
tells him that Tom has offered to make them
cheaper than the usual price and take corn,
and he let him have the job. Jim asks if
he has no corn to husk, wood to chop, or
something of the kind for him to do; but
Mr. Eaton tells him that the times are hard,
and himself and Tom will have to do all his
work. Jim returns tired and hungry to his
family; the sight of his hungry children
starts him out to make an effort for work;
the neighbors all tell him the same story
times are hard-they had to hire niggers
because the nigger would do more work for
the same money than the white man could.
Jim tells them that this is the reason that
that shareholders have niggers in the South
because they think it is cheaper than white
labor. Jim starts to see the overseer of the
poor without any very exalted admiration of
the results of the war, so far as it has affected
free white labor in Ohio. The case here
delineated will be the case Of thousands in
Ohio if the prohibition of niggers is not at
tended to-