_A._ In some States the laws ordain that slaves shall not be compelled to work _more_ than _fourteen_ hours a day, from September to March, nor more than _fifteen_ hours a day, from March to September; and it is reasonable to conclude that there would have been no necessity for making such a law, unless some masters _did_ compel their slaves to toil beyond the specified hours. Convicts, who are imprisoned for crime, are not obliged to work more than ten hours a day, and are better fed than the slaves. It is an extraordinary thing for a slave to be sent to the state prison for an offence. Instead of punishment, it would in fact be amelioration of his lot. _Q._ But I have been told that the slaves sometimes work for themselves. _A._ When they happen to have kind masters, they are sometimes allowed a part of the time to earn something for themselves; but the laws are extremely inefficient for the protection of property thus acquired. If a white man sees fit to seize the products of their industry, the law in most cases affords no redress; because in slave States a colored man is never allowed to give evidence against a white man, under any circumstances. Any note of hand, or written contract with a slave is worth no more than a promissory note to a dog; because no slave can bring an action at law. In several of the States, a slave is liable to punishment if it is ascertained that he has acquired any property. _Q._ I have been told that masters are allowed to kill their slaves. Can this be true? _A._ The laws do indeed nominally consider the killing of a slave as murder; but no instance has ever been recorded of a white man executed for killing a slave. One law on this subject has the following strange qualification: “Except said slave die of _moderate_ punishment.” As if any punishment, that occasioned death, _could_ be moderate! If a hundred blacks or mulattoes, either bond or free, should see a slave murdered, it avails nothing against the murderer; because the laws of slave States do not allow a colored person, under any circumstances, to testify against a white man. The laws of South Carolina favor the master to such a degree, that when accused of murdering a slave, he may be absolved simply upon _his own oath_, that he did not commit the crime! _Q._ But I am told that white men are not unfrequently prosecuted for cruelty to slaves; and this looks as if the laws afforded the poor creatures some protection.