Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1866-01-23
ADDREss By BREVET MAS-GEE FISK
-hEFoHE TsEE WESTERN FREED
y - -. u L - II.

- - -
+ ADDREss BIZ BREvEF MAJ.-GEy FEaIS
- -hEFOAE TsEE WESTERN FREED
/. HAAS AID CoMraEssHON.
: Gen. Fisk said Ihst he had little 70 say
4 except 70 relate some OF his official ex-
: perience among the people Of Tennessee
! and Kentucky. where the labors Of the
: Freedmen's Bureau were directed by
; him, but he must take occasion 10 speak
in the most complimentary terms OF
the Christian labor OF this Commission
I In particular, and toencoUrage the people
/ Of Cincinnati in the noble work they
were carrying forward so we'll
The CoIored schools
I In Nashville and Memphis astoDisheG
! him by their pr0ficieucya extent For
the last seven months, he had closely oh
7 served the eageFness and avidity with
, which the young col0red people acquired
a knowledge OF rudimental learning, for
although he had for years past engaged
. in teaching them in 81. Louis. he had no
idea Of the vast hunger and thirst after
p knowledge in Tennessee. The adapta-
, bility Of the young negro TO learning and
. the facility with which il acquired it,
were 10 him marvellous.
He related the fact that two Of his
clerks were young colOred men, one from
Ohio, and that they We're in every way
as efficient as any white men he ever
saw.
The clerl, from Ohio, was once a slave
in the far South, but he got his eve on
the north star, years ago, and he fol-
lowed it through swamps and thickets,
over rivers and creeks, till he found HIM
self in the Western Reserve, where far
mer's daughters taught him to read, and
81 l.. Il H.f
When the war broke out he Joined q
colOred regiment and the chances Of war
led him % his old Masters plantation
. where he eucamped but "AlasteFN had
fled before the hated Yankee, and the
. Young soldier served out his time and
( was discharged. lie had learned 10 read
and write and was now able to rank
among the most intelligent OF his white
} brethren
4 Tennessee Lady Makes Sc Fer Mark
Over twenty million dollars worth Of
property in Tennessee has been returned
I 10 its people by the Government upon
( their compliance with the conditions
F laid down for those once in rebellion.
/ There are ninety thousand people in that
{ state who can neither read nor write
F yet their hostility and bitterness toward
( the negroes who are learning, is beyond
description, unrelenting and intense. I
" A few weeks ago. said Gen. Fisk, .
" there came into my headquarters az /
Nashville, Tennessee lady ele- F.
gantly atiired in silk and velvet, /
ro talk with me, as she said. 4
] gave her a seat. She tJ0k it with /
IAN air, - and told me she wanted 10 re- .
cover her property seized by the Govern I
meut She abused it heartily, and read .
me s. lecture on Yankees and Abolition 4
ISIS, and execrated them for killing her
husband in battle, for he had only gone
with the South 10 fight for his rights. I
gave her the circular 70 read which con-
tains the conditions Of the Government
f,r claimants to complywith. she asked
me 70 read il for her. I told her hadnO
time: that she had better do il herself,
and then fill Up the "blanks' provided to
prove the legitimacy of her claim. She
then admitted that she could neither
read nor write.
own that while pittied her, felt
little mischievOUs; So / pointed 10 the
young Ohio clerk and told her be would
write out the document for her She
vas Mortified, and asked me with sharp
ness and asperity, "can that Niger
UTite3n Yes, madam, 1 said, and he A.,
will attend TO the business fory0u. With
some reluctance, she went to his desk.
lie arose, bowed, and gave her a seat,
8ad made out in fine round hand the ,
necessary statement, and then read itfor .
her. It was then offered for her sigma
tIre but when she drew of her glove, !
and I saw a splendid diamond sparkle
on her finger, as she made her ''IqErt,' ,
pitied her from my heart, for the +.
superiority, the real superiority, of the F,
negro was seen in the simple transaction. .
The poor woman perhaps felt it then
herself, for she wept, came to her Senses, +
her harsh remarks about the +
Is Niger, and went away with ideas f
more becoming q reconstructed woman d
.haB when she came. r.
Opposition to the Bureau, Gen. Fisk
continued, I find in every shape. The 8
'id talk that the uigger won't work, l .
bear on every hand, and the people want
10 be let alone, Just as they did when .
hey were trying their best to destroy the ?
Government. But We won't let them $
ilOue, for when ! went among them to &
AIRY ont the business of this Bureau, it 81
sas with the conviction that white and Z,
slack must live together. Ia
The labor of the blacks Is wanted there, p
md it can be had if the whites VIII now e.
5uly do right in getting it, lt is my en-
ieav0r 10 earnestly engage both il bgiii- %
ng up the country, torn and desoiated by h
gar, and make it once more blossom a. u
lac rose. la
south EiEcs 80 be Talked To. a.
The people Of the South generally like / p
o be talked 10, for they have been ac- "a
ustomed to it by their political leaders. '
Knowing this, 1 adopted the plan, ard l b
Iave taken occasion 10 call meetiug- and d
gatherings wherever my dI ty led ME,
md l have found great good resulting p
rom telling the people plainly all about J.
le Frpeimen's Bureau. They Thought {,
{ was an Internal machine, intended 10 +
low them out of their lands and prop b
Tiy and the negroes, on the other ST
and, thought it was q big Santa Claus n
hat was TO give them presents of hemeS, D;
I0rses, mules and farming utensils iu
iJth were mistaken, but it is hard TO ci
lame the blacks for taking their view Of &
c. for our soldiers always told them that p
he rebels We're going TO be all killed OF @.
ud their lands given 10 the liberated
layes. The Bureau counterscts this
llse idea and teaches them that il Is in a,
heir own protected industry alone that u
hey can expect advancement and sue
e-s. oI
I had an old negro woman come fifty %,
niles afo0t, with rough map OF her C.,
ld masters plantation, with the pariic- 10
bar forty acres marked out, that she S;
wanted 70 have. l.
Industry in Tennessee. e,
The people of Tennessee are going p
arnestly 10 work. Fences are put up, y
ands plOwed, and general preparation "a
ieing made for future cultivation OF e
he soil. :,
Large preparations ere alreaCy made =
or this year, and Notwithstanding the "a
Uieful pictures presented bysOme crOak- g.
ug correspondents, there are far more :
ubstantial evidences of returning pros IT
lerity than those doleful pictures can a
face. y
When the thousands Of colOred troops -
n and about Nashville and Memphis, h.
re discharged from the service, they will !,
% 20 work, every man of them, fully de- -
ermined TO live by their labor and TOM =,
ist on the lsb0rer's rights. am asked +
the niggeTs are not lazy? les, they =,
10, sometimes, and 30 are the whites, =
,ut the disease is not confined to color p
c all. d.
tentHelLy kicking Against the Prieks. p
When the Freedmen's Bureau was IL
moved into kentucky, the furniture was @
cry Tepugnant 10 the taste OF those good at
Id hOusekeepcrs, but it can't be helped u
{ they can't like IL, they viii tolerate il, re
or l have Travelled for q month among 8
hem in citizen attire, they not supeet-
ng my business and find that although
hey dislike, they won't resist, the au-
hOrity OF the Freedmen's Bureau. A =
majority Of the large, old planters, have
l-eady fallen in with the new condition, q
ut YOU would be astonished at the cru T.
lry practiced on the freedmen hy their y
I'D masters. In a county hardly out Of -
light Of Cincinnati, county meeting ! ..