Baton Rouge tri-weekly gazette & comet. [volume] (Baton Rouge, La.) 1865-18??, 1865-09-16
EXCELLENT ADVICE.
SOMETHING ron THE FREEDMEN

wanted TO meet you on the place you live
upon, and to talk TO you. ! wanted to
give yon some good advice. want to
show you the Importance OF being truthful
and honest, and industrious. Yen are oil
freed by tho United States Government,
and you must all now realize tue I'M
portance of labor; by tho sweat of your
brow you must all earn your bread. You
have nothing but your hRnds--those you
must use. Your former masters and own
ers own the land you live on, and they
have rights as sacred as yours. BY ono
act of tho Government your freedom bias
been given you; you were once worth
money to them you cannot be bought
and sold now. Think how much has been
taken away from them, and how much has
been given TO you; you are free rs | am,
and "a those who once owned yon, and as
any poor or rich people are in this great,
free country; but you are not free to be
idle; not free to DO lazy; not free TO roam
about; not free TO live on place and do
as you please; not free to be dishonest and
vicious; not FREQ to be impudent and ill
hammered.
If you live with Col. Legare, you will
conform TO his requirements-and obey all
lawful orders given on his place. You
cannot live anywhere without doing this
he must be tho head of his place. No
place, no plantation, no store, no mill, no
farm or shop is good for anything without
head. There must be discipline, there
must be order, there must be law, and you
must acknowledge it. If you all 60 on
and keep your contract all will be well. If
you violate 1t al will be wrong with you.
Tho government will protect Col. Legare
Just as surely as IL does you-and If the
Colonel complains before Provost Mar
shal of any of you, you will have TO ap
pear before the Provost Marshal and an
swer to the charge, and il found guilty
you will be punished. The places of pun
ishment and the modes of punishment
prescribed for you ARE Just the same az
those prescribed for him or for me, and for
all people. lails and prisons, and guard
houses, aud hard labor with ball and
chain and poor dict, are the modes. re-
peat, if you do right, you have nothing TO
fear; If You do not you have everything to
fear You will DO torn from your plenty,
from your homo and be made TO suffer.
Try TO heed what | say TO you. The
Colonel must keep his contract and so
must you. N. @. PARKER,
Act. Provost Marshal.
10 the C9lored People Of Asken and "a
cinaty = Since my arrival here, have seen
too much idleness and vagraney. ] call
ton you to guard against it. If you are
glad that you are free, stay ct homo and
be Industrious IF you want to be re-
speeted and have friends, keep out Of idle
ness and remain at home. IF you have
not good homes, be patient--get better
ones when yon can, but don't break loose
from those you have until you can see bet
ter enes A poor house is better than
none. If you have hopes for the future,
and faith in the Government which has
4 reed you, be industrious, work-work
with will such as you never knew before.
Freedom should inspire you with hope,
with courage, with energy, with patience,
and unless ii is done, there is dark pros
pect before you. Wake up, then, and look
the future boldly III the face; hear and
heed the advice Of your friends: turn away
from bad counsel as you would from
venomous snake. There are bad eoun-
sellors among you, men who, having u lit
tie knowledge, deceive themselves and
you.
Never in the world was there q people
needing the sympathy of those around
them, IA you need il now; and, unless by
your conduct you make friends, you have
no future but suffering. Some of you are
going about with words of hate for those
whom you should by every act oonciliate.
You are free--but you little understand
the use of freedom; you have yet TO learn
the value and the dignity of 1t; you must
learn to creep before you can walk. I'm
less you comprehend the Importance of the
blessing which has been bestowed upon
you, il will be q curse.
You are free-but you are not to be in
solent. You are not free to be roaming
about from place to place. negleeting your
families, and living by begging or steal-
ing, for both are crimes. Be honest, be
truthful, be polite--be oil which the law
of the land and the law Of God require of
you, and you will have friends, and be
great people in time Be, as many of you
are now, and your bad teachers would
mako you, and you will disappoint your
few friends and please your enemies, and
your end will be better.
Many Of you are now violating your
contract, or agreement, with thoee with
whom you have made them. / warn you
Of the danger you are in. Many of you
refuse to make any contract ut all, and you
are rs guilty az those who make them and
violate them, because you haye been di-
rected to do so. The same Government
protects you that does me, and the Same
Government protects your former masters
and mistresses thag does us, and their
rights are as sacred as yours, and when
you eneroach upon them you know not
what you do--there is prayer for you,
but it can hardly save you If you sin against
every light. lord forgive them, they
know not what they do,n will hardly be
offered up in earnest for you il you persist
in the wrong continually.
You are tree-but you are poor; you
don't own q single acre Of land, and you
never will until you earn ". Your former
masters and owners own all the lands and
houses-you are now dependent upon them
for the shelter which protects you from the
sun, and which must protect you from the
biting cold Of the coming winter. Many
OF you don't think Of this. You are prond
and boastful, and lazy, and Independent.
All of these faults will bring you to suffer-
ing. Look ahead there il another year
coming; You all want homes next year.
Government won't compel your former
owners to provide you with them. You
are freo-but you are poor. You have
nothing but your hands, and you must use
them diligently and constantly or you will
die. Freedom imposes duty upon you
which you little understand, but you must
learn it. tell you the truth, and whether
you believe it now or not, you will sooner