New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-04-05
SKETCHES OF SOUTHERN LIFE
TIE NEGRO,S PARADISE.


THEIR oUARRELs ARE SETTLED a CURIOUS
COUNTY SEAT.
IFRoM A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUNE
PAP1sH OF ST. JoHN TuE BAPTIST, La, Jan. %.
Tins is the paradise of the negro. lie outnumocrS
the whites 10y more than two to one. controls the
parish government, sends q cOal-black man ana
brother to the Legislature, and basks IN the rays OF
prosperity and content. Work is abundant on the
sugar plantations and wages are good. The nNer
brings frcwood to his door, and he has on'Y 10
throw in line 10 get fish for his breakfast ana the
swamps abound in game. The fertile earth pro-
duces fruit and vegetables in bounteOus quantity
and variety with the smallest amount or coaXihs'
There are but two months of Winter, and they re-
semble the best days IN a Northern November
Snow srarey seen and water freezes only three or
fournights in the year. Spring begins about the goth
Of January and by the 1st of February potatoes
and corn are planted and gardens made Inc
Summer is long and hot but the negro thriyes best
and works best with the thermometer ranging from
500 TO 1902 He gets from countless generations OF
ancestors who iourished on the ARID plains and ID
the tangled jungles of Africa thick skull that pro-
tects his brain against sun stroke, ana tough
black skin that does not blister under the hercest
RAYS. In the hottest days of July he works from
dawn in the morning till AZ night in the broiIinp,
shadcless expanse Of the cane-fells. returning TO
10 rest the mules than himself lie does not work
hard and steadily like white laborer, but he
swings his hoe or guides his plough with a con-
seriousness that he is working by the month, and that
his paw and rations will be just the same whether
he does his best OF only lounges through the day.
He has no oversccrS whip 10 fear now, and he does
not mind the profanc reproofs and threats of dis
,harce which have taken the place of that stimu-
iating instrument.
No hulldozcr| raids have ever frightened the
negroes Of s.. John the Baptist. II is one of the
parishes where the shotgun has never entered INTO
politics and where the coiored m Jointly has held
undisturbcd aud undisputed sway ever since recon-
structIon. OF course, it is a sugar region. with
scarcely an exception. the peaccable parishes of
Louisiana, where the laws respected and the
rights of the blacks conceded, are tho sugar
growing parishes. Whether the culture OF the
sweet-iuiced cane has a modifying influence on the
character Of the whites, or tn" French Creole
element. which prcdominates in these parishes and
miugles on friendly terms with the negroes IS to be
credited with this praiseworhy order of things or
the cause is to be sought in the heavy prepOnder'
ance of the coored and the absence OF a
vicious ignorant low white class will not pretend
70 saw; but 1t is a noteworthy fact that the black
man enjoys the free exercise of the franchise and
other political rights in the regions of Lousi-
a.
few limited and isolated localities
do not learn that negro rule has been injurious
10 any great extent TO the interests of this parish.
Taxes are low there is no parish debt and the pub
lie Offices are conceded by the Democrats TO be
filed by honest and competent men. This is not
because the negroes are more intelligent or more
honest than elsewhere but because the carpet-bag-
gers who came here to manage them were of an ex-
ceptionally good type. One of them has held the
Office Of Clerk of the Court for ten years, and Is
spoken Of on all hands an excellent official,
whose great influence with the negroes is exerted
in the right direction. This gentleman was a sol
der in q Wisconsin regiment, who was mustered out
in Nev-Orleans when the war ended and settled
here with the intention of staying. He now owns
pretty cottage-house and a strip of land fronting
All acres width on the river and running back three
miles into the swamp. He is the banker and gen
eral agent for hundreds Of coiored men, purchasing
supplies for them IN the city, aiding them TO buy
land, and helping them out Of their difficulties
with advice and assistance. He signs their bail
bonds when they are arrested for trivial offences,
and thus saves the parish the expense Of maintain
ing them in Jail. The negroes apt to quarrel
about triles and are constantly making affidayts
against each other and procuring arrests In tins
little parish of 1000 inhabitants there are about
300 arrests year for assault and battery trespass
",
If all the black people held for trial by the black
magistrates put in jail to await the holding Of
court, a huge prison barrack would have to be pro-
yided The clerk signs their bail bonds, however,
and by the time court cOnvenes ninetenths of them
have settled their quarres with the compl ainants
go that the cases never come to trial. When tired
the Judge, now a Democrat, generally metes out
the lghtest possible sentence Of punishment TO
such offenders often sentencing them TO only three
or five hours IN Jail When a negro commits a
serious crime he Is seldom pursued beyond the
limits of the parish the authorities being content
TO be nd Of HIM without the expense OF boarding
him for months III jail, paying witnesses and
sending him To the Denltenu2ry.
SO great Is the propensity of the negroes to take
the law on each other for tufmg matters that
planters aud court officers resort to various methods
Of dsCOuTaging it, because u dl>OlganZes the LABOR
Of the plantations and entails heavy expense upon
the county treasury parish judge told me, the
other dav, that when negro came u him with
complaint against another negro, 1t was his hablt
TO tell the man he was busy and that he must come
some two three days later. Iu nine cases out OF
ten the man never comes back. II Is an excellent
TRAIT Of the ucgIOs character that he is not re-
ycngeful Easy 10 anger, he forgets his grievances
in q day or two and makes up his quarrels with
absurd readiness. Two darkes who swear the
dir,st vengeance on each other day. will be the
best of friends the next One OF the planters III
this parish governs his plantation m peculiar
manner. When he employs man he informs nm
that if he makes affidavit against any one on the
place without ms consent, he Will he discharged
forthwith. The planter makes himseIt the Judge OF
whether his hands have suite ent cause for gong 10
law He eufOIces obedience 20 hlS rules and orders
with a stout stick, and occasionally gives an unruy
negro sound drubbng. If the man brings an
action, he confeSscs judgment and pays the hne,
saving he can better afford to pay forty OF NIFTY
dollars year IN the shape OF fines and have good
order on his place. than 10 let a few bad negroes
deinoralizc all the rest. Those who understand
negro character will not think il strange that tins
gentleman is of the most popular planters on
the coast" and has always more labor offered him
than he has need Of
Here. as nm most localities where the negroes are
In an immense majority and have the full ENJOY
Incut of their political rights they often quarrel
ahnnl canddatcs. and divide INTO two FACTIONS.