LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. c.i""it: Chap. Copyright No. Sheli:...'fy UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. ^^5^ ^^ :H ^ i I A SOLUTION Race Problem in the South iAN ESSAY.) BY Enoch Spencer Simmons, OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BAR. COPYRIGHT 1897, BY E. S. SIMMONS. RALEIGH, N. C. Presses of Edwards & Broughton. 1898. S'OjTv 5012 .5 5=\ DEDICATED TO THK MEMORY OF MY MOTHER. PREFACE. The author of this work has l)eeii in no way prompted to write it by any feehng or disi)osi- tion to do the negro any injustice, but by a de- sire to deal with the greatest problem that has ever confronted our Southland in any period of its history, and one which deeply concerns all the people of our Union — to vleal with the facts as the}^ are now presenting themselves to thought- ful minds, and to suggest a plan which, if adopted, will be a solution of the most perplex- ing and intricate problem. This problem has agitated the minds of the foremost thinkers of the South since Lee's sur- render at Appomattox. Earnest men — men.de- sirous of being eminently just to both races — have given time and study to this question. Those who have givten to the public their thoughts and the result of their labors have as yet mainly ad- vised the people of the North to be patient while we in the South, in our own way, set ourselves to the task of settling these constantly arising new phases of the i)roblem, insisting the while that these new matters would adjust themselves; and so the South hoped that time would find the races in harmonious union, living in brotherly love and peaceful comnnmion, resulting in the glorious upbuilding and development of our coun- trv. than which none has ever been more blessed A PREFACE. with nature's gifts. But alas I hope is deferred, and the heart of the South is made sick. Thought- ful men see ir. the distant sky the mere s])efk of a floutl, which, by the best brain of our land, has been carefully examined and found to be unmis- takably the nucleus around which is gathering, as time rolls on, those volcanic dangers which will ex})lode and pour upon future posterity its all-destructiv^^va. To avert th^awf ui consequences to future gen- erations is the task which, in this work, has en- gaged the mind and labor of the author. One has said "Disappointment sinks the heart of man. hut the renev^al of hope brings consola- tion." With renewed energy we net ourselves at this task in the hope of enlisting the efforts of wise statesmen, brave men, earnest men and just men, who, for the sake of unborn posterity, for their love of the people of the South, of both races, will undertake to further the work of the crude suggestions contained in these ])ages. If the author has succeeded in engaging the thoughtful attention of wise men of this coun- ti-y, who ill turn will take up the work and carry it on to coniiilction, tlien certainly he will feel aiii|tly repaid for his })ains, knowing that at least he has i)layed a small j)art in removing the oik^ eaus<', above all others, which stands in the very gateway of the jirogress and jtrosjierity of the Soiitli ,111(1 llie lia|»|tiness of iiiture geiieiations. Sincerely, K. S. Simm;)\s. WAsiir.NtrroN. N (' i)i-/i,/iir /:>. /s:i7. CONTENTS. CHAPTKR I. PAGE. The solution of the prohlem 9 CHAPTER II. Race feeling;: in the South gi'ovving. and tlie reasons "therefor -^E-' - - • 12 CHAPTER III. The possibilities of colonization di.scu.ssed. the plan to be under the auspices of the general government 32 CHAPTER IV. The capacity of tlie negro for self-government and sepa- rate existence, with evidence to prove their ability to manage a government of their own _ 38 CHAPTER V. The negro a barrier to industrial progress, containing a review of the conditions obtaining in the South which make idle thousands of botli races 50 CHAPTER VI. The burden of educating both races too great for the South alone, with a discussion of the magnanimity and generosity of the Sovithern people in self-imposing the task of educating the children of their old slaves (52 CHAPTER VII. Does education educate ? An argument that the educa- tion and training of any race without opportunities of employing their accomplishments is a failure. The education of the negro amidst different environments, giving them entrance into broader fields of competi- tion, would bring about entirely different results 72 t; CONTENTS. CHAPTER VIII. PAGE. The political consequences of colonization, the disinte- gration of the solid South, causing the whites to divide up in politics upon national issues, and insuring to the Southern States good government, with efficient of- ficers, without regard to i)arty 82 CHAPTER IX. The results of colonization to the South as a part of the Union ; the South, in name, but not in fact, a part of the Union ; the negro, and not the war, the cause ; the negro colonized, the cause removed, the South would