The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1868-03-13
A CONTRAST.
DesoIation in the South.
correspondence of the New York World.

GREENNILLEY MISS, FeO. ~ 1905.
would that 1 could write you some
/ thing cheerful of the present condition of
this part Of the country, or Of its (ature.--
Those days Of peace, of JOY, Ct happiness,
of bounIiful harvests. of smiling prosper
ity alike to white and black, are gone,
never to return There where all was
contentment and we rioted in the abun-
dance of the products Of the land, in for
mer days, now there Is discomfort and suf-
fering for the necessaries Of life. For
merly no locks nor bolts nor bars were ne
eessary 70 pfoteet any property all doors
we're open, for Ell had plenty Now posh-
ing but guard can secure anything from
depreciation and theft Thus we have in
exchange fer peace riots F.; for happiness
discomfort for plenty, starvation for in
dustry, idIeness for prosperity, ruin for
putty of race, miscegenatiou for religion,
fetchism for church service, the howling
dsrvish for medicine, conjuraton; for
politeness, impudence forlberty, license;
for fraternity, hatred of race for equali-
ty, the negro put over the white !or law
makers, the stupid negroes for law, the
Freedmea's Bureau-and all under militia
~ diclators.
We have the same land and the same la
borers, and with increased energy and care
on the part of the whites so idle has the
negro been during the past two years, the
products of his labor has not equalled his
consumption, and he has been partly sus-
tanned by the capital borrowed by the plan
ter, to the ruin of the latter An examina-
tion Of The time books on the plantations
will show that the average time made by
the hands will not exceed one hundred and
fifty days during the year, and two thirds
of the women do nothing at all.
Do the negroes now, as formerly, attend
church to hear the gospel expounded by
the educated white divine ? No. They
hold almost daily and nightly meetings,
and Jump about and howl like deryishcs,
till nature is exhausted. The teachers Of
"religion" are ignorant negroes. who can
not read, and generally great rascals. Su-
perstition is widely increasing and spells
aud conjuratiouR common.
sot long since askad 3 negro man why
they (ths neg9oes) ssat saeh sesisful
negro to the Convention, and he was aston
ished that he had aided in sending him
there, aud said that be did not know that
he had voted for any person that ne went
to the polls because that was ''the orJar''
sent there. Not one negro in fifty has even
a vague idea of what he went to Il pol'sf 7
or for whom he voted. They do not know
to-day whether they voted for an ''inven-
tom Westinghouse or a wheelbarrow.
1t is now February. and here are thou
sands of negroes on the plantation. Some
are working a little for something to eat
others are permitted to inhabit the houses,
are not fed, do nothing, and live by theft
and killing cattle Why do they not seek
employment? Why nc hire by the month
or farm on shares ? The reply everywhere
is: 1--WE have been told not to sign con
tracts or make engagements until tho new
{ law is made" eve are waiting for the
new law" And this is general over many
States. They do not know who has ad
vIeed them to wait for the new law" Dol
, what the "new law IS to be, only it Is o
J "la.k' that they must wait for the "neW
law" In the meantime but little prePara-
r tions are being made for cultiyating the
z crops, and soon It viii! be too late aud thus
J another year of disaster viii occur. To.
= dav not one-third Of the negroes are a
work, but are waiting for "new law"
{ There is a great dislike among the ne
d groes to be house servants. They are call
9 ed white folks negroes" by the others
= Now these things and many others, addet
; to the necessity that exists to defend prop
); erty from depredalions. point toward wa
n Of races. Aptagonism exists and may lea
D to deplorabls results. And all this is tn
!, teaching Of the past two years. There wa
+ no such feeling in the early part Of 1866
e Before the war we had no thefts here
+ Corn cribs, hen houses and dwellings wer
= left open. Plenty filed the land. The ne
5 gro had all he wanted. Now, in the pas
two years or less, most of the stock ha
been killed in the woods. Planters wh
>, formerly fattened from hundred to a hun
-. dred and City hogs yearly, now have 10
one-no, not one-on their places. III
same is true with regard to cattle aud sheep
p We knew an old man who believed cha
d what was to be would be-" he lived IN
IS region infested by very savage Indians
/ He always took his gun with him when 60
ie ing into the woods; but this time be fonn
9 tbat some Of the family had taken it. A
he would not 90 without it, his friend