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precarious stage of growth, owing to their proverbial carelessness, but I do not know that such a fear has deterred any one from planting the usual crop In the cases which have been brought before this Court, I have found but few instances of deliberate cruelty or injustice to the freedmen, but as Criminal offences, are now indictable in the Civil Courts, it is possible that there may be many such cases. We have had during this month, three cases of assault and battery by whites upon freedmen, which were brought before the Court for damages — One of which is not yet tried — neither of the others were serious, but in one of them, the freedman was outrageously the aggressor In civil cases there are more instances of injustice, arising chiefly from broken contracts: in which, there is sometimes a disposition to inflict the penalty of forfeiture of wages for quitting service, when the exciting cause is with the employer, or the blame mutual, — but many cases arise from a suspicion on the part of the freedman, that in Settlement, advantage will be taken of his ignorance: and so it frequently happens that he brings his employer into Court, without any reason for doing so. Such will always be the result, while there are men who wilfully take advantage of their ignorance — This breeds a general feeling of distrust, that is highly pernicious. It is one of the active causes of bad feeling between the two classes.
Transcription Notes:
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Reopened for Editing 2024-02-26 15:17:36
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Reopened for Editing 2024-02-26 22:07:36