then, in fact, become a part of the Union in the eyes of all the world and take her proper place in the sister- hood of States _ 89 CHAPTER X. The results of colonization to the whole Union, a dis- cussion of the duty of statesmen and lawmakers to strengthen every part of the Union, when in their power, by legislating in the interest of each section as well as for the whole Union : the colonization of the negro for the best interests of our Union of States 97 CHAPTER XI. The talc of tlic future without coloiiizal ion. u disi-ussion of tlie conclusion to which the signs of the times unmis- takably point ; the terrilile future wliich awaits the people of the Soutli if both races continue to live as tenants in common upon the same lands 105 ClIAPTKi; .\11. The tale ot tin- liituic with coloiii/atioii, a picture of the great, good results to come to the South and to both racrs if tlie negro race is colonized now, at a tinu' wlien colonization is easy 112 CONTENTS. T CHAPTER XIII. PAGK. Where shall we colonize the negro ? A discussion of our duty to the negro in selecting a section of country suited to his mental, moral and physical development, with reasons making it easier to colonize this race in Alabama. Mississippi and Louisiana than elsewliere in the United States 118 CHAPTER XIV. Would the whites emigrate from the section selected for the negro? An argument with reasons to prove, for the sake of posterity, tlie noble men and women would move from Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, mak- ing room for the uninterrupted colonization of the negro 125 CHAPTER XV. In the conclusion of this work the autlior lias brietiy summed up the preceding arguments for colonization, adding the improbabilities, under natural and divine law, of two races occupying the same land as tenants in common, loving their neighbors as they love them- selves ; concluding with a strong appeal to statesmen and patriots, novelists and poets, ministers of God and all Christian people, also the leaders of the negro race, with united action, to push the work on to conclu- sion 1 '29 Appendix 149 THE RACE PROBLEM. CHAPTER I. THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM. More than sixty-five years ago, Bishop Bas- com, as unmistakably appears from his writings, foreshadowed the race troubles we now have in the South. While not in language direct, infer- entially, his words disclose the fact that he then saw in the signs of the times, the certain evi- dence of freedom to come to the enslaved negroes within the United States. With these convic- tions he sought to avert the dangers of the two races inhabiting the same soil in years to come by colonizing the free-born negroes of the United States in Liberia. Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, in ''Uncle Tom's Cabin, ' ' makes George Harris, in his letter to a friend, talk of Liberia as the haven of refuge and settlement of the negroes in the United States. From which Republic, colonization and Christianity would be disseminated throughout all Africa ; again, this benighted continent would be elevated to the position of glory, fame and distinction, enjoyed by them in the remote ages of antiquity. 2 1(1 THE RACE PROBLEM. Bishop Atticiis G. Haygood, of the Southern Methodist Church, in his '' Brotlier in Black," offered as a solution of the race })r()hleni in the South, Christian forbearance, brotherly love, pa- tient tolerance, better and higher education of the negro, morally, mentally and physically. Henry ^^^ Grady, in whose early death the South sustained a great loss, plead with the North to let us alone, while we of the South would adjust race differences, as each new phase of tlu' pi-ohlcni would arise. Many other lesser lights have contributed to the magazines of our country their views, the trend of all which was to plead foi- ])atience and forbearance of the North, while we in the South worked out the l)lan of our own salvation. One great truth can be gathered from all tliese, to-wit : The fact that the presence of the negro ill tlie South would bring and has brought ui»oii us troubles of mountainous i)ro])ortions, which, indeed, threatens the ])eace. happiness and pros ])erity, yes, the very hie of our Southei-ii coimiry. A careful examination of the |iiesent condition of tlie South unfolds to ilic ciKniii-cr the lamen- lahle fact, tliat however well meant the claim of latter day philosophei-s, are not sustained by events actually trans))iring tiiroughout the South, and the unmistakable evidence of facts, pi-oving greater lace divergence, and that the gulf between tin- two widens. (|ee|»ens and SOLUTION OF TUE PK0BLP:M. 11 lengtheus, with every revolutio]i of^tlie great wheel of time. Bishop Basconi and Mis. Harriet Beecher Stowe's plan was at the time they^wrote un- doubtedly right, as the means to be employed in averting race troubles in this country, yet it would not be practicable at this time. The ne- gro is