Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-10-23


Ahire4uent' and the Cause-Eeti
eide and Ratio of Nor
taIity-PeryerS;.u N of CI,ar;,v. .
xU,
" =" ane KseneToien''
--.- AUGUSTA, GA, Sept. %, 1867.
In its anxiety as to his political status
the North seems to be overlooking tn,
moral and physical condition of the freed
man. These, to speak plainlv, are lamenta
BILE enough, and | have some sad facts nnor
the subject. First and foremost. then. th,
immortality of the colored nnnulat;on
throughout the Soutb is somethinp annoi,'
ing. Under the old slavery reoine-wf,e o,
marriage was encouraged, and the obIiga.
tion to the nuptial tie to certain exten,
, enfOrced-there existed sort of proximatf
chastity among this population. and IFS in.
crease was rapid. Births were freouent
and chief among the cares : E mistress nj
plantation was Jealous attention to the
physical welfare of the negro children.
This care was, of course. for the most
part based upon the monetary value of its
reripients, but such as iG was. IT, was sufti-
cli~lt to make the infantile negro mortality
one per cent. less than thai of the whiteS
With emancipation, however. this ground
of care has been swept away, and the con
sequence is. as stated. a very lament.hIe
N 1ition of concubinap steriIitv' So
far from there being any inducement now
to marriage among the blacks. every mo.
tive tends strongly the other way. On
seeking employment almost the first uues-
tion put to the freedman by the planter is.
''Are you a clean han | 2" that is unencum-
bered by wife or children. If the answer
= be in the negative, the chances are very
greatly against poor Cuffee's obtaining a
place, and knowledge of this fact not on
ly deters the single men from marrying,
put even leads those already married to de-
sert their wives and families, and then hire
themselves out in distant localities as I'M
encumbered.
Ihus deserted and left unaided to main
tain their children. the negro women are
not backward themselves in evading the
responsibility by decamping. and though,
from the strength of the maternal instinct,
this desertion is far from being as frequent
as that OF the fathers, it Is still considera-
6ie enough to produce great misery and
oestltutlon. Among the women. Also there
are Practlces IN vogue OF which, though
iorceo 20 speak, nardly know how to
treat. To Indicate the general nature of
tne CRIME, may say thaG those OF our peo-
pie VINO snuduer SO at lnfant tlclde in India
ana CDlna, would flnd mere. almost at their
own uoors. klhdreu ana wide spread
aIrocity-JGac,de. once. as our travelling
agehts anu business men may remember to
nave seen IN tner trips throughout the
SonGn, hardly kitchen or negro cabin on
swarm OF iiItle pl' canlnnies, as numerous,
anH NOISY as SO many pees;
Now as tnoSe WHO nave Deen IN TINS Sec
Iloil since Ihe war can thlnk, well cor
LoporaCe my own observation real negro
'aoy 10 Ia'neI d curiosity Inan otherwlse.
lnasniucil i as Ghe prouuction-to use mer-
cahCile phrase, ana preservation OF the lit
Tie negroes was a matter of prime atten-
LION even up TO the last hours of the Con-
Ieueracy, tnere may still be seen something
near Ine usuai NUMBER OF children from
three TO ten; but below the former age
Gney are SO lDtreqnent as to become matter
OF note. 10 pear a chlld now Is for the
nero mother 20 endure the pangs of ma
Cernity uhaiueu. ahu Ghen 10 De forced, al
most from the hour OF confinement, ipto
desperate Struggle lot tnat chlld's malnte-
nance ana her own. rms change OF affairs
TO one accustomed TO the best medical at
tenuahce' ana klnd, though, OF course, in
!eresteo care, Is SO very dlscouraglng that
IL is perhaps only natural the poor, i'll reg
ulaGeo creatures should seek TO free them
serves Oy the early use of abortives.
In the columns o. Southern papers (more
shame TO them) quack advertisements of
Chls character occupy a prominent posi-
ZION, anu the scoundrels who vend ''relief !"
preparations reap a base but abundant
harvest. With this much on painful sub
Ject, it may be that shall have further to
dlscuss, may dismiss the general topic
with the remark that intanticide, a thing
almost absolutely unknown in the days of
slavery, is far from infrequent, the perpe.
traitors being those who, being afraid to use
representatives. do not scruple to destroy
their offspring, which, as things now are,
can only be a source of poverty and sor-
row. With the withdrawal, also, of old
time restraints on concubinage, it may be
added, as the physicians can well imagine,
sexual diseases are both wide spread and
virulent.
AS to other matters affecting the health
of the freedmen, it may be said that adults
do not suffer to the extent it was at first
supposed they would, from the abolition of