Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-04-12
WOMENOF THESOUTH
LIFE ON THE PLANTATION DISCUSSED
By JUNGLE REMus.'
q. m, plantation ~ 1861 and in the Home
Of rsof-Ths Bellies Of Diris Do
Not want the Ballot.
rphilaaelpAis Press.i

NAV he described in large way as the
North American mind. One Is that the
stage REPRESENTATIONS of negro Character
are true 10 life. another II that the poor
white trash of the South are utterly WORM.
less and thriftless. and the otner Is .na'
the white women of the South lived In
state of iileness during the days OF slavery
sv;noino and languishing in hammocks.
while bsyies of pickaninnles cooieu tnc
| tropical air with loDg-handled rams maue
Of peacocks' tails. oda
Preposterous "a they are, age mas MAJ AZ
these fctions respectable. especialiy na,n
North. They strut about in good COM
many. and sometimes sober historian goes
40 far as to employ them for the purpose OF
| holsterino mn his sectional theories, Or
wbat ia still worse, his prejudices. 90
NOT know that these fctions are important,
| or that they are even interesting. II mere
was an explosion every time truth was ou.-
run by his notorious competitor, tnc MAJ
who sleeps late Of q morning would wake
With snort and imagine that the universe
was the victim of fierce and prolonged
commandment.
Tho husiest women the world has ever
| seen were the wives and daughters OF the
southern planters during the days OF
slavery. They were busy from morning IN
| I'll night, and sometimesfar into the nignt.
| They were practically at the head OF tne
commissary and sanitary departments y.
! the plantation. 1t was part OF their GUY
| 10 see that the negroes were properly ied'
clothed. and shod. They did not, IT is true,
| 90 into the market and purchase tine sup
Mics. that was a matter that could be at
tended 10 even by dull-witted man put,
after the supplies were bought. IL was ,ne
woman's intelligent management tns'
caused them to be properly distriuu.eo '
| have never vet heard of southern Wo-
| man who surrendered the keys OF her
smoke-bouse and store-room to an over
| seer. -,
ever was n comparatively small item:
| Take. for example, the clothing provided
| for say 100 negroes. male and female, large
and small. The cloth was bought In boits,
| though occasionally considerable portion
was woven on the plantation on the olu.
| fashioned hand-looms. Whether oougnt
or woven the cloth had TO be cut out ana
made into garments. Who was to superin-
tend and see to all this if not woman
| Who was at the head of the domestic estao-
| lishment? There we're seamstresses 70
| make up the clothes, but all the details anu
preparations had TO be looked after by the
mistress and it oftentimes fell TO her lot 70
| 90 down on her knees on the floor and cut
| out garments for hours at time,
And then there was the health OF the
neproes-a very important item where q
twenty.year.oId field-hand was worth
| fifteen hundred dollars in gold. Who was
| to look after the sick when, as frequently
| happened, the physician was miles away
| Who. indeed, il not the mistress! IL was
natural. therefore-and not only natural,
| but absolutely necessary-that part OF
| the store-room should be an apothecary's
shop on a small scale. and that the south
ern women should know what to prescribe
| in all the simpler forms of disease.
TIE HEAD OF GREAT HOUSEHOLD.
| II is to be borne In mind that when the
| negroes came in from their work the plan
| tation became domestic establishment,
and its demands were such that IT was
| necessary for woman to be at the head OF
| it. On the energy, the industry, and the
| apt management of the mistress the sue.
cess of the plantation depended to great
| extent. It was not often these qualities
we're lacking, either, for they were abso-
| Iutely essential to the success. the comfort
and the moral discipline of the establish
ment.
| woman could afford to turn that important
| department over to O negro COOK. Such q
| thing was not to be thought Of Inc his.
| tress of the plantation was also mistress OF
| the kitchen. In order TO, teach their Ne
| eroes the art Of cooking the southern wo-
men had to know how to cook themselves,
and tbg were compelled to gain their
| knowledge from practical experience; for
| the kitchen is one Of the places where tneo-
| ries cannot be entertained. There are negro
women still living who got their training
| in the plantation kitchen under the eyes
| of their mistresses, and their COOKING Is q
spur TO the appetite and remedy for in-
| digestion. 1t is no wonder that georgia
woman when she heard the negroes were
! really free gave sigh of relief and ex-
| claimed: "Thank Heaven! shall have to
| work for them no more"
| The southern women were the outgrowth
| of the plantation system, the result or SIX
or seven generations of development. On
| that system they placed the impress OF
| their humanity and refinement, and the
| outcome of it is to be seen in the condition
| of the negro race today. In the spnere
| of their homes and in their social relations
| thew exercised q power and an influence
| that has no parallel in history. As they
| were themselves so they trained their
| DAUGHTERS to be, and the southern women
| of today still possess the characteristics
that made their mothers and their grand
mothers beautiful and gracious-the re-
| fnement that built up rare clvliization
among unpromising surroundings-th
energy and patience and gentIeness 1na'
| wrought order and discipline on the PLAN
| tations.
ARoMANTIc CIVILIZATION.
] IA the vine was. so must the fruit be.
have tried to describe the mistress OF the
nlantation for the reason that her charac-
| teristics and tendencies have been trans
| mitted TO the southern women OF this gene
ration and to the young girls who are
growing into womanhood. IL Is neyita-
Bile. however, that certain OF these charac,
| teristlcs should be modified or amplihed
according as the circumstances OF an en-
| yironment altogether new may demand. 1
| know of no more beautiful or ROMANTIC
| civilization than that which blossomed
under the plantation system, and yet IN the
| natural order of things, IL would inevitably
have run to caste distinction. IL had social
| ideals that were impracticable, and 1t had
literary ideals that were foolish; neverthe-
less, after everything has been said, caste
| distinctions under the plantation system
would have been less distastetul IMAM nose
| which are now in process OF organization
in some parts Of this country. Whatever
the DEVELOPMENT of southern civilization
MIGHT have been under the old system. II
has come under the domination of the new.
That the new has been strengthened and
sweetened thereby think will not be de-
MED by impartial observers who have no
pet theories to nurse, -.
Take. for example, the homo life of the
plantation. 1t was larger. ampler, and
more perfect than that which exists in the
republic to-day, not because 1t was more
leisurely and freer from care. but because
the aims and purposes of tho various mem.
hers of the family were more concentrated.
The hospitality that was o feature OF 1t was
more unrestrained and simpler because y
bore no relation whatever to the demands
and suggestions Of what Is now known a
society" -.
had marked influence on the southern
women Of to-day In their struggles with
adverse circumstances. They lack, for ont
thing. the assurance OF those who have
Inherited the knack of making their wa,
among strangers. The poetic young Bos
tonian who has been writing recently Of
"The Mannerless Sex" and The Ruth
less SEX could never have made the south
ern woman o text for his articles; and
trust that for generations yet TO come they
will retain the gentleness and the gracious
ness that belong to them by the right o.
inheritance.
In = u