a citizen of the United States, and as such we have no right to deport him. All thoughtful i)ersons no longer doubt^the necessity of solving our race troubles. No thoughtful person, with a regard for the truth, will deny the presence and existen ze ot such, and instead of lessening they are daily, hourly and constantly increasing in dangerous proi)or- tions. We would solve the problem of Jour race troubles in the South by separating the two races and colonizing the negro in the southern part of the United States. We insist, no other solution of the problem can be given. To expect the^two races so materially differing from each~other, as does the iMegro and the Caucasian, to live to- gether on the same soil in peace and harmony, would be in violation of all natural laws, and, therefore, impossible. Assuming that colonization is the only solu- tion of the problem, we will in the pages of this work undertake to prove its practicability and the absolute necessity for it, and the great dan- gers sure to come to posterity, if neglected. 12 THE RACE PROBLEM, CHAPTER II. " RACE FEELINC; IN THE SOUTH." However much well iiicaning people in the South may wish it otherwise, it nevertheless is true, that the feeling of dislike between the two races is becoming intensified as time wears oil. The chasm is dee})ening and widening into a more impassible gulf each year. This fact is nmch deplored by many of both rac-es, and while both regret it. yet it is true, and cannot be liel]»e(l. The author liere desires to say for himself, he has always entertained a kindly feeling for the colored race of ])eo])le. That among them there are those foi- whom he has the most sincere and affectionate regard. An old c:)lore(l woman, now living at Pantego, N. C. more than eighty- five years of age, always known in my fa flier's family as "Aunt Hester,"" remarkable in many ways, chiel' among them, she has had l»oi ii to hei- twenty-six ciiildreii. Tiusty, faitlifn! and true, devoted to the memory of my mother and father, always speaking of them as tenderly and .■ilfcct ionaf fly as if they Iiad been ol licr own (lesli ;ind hlood. It is not often we see the old woman; it affords ns as nmch jileasnre to have her sisit ns as if she was one of our o\\ n fannly. RACE FEELINU FN THK SOUTH. 13 The other old favorites of my father's family have long since passed away, among them my uui'se; we have a tender and affectionate regard for their memories, and like their children. Only recently we had a letter from Prince, a hoy of my own age. We have not seen ea(;h other nor heard from each other since we parted on the plantation, after Lee's surrender. Indeed, he writes, he did not know where we were. In this we were alike; we had not heard from him. Among other things, he says: '' The last time I saw you was in Hyde County. I thought the world of you. One thing you did was to take up for me if I got in a quarrel. I have heard recently from a white friend, who knows all about you of late years; and it makes my poor heart leaj) with joy to hear from my young- master. I suppose my old Massa and Missus are dead and gone long ago. May Clod bless them. I hope you will at least think enough of me to write and tell me all alwut them in their latter days, as I often think of how much service I might have been to them. Give my regards to your brother and sister and all the family — you I remember best of all. ' ' Of course we answered the letter. We were, indeed, glad to hear from Prince. Many were the happy days we spent in childhood together. Notwithstanding my own kind feeling for this race, it is plain to any thoughtful mind obser- 14 THE RACE PROBLEM. vant of events, constantly occurring, however nuicli we might wish it otherwise, the races have for some time past reached a point of (h- vergence in feeling of dislike for each other, whicli widens in extent, as the lines of time are furtlier drawn. If Dr. Haygood, author of that praiseworthy work, "Our Brother in Black,'' and others, who wrote fifteen or more years ago, could carefully investigate conditions of to-day, they would reach a far different conclusion, see- ing the necessity, not so nuich for the imme- diate present, but for posterity, of the separation of the two races. There are causes for this growing dislike. It is the purpose of this chapter to deal with a few. Aftei- the smoke of battle had cleared away and the Southern soldiei- had returned to his home, wasted and in many instances destroyed by the ravages of war, with farms grown u\). fences gone, ditches filled, the picture of (h'solation and dis])air seen everywhere — finding himself and Ills ii('ig]il)ors j)Oor indeed — like brave men set themselves to work to repair theii- lost fortunes. No j)e()])le ever tried harder to adjust themselves to new condition. Slavery and its in(i(K>nts, the institutions of a centiU'V, abolislied ; aixl in its place the slaves made free, with the right ol Uallot given them, accom])anied with all llic evil (•onse(piciir('s. attending the habilnnciil of tins lun'iiant lacr nf iirdidc. willi tiic rights of citi- RACE FEELING IN THE SOUTH. 