Chapter IV: The Present Situation (2)

The interest may also be reckoned into the face of the mortgage. In any case it begins the day the paper is signed, although the money or its equivalent is only received at intervals and a full year's interest is paid, often on the face of the mortgage, even if only two-thirds of it has actually been advanced to the Negro, no matter when the account is settled. The helplessness of the Negro who finds himself in the hands of a sharper is obvious when that sharper has practical control of the situation. In many and curious ways the landlord seeks to hold his tenants. He is expected to stand by them in time of trouble, to protect them against the aggressions of other blacks and of whites as well. This paternalism is often carried to surprising lengths.

The size of a man's family is known and the riders see to it that he keeps all the working hands in the field. If the riders have any trouble with a Negro they are apt to take it out in physical punishment, to "wear him out," as the phrase goes. Thus resentment is seldom harbored against a Negro and there are many who claim that this physical discipline is far better than any prison regime in its effects upon the Negro. In spite of all that is done it is claimed that the Negroes are getting less reliable and that the chief dependence is now in the older men, the women and the children. One remark, made by a planter's wife, which impressed me as having a good deal of significance, was, "the Negroes do not sing as much now as formerly."

To get at anything like an accurate statement of the income and expenses of a Negro family is a difficult matter. The following account of three families will give a fair idea of their budget for part of the year at least.

Family No. 1 consists of five adults (over 14) and one child. They live in a two-roomed cabin and own one mule, two horses two cows. Their account with the landlord for the years 1900 and 1901 was:

1900.
To balance 1899 $ 32.60
Cash ($25.00) for mule 36.00
Clothing 19.68
Feed 15.20
Provisions 23.00
Tools 2.03
Interest and Recording Fee 16.87
-------
$145.38

1901.
To balance 1900 $ 15.21
Cash 26.57
Clothing 9.55
Feed and seed 44.19
Provisions 26.29
Tools .55
Interest and Recording Fee 16.34
-------
$138.70

Their credit for 1901 was $10392, thus leaving a deficit for the beginning of the next year. As the advances stop in August or September, and the balance of the purchases are for cash and may be at other stores, there is no way of getting at them. In 1900 the family paid $201 toward the 85 acres they are purchasing, part of this sum probably coming from the crop of 1899, and in 1901 they made a further payment of $34. This family is doing much better than the average. It may be interesting to see a copy of his account for the year 1901 taken from the ledger of the planter.

Jan. 1. Balance 1900 $ 15.21

Jan. 12. 10 bu. corn, $5.00; fodder, $1.20; cash, $8.00 14.20

Jan. 19. Cash for tax, $1.43; recording fee, $1.00; cash, $13.25 15.68

Feb. 2. Plowshoes, $1.40; gents' hose, 10c; 20 yds. check, $1.00;
2 straw hats, $1.20 3.70

Feb. 2. 23.5 bu. corn, $14.94; cash, 79c; shoes, $1.50; plow
lines, 20c 17.43

Mar. 15. 15 yds. drilling, $1.20; 15 yds. check, 75c; 4.5 lbs.
bacon, 48c 2.43

Apr. 6. 10 bu. corn, $7.00; 5 bu. cotton seed, $1.75; 4.5 lbs.
bacon, 53c 9.28

Apr. 12. Bu. meal, 65c; spool cotton, 5c; tobacco, 10c; 7 lbs.
bacon, 81c; 5 bu. corn. $3.50 5.11

May 1. Cash, $1.00; 30 lbs. bacon, $3.45; work shoes, $1.10;
gents' shoes, $1.25; half bu. meal, 35c 7.15

May 1. 30 lbs. bacon, $3.45; (25) 30 lbs. bacon, $3.30; sack
meal, $1.35 8.10

June 8. 2-3 bu. oats, 35c; 1-3 bu. corn, 25c; bu. meal, 70c; sack
feed, $2.50 3.80

