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3 fortunes now suddenly brought from positions of affluence to pinching poverty by the fortunes of war veritable by reason of the loss of property in slaves and otherwise; extremely sensitive so much so that if a negro express an honest difference of opinion, it is at once called insolence and impudence: who declare constantly and repeatedly in my office that the negro will not work, that he will steal and lie. To this rule they hold that there is scarcely an exception among the colored race. And from my business relations with the planters from various sections of the state, and from careful examination of Contracts, I do not hesitate to say, that a large proportion of the citizens of Alabama do business with the Negro, as if he had "no right which a white man is bound to respect" This is the unexpressed opinion of the majority of the State. Often have I been pained at the want of conscience and honesty in contracts with Freedmen. Such being the feeling cherished, the idea of negro testimony against a white man is spurned in anger: and considerable time must elapse before we can expect Justice in civil courts where a negro is a party to a suit. On the other hand we have the colored race, ignorant of their true status as freemen,