15 zenship, were conditions to be met and dealt with by our Southern people. How well tliey did it, the future historian will tell. This race of people, so lately slave property, had been made citizens with all the rights of such, as we have seen, under the Constitution of this Union. Our people, knowing that the best results for government and society flow from the minds and hearts of a people prepared by education to appreciate the necessities of civil- ization and good government, set themselves to work, both with mind and heart, to prepare this race for a proper apjn^eciation of their newly- made duties of citizenship and its responsibili- ties. With generous hand taxes were gathered, our Constitutions re- written, distributing the tax revenues for public school pur])oses equally be- tween the two races in proportion to number, school houses built, schools taught ; all this done, too, with taxes raised upon the property of the white people, except the small parts raised upon the poll, for the negro then had no property, and l)ut little now. To say that our Southern peo- ple did this grudgingly, as some are wont to do, would not be in any degree borne out by the facts ; rather, the people of the South, both with mind and heart, wish to give their old slaves and children a fair chance in the race of life; they were not forgetful of the fidelity with which he stood guard, protecting our mothers and sisters. If) Tin-: I^MK I'KOHLKM. wives and children at home, wliile his master was upon the hattle held, fighting to perpetuate the institution of his slavery; the happy mem- ories of ]»lantation life, hahy and childhood, with the lullabys of black mammies, the cabin with banjo and songs of Uncle Tom, the development of our Southland in other days by the use of his strong arm. lingered in the minds of our people. Whatever may be said to the contrary, it was true, indeed, as many of the old slaves will tes- tify, that their masters had a kindly regard for them and wished them to do Avell. The younger generation, children of slave owning parents, in- cluding many young men who wore the gray at the close of the war, bad been tenderly nursed by black mammies, who love their nurslings with the devotion of mothers; then, too, there were iii.iiiy " Uncle Toms,'" who watched the interest and affairs of their masters with a devo- tion and fidelity never surpassed. The pride of their lives was the success of their master's chil- (hcii. 'I'bese sentiments, and sincere regard for black mammies and Uncle Toms, caused our law- makers, who were ])rin(ipally ex-slave holders <»|- 1 bi- < Iiihb'i'ii (tf sucli. w it lioiil st iiit, not gnidg- iiigly, but genei'oiisly, earnestly desii-iiig tbeir success and the success of tlieii- descendants, to do ;ill in t lieir power 1(> make pi'os-jsions for the • •(hic.it ion .-ind li,i|>|»iness of tliis race. After we RACE FEELING IN THE H(^UTH. 17 had become accustomed to these new conditions, for a time, things went well, the leavening- influ- ence of black mammy and Uncle Tom did much for the good of their race, these old ones tenderly regarded by their old masters and the younger generation whom they had nursed and helped to raise, stood a barrier, a rock of safety, be- tween the heat and passion of the younger ones that were fast coming up. The writer wants to say with sincerity that the old slaves made good citizens; most of them, indeed, well nigh all, have passed into the shades of forgetfulness. The wisdom of their advice, we regret to say, is no longer cherished in the memories of their de- scendants. A generation has come and another gone since the beginning of these conditions, and instead of a realization of our cherished hopes, disappointment is seen everywhere. Thirty-two years of generous education has for its reward in this race a growing dislike for the people that gave it. Education seems only to have educated well in teaching the recipients of this bounty, better ways of disliking, cheating and defrauding its giver. Of the generation of negroes now coming on it may be said, truly, their best thoughts, pur- pose and action are bestowed upon ways to get the white race within their grasp and conti'ol. A fool- ish idea, it is true — one in which their dream of hope will be only a dream, but true withal. Of IS THK RACE PROBLEM. course' those of the white race disposed to help them are discouraged ; despair has taken the place of hope; while the thousands who have never entertained any feeling hut dislike for this race ai'e made to dislike the negro more hecause of his ingratitude foi' the good which has heen done him. You hear it on every side that the white peo- ple of the South, owning the property and pay- ing the taxes, have tired of educating this prop- ertyless race, who. in turn for