The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1872-08-01
Correspondence of the Nation.
Rice.Field Sketches.
THE LoW-coUNTRY NEGRO AS AN ELEcToR.
CHARLESTON, S. G., June 1.

To stranger in Southern latitude, ride
along the canseway of rice-feld in the month
of May presents an interesting sight: The
rice-feld of to-day is in most respects the rice.
field of "slayery times" In the vast tracts OF
land living along the coast the current OF life
is almost as stagnant as the water OF their
swamps, and, to outward appearance, the past
seven wears have made few changes. The
month of May is the most favorable season for
observation, for at that time single sweep OF
the eve over one of those fields OF hundreds OF
acres will show nearly the whole process OF
rice growing. From the causeway OF one OF
the largest fields On Mr. BIS place was IA "a
yored with Just such view. On one side OF
the causeway hundred negro men were at
work, using their heavy, clumsy hoes In cutting
down volunteer" rice, one of the pests OF the
planter; while upon the other side another
hundred-all women-were performing the
same work, using the same implements, and
receiving the same pay as their male comrades.
The Woman's Rights party should take cour-
see: MIR. B. informed me that the work OF the
women was fully up to that of the men, and
was apt to be more thoroughly done. Both
sets or agangs" of workers were doing task
work, and were paid at the rate OF tltty cents
q task. In former times, days WORK 1or
slave was laid out in tasks, or half acres, and
this custom Mr.. B. still keeps up, hndlng 1t to
be the most satisfactory wherever the nature OF
the work will admit of it. BY rising betimess,
the negroes finish their tasks by one O'Clock
o. M, after which no pay car keep them IN
the field, and the afternoon is spent in working
their OWE parcels of land, in fishing or IN sleep,
ing. The fifty cents, however, is but small
part of the pay, all the elements which 60 to
constitute negro happiness-house and IRE,
bacon and rice-are furnished him in addition.
Mr.. B. has over two thousand negroes scattered
over fifty thousand acres of land, and each
family has an almost unlimited choice OF a
spot upon which to settle To clear space
and build a log-hut chinked with mud takes but
a short time, and nothing better Is desired.
Each. one can cultivate all the rice ne wishes
upon the Land set apart for the purpose, and
there are hundreds of acres OF woodland
through which his hogs may roam and from
which he cuts his fuel. Their bacon and rice,
however, are generally carried to Mr.. B. to be
purchased. This he never fails to do, even If
he pays above the market price. To him Ia
Dor is necessity, and he says he finds that so
long as the negro has enough to eat, nothing
can induce his further exertion until necessity
compels it. But rice, bacon and money gone,
hunger and labor follow as natural sequence,
and even then, one who works the six days of
the week is the rare exception. The foremen
of the gangs are paid by the day, at a higher
rate, the wages varying according to ability,
and rank. Each field hand is paid for his days
labor in coming from his work, and either i'm
mediately or by Saturday night the money Wall
be spent at some one of the stores erected by
Mr.. B. ON different portions of his estates. The
negroes can buy at them to better advantage
than elsewhere, and thus there is mutual
benefit. .,
The negro foremen are chosen either from
long experience or superior sagacity, and in
the rice-field referred to, the head-toreman OF
each gang, assisted by several sub-toremen,
was moving about correcting and assisting the
the rest at their work. On the causeway sat
the white overseer on horseback overlooking
the whole. A little beyond where these hands
were at work, separated only by an embank,
ment mule-teams were breaking the ground
for planting. Still further along were rice,
fields covered with the first or "sprout" flow OF
water, and others again with the second or
ssstreteh" flow. From others the latter had
been drawn of, and the rice, weak and faccld,
Law fat on the ground, receiving new life from
the burning rays of the midday sun. Far
away in the distance miniature figures moved
along an embankment, and q nearer approach
showed another gang of hands engaged in the
repair of o leaking gate. Earth was to be re-
moved, and to accomplish this an endless chain
of half-hands Of both sexes were slowly moving
to and fro, each bearing on his or her head
basket made of peculiar wiry grass filled with
the dripping sod. The sun was In one OF nus
warmest moods, causing the disturbed SOIL to
give forth a deadly miasma distinctly perceptl-
Bile to the senses There were at least cou-
pie of a dozen of these halfgrown hands en-
gagged in this somewhat shiftless manner on
work which half-dozeD Irishmen with shovel
"a L,,ro1, would hove done hpttPr in
less time. Mr.. B. said it was impossible to in
duce them to use wheel-barrows, and that, so
long as such labor was to be had in abundance
at half price, it was his best policy to keep
them employed.
It should be understood that the Glow coun-
try" negroes are in many respects entirely dis
tinct from those of any other portion OF the
South. AS class, they are undoubtedly the
purest specimens of the native, unadulteratcd
African on Southern soil. Among the hun
dreds coming under my observation, 1 saw but
one mulatto even the copper or tawny complex
ion of the up-country is lacking coalblack Is
the universal color. In speech they make use
of numberless contractions in addition to the
usual negro dialect, and the rawest Yorkshire
man is not more distinguishable than the low
country negro. wherever met with. The VOW
els. too. are given peculiar significance, and
to q stranger these causes combine to create a
great difficulty, if not utter impossibility, In
understanding the simplest remarks. In ap-
pearance these negroes are simply british
word is not too strong The projection of lip
and flatness of nose struck me as remarkable,
even @ for the negro, and | called attention to
this fact while riding with Mr.. B. Stopping a
passing negro, he called him up close to the
carriage, and taking knife from his pocket,
applied one end of the handle to the tip of his
nose, endeavoring at the same time with the
other end to touch his chin. But the projec-
tion of the lips was too great, and the lower
end of the knife handle stood out an inch or
more from the chin. If the operation had been
of daily occurrence the man could not have
stood it more stolidly, and when told to move
on, did so without word or smile. Now