LOUISIANA. 



595 



shi 



: 



a roll of persons emplojed upon their estates, and to 

 transmit the same to the provost marshal of the parish. 

 In the employment of hands, the unity of families will 

 be secured as far as possible. 



VIII. All questions between the employer and the 

 employed, until other tribunals are established, will 

 be decided by the provost marshal of the parish. 



IX. Sick and disabled persons will be provided for 

 upon the plantations to which they belong, except 

 such as may be received in establishments provided 

 for them by the Government, of which one will be es- 

 tablished lit Algiers, and one at Baton Rouge. 



X. The unauthorized purchase of clothing, or other 

 property, from laborers, will be punished by fine and 

 imprisonment. The sale of -whisky, or other intoxicat- 



g drinks, to them, or to other persons, except under 

 'filiations established by the provost marshal general, 

 ill be followed by the severest punishment. 



XI. The possession of arms, or concealed, or dan- 

 irous weapons, without authority, will be punished 

 ' fine and imprisonment. 



XII. Laborers shall render to their employer, be- 

 reen daylight and dark, ten hours in summer, and 



line hours in winter, of respectful, honest, faithful la- 

 bor, and receive therefor, in addition to just treat- 

 ment, healthy rations, comfortable clc-thing, quarters, 

 fuel, medical attendance, and instruction for children, 

 wages per month as follows, payment of one half of 

 hich, at least, shall be reserved until the end of the 

 r: 



For first class hands $8 00 per month. 



For second class hands 600 " 



For third class hands 500 " 



For fourth class hands 300 " 



Engineers and foremen, when faithful in the discharge 

 of their duties, will be paid $2 per month extra. This 

 schedule of wages may be commuted, by consent of both 

 parties, at the rate of one fourteenth part of the net 

 proceeds of the crop, to be determined and paid at the 

 end of the year. Wages will be deducted in case of 

 sickness, and rations, also, when sickness is feigned. 

 Indolence, insolence, disobedience of orders, and crime, 

 will be suppressed by forfeiture of pay, and such 

 punishments as are provided for similar offences by 

 army regulations. Sunday work will be avoided 

 wheu practicable, but when necessary, will be con- 

 sidered as extra labor, and paid at the rates specified 

 herein. 



XIII. Laborers will be permitted to choose their 

 employers, but when the agreement is made, they will 

 be held to their engagement for the year, under the 

 protection of the Government. In cases of attempted 

 imposition, by feigning sickness, or stubborn refusal 

 of duty, tbey will be turned over to the provost mar- 

 shal of the parish, for labor upon the public work, with- 

 it pay. 



XIV. Laborers will be permitted to cultivate land 

 i private account, as herein specified, as follows : 

 1st and 2d class hands, with families, one acre each. 

 1st and 2d class hands, without families, one half 



acre each. 



2d and 3d class hands, with families, one half acre 

 each. 



2d and 3d class hands, without families, one quarter 

 acre each. 



To be increased for good conduct at the discretion 

 of (he employer. The encouragement of independent 

 industry will strengthen all the advantages which cap- 

 ital derives from laoor, and enable the laborer to take 

 care of himself and prepare for the time when he can 

 render so much labor for so much money, which is the 

 great end to be attained. No exemption will be made 

 in this apportionment, except upon imperative rea- 

 sons, and it is desirable that for good conduct the 

 quantity be increased until faithful hands can be al- 

 lowed to cultivate extensive tracts, returning to the 

 owner an equivalent of product for rent of soil. 



XV. To protect the laborer from possible imposition, 

 no commutation of his supplies will be allowed, ex- 

 cept in clothing, which may be commuted at the rate 

 of $3 per month for first class hands, and in similar 



proportion for other classes. The crops will stand 

 pledged, wherever found, for the wages of labor. 



XVI. It is advised as far as practicable, that em- 

 ployers provide for the current wants of their hands, 

 by perquisites for extra labor, or by appropriation of 

 land for share cultivation ; to discourage monthly 

 payments so far as it can be done without discon- 

 tent, and to reserve till the full harvest the yearly 

 wages. 



XVII. A Free Labor Bank will be established for 

 the safe deposit of all accumulations of wages and 

 other savings ; and in order to avoid a possible wrong 

 to depositors, by official defalcation, authority will be 

 asked to connect the Bank with the Treasury of the 

 United States in this Department. 



XVIII. The transportation of negro families to other 

 countries will not be approved. All propositions for 

 this privilege have been declined, and applications have 

 been made to other departments for surplus negro 

 families for service in this department. 



XIX. The last year's experience shows that the 

 planter and the negro comprehend the revolution. The 

 overseer, having little interest in the capital, and less 

 sympathy with labor, dislikes the trouble of thinking 

 and discredits the notion that anything new has oc- 

 curred. He is a relic of the past, and adheres to its 

 customs. His stubborn refusal to comprehend the con- 

 dition of things occasioned most of the embarrassments 

 of the past year. Where such incomprehension is 

 chronic, reduced wages, diminished rations, and the 

 mild punishments imposed by the army and navy, will 

 do good. 



AX. These regulations are based upon the assump- 

 tion that labor is a public duty, and idleness and va- 

 grancy a crime. No civil or military officer of the Gov- 

 ernment is exempt from the operation of this univer- 

 sal rule. Every enlightened community has enforced 

 it upon all classes of people by the severest penalties. 

 It is especially necessary in agricultural pursuits. 

 That portion of the people identified with the cultiva- 

 tion of the soil, however changed in condition, by the 

 revolution through which we are passing, is not re- 

 lieved from the necessity of toil, which is the condition 

 of existence with all the children of God. The revo- 

 lution has altered its tenure, but not its law. This uni- 

 versal law of labor will be enforced upon just terms, 

 by the Government, under whose protection the labor- 

 er rests secure in his rights. Indolence, disorder and 

 crime, will be suppressed. Having exercised the high- 

 est right in the choice and place of employment, he 

 must be held to the fulfilment of his engagements un- 

 til released therefrom by the Government. The sev- 

 eral provost marshals are hereby invested with plenary 

 powers upon all matters connected with labor, subject 

 to the approval of the provost marshal general, and 

 the commanding officer of the department. The most 

 faithful and discreet officers will be selected for this 

 duty, and the largest force consistent with the public 

 service detailed for their assistance. 



XXI. Employers, and especially overseers, are no- 

 tified that undue influence used to move the marshal 

 from his just balance between the parties representing 

 labor and capital, will result in an immediate change 

 of officers, and thus defeat that regular and stable sys- 

 tem upon which the interests of all parties depend. 



XXII. Successful industry is especially necessary at 

 the present time, when large public debts and onerous 

 taxes are imposed to maintain and protect the liber- 

 ties of the people and the integrity of the Union. All 

 officers, civil or military, and all classes of citizens 

 who assist in extending the profits of labor, and in- 

 creasing the product of the soil, upon which, in the 

 end, all national prosperity and power depend, will 

 render to the Government a service as great as that 

 derived from the terrible sacrifices of battle. It is upon 

 such considerat'on only that the planter is entitled to 

 favor. The Government has accorded to him, iu a 

 period of anarchy, a release from the disorders result- 

 ing mainly from' insensate and mad resistance to sen- 

 sible reforms which can never be rejected without rev- 

 olution, and the criminal surrender of his interests and 



