_Pine Grove, May 3._ Sunday, besides its other virtues, in this place
brings us bread, and an opportunity to send and receive letters. Mr.
Eustis takes a large bag of loaves in his carriage, which are shared
out to hungry superintendents after service. Eustis's house and his
plantation serve as general caravanserai to our whole establishment.
His overseer house--a mile from his own--is the dépôt for supplies for
these outside islands.
Our cotton-agent has at last paid off our plantations and will
probably say farewell this coming week. We also have made a small
payment to the hands of $1.00 per acre for all the cotton they had
planted up to a certain date. The slight sum has had a very good
effect. Other things have aided it. The cotton-agent paid them partly
in goods. As soon as they had received the money from him and
ourselves, we opened store, putting our goods at cheap prices. The
stock consisted of the clothes I brought with me, those which K. sent
me, and some pieces Mrs. Philbrick brought with her, with some
furnished by the Commission; also a barrel of molasses, some tobacco,
and shoes. The "sweetening" and the clothing were at cheaper prices
than anything they have been accustomed to, so they were greatly
pleased and we have sold out rapidly. The good effect is already quite
noticeable,--but they are by no means all clothed. The men and boys,
especially, stick to their rags. [The money] obtained from our private
boxes will be expended in buying other articles for the negroes, to be
sold again, or distributed to them, as may seem best. A vast deal of
dissatisfaction among the people has been saved by this method of
distributing the clothing. The faithful workers have all had money.
All understand and like the arrangement.
I have made a rather elaborate explanation of all this, because to
some perhaps it will seem to be a strange and suspicious operation.
The natural impulse to treat the negroes as objects of
charity was thus early found to be a mistaken one; by the
end of November the Government, too, had ceased to give
them anything, the system of rations having done, as is
remarked in one of the letters, "too much harm already." The
time never came, however, when there was not heard from the
North abundant criticism of the kind which H. W., in her
letter of April 29, and W. C. G. here are trying to disarm,
and the superintendents had to outgrow their fear of being
blamed for "strange and suspicious operations."