The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1884-06-13
PLANTATION
The Life of field Hands-Thear por, -,
Relations.
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Times.
Plantation negroes are, to thosa Win
see them for the first time, most misar.
able specimens Of men and brothers \
if they are to be judged by their exter.
nal appearance. They are usually yerv
black in color, with pronounced negro
features, and ignorant. In some cases
they are but'a few degrees above the AMI.
mails. They live only in the present.
know nor care nothing for the future.
and seem to regard freedom as only the
means of deciding for them whether
they will work or remain idle, and as
may be supposed, if bacon and corn
bread could be obtained without the Ia.
Dor, it is safe to say they would remain
idle. / was told, however, despite their
detected, work-a-day look, they are 4
very happy and contented people, and
they are treated with much considers
tion and kindness on two plantations I
visited, being allowed to build
huts and cut all their frewood
on the lands, and in illness are cared
for either by the overseer or owner,
who employees a physician in urgent
cases. These plantations have also
stores upon the grounds wherein the
hands can buy at market rates all the
necessaries of their lives, food, clothing
and shoes-in fact, anything that can
be had at the usual or general country
store" And this has been done in
order to keep the plantation bands" az
home, for if during the plantation sea-
son the hands can get OF to town after
a pay day, there is no chance of their
return until all their money is spent
and either work or starvation stares
them in the face. And, as most plan
tation hands are born and raised in the
work, they know no other. Occasionally
q more ambitious or intelligent one viii
aspire to learn to be a barber and
leave his native heath but it is said
that they do not as a rule take to edu-
cation and prefer to remain ignorant
and work by day, and if they can dance
and frolic by night they are content
though the law compels marriage. It
is often hoaored in the breach only,
but they have the enthusiastic religious
"revivals" and their colored preachers
arc ever on the plantations and hold
services In their church at "Orton" fol-
the religiously inclined. Some of the
women seem disp osed to think that the
lives of "house servants" are more envi-
able than their own, working as they do
in the hot fields, but it is not an ener-
getic longing and involves too much
thought to be put into active execution.
One rather bright looking young wom-
an. to whom / spoke, asked me if !
thought I couldget her a place as cook
at the north. / asked her what wages
she earned as field hand, and she said
Mostly$ 3 per week but they say ! could
get $12 for q month as a cookl" Her
mental arithmetic was little of, but she
was in earnest. / told her / dill not
think she would like the Northern
States, it was so much colder, and she
laughed and said: That's what they all
say, miss; mebbe T. would not" Free
dom means { this class of people only
the ability to earn money and provide
for themselves, instead of having every
thing provided for them, and il will be
be q long, long time before they,
are elevated or educated sufficiently
to understand how much has been done
for them.