The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1865-06-28
THE N EGRQ/
Interesting Facts About the
Liberated Slaves.

Interesting Facts About the
Liberated Slaves.
The Baltimore correspondence tn
New York World in date of.the. Stl
inst. thus whites to that pap1 th,
important topic of the liberated
|slayes:
BALTIMORE, JUNE 8. {
suFFERlNcs OF THE SLAVES DEPRIVED OF
THEIR MASTERS.
Those persons who have never
been in the South, land who have form
ed their ideas Of the Southern slaves
from the industrious and Compare
lively intelligent negroes ! a mufat.
toes whom we see around us insthe
Northern cities, have no adequate
conception Of the real character q
the negroes at the South. Accus.
toned all their lives, to implicit ODE.
dience; accustomed to a regular and
unyarying routine of labor; accus.
toned to rely Upon their masters for
instruction and direction for food, for
4 ~ n 4 - y - ~. "
clothing, for medicine when sick, and
Tor the support Of their aged and in.
firm parents, they are literally be.
wlldered'at the new positions in which
they find themselves. In a few ex.
cases, the negroes on some
plantations have been sensible enough
to remain, and'to make engagements
with Their formersowners to continue
their labors on the old places; and in
all such cases the former masters
have employed their negroes in pre-
ference to seeking other help, and are
paying them fair wages,
But these are very rare exceptions.
As a general fact, it may be stated
that the whole system Of labor, in all
the Southern States, has been broken
up. The relations between capital
and labor, between employers and en-
ployces, has been violently and sud
denly discovered. The negroes, in
every State cast Of the Mississippi,
and in louisiana also, to a great sex-
tent, intoxicated with their newly.ac-
CURED freedom of the nature, extent,
and consequences Of which they have
not the most remote idea) have left
their homes and the scenes. Of their
former labors, and with their women
and children have trldged Of scores
and IN some instances hundreds Of
miles, to the nearest city or large
town. Tie orders that have been is.
sued forbidding the ccngregatitg of
negroes in the large towns, have not
abated the evil ii The least. The or
1ers never reached the most Of those
Tor whom it was intended, and even
i they had, they would not have been
,omprehended. The Negroes idea d
is twe.fold !; first, freedom
rom work second, freedom to come
md go where he will and added to
his they have vague idea that those,
Who freed them will also feed and
,lothe them.
It is found Ii vain to convince them
i the necessity that they must con.
=
ingc to labor in order to live. When
he idea is finally beat into their
leads they receive it grumblingly,
ind exclaim in their tlncouth form Of
speech that they have been cheated
md deceived, and that if they must
work. they are as MUCH slaves as be-
ore or ashley express it, "as much /
J nigga as before = nigga with
hem being synonymous with slave.
they have come to the large cities
md towns as they would come to the
Promised land, expecting all their
wants to be supplied, and to be sup
ported in luxurious idleness. These
Expectations, Of course, were entirely
sronndless and unwarranted. No pro-
'ision has been made for their sup,
'ort, and the consequence is, that
very week thousands Of, those poorI
'reatures are literally dying of.star-
'ation. q
The operations Of the Freedmen's
Bureau. though carried on with the
astg ~ 2 y. Il
most indefatigabie zeal, and withun-
ring industry, are utterly inadequate
Q reachand avert this evil, which
instead Of decreasing, is growing