One in every six of Germans agree to speak English. Cost of transportation, $15 per head, to accompany orders, but to be deducted from wages.
An order will be forwarded to New York on Saturday, the 11th instant.”
A “Planters’ Convention” was to be held in a couple of weeks, to agree upon a policy for making the negroes work. But they had no faith in it, unless they could have power to seize upon every idle negro they found, put a hoe in his hand, and vigorously apply the lash. The local papers were calling out lustily to “checkmate the Freedmen’s League.” This association, it seemed, had “taken upon itself to fix the wages of freedmen at ten dollars per month,” a rate higher than had been heretofore ruling. “Teach the darkies,” urged one of the papers, “that this leaguing is a game that two can play at. If they assume to dictate, we will oust them; and supply their places with better laborers, whom we can import from the North;” and it greatly encouraged itself herein, by its interpretation of a recent speech by the President: “President Johnson, in his speech to the negroes, plainly intimated that the Lincolnian idea of everything for the negro, and everything by the negro, had no receptacle in his brain.”
A pioneer company of planters, disgusted with “free niggers,” the United States Government, the defeat, and everything connected with the country, were about to sail for Brazil, taking with them farming utensils and provisions for six months. “The present destination of the colony,” it was laconically explained by the managers, “is the city of Para, on the Amazon; its ultimate location on a tributary of that river, between five and ten degrees south latitude. Length of voyage two thousand miles; sailing time about three weeks.”
Others were proposing to send agents North from every county, to secure white emigrants. Public sentiment was against the sale of lands to the Yankees; “Get white laborers,” they urged, “and in a year you’ll make enough to be able to hold on to your lands.”
Montgomery was the first capital of the Confederacy. It has none of the characteristics of a capital, no collections of able men, mainly occupied, officially or unofficially, in public affairs; no tone of government and of the world; it is simply a beautiful and well preserved little inland Southern city; well built; sandy, of course, like all Southern towns; regularly laid out, and, for a wonder, well drained. The Southern taste for huge columns and tawdry architectural display, is conspicuous; but many of the private residences are elegant. The residence of the President of the Confederacy, (at the time when Montgomery was the capital,) is a large, substantially built and commodious house; less pretentious in style than the most; and in every way more desirable than the one subsequently presented to the Confederate Government, with such a flourish of trumpets, by the city of Richmond, for Mr. Davis’ occupancy.
Business seemed quite brisk; and very heavy stocks of goods—far too heavy, one would think, for the impoverished country—had been sent down on credit by New York merchants.
Cotton filled the warehouses, and drays loaded with it, crowded the streets, and the river bank, where it was shipped for Mobile. Some of it was Government cotton; more had belonged to the Rebel Government, and had been stolen by private individuals. Such were the results of the policy of meddling with this cotton at all by Government agents. Infinite scandal and no profits accrued. Thieves of Rebel cotton had been paying seventy-five dollars a bale to have the cotton carried by steamer to Mobile! There the gauntlet was to be run again; but if successfully passed, the net profits on each bale were still over a hundred dollars.
The newspapers found it difficult to realize that free speech and a free press were at last established. The Montgomery Mail thought these correspondents from the North ought to be kept in their own section—they did nothing but misrepresent and slander. Similar suggestions occurred every day. The temper which used to display itself in lynching gentlemen whose writings were not satisfactory, now found this safer outlet.