The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1865-08-22
Tuesday Morning, August 20, 1865.
NmaRo . INsuRoRpINArIoN. },


that paper, says that the success of the free-la
Dor experiment is more endangered by the oh
staeles thrown in its way by the whites thar
by those which consist in the peculiar charac
teristics of the black race. The principa
drawback is that the planter does not know
waat free labor is, and but few of them seem
inclined to learn it. Their first complaint
that the negro is becoming "insubordinate, .
meaning by subordination that absolute Civ
ing up of the individual will to which they
were accustomed from the slaves The writer
says
This confusion of ideas gives rise to the most
ludicrous Incidents One of our military CON-
manders was recently visited by doctor liy.
ing in one of the southeastern counties of this.
State. The doctor looked very much disturb
ed.
General" says he, the negroes in my
county are in terrible state of insubordina-
ton, and we may look for an outbreak every
moment. come to implore your aid"
The General, already accustomed to such
alarming reports, takes the matter with great
GOODNESS. "Doctor,o says he, Il have heard of
such things before. What reason should the
negroes have to resort to violence ?"
General replies the doctor, tyou do not
appreciate the dangers Of the situation we are
placed in. Cur lives are not safe 1t is I'm
possible to put up with the demonstrations of
INSTRUMENTATION on the part of the negroes:
If they do not cease shall have to remove nv
fan lily into the city. If we are not protected
we cannot stay in the country. would rath-
er give up my crops to the negroes than the
lives of my wife and children"
"Now, Doctor, please go into particulars,
and tell me what has happened?"
0kNail GannraI fI,o
Obliged to retire to their cabins before nine
o'clock in the evening. After that hour nobody
was permitted outside. Now, when their worL
is done, they roam about Just as they please
and when / tell them to go to their quarters
they do not mind me. Negroes from neigh
boring plantations will sometimes come to vis-
it them, and they have sort of meeting, and
then they are cutting up sometimes until ter.
or eleven. You see, General, this is alarming,
and you must acknowledge that we are n0i
safe"
''Well, Doctor, what are they doing when
they have that sort of meeting? Tell me
all you know?"
why, General, they are talking together,
sometimes in whispers and sometimes loudly.
They are having their conspiracies, / suppose
And then they are going on to sing and dance
and make noise"
"Ah, now, Doctor" says the imperturbablc
General, "you see this is their year of jubilee
They must celebrate their freedom in some
way. What harm is there in singing or dane
ing? Our northern aborers sing and dance
when they please, and nobody thinks any
thing OF it; we rather enjoy it with them."
"Ies, that is all well enough, General; but
these are negroes, who ought TO be subordinate
and when | tell them to go to their quarter.
and they don't do it, we can't put up with it.
BY the way, Doctor, have you made con
tract with the negroes on your plantation?' p
"Yes''
1Do they work well ?"
"Pretty WE'LL so far. My crops are in pretty
good condition"
"Do they steal much ?"
@They steal some, but not very much"
Wei, then, Doctor, what have you to com
plain aboutw
.'Oh, General" says the Doctor, dolefully
"you do not appreciate the dangers Of our situ-
ation."
"Now, Doctor, to cut the matter short has q
single act of violence been perpetrated in your
neighborhood by negro against white
manP
"Yes, sir; and will tell you of one that has
happened right in my family. | have negro
girl eighteen years old, whom l raised. Fol
ten years she has been waiting upon my old
mother-in-law, who lives with me. A few days
ago the old lady was dissatisfied about some
thing, and told the girl that she felt like giving
her whipping. Now, what do you think p
the negro girl actually informed my old moth
er-in-law, that she would not submit to a whip
ping, but would resist My old father-in-aw
then got mad and threatened her, and she tolo
him the same thing Now, this is an intoler-
able state of things
The General laughed and said: "My dear
sir, that girl is free girl, and you have just as
little right to whip her as you have to whip
your neighbor's daughter. She ought to resist
I
will. And l will tell you another thing
Among your slaves there are probably men
who have seen their wives, and young meI
VINO have seen their mothers whipped by your
order. l think the negroes deserve a greal
deal of praise for their moderation. Another
race, if suddenly freed after such experiences
would probably have proceeded to cut the
throats OF those who were in the habit of whip
ping wives and mothers. Now go home, treat
your people well, and pay them fair wages and
do not come to me again and eiamor about in
surTection and danger, when the freemen work
ing on your plantation dance and sing, and
when the girls refuse to accept whipping"
The Doctor left, sorely puzzled with the mys-
teries of free labor. And when he and the
General meet, which happens not unfrequent
ly, the General invariably asks him. "Wel
Doctor, how does the insurrection in your coun
ty come on?." There are certainly exception
to the rule, but it can be said without the leas
exaggeration that most OF the planters in thi
region are entirely unaware that free labor
er owes his employer no duty beyond the fulfil
ment of his contract and the general duties o
citizen. They cannot get rid of the idea tina
the man who works for them belongs to them
and is Obliged to regulate his conduct in every
particular according to their notions anC
whims 1t is not difficult to conclude wha
they would do, if, before they have accommo
dated their ways OF thinking to the new order
of things, the governmentshould withdraw its
protection from the negro.
The Southern planter pretends, ,-and he will
laugh at you if you contradict him,-tha
Northern men know nothing about the negro
and that he alone understands and knows how
TO manage him. In certain sense this i
undoubtedly true; the planter understands
now to manage the negro as a slave. But it
Is more than doubtful whether he knows how
goInana9e the negro as a free laberer. What ]
nave seen mere leads me to the conclusion
that in cultlvating the Southern soil by FIRE,
negro aDor Northern men are apt to succeed
petUer tnan southern men. at least as long al
ghe iatler 10 not succeed in casting off thei
haDlts. 1t is not difficult to find . naason fo
TINS, and think it is the true one tbe North
ern man is not governed by the customs ans
TRADITIONS OF the slaye-labor system. IT,
klows from actual experience what free laho
Is ana understands the working of its mach
merry. lie acts upon its principles. and Is no
un'eel De4 py tne irregularities connected with
IL, Whlch seem utterly madmissible to the
ooutheIner- All the complaints have heard
about the negro, his unwillingness to ,voY.L
his spirit of insubordination, his imnroy;dsnc !
ana INCONSISTENCY, etc, etc, came from Southerr