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5

Still the negro is quiet. He of course does not do so well as he could. But there is a wide margin for him. In 1865, most all the negroes remained upon the farms where they were located, and did work the year out. (There are some but few exceptions who did not) At the close of that year hundreds of the whites done their best to cheat them out of their share of the crop. This was general all over this State. Every little petty charge they could bring to bear against the negro they were not slow. pushing forward. They charged them with any time lost and enormous prices for whatever they got from them in the shape of food or ramaint. They [[strikethrough]] south [[/strikethrough]] sought to cheat them in the division of the crops and in fact acted ungenerous and scandalously, by ordering them from off their lands — even the extreme old & crippled, until the commanding officer of the State had to issue an order prohibiting such flagrant acts of barbarity.
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