thanks and grati- tude, give them all the dislike and animosity common to theii' natui-e. There is, no douht, the sentiment of opposition to the education of the negro by the white man is growing : there is no doubt the negro is responsible for this sen- timent. For the generosity of his white friends he has given them, whenever and wherever tlie ojiportunity ])resented, with but fe.w exceptions, l)ad government, by imposing upon us chaiacter- less white men of the baser sort, whose chief am- bition. |)ii(l(' and ])leasure is to so .Khiiinistin- the affairs oi' government as to disgrace society, in- sult the lionor and dignity of our commonwealth and degrade the })atriotic people of the South, wlio themselves and their ancestry can boast of noble citizenshi]), and whose only wish and d(^- sii'c is foi- the ))i-ospei'ity, success and u|»l>uilding of (»ni- Iteautitnl Sontldand, llie j>eace ami liap- |)iDess of our I' nion. RACE FEELING IN THE SOUTH. l!» Is it surprising, tlien, that the chasm is wid- ening ? Oh, but it may be said that the negro is not wholly responsible for this condition of feeling; that bad and contriving white men, with minds indifferent to consequences, incite him to this feeling of dislike, for the purpose of their own self-aggrandizement. This is true, but it adds force and emphasis to the argument. Yes, it is too true, in a land where live brave men and beautiful women, a land where nature has so blended its many gifts, that it can be truly said, There is none other like it to be found anywhere on the globe. A land of magnificent farms and forest trees, of beautiful rivers and pic- turesque mountains, of broad lakes and sounds, the land of vines and roses, where from nat- ure's conservatory may be cut at all seasons, the richest and rarest flowers ; a land which, in truth, flows with milk and honey ; a land wherein should live a people than whom none ought to be happier, there is to be found white men, and many of them base white men, men with minds disposed by nature to vicious and desperate ends ; men to whom virtue and character are stran- gers; men flt associates for criminals — so lost to shame and all that is ennobling and elevat- ing that they are willing to arouse and incite the negro race to hatred and dislike of the people of the South, who would be disposed to aid and assist them. 20 THE RACE PROBLEM. This should not be true. The uegio has had a generation of advantages, educated into a knowl- edge of better things ; but the seed of these bad and wicked men is sown into a walling and fer- tile soil. The negro listens and nuitures these teachings with as nnich pleasure as his emo- tional nature permits him to enjoy the teachings of his favorite minister. So vast is this ])reju- dice and bad feeling between the races growing that, in those sections wherein the negroes are in the majority, he becomes intolerably insolent, impudent and unbearable. He seems to be fully possessed with the idea that freedom to the ne- gro is not understood by our white people, un- less he is insulting and insolent. His disposition is to drive out the white people in those settle- ments wherein he is largely in the majority by making it well nigh dangerous for law-abiding- whites to live near by. In this there is hope for the purpose of this work — it argues that the ne- gro takes kindly to the idea of colonization, evincing a desire to be left alone. it is bad faith in the negro who. while condi- tions existing in the South will not permit him to fill office, is willing, in oidei- to satisfy his l»i(|Uf. tn elevate lueu unfit for the discharge of the duties of oflice. ill part, as a lueaus of pun- isliing their white I'lieiids. while thev. tluMu- selves, are hkewise ituiiished. thus showing the (liiihef.it ion of his (hsiike and hat red of ( he other RACE FEELING IN THE SOUTH. 21 race, while at the same time losing sight of the fact, he is planning for his own ultimate ruin. Another gi-cjwing cause of dislike of the white man hy the negro is the want of virtue among their race — their young women become an easy prey to the siren voice of passion's tongue. This incites the jealousy even to desperate anger of the negro, who feel they might, at least, be the recipient of as many favors from the women of their own color, to say nothing of the impassible barrier which separates him from the females of the other race. It may well be said that the white man is in part responsible, but true, nev- ertheless, and the seed of discord, dislike and ha- tred is taking deeper root and the races getting further apart. This want of virtue among their own females may be the cause of a retaliatory sentiment in the minds of negro men, which manifests itself in the commission of rape upon the white women, which is sure to be followed by a lynching, making an opportunity for the Northern press to get in its work of exciting and inflaming the Northern mind. We know of no cause which tends more