Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1866-11-09
FRIDAY, NovEMBER ., 1866.
THE EXPERIMENT or FREE NEGRO
LABOR.

The Augusta, Ga, correspondent Of the
New York Times, thus states his impression
Of the experiment OF free negro labor:
So far as results are concerned. the frsl
agricultural year Of free negro labor ma,
come to a close, and the interesting and i'm.
portant question is being universally dis.
cussed: Is free negro labor 4 success, or is II
a iailure2 il Is very hard TO form an accu-
rate judgment amid the mass Of varying and
conflicting opinions. Each mans experience
differs from that Of his neighbor, as did his
hopes and expectations, and the consequence
is that the opinions as 10 the color of the
chameleon were not more diverse and con-
Trajectory than those which are pronounced
upon the merits and dement's Of the existing
labor system. Were l compelled to form
judgment | would say that 1t has proved to
be neither a success nor a failure-neither
As good as optimists supposed nor as bad as
pessimists predicted, and that with the mod
iications which years experience has sug-
gested, it will work satisfactorily il no new
disturbing cause arise TO change the present
order Of things.
thas been demonstrated beyond question
that the freedmen will not work as dilgent-
ly or as long as did the slave, and that in
the requirement of continuous and certain
labor the preseut system is inferior as a
merely mechanical force, to the former sys-
TEN. II is also certain that the numerical
strength Of the labor now is one-half less
than il was before the war, and that women
and children may be generally deducted
from all estimates Of the available laborers
Of the South.
have seen a good deal during the sum-
mer and fall Of the practical working of
the freedmen on the plantations and else
where, and with the exception Of the larger
cities like this place, Atlanta, Savannah and
Macon, there can be no well grounded COM
plant against them, except that they do not
work as hard or as many hours as when
they were slaves. They are docile, ebedient,
well affected towards their employers, and
generally well behaved and il they are let
alone WILL / think, re-engage for the next
year 70 work where they now are. This is
particularly apparent on the large planta-
tions owned by the former masters of the
negroes, where they have been born and
brought up, and where they desire TO re-
main.
In Southwestern Georgia, and wherever
the lands are rich and the yield large, the
compensation by share Of the crop has
worked very satisfactorily, and will be con-
timed The laborer has seen the value of
diligence, and has identified his own inter
est with that Of his employer. He has been
protected against the temptations TO which |
the monthly receipts Of money would have ]
exposed him, and now that he will receive |
the proceeds Of his two or three bales Of cot |
ton he will be encouraged b make some /
sensible investment which will conduce to |
his future prosperity, and establish in him |
habits of thrift and economy as well as of /
industry. On the poor lands, where the
crops have either failed or been small, and !
where the labOrer's share will be necessarily |
Insignificant, the payment Of monthly wages |
must be adopted. Although the small crops |
are in many instances the consequence of |
insufficient labor and the fault Of the la
borer, yet 10 find at the end Of the year that |
the freedmen will have barely enough TO |
save them from want, and that they are no |
better of than they were when it began, nat
urally produces discomfort, and will compel |
employers to adopt the wages system or do
without labor.