June 14. Sack meal, $1.35; 12 lbs. bacon, $1.32; cash, $1.00; (22)
12 lbs. bacon, $1.38 5.05

June 22. Sack meal, $1.35; sack feed, $2.50; plow sweep, 35c 4.20

July 1. 6 lbs. bacon, 69c; (5) sack feed, $2.60; half bu. meal,
35c; (9) bu. meal, 75c; 10 lbs. bacon, $1.15 5.54

July 18. 8 lbs. bacon, 92c; (19) sack feed, $2.60; (25) bu. meal,
90c 4.42

Aug. 6. Half bu. meal, 50c; 4 lbs. bacon, 46c; cash, 35c 1.31

Aug. 6. Interest 15.34

Oct. 6. Cash, 75c .75
-------
$138.70

The second family consists of three adults and three children. They have three one-roomed cabins, own one mule and two cows, and are leasing fifty acres of land, the effort to buy it having proven too much. Their account for 1900 and 1901 was as follows:

1900.
Balance Jan. 1 $ .50
Cash 9.00
Clothing 9.79
Feed 11.50
Provisions 13.48
Tobacco .80
Tools, etc. .40
Interest and recording fee 5.77
------
$52.24

1901.
Balance Jan. 1 $ 4.15
Cash 2.82
Clothing 7.55
Feed 21.22
Provisions 17.69
Tobacco .55
Tools, etc. .70
Interest and fee 7.90
------
$62.48

The debit for 1900 was all paid by November first and by November first, 1901, $58.40 of the charge for that year had been paid. In 1900 the man paid $94.61 towards his land but has since been leasing.

The third family consists of two adults and three children. They live in a board cabin of two rooms, have one mule, one cow and one horse. They are purchasing 50 acres of land. Their accounts for 1900 and 1901 stand between the two already given.

1900.
Balance 1899 $17.24
Cash 23.20
Clothing 4.73
Provisions 19.80
Tools 4.40
Interest and fee 8.04
------
$77.41

1901.
Balance 1900 $13.93
Cash 21.28
Clothing 6.30
Feed 26.50
Provisions 21.36
Tools 3.50
Interest and fee 12.40
-------
$109.28

By November 30, 1901, they had paid $79.13 of their account. In 1900 they paid $180 towards their land and $29.60 in 1901.

All of these families are a little above the average. The income is supplemented by the sale of chickens, eggs and occasionally butter. In hard years when the crops are poor the men and older boys seek service in the mines of North Alabama or on the railroads during the summer before cotton picking begins, and again during the winter.

The outfit of the average farmer is very inexpensive and is somewhat as follows:

Harness, $1.50; pony plow, $3.00; extra point, 25c $4.75

Sweepstock (a), 75c; 3 sweeps, 90c; scooter (b), 10c 1.75

2 hoes, 80c; blacksmith (yearly average), 50c 1.30
-----
Total $7.80

(a) A sweep is a form of cultivator used in cleaning grass and weeds from the rows of cotton.

(b) A scooter or "bull-tongue" is a strip of iron used in opening the furrow for the cotton seed.

A cow costs $25, pigs $2 to $2.50, wagon (seldom owned) $45. A mule now costs from $100 to $150, but may be rented by the year for $20 or $25. Owners claim there is no profit in letting them at this price and the Negroes assert that if one dies the owner often claims that it had been sold and proceeds to collect the value thereof. From either point of view the plan seems to meet with but little favor.

The following table will give some idea of the condition and personal property of a number of families in Lowndes County:

----------+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+---+---+----+---+----+
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L |
----------+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+---+---+----+---+----+
Family 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |[9]0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
" 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
" 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
" 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
" 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
" 6 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
" 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
" 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
" 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
" 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
----------+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+---+---+----+---+----+
10 | 35 | 16 | 11 | 8 | 25 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 10 |
----------+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+---+---+----+---+----+

Key to columns:

A Adults
B Children under 14
C Log Cabins
D B'd Cabins
E No. Rooms
F Sewing Machines
G Mules
H Horses
I Oxen
J Cows
K Pigs
L Dogs

It will be seen that the number of oxen is small. I should not be surprised if some of the hogs escaped observation.

