Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1866-03-02
Maine Freedmen's Relief So.
ciety.
To the Citizens of Maine:

country, for two hundred years despoiled
by State enactment and national consent,
have been tossed for the last four years,
upon the widest waves Of the fiery sea Of
war, until their very rags are torn away,
and now in weary millions, they creep along
the shore Of Peace. and see far inland,
waiting cottages and fields.
But the winter is upon us. and will bury
tens Of thousands. unless good Samaritan
hands shall come to their relief After the
winter, they will find the fields and till
them, and the cottages and dwell in them.
TIE OGcers Of the Freedmen's Bureau es-
innate that serenity thousand. at least, w;H
pe-ish IN the States of Georgia and Ala
bdmd. The Superintendent of Schools in
Virginia writes THAT large portion of the
Freedmen who, during the war, were taken
as military measure from the possession
of their mast RS aIi placed upon the
abandoned rebel farms. have been and are
about being elected from their homes by
he amnestied proprietors. Even with the
best disposition on the part of the land
holders, they have been incapacitated BY
the results of the war from furnishing en-
ployment to even one third Of their former
slaves. But instead Of kindness. there is,
a. rule, an evident feeling Of hostility
toward the Freedmen. With the renewed
possession Of their farms by the grace Of
pardon. they give no indication Of having
pardoned the black man for loyalty to his
country. There is no time for discussing
either the policy or the Providence that
has placed this people in their present per-
| il. Action and not argument is what their
condition demands; otherwise there will
be such record Of suffering and mortality
as the world has rarely witnessed" In
every Southern State there are many in
extreme need.
1t s not true that the abie- e-boled have
not labored industriously and lived pru-
dently hitherto, as they have had oppor-
tunity. 1t is susceptible of proof that no
class Of people in the United States have
struggled with adversely more manfully or
successfully, the circumstances being con-
sidered.
| But the desolatiOns Of war, the utter
confusion Of all social and industrial con-
ditiOns. the ahject poverty in which the re-
turn Of peace found white and black alike,
the extraordinary blight upon the very i'm
perfect crop of this year, have together,
not strangely, proven too much for the best
endeavOrs Of many. Thousands have sue
ceeded-hundreds Of thousands-despitc
all these difficulties, in providing for the
wintea and ask no charity.
Other hundreds Of thousands will, BY
steady industry, although unable to provide
in advance. keep the wolf at hay, until the
spring dri, 9 him back; and these ask no
charity.
But there remain the equally industrious
| l,,,t1 1o,, c.,~k e.
work nor wages. until the planting season
returns besides the infrm and the thou
sands upon thousands Of orphans, whose
mothers cannat be found, and whose faith
ers gave up their lives that we might cele-
bratc our peace.
The facts and estimates, which we here
present. are founded upon the most relia-
BILE authority. They have no reference to
the support of missionaries who are sus-
tanned by denominationnl effort, or of
school teachers sustai9ed by the several
Frcedmcn's Associations. The support of
teachers, however. should be generously
considered in this caunection. A goodly
number from this State are already in the
field. proving themselves eminently sue
cesslul and useful.
| In view Of this terrible condition of the
Freedmen, it seems an imperions duty that
all humane people, casting aside all scata-
ran aul political considerations, should
make an immediate and systematic effort
for their relief. Let the offering be worthy
of people grateful for abundant harvests
and for the restoration of peace to our be-
loved country.
We would recommend that town or ci-
| ty societies. auxiliary to the State Society,
or committees, be formed without delay
that the officers of the late Sanitary and
| Christian Commission devote their encr-
gies to work tor the Freedmen; that towns
and parishes he thoroughly canvassed for
money and clothing; that public speakers,
especially those who have been South, vol
unteer their services for public meetings;
and yet that no people wait for the call or
aid Of an agent. Delays may result in
death.
Clothing should be packed in strong box
es or barrels. On each case or barrel put
the name Of the person sending it and the
place from whence it is sent. Send list
Of the contents in each package and du-
plicate Of the same hy mail to f. c. Estes,
Business Agent, 76 John Street, New York
Mark each package thus n. Y. n. +. X. A,
76 John Street, New York. Fronl--
All goods should he forwarded to the
care of George Il. Davis, Portland, whence
they will be taken to New York free of
cost. BY little effort, expressmeI and
transportation agents may be induced To
carry goods to PORTLAND at small expense
if any.
All monies may he sent directly to Hon.
n. It. Hichborn, Treasurer of HE State
organization. Augusta or. if more conven-
lent, may he sent to the Treasurer of the
State Society, through the hands Of James
I. McColh, ESQ, al Portland.
| Applications for situations as teachers
may be addressed to the subscriber. at Au-
susta. or to our General Agent, Rev d.
$. King, whose post office address is "Oflice
of Zion's Herald. Boston, Mass" The
wages of a teacher is twenty dollars per
menth, in addition to transportation and
board, which the Society will pay.
ANY teacher for the Freedmen, going
from Maine, and duly appointed by this or
any other Society, can have free passage
by steamboat to Boston or New York and
return, on application to Captain Cyrus
Sturdevapt, of Portland.
At meeting Of TIE Maine Freedmen's
Relief Society held at the State House Feb.
g, the foregoing address was adopted and
the following Ii t of officers was elected for
the rresentyear. The official reports were
not presented; but am happy to say that
a cGmmendablc Interest is manifest in diff
aren't parts of the State and lint tho cifi