St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-08-16
Will the Negro Work ?
HN \ COTTON PLANTER.

]
worth estimated alone by the kind %
quantity of work he could do. Ther
he had no incentive to over exert him
self. no more than the hor>,. or mule
He was not required to do ANY think
ing. That his master or oNrTNecr wa.
to do tnr him. All that WIS required o
him WAS the manual Labor. Hut Will
freedom came the necessity for Thought.
he had to shift for himself
Let us see how he WAS managed
AS lazy a> IL miggcr. '''lhat'> So"
have heard many AN old Rcb SAY. its
their nature to he lazy. and they won't
go back ON their IiItul' ~ II slave
the negro had his task Ia do. ON cotton
or rice. So much land L" hoe. each da\.
OF course II WAS not for thc interest of
the planter to oNcr-wnrk his hands and
break them down and check their in
crease. Hence the task WAS generally
small Il full hand could easily finish
his task before twelve o'clock in the
day. The rest of the time WAS his ow II.
He had his half acre of ground to him
self about his cabin. his poultry. his
hogs running Wild in the woods. and
besides the woods were full of game.
and crabs. +" ht sure all he raised ON
his own patch. WAS his to sell ur Il>.. rs
he pleased. But suppose he committed
some crime "r broke some plantation
rule. il Wa~ often the ease that his mas
trl would sell him. or punish HIM with
tlI, lash. and take hlS crop away. Be
sides. hadnt his master rNrIN thin"
growing i'll his hiy field and Il plenty of
hogs How much easier tn appropri-
ate his masters crop than To work his
own, In both c;.>t> the mi"grr made.
the crop. His master must feed him.
too. Just a> he fed his mules and horses.
No wander then he Was called IaN
a. there WIS no mdurrmcmt for HIM To
hc otherwise. Stealing Wa tu him moi
a. We understand it. but simply uppIu-
pIiatiny i"I his own tt>r Whatever he
considered necessary tnr hi~ comfort
" lth freedom he had to look urt tnI
himself. Did he stop stealing No
l,. went from the, retail into the whole
sale line. He did not cumlm,. himself to
prov i>lum. alone. hut took cN..r,thin.
Im"N ai'lc. such a. cattle. huI>,->. carts
and household furniture. and on many
of the SEA islands the entire plantations.
houses and all. | have seen nElm Il
large plantation >tdkcd OH inGu font,
acre lut>. and each lot IN p">>,>>inm OF
Il former slave of tlI, uN mt.I On some
places II Was several Years before th,.>
could Ice nri>tcd Freedom at til>t
seemed to most of them to bc exemption
from work. .Ihrl wandered from plan
tatI"m I" plantation. "rnWdcd to the
cities and hung around the Frcr,mriI'S
Bureau. especially ON ration day.
lhch soon SAN their mistake, and
settled down /" work. most of them AT
then old work. such a. they had hrrlI
used to. and compelled to do. in slave
days. Many predicted that they would
die out from Starvation caused hN laZi-
hess. But have never seen 4 east. of
death from natural star, alton among
the negroes. Nor have | seen tur the.
last three or four wears Il single. black
hrggar. unless Ii Wtrr >nmt. old. blind
~ helpless person. In fact. if th,.\ had
begged. they would not have got much.
~ the whites We're NOT in Il charitable
frame of mind. c>pcciall, tow md> their
former slaves. and hr>idr> for the most
part had nothing to give.
Though the negroes. a> Il class. MAY
be- more ShittIc>> and imprnyidrut than
farm lahoIcr> 1T the North Vet they are.
but lazy. just calculate the
amount of work they do. and Non will
not call them laIN. Most ofthr negroes
n the country. plant for Il living. only
l few hiring their time To the planters
by the month nr the year Let us take
/ tamlli. say. Il man. wife and one
small child of ten or Il dozen Years of
igc. Thr husband. a> head of the
family. hires of some planter a cabin
md tuur acrc> of cleared land. for which
IL pays rent III most cases. in Labor. the
planter prctcrrimg Labor to money, ON
recount of the scarcity of the former
md the difficulty of commanding it.
The usual contract j. inr him To work
WO days -uT two ta>k rs each week tor
en- months. He signs contract To
hat effect. Don't push him too hard
nr the first month. if You Il" he will
cave Nnu and 90 To some other planter
n hopes hat the time lost in moving
Nill hc 81 much on his contract work.
We usually let the first month pass
lWal without saving to the negroes
much about contract work. but a> they
srt their gardens in order and their
bc:lS planted. We begin To require il
V Il rule. Il negro will never leave Il
'lacc after h" has done ANY work on it
on himself. | once knew Il negro To
cave after he had put up il house and
'lrarrd piece of land for his own Use.
at once put another family in the
Iou>c. who had not occupied it but :,
rW days before the former tenant made
,.,il ,I,
hinges. broke dow % =. chimney. tone
he hog-pcl - !.,-r. and ii, fact pretty .
thoroughly drm"Ii-l.. the prrmi>r> .
IA all tins hr lid moi imiur- imr but
,nlN th, u"rullml> at Ia avn culnr. |
Iir only wished g.. how that i;
Ic l,tt tin, i"rl>'.. i, dli not leave hi>
good will.
To 90 back l." the contract. The
lcgro contracts To give Two DAYS labor
very week for ten months. When hi, ,
Wo days work are done. he must WORT
rom one to two day more tuI provision.
l"thr> or cash. Then perhaps he wants
lis land ploWcd. and he works Tor the
'lamtrI with his hoe, fnur DAYS with the
zoe counting as one daN with ploN .
Att''I he has done the four daN> work .
he planter sends the ploW INTO hi~ field .
hen he has his garden t" prepare and /
'lam. usually Il quarter "t aIi acre. F.
hen come the four acres. one half of /
which he plants in cotton and the other .
lali in corn. the cotton rcquIring from .
he time it L. planted TIL 1t l. prepared .
or market. at least fifteen times IL
much work a. the corn crop at the North.
'rom this Nou can imagine how much .
Il L.. L