An account of this district would not be complete without reference to the herb doctors who do a thriving business, charging from twenty-five cents per visit up. They make all sorts of noxious compounds which are retailed as good for various ailments. The medicines are perhaps no more harmful than the patent compounds of other places. There are also witch doctors, of whom the Negroes stand in great awe and many a poor sufferer has died because it was believed that he or she was bewitched by some evil person, hence physicians could have no power.

The budgets given indicate, and this is my own belief, that the farmers in this district are just about holding their own. They are not trained to take advantage of their environment to the full so they do not prosper as they might, while occasional designing persons take great advantage of them, thereby rendering them discouraged. The introduction of a more diversified farming, the greater utilization of local resources in fruits and vegetables, thereby giving variety in the diet, the development of pastures and stock raising would enable them to break away from the mortgage system, which retards them in many ways.

This view that the farmers here are about able to make a living is supported by the investigations of Professor Du Bois.[10] He gives the following report of 271 families in Georgia:

Year, 1898. Price of cotton low.
Bankrupt and sold out 3
$100 or over in debt 61
$25 to $100 in debt 54
$1 to $25 in debt 47
Cleared nothing 53
Cleared $1 to $25 27
Cleared $25 to $100 21
Cleared $100 and over 5
----
271

Regarding the general situation he says: "A good season with good prices regularly sent a number out of debt and made them peasant proprietors; a bad season, either in weather or prices, still means the ruin of a thousand black homes." Under existing conditions the outlook does not seem to me especially hopeful.

ALLUVIAL DISTRICT.

=A DOUBLE CABIN IN THE DELTA.=

The Mississippi river, deflected westward by the hills of Tennessee, at Memphis sweeps in a long arc to the hills at Natchez. The oval between the river and the hills to the East is known as the "Delta." The land is very flat, being higher on the border of the river so that when the river overflows the entire bottom land is flooded. The waters are not restrained by a good system of levees and the danger of floods is reduced. There are similar areas in Arkansas and Louisiana and along the lower courses of the Red and other rivers, but what is said here will have special reference to Mississippi conditions. The land is extremely fertile, probably there is none better in the world, and is covered with a dense growth of fine woods, oak, ash, gum and cypress. The early settlements, as already stated, were along the navigable streams, but the great development of railroads is opening up the entire district. The country may still be called new and thousands of acres may be purchased at a cost of less than $10 per acre, wild land, of course. Cultivated land brings from $25 up.

Considering its possibilities the region is not yet densely populated, but a line of immigration is setting in and the indications are that the Delta will soon be the seat of the heaviest Negro population in the country. Already it rivals the black prairie of Alabama. There have been many influences to retard immigration, the fear of fevers, malaria and typhoid, commonly associated with low countries, and the dread of overflows. Because of the lack of the labor force to develop the country planters have been led to offer higher wages, better houses, etc. There is about the farming district an air of prosperity which is not noticeable to the East. The country is particularly adapted to cotton, the yield is heavier, about a bale to the acre if well cultivated, though the average is a little less, the staple is longer, and the price is about a cent a pound higher, than in the hills. Fertilizers are seldom used and are not carried in the stores. Some of the lands which have been longest in use have been harmed by improper tillage, but the injury may easily be repaired by intelligent management.

In the Delta the average size of the plantations is large, but the amount of land under the care of the tenant is smaller than in other sections. About 20 acres is probably the average to one work animal. The soil is heavier, requiring longer and more constant cultivation. For this land a rental of from $6 to $8 per acre is paid, while plantations will rent for a term of years at an acre. A good deal of new land is brought in cultivation by offering it rent free to a Negro for three years, the tenant agreeing to clear off the timber and bring the soil under cultivation. On some plantations no interest is charged on goods advanced by the Negro usually pays 25 per cent. for all money he borrows. The white planter has to pay at least 8 per cent and agree to sell his cotton through the factor of whom the money is obtained and pay him a commission of 2.5 per cent. for handling the cotton.

