C. M. Manning writing to the editor
WALTERBORO', S. C., March 14, 1866. MR. EDITOR -- I feel that I am under some obligations to write you a few lines of matters and things of interest to your readers. I have been a soldier in the U. S. service for two years and nine months, and I have always tried to serve my country faithfully. And that now my term of service is about to expire, I wish to spend the balance of my life as a free and intelligent citizen of the United States, [and] think I may now have some claim to that distinction. The laborer is worthy of his hire, and I have labored to uphold the Government; and now think the Government should do something for me. I am a human being and thence-forth want to be considered as such. It has been said that a negro cannot make a living without having a master to drive him. I made a living when I was a boy, and had no one to drive me to work, or to tell me when to stop. I am now twenty-one years old, and if I cannot stand alone, and make a living, I deserve to starve. Give the colored man a fair chance and an open field, and he will not only support himself, but help to support others. C.M. MANNING Co. 36th U S C T F
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