The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1878-08-22

! -, .A'o oueJ pus litoy afo u Buou w
their hirera, and consequently matters
don't work smoothly. All such "ser-
wants" arc addressed by everybody as
"Mr." and "Miss." It sounds funny to
hear the master of the house say "Miss
-, glass of water, please" When I
Waited the President / heard him ask !:
"Mr. ROss, will you bring in the wine p"
Ihis is, OF C0urse, q great hindrauce to
the cultivation of land on any extensive
scale, especially when there are no
horses. 1t cramps fearfully the augar
production, where much and cheap labor
is indispensable at certain times. SO,
disguise it as they will, the Liberians
have to }i
! DEPEND ON SLAVE LABOR
ct last, for it comes to that They hire
from native king q certain number of
his superstition-bound slaves for 30 much
rum, so many brass kettles, iron bars and
guns, and so much calico paid to him.
The "hands" work we'll, and are faithful
and obedient uutil the king, through
caprice or having been paid, and want.
ing them to cut rice, eends orders to them
to come, back. Then they leave In
body, just, maybe, as the planter needs
them most, and the Liberian government
is too weak to enforce the performance
of contracts made with its citizenB. One
secret of my friend Sharp's success I was
told 10 that he makes au excellent quail.
" OF rum, with which he pays king for
"help,'' and 10 ahrewd enough to keep on
good terms with the potentate by sending
him an extra cask now and then. In
this way he and few others manage to
secure labor when they want Il for their
i 5O, 100 and 100 acre farms. One Of a
4 thousand acres, though, 1t would be DIFF
fcult to work here. There are some
comparatively free natives who hire
cheaply, but they are unreliable and apt
TO "knock off" and go at any time. You
can pick up few always, enough to
man your csnov or do odd jobs, and if
| YOU treat them kindly, they will hire out
to you again, aud do any kind Of work.
They cannot be depended upon in any
considerable number, however. These
natives are abjectly afraid of the white
man, having acquired the idea (probably
from the Liberians) that he is not only
an habitual cheat, but an habitual cut
throat. 1t requires several months of
acquaintance to get them fairly recon
ciled to the Caucasian. Then unless he
be a bastard to the time who doth not
smack Of observation, they like him
above all and will give him the prefer
ence in hiring, These natives will take
snything, and the Liberians (who "hed
here from the slave holders lash") dc
not scruple to administer unto them q
thrashink when provoked thereto. The
native frequently discerus the anger in
his employers face and the stick in his
hand, and precipitately takes to flight
leaving, If necessary, like Joseph, hil
garment In the hands of the pursuer
AL! the. revenge he ever takes is to quiI
and go home. 1t must be
AN IESPIRITING SPECTACLE
4 to see what was described to me in an in.
cidental way by the chief actor himself
ia fEsa Black Librarian man, sounds
cudgeing free black native man Yit i :
stick, while two more free black native
men were flying over the neighborinp
hedges to avoid similar castigation, tht
three free black natives. having, beer
caught in the act Of dragging bag o.
| rice through the mud. SUCH thing,
make me weep when I think that Wen.
dali PhillipS was not there. The native
is rarely sassy" and the most he does
is to complain in sort Of whine, in hi
broken English. 1t is universal Gus
tom for them to address all who they
consider as superiors as "daddy" and
| NANNY" (This information was q
great comfort to me, as had be, \ much
scandalized by being addre~ ed as
daddy" by Eat Kroo boy, within an n
hour after my landing ''s i.
THE DIFFICULTY REGARDING. HOUSE
SERVANTS
is in great degree obviated by a prac.
tlce now fortunately becoming common
That is the binding out of native chill.
dren BY their parents to serve in Libe.
rian families .until tWenty.one years oi
age. There were from two to six of these
youngsters around nearly every house ]
visited, and very bright, "handy" and
honest they seem. In. return for theil
services, they nre clothed, fed, learned
reading. writing, Christianity and he,
handmade Civilization. Quite an at
tachment In some instances seems to ex.
iss between master and servant. Thil
shows q long step forward on the part o.
the natiyes-an appreciation of their In.
or o Efan who. can be made to see, theil
or his own imperfecEuils, is not beyond
hope. Pes.seco self.satisilaction is the
greatest bar TO improvement, IS IL is ths
most unmistakable mark of a fool Had
the Liberians little Of tho humblenes.
and consciousness of inferiorisy of the
natives, / might have more hopes OF
them. So far, the civilized natives have
made little progress. When they return
to their tribes they have to doff Euro.
pean clothes; as, If they didn't, the medi.
cine man would probably attribute The
first misfortune that befell to his viola
, tion of the customs OF his ancestors
which are moro honored in the breech
) cloth than in the observance of panta
looms and paper collars, and Settling
dose of pOieon would remove the pro
gressionise. Their knowledge of tht
reading and writing of the English Ian
gnage, too. is nov generally employed il
aiding s..o a.I5 in 60l:o. Ta!i=...y. Ti.s CCi.. CCi..
, ring their residence with the whites, thes
usually pick :up,a knowledge Of cbfhmer
cial values, Whichsmakes them useful il
facilitating the trading operations o
their tribe. AS the numbers of these
! civilized ones increases, however, thei
influence is bound to be felt for good.
, Apr0pos of the natives, it may be men
! toned that the principal tribes here
} abouts are Mandingoes and .Veis, tn,
former noted for their aptness in manu-
: featuring and trading. and the latter TO
! having Invented (patent not yet applieC
: fort an alphabet of their own. Thes
natives generally live In. thatch villages
and snbsist mainly on rice and cassada
| varied by occasional game, or ffe,
lunch composed of black ants, caught bI
, sinking n Kettle in tho ground and allow
ing them to tumble in. Wheaton breat
, / lss veryrare treat, anu they Deg or irad q