The plantation accounts of three families follow for the year 1901. They live in Washington County, Mississippi, in which the Negroes form 89 per cent. of the total population.

The first family consists of three adults and one child under 14. They own two mules, two cows, ten pigs and some chickens. They also have a wagon and the necessary farm implements.

Their expenses were enlarged, as were those of the other families, by an epidemic of smallpox.

Debit. Credit.
Doctor $39.50 Cotton $826.80
Blacksmith 1.85 Cotton seed 147.00
Implements 15.05 -------
Clothes 102.55 $973.80
Provisions 42.10 856.95
Rent 175.07 -------
Extra labor 53.50 Balance $116.85
Seed 31.30
Ginning Cotton 61.30
Cash drawn 334.73
-------
$856.95

Their account at the close of the year showed thus a balance of $116.85. The family raised 2 bales of cotton and had besides 180 bushels of corn from six acres.

The second family came to the plantation in 1900 with nothing, not even with decent clothing. Now they have two mules, keep some pigs, own a wagon and farming tools. There are five adults in the family and two children. They live in a three-roomed cabin and till 30 acres of land, four acres being wood land taken for clearing, for which there is no rent.

Debit. Credit.
Doctor $ 35.35 Cotton $1,091.28
Feed 5.00 Cotton seed 196.00
Mule (balance) 77.00 ---------
Rations and clothes 284.10 $1,287.28
Rent 175.50 1,035.82
Extra labor 67.60 ---------
Ginning 101.25 Balance $ 251.46
Cash drawn 290.02
---------
$1,035.82

The third family is of different type. They are always behind, although the wife is a good worker and the man is willing and seems to try. They are considered one of the poorest families on the plantation. There are two adults and one child. They own farming implements, one mule and some pigs. They have a two-roomed cabin and farm 18 acres for which they pay a crop rent of 1,800 pounds of cotton.

Debit. Credit.
Doctor $ 24.45 Cotton $498.57
Mule 33.00 Cotton seed 91.00
Clothing 53.40 -------
Rations 60.00 $589.57
Feed 11.25 576.55
Rent 130.50 -------
Extra labor 179.45 Balance $ 13.02
Seed 11.90
Ginning 43.50
Cash down 53.50
-------
$576.55

An examination of the accounts reveals that there is a charge for extra labor, which for the third family was very heavy. This results from the fact that the average family _could_, but _does not_ pick all the cotton it makes, so when it is seen that enough is on hand to pay all the bills and leave a balance it is very careless about the remainder. Planters have great difficulty in getting all the cotton picked and a considerable portion is often lost. Extra labor must be imported. This is hard to get and forms, when obtained, a serious burden on the income of the tenant.

On the plantation from whose books the above records were taken the system of bookkeeping is more than usually careful and the gin account thus forms a separate item so that although all planters charge for the ginning the charge does not always appear on the books.

These three families are believed to be average and indicate what it is possible for the typical family to do under ordinary conditions. It is but fair to state that the owners of this plantation make many efforts to get their tenants to improve their condition and will not long keep those whose accounts do not show a credit balance at the end of the year. A copy of the lease in use will be of interest and its stipulations form quite a contrast to the one quoted from Alabama. The cash and share leases are identical save for necessary changes in form. The names are fictitious.

