Des Arc weekly citizen., 1869-02-02
How ts Improve Negro Lahonr

now and no likelihood of any other at any early day, no oquestion is of greater momcn to the planter and farmer of Dixie, than How to Improve Negro Labour.
 The question is broad and our space is brief, hence VIC must be very concise in the statement of our views.
 I. To make any man entsrprising and inventive, he must feel that he is working for himself, or that though he may be working for others, be will himself reap the full measure of his labour, hts outlay of capital. CT his exhibition of superior skill or industry.
 II. It is but natural that men bred mp slaves, with no interest in the fruits of their labour beyond mere food shelter and clothes, should when freed, feel jealous of their labour, and be in constant fear of be- ing robbed or cheated out of it. Such is the universal state Of the negroes They dread the loss of their labour.
 III. The negroes must be made to feel morally certain that tho full fruits Of their labour is secure to them beyond the con trol of any other person. They must be taught to feel sure of whatever extra work they do, whether by extra skill or indus try, being paid for. This assurance is absolutely essential to secure that motive for enterprise and ingenuity from which all progress springs.
 ". Of another thing, too the negroes must be made morally sure, and that is, that they must work for their living, just as white men have to do. They must learn that masters smokehouse' and government rations arc both things of the past, which fhey will never see again.
 These things the negro must be taught by the landowners They are to be his employers, and they must be his protectors, too. This protection must be general and complete Not only such slow pro lection as the law can give, but the pro lection ofa public opinion that shall mock to scorn any man who shall take advan- .tage of the negro's ignorance, to choat him of his just wages This is matter ofyery great importance.
 Another important matter which pub lie opinion can reach, is the in.ormedd.ng with contracted labour We know il3at the practice of entieing contracted h bourers away from their employers, is be- coming general with large class of men, who whould get very angry if told they were not gentlemen. And yet there can be no question as to the dishonesty of such conduct. Against this practice farmers and planters must take steps to project themselves. The mest effeetua menus is the legal right to recover damages from the party entie;ng, as well as from the party enticed; but es yet the grievance has not become sufficiently annoying to secure any action on the part of the pre- sent lawmakers. So reliance iof the pre- sent must be had on other means.
 It has seemed to us that the various County Agricultural Societies vca'd bc very competent and not improper persons to take this matter in hand, so fir as az thing can.be done by regulating the price of farm labour. or course no body can make compulsory regulation, but it seems to us quite within the province oi such societies to submit such scale of prices IS seems fair to them, and to ex press in pointed terms their disaYproval of the practice about which we are speaking.
 But after all, the true remedy lcs in the hands of individuals Each man must keep his own workmcn for himself Each one will, of coarse, have his own peculiar way of winning the negro to stay with him But there are certain things that all must do, things which interest, and duty alike impcl them to do. Thee arc providing of good, substantial com forlabe and neat houses and the attach. ment thereto of a small garden or truck patch, and all the other little surroundings that make the negro feel at home aad attach him to the place. Once make the negro identify himself with place as his jhome, and there will be but little diff culty in keeping him year by year Un- til he does become identified with, and attached to, the soil on which he works, the negro will neither improve as q labourer or be content to stay long at eng place.
 In this whole matter, the white man must bear in mind that he is dealing with an inferior; one who is as child in all matters of business. They need advice ] they need teaching, and the white people who used to own them arc the proper per sons to advise and teach them not in their schools, but on the farms and in every day business Above all, their for her owners must see that they arc dealt fairly with in the matter of wages Rightly treated they will make good la bourers, wrongly treated they win work much trouble Dixie Farmer.
 
 gsg~ \ Chicago paper tells how the men of Illinois came to be called suck