Baton Rouge tri-weekly gazette & comet. [volume] (Baton Rouge, La.) 1865-18??, 1865-10-26
To the Freedmen or Louisiana.

| To the Freedmen OF Louisiana.
A change has been made in the Office o
the Assistant Com missioner of the Bureau
of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned
Lands for the State of Louisiana. Mr.
Conway has been relieved, and ! have
tenn porarily assumed the duties of said
Office. Before progressing further in my
work, ! wish to address to you the follow
ing plain words. The remarks will, per-
hups, properly apply to but few, for | be-
lieve that nearly all Of you understand the
relation In which you stand toward the
Government and the white people; that
you endeayor to observe that relation, and
that you are in the main industrious, hon
est and frugal.
The Government has made you free.
You can now work for such employers as
| you may desire. You can control and use
your own wages, and you can sue and OBJ
| tain justice in the State courts as other
freeInen did when you were in state of
slavery. For what more Can you ask z
Slavery has passed away, and you are now
placed on trial. 1t il for you to prove
that you arc able to take care Of yourselves
and chat you deserved to be made free In
the abrupt change brought about by the
| sudden passing away of slavery, you re-
quired some assistance power that
| would take care Of you for the time, and
that would properly direct you in new
path in life. Therefore the Bureau Of
Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands
was established. But you must not mis-
take the object of this Department. 1t is
not tho intention Of tits Bureau to nurse
and pamper you, to feed and clothe you, or
TO give You any privileges that other per-
Il ~ N,;, 49,. -
shielded or protected when you do wrong,
but you will be placed IN the hands of the
military authority. or IN the civil courts
for trial. The object Of the Bureau was
merely to protect you when you were de-
barred from the benefits Of the law, and to
teach you how to live and lab4r rs free
men. You cannot always have this help,
which generous Government has offered
you. Soon it will be Withdrawn, and if
you cannot then live without it you do
not deserve TO be free.
You are now working for yourselves and
you have every inducement to be industri-
GUS and frugal; faithful TO your employers
and honest. By 80 doing you will soon
gain the confidence of the community, and
All men will respect you and treat you
lairy and kindly. You must now try and
lay by as much of your wages as possible,
and thus you will soon become able to buy
land and establish yourself in business;
and then, when old age comes, You will
have the means to live in peace and COM
fort. You must remembe that you have
no master now to take care of you IN sick
ness and in old age. Some Of you have
the mistaken notion that freedom means
liberty to be idle. This is q great mis-
take. There is work Tor every person in
the country, and idlers and Migrants will
not be tolerated. Those of you who have
gone to the cities and cannot get work to
do, must leave them and 20 back to the
plantations, where all men can be en-.
ployed. Do not fear that you will not be
paid for your labor, for the law will pro-
tect you. The planters will give you good
wages, and your work will be Of benefit
both to them and yourselves. There is no
way for you to live but by hard work. l
believe now that you are free you will
work better than ever; but If you do not
work of your own accord, or if the law
cannot compel you to work, then you
must leave the country, and the good OPP
portunities that you now have of gaining
o living and making yourselves indepen-
dent will be given to more deserving per-
sons. l ad wise you all to return to your
old plantations, whore you have been
kindly treated, and there you are known
and there you can get better wages. You
must not suppose that your former masters
have become your enemies because you are
free. All good men among them will
properly recognize your relations towards
them as free laboter and you can gain
the confidence and good will Of all others
by being industrious and faithful, and by
living up to your contracts.
Neither fear that you will lose your
freedom, for your former masters acknowl-
edge it, and 1t will be defended by the
Government.
THIS thing you must learn above all
others contract must be sacredly OBJ
served. If you engage to work, and then,
through no fault on the part Of your en-
ployer, you do not do so, or cease to work
after having commenced, or do not work
well, your employers will lose all conf
dence in you, they will not then be obliged
to pay you yonr wages, and you will not
again be hired. In the absence OF civil
law, regarding agreements between the
whites and yourselves, contracts for hire
have been made for you by the agents of
this Bureau and by military officers. For
the present your wages are secured by d
lien on the crops which you arc producing,
the planters, they have no way to make
you perform your part of the contract.
Instructions will therefore be given to all
officers and agents of this Bureau, to com
pei those ofyou who do not do 30, to work
and fulfill your obligations, unless you
have been unfairly dealt with by your en-
ployers. As soon as these contracts expire
you must make new ones similar to them
for the coming year, for you must remem-
her that You are now working for your
selves, and if you do not renew your con-
tracts and live up to them, you will have
40 means Of living; for in that case you
will be able to get assistance from NO
person.
You must not believe the idle and mali
cious stories that have been told you by
bad men as to what the government in
tends to do for you. ALI has been done
for you that yod can expect. Neither
rations, nor clothing, nor mules nor work
ing implements will be given TO you here.
after. The most that will be done by the |
Government will be to furnish assistance |
to the aged and infrm-those who cannot
work and this assistance will not be fur
nishsd whea the State can take care ofsuch |