"This Contract, made this date and terminating December 31, 1902,
between Smith and Brown, and John Doe, hereinafter called tenant,
Witnesses: That Smith and Brown have this day rented and set apart
to John Doe for the year 1902 certain twenty acres of land on James
Plantation, Washington County, Mississippi, at a rental price per
acre of seven dollars and fifty cents. Smith and Brown hereby agree
to furnish, with said land, a comfortable house and good pump, and
to grant to the said tenant the free use of such wood as may be
necessary for his domestic purposes and to advance such supplies,
in such quantity and manner as may be mutually agreed upon as being
necessary to maintain him in the cultivation of said land; it being
now mutually understood that by the term "supplies" is meant meat,
meal, molasses, tobacco, snuff, medicine and medical attention,
good working shoes and clothes, farming implements and corn. It is
also hereby mutually agreed and understood that anything other than
the articles herein enumerated is to be advanced to the said tenant
only as the condition of his crops and account and the manner of
his work shall, in the judgment of Smith and Brown, be deemed to
entitle him. They also agree to keep said house and pump in good
repair and to keep said land well ditched and drained.

Being desirous of having said tenant raise sufficient corn to
supply his needs during the ensuing year, in consideration of his
planting such land in corn as they may designate, they hereby agree
to purchase from said tenant all corn over and above such as may be
necessary for his needs, and to pay therefor the market price; and
to purchase all corn raised by him in the event be wishes to remove
from James plantation at the termination of this contract. In
consideration of the above undertaking on Smith and Brown's part,
the said tenant hereby agrees to sell to them all surplus corn
raised by him and in the event of his leaving James' plantation at
the termination of this contract to sell to them all corn he may
have on hand: in each case at the market price.

The said Smith and Brown hereby reserve to themselves all liens
for rent and supplies on all cotton, cotton seed, corn and other
agricultural products, grown upon said land during the year 1902,
granted under Sections 2495 and 2496 of the Code of 1892. They
hereby agree to handle and sell for the said tenant all cotton and
other crops raised by him for sale, to the best of their ability,
and to account to him for the proceeds of the same when sold. They
also reserve to themselves the right to at all times exercise such
supervision as they may deem necessary over the planting and
cultivating of all crops to be raised by him during the year 1902.

The said John Doe hereby rents from Smith and Brown the above
mentioned land for the year 1902 and promises to pay therefor seven
dollars and a half per acre on or before November the first, 1902,
and hereby agrees to all the terms and stipulations herein
mentioned.

He furthermore represents to Smith and Brown that he has sufficient
force to properly plant and cultivate same, and agrees that if at
any time in their judgment his crops may be in need of cultivation,
they may have the necessary work done and charge same to his
account.

He furthermore agrees to at all times properly control his family
and hands, both as to work and conduct, and obligates himself to
prevent any one of them from causing any trouble whatsoever, either
to his neighbors or to Smith and Brown.

He also agrees to plant and cultivate all land allotted to him,
including the edges of the roads, turn rows, and ditch banks, and
to keep the latter at all times clean and to plant no garden or
truck patches in his field.

He also agrees to gather and deliver all agricultural products
which he may raise for sale to said Smith and Brown, as they may
designate to be handled and sold by them, for his account.

He also agrees not to abandon, neglect, turn back or leave his
crops or any part of them, nor to allow his family or hands to do
so, until entirely gathered and delivered.

In order that Smith and Brown may be advised of the number of
tenants which they may have to secure for the ensuing year, in
ample time to enable them to provide for the same, the said tenant
hereby agrees to notify them positively by December 10, 1902,
whether or not he desires to remain on James' Plantation for the
ensuing year. Should he not desire to remain, then he agrees to
deliver to Smith and Brown possession of the house now allotted to
him by January 1st, 1903. In order that said tenant may have ample
time in which to provide for himself a place for the ensuing year,
Smith and Brown hereby agree to notify him by December 10, 1902,
should they not want him as a tenant during the ensuing year.

Witness our signatures, this the 15th day of December, 1901.

SMITH AND BROWN.
JOHN DOE.

Witness: J. W. JAMES.

The owners have been unable to carry out their efforts in full, but the result has been very creditable. The lease is much preferable to the one given on page 46.

