The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1862-06-28

seemed stationary, or nearly always IN
the same place. At last his curiosity
was excited. He went into the field and
found that bis man had been standing
precisely in his tracks, with his back
bent, aud his hands initiating the mo, ion
of picking up something. He had not
touched three potatoes in a full hour.
That night discharged him. continued
the narrator, "and the next winter he
was at my house begging"
Another gentleman who had tried the
experiment of hiring negroes, said that
in all par iculars for which laborcr's
intelligence and discrc ion mus be trust
cd in every day work, but more especial
ly when emergencies require sudden or
cx raordlnary labor to be performed,
they are much less reliable than white
men.
n contractor informed me that on one
occasion, when the arch of bridge he
had been building gave way in freshct,
and his white workmen all rushed cheer
fully and without orders into the water
to say the damage, the negroes, of whom
there we're several in his employ, could
not be induced to stir an inch.
When | hire, l want man who, on
extraordinary occasions, can be induced
to hurry. For instance, if shower is
rising aid there is an extra load of wheat
IN the field, | expect my men to display
more than usual activity to got it in,
from their own regard to the value of
the property to be saved. 1t is almost
useless to add that if you expect any
such thing of negro you will be disap-
pointed"
Thus said New Jersey farmer, who
was accus omed to hire at ali seasons of
the year.
And he spoke of negroes in free COM
munitics, who have never felt for IA
moment the influences of slavery. White
men, as laborers, ale superior to colored,
whether slave or free, and that they arc
so esteemed is sufficiently proved by the
fact that the farmers of New York,
Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, when
they wish to hire, instead of seeking out
and employing the colorcd people in their
vicinity, almost uniformly 60 to the
emigrant ships and intelligence Offices of
their respective cities, and give their
work and their wages to foreigners.
We arc often told that one of these
free laborers will perform, voluntarily,
double the amount of labor that can be
cxhortcd by driving or fear Of punish
. 81
seems to dispute it, though they forget
to tell you Ina. three or four Germans
in the harvest field will do more work, ,
and do it better, than gang of eight Or
ten free negroes.
y farmer ,old me that lie once had
two negroes in his employ. He set them
to caring manure from the barn-yard to
field about one hundred yards dis ant
They managed 10 cart six loads in the
entire day: while two white men, the
next day, carried fourteen loads. Be
cause free white laborer Is smart,
&C i've, and disposed to work with good
Will, is no proof that negro in the same
circumstances would be influenced by the
same motives. Whoever will take the
pains to inquire, will find little difference
between the negro slave, and the negro
free lie will recognize the same dis
tinctive traits in both the same imp,o-
violence and waste; the same careless
Incidence and easy though lcssness.
Now the real question is, not who arc
the most valuable laborcrs, free white
men or sou hern slaves, but whether the
negroes, if free, would be transformed
into self-rcspecting, self dependent,
industrious laboring people who her,
under the stimulus Of wages, they would
arise from stupidity to in diligence, from
helplcssncss to sclf-support, from con-
tented unambition to restless activity ?
Yet this ques ion has been most unac-
countably shirked, or overlooked, by all
writer's on the subjec-.