Sue for Wages Earned Back in Slavery Days.
After more than a half century has passed since the freeing of the slaves, a suit was filed a few days ago in the supreme court of the District of Columbia to gain compensation for work performed by them during the years 1859 to 1868.
The suit was filed by H. N. Johnson, of Louisiana; Rebecca Bowers, of Texas; C. B. Williams, of Mississippi, and Mamie Thompson, of Tennessee, against William M. McAdoo in his official capacity as secretary of the treasury.
The plaintiffs claim to be descendants of slaves who worked in cotton fields of the Southern States, and they hold that they are entitled to money their ancestors earned and which is now in the treasury, listed under the title of “internal revenue tax on raw cotton.”
This money, the complaint says, amounts to $68,072,[Pg 59]388.99, acquired from the seizure of cotton gathered by plaintiffs’ ancestors. The plaintiffs contend it should be paid to the descendants of those by whose labor the cotton-yielding revenue was produced.
The bill asks that the court appoint an examiner to collect evidence; that Secretary McAdoo be ordered to disclose the amount and source of money now in the treasury under the listing of “Internal revenue tax on raw cotton,” and that he be ordered to state any reasons he may believe the plaintiffs are not entitled to the money.
The petition was filed by a Washington attorney representing Cornelius J. Jones, of Muskogee, Okla. Jones, who is said to have prepared the bill of complaint, is a negro lawyer.