If, as I believe, the families above reported are average and are living under ordinary conditions, it seems evident that a considerable surplus results from their labors each year. I wish I could add that the money were being either wisely spent or saved and invested. This does not seem to be the case and it is generally stated that the amount of money wasted in the fall of the year by the blacks of the Delta is enormous. In the cabins the great catalogs of the mail order houses of Montgomery Ward & Co., and Sears, Roebuck & Co., of Chicago are often found, and the express agents say that large shipments of goods are made to the Negroes. Patent medicines form no inconsiderable proportion of these purchases, while "Stutson" hats, as the Negro says, are required by the young bloods. The general improvidence of the people is well illustrated by the following story related by a friend of the writer. At the close of one season an old Negro woman came to his wife for advice as to the use to be made of her savings, some $125. She was advised to buy some household necessities and to put the remainder in a bank, above all she was cautioned to beware of any who sought to get her to squander the money. The woman left but in about two weeks' time returned to borrow some money. It developed that as she went down the street a Jewess invited her to come in and have a cup of coffee. The invitation was accepted and during the conversation she was advised to spend the money. This she did, and when the transactions were over the woman had one barrel of flour, one hundred pounds of meat, ten dollars or so worth of cheap jewelry, some candy and other incidentals and no money. Foolish expenditures alone, according to the belief of the planters, prevent the Negroes from owning the entire land in a generation. I would not give the impression that there are no Negro land owners in this region. Thousands of acres have been purchased and are held by them, but we are speaking of average families.

Some curious customs prevail. The planters generally pay the Negroes in cash for their cotton seed and this money the blacks consider as something peculiarly theirs, not to be used for any debts they may have. Although the prices for goods advanced are higher than cash prices, the Negroes will often, when spring comes, insist that they be advanced, so have the goods charged even at the higher prices, even though they have the cash on hand. This great over-appreciation of present goods is a drawback to their progress.

In this district I found little dissatisfaction among the Negro farmers. They felt that their opportunities were good. Those who come from the hills can scarce believe their eyes at the crops produced and constantly ask when the cotton plants are going to turn yellow and droop. That there is little migration back to the hills is good evidence of the relative standing of the two districts in their eyes.

Wages for day labor range from 60 to 75 cents, but the extra labor imported for cotton picking makes over double this.

THE SUGAR REGION.

South of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the alluvial district is largely given over to the growing of sugar cane with occasional fields of rice. The district under cultivation stretches back from the river a couple of miles or so to the edge of the woods beyond which at present there is no tillable ground, though drainage will gradually push back the line of the forest. These sugar lands are valued highly, $100 or so an acre, and the capital invested in the great sugar houses is enormous. Probably nowhere in agricultural pursuits is there a more thorough system of bookkeeping than on these plantations. This land is cultivated by hired hands, who work immediately under the eye of overseers. Nowhere is the land let out in small lots to tenants. Conditions are radically different from those prevailing in the cotton regions. The work season, it is claimed, begins on the first day of January and ends on the 31st of December, and every day between when the weather permits work in the fields there is work to be done.

=CABINS ON SUGAR PLANTATION.=

These plantations present an attractive appearance. The cabins are not scattered as in the cotton country, but are usually ranged on either side of a broad street, with rows of trees in front. The cabins are often for two families and each has a plot of ground for a garden. The planters say the Negroes will not live in the houses unless the garden plots are provided, even if they make no use of them. To each family is allotted a house so long as they are employed on the place. Wood is free and teams are provided for hauling it from the forest. Free pasture for stock is often provided.

From the fact that the men would seldom work more than five and a half days a week arose the custom of paying off every eleven days. Each workman has a time book and as soon as he has completed his eleven days his pay is due. This avoids a general pay day and the demoralization that would likely follow. Work is credited by quarters of a day: Sunrise to breakfast, breakfast to dinner, dinner to about 3:00 p. m., 3:00 p. m. to sunset. Wages vary according to the season, being much larger during autumn when the cane is being ground. For field work men get 70 cents per day, women 55 to 60 cents. During the grinding season the men earn from $1 to $1.25, the women about 85 cents, children from 25 cents up. Wages are usually paid through a store which may or may not be under the direct ownership of the plantation. All accounts against the store are deducted, but the balance must be paid in cash if it is so desired. Nominally the men are free to trade where they will, but it is easy to see that pressure might be brought to bear to make it advantageous to trade at the local store.