to increase and deepen the hati'ed of this race for the whites than to lynch one of their number for the rape of a white woman. Lynch one for the assassination of some victim at the hour of midnight, for applying the torch to the home where sleeps the mother and inno- 22 THE RACE PROBLEM. cent babes, oi for any other capital offence of far less magnitude, does not begin to compare in extent of feeling aroused when one is lynched for tlie rape of a white woman. It is not infre- quent to hear them argue thus: \\'hite men are largely responsible for the want of virtue among oui- women; a young girl of our race of comely figure cannot esca])e the seductive meshes o^" their i)assion. If a white man rai)es one of our race it is ridiculed, but if one of us dares to break the impassable barrier separating us, and forces a white woman to surrender her person to the gratification of his i)assion, he is sure to die the death, and why? Echo answers, why. This, of course, greatly inflames the negro. The negroes in their own midst have not the safest advisers; while some of the things they suffer at tlic hands of the whites are wrong, yet, "It is wise to endure, what we cannot cure." When a people are in the midst of conditions, over which, for the present, they have no con- trol, wisdom would teach it the best to endure, and with jjatience try to correct the evil by re- moving the exciting cause. Folly would en- deavor to encourage the exciting cause into a repetition of those tilings which so greatly offciid ; the candle tly goes for the light of t he candle until be is dcsti-oyed in the flame; and we must add. t hat sonic of t lie would-be wise mrii ol t heir i.icc an- guilty of gi'avc folly, w hen, like Uisliop RACE FEELING IN THE SOUTH. -J'A Turner, of Atlanta, Georgia, advises his i)eoi)le as follows: "■ The fiendish lynching of John Jackson and Archibald Joiner upon mere suspicion in Louis- iana, while the African Methodist- Episcopal Bishops were meeting in New Orleans, only a few" miles from the scene of blood and death, was most damnable. Let every negro in this country, with a spark of manhood in him, supply his house with one, two or three guns, or with a seven or sixteen shooter, and we advise him to keep them loaded and ready for immediate use, and when his domicile is invaded by bloody lynchers, or any mob by day or night. Sabbath or week day, turn loose your missiles of death, and blow your fiendish invaders into a thousand giblets. " We have had it in our minds to say tliis for seven years, but on account of our Episcopal status, we hesitated to express ourselves thus, fearing it would meet the disapproval of the House of Bishoi)s, but their approval or disap- proval has done nothing to stop the fiendish nuir- derers who stalk abroad and are exterminating my race; so we have now said it, and hereafter we shall speak it, preach it, tell it and write it again. Again we say, get your guns negroes: get guns, and may God give you good aim wiien you shoot." We say this was grave folly ; not that we jus- '2A TlIK RACK PHOHLKM. tifv tlu' lyiuluTs. for we are not in the full })os- session of all the ciicumstances and facts, but [::rave folly for that, right or wrong, it tends to excite, inflanie and madden the mind of the whites even to a degree of desperation. We have offered in the foregoing i)ages of this (•ha})ter a few^ of the reasons, which aie mutual, for the growing dislike between the two races. W'c now submit a few which tend to make the white man dislike the negro. It seems a part of his nature to make all out of his white friends his opportunities will admit, and it is frequently the case in wijys w liidi w ill not stand the crucial test of moral examination. Recently we overheard a negro song, t\ni dog- gerel of which runs thus : " What's de use my workin" so liard'.' My wife works in a wliite man's yard ; She cooks de cliicken and saves me de win^; She thinks Fse workin", but I ain't doin" a tiling." It illustrates the conditions which obtain in the South l>etter than any words of my own. We know, not only do we pay and board our cooks, hut Iced their fainilies as well: this ena- bles them to save u}) their earnings, buy homes and dress better tb.in the poorer class of our white |)eo))le; who. on account of the conditions (•hlaining in llic South, which inak'- Hoingthis kind <»t \\ <»ik ()i- ordinal y manual la hoi- degrading, hate the nciiro. I Ic \\ nnid i;ia(ll v do all woi'k don(^ RACE FEELING IN THE SOUTH. 