Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1867-02-14

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CONTRACTS WITH FREEDMEN.
Since they became free, the mistaken notion pre-
walls among many freedmen, that every white man
is their natural enemy, who will cheat them in a
trade or contract, whenever he can. Therefore, In
making contracts to work for white men they have
become rather hard to please, and in their anxiety
to get enough they frequently ask for their servi-
ces a great deal more than they are worth. This
is on the same principle that horse;jockey EN-,
ploys in starting trade, by putting on his horse
higher price than he expects to get for it. The
freedmen's fear of being swindled is, in great
measure, due to the teachings Of their new-found
friends, the Yankees; but it also arises, in part,
from the conduct of some of our own people Nat
uraly indignant, as we all were, because the ne
oes had been set free at dead loss to their own,
ers, some persons vented their undiscriminating
wrath upon the freedmen, who were not at all to
blame for the loss sustained by their former mas
ters. In this frame of mind, they were not dis
posed to favor freedmen in any way, and the con-
tracts made by them for the last year, were drawn
up with view to grant the freedmen just as little
wages for the years labor as possible. This state
ment will not apply to the generality Of our farm
ers, but it is true of some, and the experience o1
those freedmen who fell into such hands, warrants
them in the exercise of some caution about putting
their marks to new contracts.
There are exceptions, but general rule, 1t is
true that white man is by nature and education,
smarter than negro, and can overreach him in q
bargain, if he tries to do so. This, however, Is
but poor triumph, and worthy only of the mean,
est kind of white man. Certainly, no man with
any respect for himself, could take pride in such an
exhibition of his Skill ''The aborer is worthy Of
his hire" and if be works for an honest man, he
will always get it in full 1t is to be hoped that
this years contracts will be characterized by de-
sire to do justice to both parties, and that while
protecting their own interests our people will not
neglect those of the freedman, who is not always
capable of taking care of them for himself We
do not pretend to lay down any fixed sum of money
or share of the crop, to be given as proper wages.
Circumstances vary this in different cases; but any
man of ordinary intelligence can decide for himself
as to what he ought to allow in each particular
case, and every man of common honesty will cheer
fully grant this much.
1t may at first be supposed, that the justice or
injustice of private contracts cannot affect any but
the parties involved in other words, that it is no
mans business how much other people cheat
freedmen, provided he himself deals fairly with
those whom he employs But little reflection
will show that it is matter which, more or less,
concerns the whole community. A freedman now
finds it necessary to support himself and family by
his own exertions. If his whole time is consumed
by labors for which he receivesan amount too small
to cover his expenses, his only resource is to steal
what he needs for his family AS long as he con-
fines his raids to the corn-crib and smokehouse of
his employer, no one can have the heart to object
to them. But unfortunately, the depredations of
this species of raiders extend so widely as to in
clude whole neighborhood and, in this way, a
community of liberal men is sometimes made to
suffer for the injustice of one stngy individual.
Interest, as we'll as justice, can be urged as u
motive for making fair contracts in this secton.-
The rich river bottoms of the Southwest are al
ready drawing away from this State large numbers
of our freedmen, and to make the matter worse,
the best of them are always selected for expectation
thither. The planters of the Western States offer
higher prices to aborers than our farmers can af-
ford to give them, and if the latter wish them to
remain here, they must endeavor to make freedmen
contented with their present homes. This object
can be more easily effected by showing disposition
to let them have living chance i'll their contracts,
than by any other means. 1t would also conduce
to this end, if there was more Of permanency in
the connection between employer and employees
that is, if every farmer would, as far as possible,
hire the same hands from year to year. At pres
ent, the making Of crops is too much like playing
"seven-up;" in which there is new deal of the
cards at the commencement Of every game. But,
unlike the card-player, the farmer should hold on
to his trumps, when he gets them, or he will event
ually ''play out.
Some persons, however, do not object to the en-
igraton of the freedmen, claiming that the country
would be better off without them. This may be
so but we find it difficult to conceive, in what way
the country would be benefited by such an exodus
It is certain that we must have laborers to cult
vate the soil, and it is extremely doubtful whether
we can get others as well suited to customs and
tastes, or equally adapted to our climate. Our
people, from infancy have been accustomed to the
coored race; we know their habits, their peculiar
ities their faults, and their virtues While slaves,
they were faithful, nor have they become entirely
demoralized by freedom, barring constitutional
tendency to laziness, from which weakness their
late masters are not entirely exempt II they
leave us we will be forced to import white laborers
in their stead. This change will upset our whole
social system, and give us that Of the North, where
the cook aspires to be the equal Of her mistress,
and where every barber hopes at some day to be
President of the United States. With the change
must come the isms of the North; for most OF
the so-caled reformations in morals and religion,
which aflict that too learned section. spring from
and are propagated among their half:educated la
borers Servants of this description may please
some tastes, but the majority of our people would
probably prefer the sort we have who neither feel
nor profess equality with their employers, notwth-
standing the lessons to the contrary which they
have received from spurious philanthropy, and
who do not aspire to set the world in order