Wilmington journal., 1870-07-01
A wor,. TO the Colore.. People.

A Word 10 the COlOre;2 People
The following article from the Raleigh
| Sentinel is so full of good sense and sound
advice, that tho colored people cannot np-
ply their better judgments to the facts and
agreements therein presented and not be
struck with their truth and force. The day
is coming when they will acknowledge the
folly Of their present course. We trust
many Of them will read it;
We desire to say few plain words to
| the cOlOred people Of North Carolina,
which, if they do not read and profit by, it
| will be their fault and not ours we will
|. tell them the truth, and then they can act
as they please.
We say to the cOlored people, what they
know themselves, that they are really no
better off now, SO far as acquiring property
is concerned. than they were when they
first became free.
When the colored man was slave, his
master could hire him out for one hundred
and fifty dollars year, with hat, shoes,
blanket and two suits OF clothing now he
cannot get more than one hundred dOllnrs
n year and find his own clothes.
When his master hired him ont for ono
hundred and fifty dollars, cotton sold for
gets ono hundred dollars q year, cotton
sells for twenty to twenty five cents a
pOund.
Why is this
Office mainly by the colorcd mems votes,
have maGc laws to tax the farmer who
owns the land so high that he cannot afford
to- pay his labOrerS as much as their labor
is worth, because tho taxes he has to pay
takes too much of the money he makes on
his farm.
Now let US mako little calculation for
tho last four years. A laboring man who
ought to make one hundred and fifty dol
lars year, and gets only one hundred,
lOscs, i'll that way fifty dOllnrs-this in four
years. amounts to two hundred dollars
This two hundred dollars would buy him
fifty acres OF land IN many parts Of the
State, which would DC Il good homo for
him and his family.
Again, we will speak OF those who live |
in towns and cities. A colored man re nts |
a room in Raleigh and pays five dollars q
month for it, but in Old times he could |
have rented it for three. The reason of |
this is, that the owner Of the room is tax |
ed on it so high, that ho is Obliged to have |
more rent.
Again, you ooaId formerly go to the |
store and buy coat for six dollars that
you must now pay seven or eight, or moro,
for, because tho merchant is taxed so high |
he must raise on the price Of his goods TO
meet it.
You could formerly buy pound of sugar
for ten cents that now costs fifteen, be-
cause the grocer must raise the price in
order TO meet his tax bill.
The same may be said of everything You
Duy to eat or wear, the house yOu live in
md the medicine you take when you are
sick.
And all this comes out of your sweat and
your toll, because no matter where the tax
is collected, whether from the man who
OWNS the house yOu live in or the land you
work, from the merchant, the grocer, the
lawyer, the doctor, tho shoe maker, the
carpenter, or any ona else. it has all to be
lug ont OF the ground at first; the man
who holds the pillow handle and tie hoe
handle must plow and dig it out of the
;rOunH
Therefore the burden Of the tax falls on
he i&boring man, rs Mr. Phillips, tue
Radical candidate for Attorney General,
IL bis speech Mt Tucker
Hall.
Now, the laboring men OF North Caro-
ina land this includes most of the colorad
7Oters) have been paying tax enough for
he last four years, out OF their labor, to
buy each OF them fifty acres of land, {
good farm horse, now east plow, n pair I
# traces, collar, names and wedding hoe
Where has ali this tax gone to This
3 question we cannot answer in full
When we look round us, we eco n great 5
swarm of officers of all sorts, that We nov
n had before. We see most of this swarm
# officers building fine honses, driving
inc horses, riding in fine carriages. buy
ng tine furniture, smoking high priced
igars and drinking the best liquors, and
Fe guess where some of it IS going. Some
los been stolen and the thieves arc gone;
ono has been stolen and those who have
tolen it have not run away, but are wait
ng for you to vote for them next August
o give them chance TO get more. |,
We have stated these few facts and ask
he laboring men of tho State to think of
hem. II
The colored men may, by their votes, c
ontinue the men in Office who have done =
hese things and thus help to keep the ,
urden on the State but they may be sure
one thing, when the country is prosper {
us they will prosper when tho country t
1ffers, they will suffer. They are a part ,
the country anu must share its good or
IS iIl-fortune.
Madam Olivier has abandoned the effort
D set modest fashion of full dreas, and
one into fawn- -colored satin, neck or moth {
,cSG = Id u