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abuse; the "driving off" plantations, cases of "assault and battery" and the discharging of hands without pay which have been reported at this office from time to time, seem to receive little or no attention at the hands of the Civil Authorities, to whom, in every instance, they are referred. Why this is so is a matter of doubt. The Mayors of different corporations, and the Justices of Peace at different points, generally express a willingness to see full justice done the negro in all cases brought before them, still there appears to be an apathy — a kind of hesitation on the part of these Officials, to thoroughly investigate these cases, and punish the offenders.
  
The rapid increase, and the consequent large supply of labor in this immediate vicinity, would, perhaps, indicate a possibility of destitution and suffering, but at the same time there is such a demand for laborers in different sections of the State, that no excuse can be offered by the freed people for remaining in idleness, that "Parent of want"
  
Here however arises a rather troublesome point. There has been so much "driving off" - "discharging without pay," and general abuse, often resulting in personal violence, that

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