The most of them were getting nothing but rations and lodging for their labor; six or eight dollars per month were the highest wages any received, and all were eager to go back to Louisiana, provided they were sure they wouldn’t be taken to Cuba and sold.
Whitelaw Reid reflects on the low wages and conditions faced by laborers after the Civil War.
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I never saw hands more cheerful or contented than some managed on this last plan were.
That would be “jumping from the frying-pan into the fire,” indeed.
The people have generally more education and refinement than in other parts of the State; their public improvements are better, and their country is every way more attractive.
They have covered many phases of the subject, but have preserved a singular uniformity of purpose and consistency of ideas throughout.