Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1865-1869, 1865-07-08

q, Persons who have been employ ed in husbandrJ
=. until u years Of age, are prohibited from DO
"a coming ar,iEans. All able bodied beggars are
q, N be- treated as laborers wandering without
.. passports. Impotent beGgars are to remain
. where they are at the proclamation Of the act )
=, or if those places are unwilling or unable 10
support them they are within forty days to repair
.. 10 The places where they were born, and there
" dwell during their lives.
In the next year, 1889 the 18Th Richard IL
" was raised; which directs the jas ices oil every
"a county to make proclamation every half year,
!. at their discretion, according TO the price OF
: food, what wages every laborer and sr'iheer
Z. shall receive BY the day. Ills act, with some
a intervals during which the Legislature itself
- attempted 70 tx the price of labor, REMAINED
!, SUBSTANTIALLY IN FORCE UNTIL THE PRESENT
- CENTURY. A further attempt - reduce hus'
81 bandry laborers = hereditary caste OF seris'
=. was made By she 7.h Henry ". (l4O6l, which,
:. sfer recitug that the Provisions OF the former
3. acts xere evaded By persons sppTentieing their
oh ljreu TO or Its in towns so that there is such
81 A scarcity of husoandry laHo-ers that gentle
" men are impoverished fJrbidI persons not hav'
, ing 2Os a year in land TO do so under penalty
q, Of years imprisonment.
=. Il appears however, that the laborers did not
" submit Willingly to the vileinage to which the
law stroye 10 reduc, them; for from this time
Al the English statute book ia deior ned by the
e., enac,ments az Inst abe.bodied persons leaving
/, their homes o: refusing 10 work at the wages
. offered - them or ioitaIng that Is to say pro
. Tossing TO b, out Of wOrk) which. TO use the
words Of Or. Burn, make this part Of English
=, history look Ike the history of tie savages OF
=. America. Aim st al! the s.verlties have been
" iafictsd except scapiag.' Anew class Of Grim
inAls designate by tle terms sturdy rogues,
"a and yagaboud-,' was created. Among them
were iac udel ids AID suspected parsons living
q. tuspieiously Persons having no land or ait
d. Shereby they get their living. Idle persona
- calling themselves serving men, having 10 mas
. tsrs. Persons who, af;e; being sent home sb'
. sen, themselves from such labor as they shall
- be appointed 10. Able bodied poor persons who
, do not apply themselves 10 some honest labor or
~ other; or serve even Tor me snd drink, II moth
=. Labor. no: having Lll or master, nor using
e any lawful employne It. Ll5orss uslng loiter
~ ing and rsIusin % work for reasonable wages.
O.. The first attempt o. the part Of person de-
D.. pendent on his labor FOR his support, to assert
. his free agency b, cl.ag lg his lbo lie, or by
maxi 2 bargain for his services, or even for
b. refusing 10 work fer bare neat and drink rem
dered him liable 10 re whipped and seat back
10 his place of birth, or st residence, for three
. ys,rs. or, according to some statutes, for one
year there 10 be at the disposal of the local
authorities. The second attempt subjected him
O.. at one time 70 slave for life, TO be fed on
bread and water and refuse meat and caused
to work By beating claiming or otherwise and
L. for the third attempt he was 10 suffer death as
/" a fe.on."
Tie severity Of some of thee laws was doubt
ess due 10 the rude times in which they were en-
acted, and we will not shock the sentimental hui
nanitariauism of the day by saying that they
should he adopted as applicable to the case Of the
liberated slave. Of the South. But we invita- the
and the thoughtful Of the North, as
veil as the South to apply themselves to the soiu-
.iop of the great problem, what regulations will
,nrice 10 protect socie from the iudolence, the
,supsri,m. the vices and crimes Of those who, by
,a,nre abhor labor, have little or NJ respect for
,irtpe. little or no reverence for law, and whose
highest pleasure is the indulgence Of physical ap.
oetites and passions. Nay, we invite this contem-
,latiou in behalf of the freed slaves themselves,
who. unless cared for by compulsory legislation,
IRE doomed q such suffering as no race has ever
ret experienced. Without labor they cannot live
n this country, as they are able to do from the
natural fruits of the earth in the West Indies and
n Africa, and without compulsion in sjme form
hey will not labor. All the lectures and invo-
,stions of moral suasonists' will not induce
hem to do il. ''Attra tive labor" has slight at.
raetion for them. Demand aud supply" is
ule as little understood or cared about by them
Is logarithms or sanscrit Can they be induced
% work by the simple offer OF wages
The London Times, that had powerfully as
listed in bringing about emancipation In the
British West India Islands, was forced, after an
OF twenty-five years to make the fol.
owing admissions. It said
There Is no blinking the truth. Years Of BIT
Ter experience; years Of ho,e deferred; Of Sc +
devotion unrtquited Of poverty OF humilia,ioni
n mr. ,yers unanswered Of sufferlngs derded Of
insults IN. eseniedi of contumely pltieutly endu.
ed h ave convinced US Of the truth. IL must be
spoken out loudly aud onergeticallg, despite tie
wild mockings OF 'hOwlng can't The freed
Vest India slave will not till the il for wages
he flee son Of the ex-slave Is as ob innate as hs
,ire he will not cultivate lands whica he has
not bought for his own. ans, mlngoes and
llsutains- these satisfy his wants; he cares not
'or youis. Co ton, sugar, coffee end tobacco, he
cares but little for And what matters It TO him
nat the Englishman has sunk his Thousands aud
ems of thousands on mi Is machinery and plsn s,
which now Iotter on the languishing estate that
for years has only re urned beggary aud debt.
de eaS his y ms al sniggsrs a. Buckra-
"Ne know not why this should be but II is 30.
The negro has been bIught with price-the
rice OF English taxation and EnsliAh toll. He
has been redse Led from bondage by the sweat
and travail OF some mil ions Of hard'wOIktng
Tive ~ millions OF pounds ster-
lpg--one hundred millions OF dollars-have been
distilled from the brains and muscles OF the free
Eugllsh laborer, Of every degree, 10 fashion the
West india negro int IT, e, independent labor
ar Free and independent eaough he has be-
,ome. God knows but laborer be IL not and, 50 far
"a We can seq never will be He will sing
hvmns and quote texts but honest, steady in
Id try he not only dstests, but despisss. We
wish TO Heaven tat some people In Englani-
nei her government people nor Parson~ nor CT
yymen but sumo just.mInded, honest-hear ed,
snd clear.sigbted me you'd g out to some
of the Islands tsay jamaica, Dominica or
Aatigua)-not for a month, or three months, but
for ! year, woald watch the precious proteEe Of
English D llsnthropy the freed negr, In his
daily ha6its; would watch i'm as be azlly
pants his little sQu4tt.ng; wou zee him as he
proudly rejects agricultural or domestic services,
or accepts It only st wages ludicTously dispr0'
uortionae 70 the value Of his WORK. We wish,
too, they would watch him. while. with a hide
thicker than q hippOpOtsmus, and body TO
which feryid heat is CO nilft rather than an
no, ance, he drcningly lounge, over the prescribed
task, over which the intrepid Eng lishmsn, unin'
ured to the burning SUI, cOnsu nei his impatient
enc gy, and too often sacrifices his LIFE. We wish
thew " mid 20 out and view iha negr 10 all the
bic zoury Of his ioeness, his pride, his ingrsti.
tude. CONTEMPORARY sneering at the industry OF
,hatra c which made him free, and then come
home and teach the memorable lesson Of the 7
expe .ien,e u the fanatics who have perverted