Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-12-24
NEGRO PROLETARIANIsM-THE
Mnn-E-L

LEVEES.
We fnd the following, upon two SUBJ
jeets Of Immense and pressing interest,
in the New Orlesns Tines. How are the
negroes, more than q hundred thogssni
Ia number, now thrown permanently out
Of employment on the Mississippi and its
lower tributaries, to be kept from starv.
ing or becoming a horde Of savage band
it'll? and hoB are the levees to be re-
built, so that the river country may once
more have, what itnow has not 8 money
value ?
The white men are neither able to feed
or employ the negroes, and they are still
less able, If there are degrees of impossi-
bilities, to rebuild the levees. The TlDles
says:
The old ssying that " while the grass is
growing the horse will die is tritely az.
plicable to the vexed levee question, new
attracting such general attention
throughout the country. Pending lie
solution, Rs the best means TO be adopted
towards walling out the waters Of the
Mississippi, and whether the expense Of
repairing tire levees should devOlve upon
the riparian prOprietOrs, or be assumed
10y the Uuited States Government, there
ore other issues which demand an imme-
0i2te solution.
The breach II the grand levee at Point
COupee e~ndsugers taiFtsen parishes in
this State, which will al, IN case 4 Is not
] repaired il time, become totally uupro-
; dGctive during the coming season. Apart
from this great loss of natural and ma.
tiOnal wealth, the amount Of suffering
engendered through sEch neglect will be
fearfully great. Three successive year,
Of overflow and the consequent failure o
crops in this region have already reduced
the inhabitants TO 8 state Of severe pri-
walton. Poverty is scarcely q name fol
the deplorable condition OF the people il
that Vicinity.
Bad Is tue condition is amopg the
| planters and the white Inhabitants, that
| OF the negroes l. still worse. Upwards OF
twenty thousand are now at the point Of
starvation, and almost entirely destitute
Of all the necessities Of life. Unless some
speedy relief comes to succor them, the
resulting lamentable consequences will
be scarce cslculabie. Now that cum
brous End sup~eI1uOus pitce-of furniture,
" The FreedmGD's Bureau" has an op-
portunity OF. doing some real and sub.
stantial good, and il it is in tie lead
sincere in its alleged desire 10 aid the ne.
groes, and not wholly abandoned to mere
partisan purposes, 1t will now come e
I their relief. Instead Of sending its agents
into prosperous sections OF the country,
to stir up dissatisfaction among the
freedmen by ths dissepination of revo-
|lutiOnary and radical ideas, let its Off.
GERS apply themkalVes directly TO the re
lief OF these starving thousands residing
in the rear Of the Grand Levee. We
have the best authorities for stating that
ia the event Of the Freedmen's Bureau
/ providing means FOR the relief and susie
! nsnce Of the negroes residing in tina,
neighborhOOd, and now IN 3 state Of hor-
rible destitutiOu, they viii undertake the
work Of repairing the levees and await
the settlement o. the leyee question, or
the ability OF the state 70 pay them fOI
their services.
General ORD, we see, has Issued the
following order, good as far as it goes
bat The difficulty is that the planters no
longer wsHt negro lsbour, and are mol
able to employ IL anu pay for IL. That
Is the result Of compelling them to sag,
10 1866 and 1867, twice as much per
month for labour as Il was worth, and
then robbiDg them Of s large part Of the
price Of every pound Of colon. The
order in question is:
Commanding officers are directed 10
( notify the leading cOlOred men, and take
such other measures as may be necessary
to give general publication Of the fact,
that sil freedmen vino are able, will B.
required 10 carr thelF support during
the coming year, and 70 60 10 work upon
the best terms thar eau be procured, sven
should 1t furnish g support only and
thus prevent their becoming a burden to
the Government. All freedmen who
can, but will not earn 3 livelihood when
employment can be procured, will lay
themselves liable &c arrest and punish
ment as ~vagrants. The cooperation OF
Sherifs and C~onstables, and Police
Magistrates Is requested ia the enforce
ment Of this order, and any Just action
OF theirs under its provisions will be sus-
tanned by the military authorities.
some gentlemen Of Mississippi and
Arkansas are sndeaYoring 10 call the
attention Of the Government 70 the ter
rible condition Of sffairs that has already
commenced, in the hope that the Freed
mems Bureau or Congress may be in
duced 70 organize into working parties
all unemployed and destitute negroes, to
set them at work repairing the ~levees,
and by way Of compensation for their
labour, 70 feed them. There IL, indeed,
d other possible mode by which they
can be supported. II the Government
does not feed them, they must either
or roam about the country in
bands, liks wolves, and plander 1t.