Year: 1879

The negroes are in rags, shoeless, desti-
tude, and worse than all, not desirous o1
working. By their neglected education
during slavery, always directed what to
do by their owners and not thinking for
themselves, it could not be expected that
freedom would bring in it's train intelli-
gence and administrative ability. AS a
consequence their ignorance has destroy
ed the fruit of their labors for years past,
and they have been the prey too often OF
INSCRIPTIONS men, who have amassed
fortunes at the expense of the negroes
who traded with them. The rise has been
SO great in crediting the negro that from
100 to 300 per cent has been asked and
paid for advances of supplies. AS a
consequence the negroes, seeing that
they worked hard throughout the
year and had nothing at the
end, have become demoralized and
suspicious of everybody and everything
don't wish to work, and would prefer to
sit in the sun or fish all day rather than
attempt to work. It is my firm opinion
that under present circumstances, if any
locality was surrendered to them for ex-
elusive residence, without interference
from the whites, it would not require five
years time to bring the special commu-
nifty into assimilation with the African
tribes. For ten days I have been offer
ing steady work at remuneratiye prices
for dozen laborers, and I have not yet
secured them. 1 have wanted fences
built and houses erected, and 1 cannot
ready or capable or prepared to do the
work. And 1 have to hunt up a
white man to take up the con-
tract at 100 per cent. higher
than actual cost or superintend
the matter myself. The women wish
to ape the habits of the rich
whites. The poor white women have to
work as hard as the men. But the major
ity of the negro women seem determined
to do no work in the field as they former
ly did. If a man can get a cabin and an
acre or two of ground he can live by rails
ing enough, vegetables, poultry and lot
about ten or twelve acres require cultiva-
ton for such laborer. The country would
grow up into weeds and the inhabitants
would relapse into barbarism. The thrifty
white race has not come forward to re-
place the other labor. The whites now
here, as a general rule. are the sons OF the
former landowners. Reared in luxury
and without experience in work nor
accustomed to labor, the result of ten
years has brought them to nearly the
same condition of 1mpoverishment as
the black race. Prices ON cotton
have been steadily dropping each year,
but the insatiate interest and commissions
have not abated. Aud SO the merchants
have accumulated the load of debt to the
point of probably half the value of the
land, and thus the mortgage is foreclosed
and the former owner is homeless and
destitude. In stretch of nearly eight
miles of splendid cotton land in front OF
my window, this is the record of nearly
every plantation, formerly producing
thousands of dollars of revenue, and now
owned by the commission merchant
Thus new phase has been inaugurated
The merchants must do something to
make the land available, and system Of
absentee landlordism like that of ireland
comes in. Agents must run the lands
and employ the labor, and each successive
year will witness the same scene of bare
subsistence by the laborer with not a
nickle to store away for old age or sick