The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1865-11-10
Letter from tho SO1Ith.--NO. I.
MONUMENTAL HOTEL, Richmond, Va.,t
Oct 20 1893

MONC NENHAL dOTEL, richmond, va,
Oct. 80, 1865.
DEAR STONE What do see in Rich
mond to interest your readers Much ev-
erywhere. Four years of confederate rule
wore the paint off of it. The fire Gen.
Ewell set burned the life out of it; and
now it lies under the government of Gen.
Terry, quiet as lamb. The city was
never SO free from crime under its own
police, nor its poor so well fed and this
contrast, together with the mismanage-
ment of the Davis government, goes far
to reconcile the people to the Union.
THE CITY.
The people are all very poor. If any
have real estate left, they have no money,
and no means of raising it. Everything
was invested in confederate bonds, and
went down in day. Then came the fire
and burned up more than one-half of the
business part of the city. Demolish Rail-
road street in your beautiful village, and
the east side of Main street from Rev. Mr..
Thayer's to Arnold Park, and such loss
to St. Johnsbury would be no more than
the fire was to Richmond.
Then, to add to their losses, all slaves
are free, so their masters can neither hire
them out nor sell them-the great source
of Virginian wealth before the war. The
result Of all is, the people are all left pen
niless, and, as they feel, helpless. They
appear so-they say So Their labor sys-
tenn is broken up; they wont work, they
can't starve with comfort, and no resource
seems to be left but to curse the Yankees,
which they lose no opportunity of doing.
l heard prominent citizen say: 81 hate
the Yankees. l will hate them till die,
and teach my children to hate and despise
them after me-
A little while after, seeing some pretty
little children of the first families playing
in hepark, l gathered them around me
to find out if they were taught to hate
Yankees asked them if they were all
real southerners They all answered they
were. "Do you remember when the
Yanks came in7" eyes, it was an aw-
full day" Don't you hate these Yanks p
" No, we don't" "Why not; they came
down here to fight?'' because they put
out the fire old one-leg Ewell set, and feed
the poor people" thought the F. F.
VS.. were no more successful in teaching
the children than in fighting the Hessians
of the north.
The city is being rapidly rebuilt, but by
northern men almost wholly. Houses
from Boston, New York, Baltimore, &c,
come on and lease the land from the form
er owners and erect branch houses so
the business enterprise is all pouring into
northern hands. The native Virginians
planters and business men-are dis
heartened. Without slaves, they see no
way to turn for livelihood The plan
tiers talk of importing Swiss laborers for
their plantations. But" said one large
planter to me, 81 can't pay them Sl2O a
year and board, the price they ask, nor
should | know how to trust them. Must
hold a white MJorer as an equal? How
soon it would set him up. Then I cannot
fog him when he does not mind, nor catch
him if he runs away. What am to do ?"
Poor man. The remedy stands at his
door in the shape of the wolf of starva-
ton. think he will be brought to better
mind in a year or two. If man will
not work, neither shall he eat
Slavery is dead-stone dead all ad-
nit this There is some fear at the north
that the black man will, in some way, be
brought back into bondage. A glance at
the facts shows this can never be. But
the whites have no confidence whatever in
the negroes honesty, or ability to care for
themselves. The whites will not hire
them if they can help it, and are bound to
hold them in degradation, and make their
condition as wretched as possible; and
can see little hope for the black man until
the ballot is put in his hands. And let
me tell you, that he is, by far, the most
loyal, enterprising and hopeful character
l find III the South. He feels his great
hour has come. His mind is open and
ready to be moulded by the spirit of the
times. He loves the old flag. He can
york. He learns faster than the white in
the schools. He sells his chickens and
sweet potatoes first in the market. He
adapts himself best to the present condi-
ton of things; and, while the white is
logged, sullen, and disheartened, he has
confidence in the future. Every white man
tells me, "The negroes can never take care
of themselves. Every black man SAYS,