During the year 1901 two families were able to earn the following amounts. The first family consists of three adults and two children, but the wife did not work in the field.

$10.50 7.00 13.80 12.60 10.85 12.60 11.55
10.85 6.65 13.80 12.95 15.40 14.50 11.20
2.62 1.25 2.25 4.35

------------------------------------------
$23.97 14.90 27.60 25.55 26.25 29.35 27.10

11.55 8.40 9.80 20.60 25.75 28.75 Man
11.20 7.35 9.80 7.95 16.00 10.15 Son
4.35 3.05 1.20 6.40 18.15 15.75 Boy
1.85 10.12 6.75 Boy
--------------------------------------------
27.10 18.80 20.80 36.80 70.02 61.40--$382.54

During the grinding season the men's wages were increased to $1 a day and the boys' to 40 cents and the father had chances to make extra time as nightwatchman, etc. This family own a horse and buggy, keep poultry and have a fair garden. They are rather thrifty and have money stowed away somewhere.

The second family consists of the parents and eight children. Their income is fair, but they are always "hard up." They spend their money extravagantly. The man is head teamster on the plantation and makes 80 cents per day, which is increased to $1.30 during the grinding season. The wife in this family also did no work save in the fall.

$16.00 14.40 17.60 15.40 18.40 16.80 17.80
7.87 6.85 10.10 9.25 9.65 10.10 11.00
12.60 8.75 12.60 13.30 15.55 14.50 11.90
2.90 1.50 4.50
1.25 1.80 .65

------------------------------------------
$40.62 33.30 45.45 37.95 43.60 41.40 40.70

17.80 18.00 16.60 23.30 44.95 43.05 Man
11.00 10.25 4.00 6.00 19.30 18.00 Boy
11.90 12.40 11.70 19.25 25.75 23.00 Son
6.75 17.25 14.75 Girl
1.60 Boy
2.10 8.00 5.25 Boy
3.00 15.15 13.50 Woman
----------------------------------------------
40.70 40.65 32.30 60.40 130.30 119.15--665.82

These families are typical so far as known. In comparing their incomes with those in other districts it must be borne in mind that they have no rent to pay and their only necessary expenses are for food and clothes and incidentals. Certainly both of the families should have money to their credit at the end of the year. The total wages depends not only on the willingness to work, but also on weather conditions. One gets the impression that in some places conditions are pretty bad and even by some white residents of the state it is claimed that a state of servitude almost prevails on many plantations. In any case the Negroes do not seem satisfied. The labor is rather heavy. For this or other reasons there has been quite an exodus to the cotton country in recent years, which has caused the cane planters much trouble and they will make many concessions to keep their tenants. To meet this emigration for some time efforts have been made to import Italian labor but the results have not been wholly satisfactory. The Italians are more reliable and this is a great argument in their favor, but with this exception they are not considered much better workers than the blacks. The storekeepers much prefer the Negroes, who spend their money more freely.

The planters claim that the labor is unreliable and say they never know on Saturday how many workers they will have on Monday. They also say it is hard to get extra labor done. In 1900 on one plantation the women were offered ten cents a day extra for some hoeing, but only four held out. Higher wages were offered if some cane were cut by the ton instead of by the day, but after a week the hands asked to return to the gang at the lower wage.

In the rice fields along the river about the same wages prevail as for the field hands in the cane plantations. The rice crop, however, is but a six months crop, so other employment must be found for part of the year if nothing but rice is raised. It is usual in this region to raise rice as a side crop.