Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1869-02-04

e form Of superstition called religion
: was taught him, that done him more
; harm than good AS a labOrer be
/ was only efficient when followed by
, the driver and stimulated by the
lash.
/ The war ended, and four million
of these creatures became freemen
in a day. Before long the right Of
franchise is conferred upon them,
and the old master disfranchised.
Great God was ever retributiye
justice SO layislly meted out, or the
iniquities Of the fathers so severely
visited upon the children? What
is the status of the freedman in this
year of grace, 1869? From his an.
tecedents, it is easy to say what he
is, and observation justifes the in
ference. He is lazy; but, being
compelled to work or die, he choos-
es the former, and many of them
are good laborers. But the great
tendency with them is to GO to the
towns, leaving the plantations at a
distance destitute Of labor. While
the cities swarm with them, if they
can get employment two or three
days in the week, which enables
them to exc out miserable exist
ence, they are contented. With a
dollar in their pocket, they are hap
py, and never think Of work until
it is gone; and many subsist by
stealing, as they are never known
to work.
Ofthe freedmen, ninety nine out
Of hundred about the towns are
prostitutes; and among the freed
population of the entire South chas-
tity is virtue unknown, and un-
imagined. The desire Of sex is
treated as the desire of food-grat-
fled wheneverand wherever oppOr-
tanity presents itself. Many of the
freedmen have two or more wives,
sometimes they keep two of them
on the same plantation, and third |,
somsmhere elAe.
Whisky they are fond of, and a
great deal is sold them by all the
stores and groceres-in fact, it is
one ofthe principal articles oftrade.
IYe drunkenness is not one of the
master vices Of freedmen, but no
ooubt will be in time, for the temp
talon is set before him everywhere.
| fife goes to a store to trade, he is
ofeed a "dram," and generally
leaves with bottle we'll filled. If
he does b favor for the planter out
side Of the regular contract, he is
rewarded with a "dram."
The ignorance of the freedmen
is proVerbial. Not one in hun
dred can write his own name; not
one ina hundred can read notone
in a thousand as ever read, the con
stitutiOn of the United States. All
vote asitheJ are told to do by those !
in whom they have the most conf .
dence. And what is still woyse, it
is only a minimum number who
make the least effort to inform them :
selves oftheir duty as citizens of :
5he Republic. The consequence is
that never, in the history of the !,
world, has there been such vast
field for demagogues, and they are
using it to the detriment Of the true
interests Of the country. Men go !,
here from the Northern States who :,
could not be chosen Aldermen in :,
heir native towns, and are chosen "
of the State Legislatures,
1r sent to Congress; and if the E
east indignity is shown them by >
he citizens they cry out ..'Ku-klux" :
md write home fearful accounts Of
he outrages Of the "Klan," when :,
n fact they did not get half what I
hey deserved, if justice had been !,
Ione them. And it is principally
y these persons that any ill-will is j
ept up between the two sections of /
he country. a =,
Among the whites great demoral-
sation prevails. Confidence is lost
d one another. Men that prided rs
themselves upon their honor before &,
ne war, whose word was as good Ia
s their bond, cannot now get cred in
without giving a mortgage Of the hi
lost binding kind. The grand old W
nstocraey is going to the winds, a
nd in many instances the former Y,
wners own the land, and work
le freedmen that were formerly
.aves on the same place, while the br
riginal owner lives on a small in F.
ome in the neighboring city, with ha
ut any occupation whatever Or, as