This was the first sugar plantation in the United States cultivated by free labor by its old owner; and the free-labor experiment—if, as the planters insist, it is to be regarded as an experiment—has been tried on it for a longer consecutive period than on any other. Its results may, therefore, be profitably studied, as a fair index to the probable value of the system.
No man would be more apt to be a severer judge of the experiment than the one who had lost the slaves whom he now hired. I accordingly asked Mr. May to give me in writing a statement of the workings of his plantation, and of his opinions as to the possibility of cultivating sugar by free labor. This was duly forwarded, and I make some extracts from it here:
“The transcripts from my plantation books, which I send you herewith, do not, in my judgment, give a fair idea of the workings of the free-labor system. I had to contend not only with the complete disorganization of the State, socially as well as politically, but I was subjected, at various periods, to guerrilla raids. These interrupted labor on the estate for days and weeks at a time, and carried off quantities of provisions, live stock, plows, etc., all of which had to be immediately replaced at great cost. The expenses were thus largely increased, while the delays and neglect proportionately diminished the value of the crop. Then, too, it is a sugar plantation, and is not at all adapted to the culture of cotton, being too near the mouth of the river, and being likewise much more liable than ordinary cotton plantations to the ravages of the army-worm. But, during the war the stock of seed-cane ran out, and I had to put the greater part of the land in cotton. In spite of these difficulties and interruptions, and enormous outlay, the estate has never failed to return a handsome revenue. I feel certain that within the next three years I shall reduce the expenses of the free-labor system fully one-third, and, at the same time, increase the returns in an equally large proportion.
“I pay my laborers what I think, even at the North, you would call good wages for that sort of farm work. They get an average, men and women, boys and girls, of twelve dollars a month each, besides their lodging, food, and medical attendance. One-half of these wages I pay them quarterly, the remainder at the end of the year. Each laborer is paid according to his merits. Some of my hands receive as much as twenty-five dollars a month; others as little as six dollars. This causes great emulation, and consequently more work is performed; all of which results in favor of both employer and employee. I think it wise policy for the planter to give high wages, as he thus secures a better class of laborers, who work not only industriously but cheerfully.
“I am satisfied, in my own mind, that one able-bodied American negro of ordinary intelligence is worth at least two white emigrants. He understands the business, and he has the advantage of being acclimated. I am willing, therefore, to pay the negroes one-third higher wages than any white laborers accessible to us. You may think this extravagant; but during the unsettled state of affairs for the last two years, I have had to try both, and I base my opinion not on my prejudices, but on my experience.”
The statements in the last paragraph are widely at variance with the ideas current among the late slaveholders. Scarcely any believe that the negro can be depended on for labor except in a state of slavery; and the most, therefore, throughout the whole season following the surrender, looked upon the sugar and cotton culture as ruined, unless white laborers could be brought in.
The following are the exhibits of the operation of Mr. May’s plantation for the years 1863 and 1864, as taken from his books. One thousand acres only of the plantation were cultivated. One hundred and twenty hands were engaged to do it, at an average of $144 per year, with lodgings and food:
| 1863. | |
| Plantation supply account | $20,315 00 |
| Amount paid to field hands | 18,472 25 |
| Amount paid to physician | 300 00 |
| Amount paid to engineer | 625 00 |
| Amount paid to sugar-maker | 600 00 |
| Amount paid to carpenter | 1,160 00 |
| Amount paid to manager | 1,800 00 |
| Amount paid to sub-overseer | 600 00 |
| Total expenses | $43,872 25 |
| Receipts from sale of 360 hogsheads sugar | $51,480 00 |
| Receipts from sale of 740 barrels molasses | 17,020 00 |
| Receipts from sale of 204 bales cotton | 81,600 00 |
| Receipts from sale of corn | 2,743 00 |
| Total receipts | $152,843 00 |
| 43,872 25 | |
| Net revenue | $108,970 75 |
| 1864 | |
| Plantation supply account | $18,475 00 |
| Amount paid to field hands | 17,265 10 |
| Amount paid to physician | 300 00 |
| Amount paid to white workmen | 1,785 20 |
| Amount paid to manager | 1,800 00 |
| Amount paid to sub-overseer | 600 00 |
| Amount paid for repairing | 1,420 00 |
| Total expenses | $41,645 30 |
| Receipts from sale of 190 hogsheads sugar | $28,500 00 |
| Receipts from sale of 345 barrels molasses | 7,590 00 |
| Receipts from sale of 69 bales cotton | 40,792 00 |
| Receipts from sale of corn | 822 00 |
| Total receipts | $77,704 00 |
| 41,645 30 | |
| Net revenue | $36,058 70 |
| Add net revenue of 1863 | 108,970 75 |
| Profit for two years | $145,029 45 |
In the two years, during which all his neighbors allowed their plantations to lie idle, because they knew “free niggers never would make sugar or cotton,” Mr. May thus realized a net profit of nearly one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. But for the ravages of the army-worm on his cotton in 1864, the profits for the two years would have run well up toward a quarter of a million.