The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1870-12-09
LouIgIANA coRRasPoNpnNcr
New IBER1A, La, Nov. a, 1870.
EDITOR JOURNAL:

EDIToR JOURNAL:
Since writing my last, all has bee
peace and quiet and the excitmen
over; there is general disposition
to acquiesce in the results of tn
election, for above all things the pee
pie of this State seem to desire a re
turn of the supremacy of law ant
order.
All over the country the smok,
and steam arising from the suga.
houses indicate the Inauguration o
the sugar making season. This il
the busy time with planters. Ther,
is much to do and only a limited
time to do it. Already the un
usually early frosts and freezes, hav,
injured the cane. At any time af
ter the first Of December it is liabl.
TO be totally destroyed, by a hare
freeze, that is, a freeze which viii
make ice as thick as a pane of win
dow glass. Frozen cane will not make
sugar, and only an Indifferent quality
Of syrup.
This busy time requires the Ia
Dor Of every hand in the county both
white and black, and the planters
themselves labor in their sugar hous.
es from early morn until late al
frequently duringthe whole
night. While they are grinding
and boiling, the fires are kept up
continuously by two sets Of hands,
who alternate, one set working while
the other sleeps. There will be s
large yield Of sugar this year, the
cane crop being good and the number
of acres planted being largely in ex
cess of any previous year since the
war. The frosts have killed the
leaves Of the cotton plant, and wher,
the cotton has not been recently
picked, the fields look almost al
white as snow, presenting a very
beautiful appearance. There is /
great deal Of cotton which will moi
be gathered at all, for want Of labor
ers, every available hand being il
the sugar mills and cane fields. Ne
groes who have cultured fields ofcot,
ton for a share of one half, cannot
be restrained from leaving their crop
IN the field, where they could make
or save, So 90 a day, and engaging
in sugar making at $3.50 a day
working fifteen hours out of the
twenty four. Ihave seen white wo.
men, a widow and her daughter
who before the war, would have
scorned to have carried q pitcher oi
water to their rooms, in their de.
serted fields, picking the cotton
which had been cultivated by ne
groes, who had abandoned the fruits
OF their entire summers work; leav.
ing the land owners to loose, not
only the use Of their lands, but also
the use, wear and tear, and feed.
| ing Of their teams, and also ration.
of meal and pork and other adyanc
es, made during the season to the
negroes. These women were com
PEELED to perform this labor, or be
reduced to want. Very many plan.
ters who are not able to hire an over
seer, and who cannot employ many
hands, work in the field, the cotton
gin and the sugar house, along with
the negroes. They are compelled
to accept the situation, whether vii
ing or not. With the women it is
no better. Many Of them, who have
lived in afluence all their days, and
who are now sbundantly able to have
servants, do their own work, for thS
reason that they cannot procure
servants.
During the heat Of July and
August, the negro women refuse to
work for any price. In the winter
when fire is comfortable, servants
are plenty, but even then at high
price, $40 to $12 a month, with
board and lodging, and pickings
from the table sufficient to feed their
families. The greater part of these
white women, and true to woman's
nature, heroic, patient and uncom-
planning. A person who knew moth
ing to the contrary, would be sure
that they had been accustomed to
labor, and Injured to the toll and
cares housekeeping. Ihave dined
at houses when there were no SER
wants, and at others where there was
but one, and have been well enter
tanned, the dinner being well pre-
pared and handsomely served. These
southern women, in some cases not
only do their own housekeeping, but
also their washing and ironing, q
part of the time.
This condition of things brings
them into clearer sympathy with the
women who come here from the
north, and with their social habits
and ideas of labor; and they form
social relations much more readily
than they would have done in the
olden time, when all labor was con
sidered disgraceful to any one but a
slave. Although they still affect to
hate the Yankee" they are rapidly
adopting yankee habits, in the man
agement of their affairs, and both the
men and women look to the recon
struction Of society, and to the es-
tablishment of civil, political and do
mestic institutions and relations
upon q northern basis, as the only
means of bringing a return Of pros
perity to the the people and to the
state. 1t is wonderful to see with
what respect they now look upon Ia
Dor, for here labor controls capital,
and holds the destiny of the people
completely in its power. Northern
men who oversee their own planta-
tions, and labor in the fields with
their hands, are treated with respect
and consideration by the whites.
The colored man looks upon him as
his equal, and has nothing like the
respect for him than he has for the
lazy Cajan, who lies in bed until 0
O'Clock in the morning, and hunts
and fishes while his business and his
fields are neglected. Some Of the
wealthier men, who we're not ruined
BIZ the war, still keep up an attempt
at the olden style. Their yards and
are filed with servants, they
70 he very arrisfocratic- and