The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-12-29
COLUMBIA.
Saturday Morning, Dec. 20, 1868.
Row md Then.


freed-people are leaving tho upper
and middle Districts of this State,
and we learn from Western cotem-
porary that a largo company of them
from here passed through Atlanta
the other day. on their way to Arkan-
sas, to work next year for $3.50 and
board, clothing, ct ccteras. The New
Orleans Dcla says that these emf
grants will Gna shat these et ceterus
do not include everything.
The husbands income OF $3.50,
with one hundred more earned by his
wife, with perhaps $50 each for two
or three half-grown children, with
subsistence and shelter, would make
4 freedman's family tolerable COM
Portable. Smart and active negroes,
who know how to work TO advantage,
and who know the value Of their
greenbaclls when they get them, can,
by thrift and economy, live very we'll
on the income named. and may save
enough to buy, after some years, q
patch of land with house or cabin
on it.
But our contemporary of the Della
says that they may expect very few
of the ct cetc''as which they used to
enjoy on the old plantation. Among
many comparisons which that jour
nal draws of the past and the present
of the negro, and his future pros
poets, we extract the following, which
will at once impress every candid
mind that 'the changed condition.
of these people is not all that was
promised by ranting politicians, or
expected by themselves:
l. If they lose time by sickness, it
will be deducted from their wages,
and their rations will be stopped.
The planter, having no property in
the future services of the negro, can
not, of course, be expected to nourish
and feed him in sickness.
2. If his wife or children are sick,
he must stop work, go for a doctor,
and nurse them himself. In the old
time, there was 4 physician, paid by
the master, within an hours call;
there was chest of medicines at the
planters house, and, generally,
kind-hearted mistress, to measure it
out and see it used properly; there
were experienced old women, whose
business it was to nurse infants and
the sick; there were comfortable
quarters, with especially comfortable
provision, for the invalids; no anxiety
troubled the sick man or woman
about children, for they knew they
would be cared for; there was no dis
nal thought Of the morrow, no danger
Of being turned oct OF doors, no pre-
mature exposure after sickness The
patient Was then inclined to prolong
the period Of canval~scence, while, at
present, he viii damage himself by
attempting 10 rat:;rn to work before
he has recovered.
3. They VIII have no one to take
care Of them IN tAc years when age
Will haze disabled them. They must
provide. Of their own accord for this
period. Provide The very thing
of all others which negroes cannot do.
70 lcolI before them and prepare for
what is to come is rot in negro char
acter. They viii not anticipate their
wants. Not one in Il thousand Will
care for next year, provided he is
made comfortable now. Not one in
q hundred VIII prepare for q want
that will DC inevitable in a month.
Tomorrow is not III their calendar.
They need white forethought, and
could afford to pay fer it with
fourth Of the net proceeds Of their
own labor. They need the white
mans capital, his lands, his regula-
tlons, his keen and cultivated percep-
tons Of interest, The protective power
of his will and brain, the bold hand,
the clear head, the ready tongue and
the ruling instinct of the master.
And the contrast might be carried
out in a, dozen more striking features.
No time, no means for the kind
Of pleasure which most delights
them. The negro feels the want of
some one to respect, obey and rever-
ence. The need 10 be proud of his
masters ability, his family, his
wealth, and his standing. He has
now no ono 10 look TN 70 No roo]