Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1876-02-18

II l. ds-tIltQ llhl slavery mas pttu lIdN-
tlcally rc-established in Tennessee, through
the law which governs the disposition of
convict labor. As a specimen Of the way
the Thing works, il i related that a negro
was arrested for having in his possession
knife # - ne prohibited soft, and imprison
ed three months and fined 5000. tie was
ther,rcmitted to Butcher Forest, as les
see. to work out his tenn and fine al p
cents Gay Il j. stated that some 80
Others FOR similar fences are also in slay-
eiy under ForTe-t and are logged every
e,ening it their daily task Of picking hun
bred pounds Of cotton is incomplete Own
oIs of plantations in Tennessee are always
on the lookout in the petty courts where he
croes are uicl for tIihing offences, and man
age t. secure a large amount of labor by
bidding in the offenders after conviction.
This system i in force in Texas, Alabams,
Alkan,a- and Georgia, as well as Tennessee.
Here j. an advertisement, from the Oxford,
(Ai4l Transcript
T~,nty dollars reward Iw.ll paw the above re-
ward tor colured boy named MckinsHy, who ran
away from ny place LAST Saturday n git, the 26ih
INST. said boy suld at auction for stealing 81
'rum the Woodstock iron cenpanY's store and vas
bound 10 ne ur five months nine days and 8 half
hard Labor 10 cover damages TAYLOR DEANAs.
The Crawford (Ga) Erio, a rampant
Democratic IaIer, il an article on the labor
oupsti,r las The filloWinr
Il is a notorious fact that those farmers
who are tho tigbte>t On the negroes in their
employ never iail 10 get a. many hands as
they wish. We know several Of our largest
planters who treat the negroes working
for them exactly as they did their slaves,
working them from daylight to shutdown,
allowing no idling, and # a darkey tresTass-
G any OF the rules, be Is tied up and sound
thrashing administered to him then, if be
leaves, the employer hunts him up, brings
him back, and doubles the dose. This gen
erally make, al efectual cure, and the Of
fender resumes work, makes a good hand,
and is anxious to hire TO the same man an
other year. The employer has got value re
ceiyed out pf his hands, and IS, consequently,
allie TO pay full wages. Govern YOUR hands,
and all sides will be better satisfied. Let
them govern YOU, and the country will soon
e. 10 the dog,.
In one Of Charles Nordhoh-s letters from
Mississippi to the New York Hernld, dur
Ing his toHr at the South. last fall, the fol-
lowing statement was made-and Mr. Nord-
Lof is iar from being a faunter of the
BLOODY shirt"
About four weeks ago d n.ulatto sirl,
aged -, who had been living for some time
~ servant in the house of farmer, two
aad half miles from Verona, in Lee coun-
t., lett her service and went to Verona,
Where she became house servant, in order
to attend an evening school. She had been
at her new place about a week, when one
day the farmer, her former employer, accom- I
panied by his .ather and a neighbor. al
armed with shot guns, appeared before the
house. Two OF the men demanded the girl.
saving >he belonged 10 them. She refused to
% with them. and declared she was tree.
which was true, Of course. Thew
knocked her down, took her bv the feet.
dragged her thus through the house,
through the yard into the street, her clothing
torn and derdnged in the struggle, and she
screaming for help, and-this was in open
daylight and in the presence Of several men,
besides women and children-set her on a
horse ami carried her of. When they got
her home two Of them tied her to a tree and
h,gged Ter bare back with green withes
Until tie blood ran. Then they took her to
tie house and chained her with trace chain
...1 ,aHl., l. jod,.o.. - l.. 1
was tlrned - work, and chained up again
at night. After some DAYS she made her
escape, and found refuge with a southern
man the county superintendent of education,
who, after proper notice, sent her to the
United States District Attorney. From the
District Attorneys lips received the &C
count Of this outrage Now, cruelty
and violence may and do happen in anv
State. The part Of the story which seems
most horrible to me is this 1t is in evil
dence before the District ATTORNEY that the
Mayor Of Verona, who is its Justice of the
peace, heard the girls cries and saw the
struggle, and when asked why be did not
interfere himself, testified thar he thought it
was none of his business, az he knew il was
only negro girl. Several other men testi-
lied that they stood in their doors
and saw the girl dragged bv her feet
out INTO the road. 1t was none of their bust
ness, either. Finally related this tale to a
Democratic Judge OF the Supreme Court Of
tie State He replied that brutality was
found everywhere, North as well as South
and could not, with all my efforts, appa-
rently, make him understand that what I'LL
ed Inc with Indignation and hopeless disgust
was not 50 much the act itself, but the fact
that an officer o! the law and several citizens
could witness it unmoved-because it was
only negro girl. If it had been a white
girl, no doubt the Mayor would have inter
Tered. and the judge would have been in
dignant. II the brutes who should maltreat
a white girl so had been negroes, the
country would have risen to lynch them. and
the papers all over Mississippi would have
yelled with fury.