The Portage County Democrat. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1863-04-29
gor.t!ia'ge 90, :. aenal19atraIt.
RAvgNNA, OHIO.

FreeaLabor MoveEne.st in Louisi.sl.., .
f. The argument mostistrongly urged by the
opponents of immediate emancipation is that
the negro is not in a fit condition for lhera-
ton, and left to- himself, without the direct
ing oversight of his master, hewill degenerate
into idleness and crime, and the benefit of his
/ labor be lost TO community. Experience, the
best confounder of theories, is already settling
the question quite satisfactorilyin portions of
Louisiana. ..7 t.g s 'se s'eH-q
BY the op ration of the Presidents Procla-
nation of last January, large number of
slaves in Louisiana, falling within the militia
ry lines. have received their freedom The
fact of their being free seems to have been
perfectly understood by them. They refused
10 labor for their former masters as slaves
Gen. Banks took hold of the matter snd ar
ranged with the planters that the negroes
should go to work as paid laborers. The
proposition was acceded to, and the result is
of great practical interest and importance, not
only in Louisiana, but wherever slavery ex-
ists The New Orleans Era of the 4th inst.
reports the experiment, as far as tried, COM
plete success. Lieut.. Hepworth was selected
by Gen. Banks TO carry his plan into opera
ton, and visited a number of Parishes for
hat purpose. He found the same state of
things in all of them, and at Thibodaux COM
menced his work. According to the Era: 2
Here he found some FIVE hundred negroes
lr,-r IL.
from want and sickness He called them to-
gether and told them the Government was
friendly to them, but that it expected them
to work for a living. He assured them that
they would be protected against any of the
outrages of.which they complained, aud then
asked which of them were willing to return
to their plantations. They tolG him that
they did not wish to live in idIeness they
would be glad to go to work. None of them
showed any reluctance to go to work upon
some Government plantation, though all
showed an unwilingness to return to their old
masters. After assuring them that they
should be treated in every respect as hired
hands, and further explaining the terms upon
which they were expected to serve their mas
tiers, nearly all cheerfully assented to his
proposition. f,5s s.s zla.a
q Encouraged with his success at Thibodaux, +.
he went to Napoleonville, Donaldsonyille,
Baton Rouge and other points upon the same
mission, where his efforts were attended with
similar results. Having. accomplished this
much, he determined to visit those planta-
tions to which the negroes had returned, to
hold conference with the planters and negroes
and thus ascertain the real merits of the plan
He has visited sixty to sevent-fve places, re-
naming on each a sufficient time. He thus
had an opportunity of judging quite fully as
to the operation of the experiment., and was
most agreeably disappointed in its workings,
as he found it not only satisfactory to the
planter and the negro, but also that 1t affords
to the black man an experience which will
do much 10 fit him for the freedom for which
heis destined, should the warcontinue. 81 i
1t insures crop for the coming season !; it |
saves Government the expense of feeding the |
negro and by rernunerating him for his la |
Dor, it teaches him the use of money and the
value of his services It moreover takes the
peculiar sting from slavery, BY its tendency to
elevate the black to the position of the white
1aborer. He is vastly more comfortable in
his plantation hut, with his family about him,
and protected by the Government, than he |
could, possibly be in any position which the |
Government can afford him while the war
continues. Hethinks the negro understands |
this himself. He has talked with several
thousand, and finds them far more intelligent
and better aware of the condition of affairs
than he had been led to expect. He believed |
that most of the negroes in that Department,
will remain eheerfully at their plantations
during the coming season, trusting in Provi-
dence for that future of freedom to which
they are all evidently looking, o -a,
NA