The colored American., 1901-09-28

other TRADE OF GInpAOy lACh's /
that of husbandry or that OF a servant
under contract for labor, untll ne s1ali
have obtained a license from the judge
of the District Court, when license
shall be good for only one year" Ii
thn license was granted to the Negro |
To he a shOpkeeper or peddler, he was |
compelled to pay 500 a year for it, |
and if he wished TO pursue the rudest |
mechanical calling he was compelled
10 paw SO q year. No such fees were
exacted Of white men.
LOUISIANA.
At the very moment when the Thir-
ty-ninth Congress was assembling TO
consider the condition of the Southern
States and the whole subject OF their
reconstruction. it was found that bill
was pending in the Legislature OF
Louisiana providing that every adult
freedman or woman shall furnish
themselves with a comfortable home
and visible means of support within
20 days after the passage of this act,
and that ANY freedman or woman fall
| inc 10 obtain a home and support as
| thus provided shall be Immediately ar
| rested by any sheriff or constable III
any parish, or by the police officer III
| any city or town in said parish, where
| said freedman may be, and by them
| delivered to the Recorder of the parish,
and by him hired out. by public adYer-
| tiSPment. to some citizen, being the
highest bidder, for the remainder OF
the wear" And in case the labOrer
| should leave his employers service
| without his consent ''he shall be ar
| rested and assigned to labor on some
| public works without compensation un-
ii his employer reclaimS him
| The citations just given are samples
If what was done on that line in eacl
one of the late slave States, during
that very short period Of time. AnC
vet, with these glaring examples OF in
Justice, unfairneSS, and oppression, th'
constitutions upon which those State
were reconstructed and readmitted t
, | the Union, and which the cOlOred maj
, | helped to make, were the best ant
most progressive they have ever had
[ | They imposed no bilities upon tn
I | ex-master; they breathed no spirit o
? | lex taliOnis founded on the bitter eN
L | perienceS through which they ha
! come. The heart Of love and the min
= 5rimful of good common sense, whic
= had made them loyal and true TO tn
J sacred trust put in their hands durin
1 four sanguinary years Of internecIn
e >trife. while the master fought to pc,
/ Detuate their fetters. abided with theI
{ n this new and untried work in whic
/ ,WiftIy-moving events had made thel
; | actors.
e They might have been unlettere
7; md in a measure crude; they migl
e nave been without experience al
{ without skill; but they were not u
y lust and revengeful; they sought
It ut around no man such shackleS
would forever Obstruct his course al
ls degrade his manhood. They helped
Il make constitutions dedicated TO liber
D. ! md for the protection of a free peOpl
8 heir handiwOrk was for progress al
|! ,nlightenment. prosperity and col
O. fort. under which all men could Ii
II nd enjoy life. Now, let's see hO
ne hese States have grown under tho
u ,haTts;
n These tables in 1860 represented t
OF work of hundreds Of years; indet
ne aver since the discovery Of Ameri'
eI md they included the vast value
or he slave property, as well.
The marvellous increase shown
the Census of $780, a space Of only
ms years, marks the difference betwe
OF light and gloom, freedom and slave
cit Justice and injustice. But here are t
er' figures:
u! POPULATION.
en- - ooo
,ro State. 1860. 1890
70 MARYLAND ....... 6S7,O49 1,O42,;
ibo Virginia ...... 1,596,318 1855!