25 by the negroes, the poorer class of our white women would do all the work done by the negro women, if customs would permit, but an inex- orable law of society debars our poorer whites from doing certain kind of work, making it de- tract from their social standing and respectabil- ity. As before said, our people would gladly do all the work, our women would gladly go out to service as domestics, taking a real pleasure in a work which in tarn for their reward would bring them a competent and independent living ; with hands and hearts standing ready to do all work for an independent existence, they look on and see the negro race getting a monopoly of all work, making a comfortable living, supporting their families, and in many instances gathering about them little homes, while they stand help- less, ofttimes feeling the need of the subsist- ence they would be so willing to earn in hon- est toil of any kind. As we have seen, the iron law of customs, which had its beginning with the institution of slavery, will remain with this race of peo- ple whenever and wherever they sojourn among the whites. The negro, while free, is called upon to do certain kinds of work, because the customs of slavery in a lesser degree obtains ; his white employer will order him about in a manner un- like the way he would prefer to speak to a white servant; he would call upon him to do work •2H THE RACE PROBLEM. which custonis foi hid he should ask. or that the white man should do. Tlie very custom itself is the tap-root of a deep-seated, wide-spread and growing hatred hetween the two races. The poor whites are wont to cry out in the agony of their souls against a fate and custom wiiich gives to the interior and ex-slave race su])erior advantages and op])ortunities of a livelihood. As all of us know in the ISouth, the seed of discord is sown in the minds of the little chil- dren, and they gi<»w ii}) in this sui)renie hatred each for the other, which increases, takeu to- gether with other reasons herein stated, widen- ing and deepening the gulf separating the two races. The men of influence and wealth in the South see these conditions; they wish it were otherwise; and were it j)()ssihle for them to hring ahout a change, gladly would tht\\ do so, and welcome its coming. Indeed, the negro, in a measure, limited in extent, we trust, hreaks the hai'mony of concord and agreement hetween these and tht^ ])0()rer class <»f whites: the lattei- see these in the homes of the well-to-do, getting work, i)ay and a good living, reasons himself into a feeling of dislike foi- his more fortunate wliilc tiieiids. ill tli.it lie Itelieves tile negro is given the pi'efei'eJice. But «>!i! liow vastly mis- taken they are; conditions and cnsJonis make it. not clioice. Foi' thes(\ the men of influence, and we.ihli would liavc il otiieiwise if it were |)ossi- RACE FEELING IN THE SOUTH. ^7 ble; they, too, are tired of being- made the com- mon prey of this race ; they are impatient with the negro's ingratitude and growing insolence; w^hile the negroes, as tlieir em})l()yers well know, entertain the same feeling for them they do for the poorer white brothers, and are restrained from an open exhibition of their feeling, in the fear of the loss of employment and discharge. All of us are frequently made to see evidences and unmistakable signs of the feeling this race has for the whites, in frequent occurrences, like the following: Soon after the election, when it was made certain that Major McKinley was elected President, a lady in Tarboro, N.>C.. went to hire a cook. She called at the home of a negro wo- man known to be efficient in that service, and was told, ''No, indeed, madam, you cannot hire nie to cook ; more than that, the time is not far distant when conditions will change and we will have you for our cooks." Sometime in the fall of 1 S9f) a certain lady of influence and wealth was traveling in eastern North Carolina on the train, when a negro man came and demanded she give him a seat with her; he was told she would do no such thing; a negro worn. an just in the rear, said, " I would have that seat or die '' — this, too, in violation of well-established rules of the railroad company's providing separate coaches for this race. Re- cently a small gathering of negroes were over- 2S THE RACK PROBLEM. heard discussing the future, in which they were heard to say, that we negioes must have a war here and clean out the white people. Ridiculous conclusion, of course, for the result of such a war would he different. We only mention this as some evidence of feel- ing at present existing in the South, which will lead u]) in the distant future to greater evils we know not of. " Coming events cast their shad- ows before." We have the shadows. When we will reach the events, and|^how dangerous will be theii- proportions, none Imt an allwise God can tell. Of this, more will be said in another chapter. The feeling of hatred and dislike existing in the South l)etween the races is not confined to this generation, for the aged of our people well know and can testify that the negro has always entertained an extreme dislike, with a feeling akin to hatred, for the poorer classes of white l)eople. This feeling is mutual. The i)oorer classes of whites in the days of slavery despised the negro with great bitterness of feeling, so that the soil has ])een in good condition from the be- ginning, into which the se( d of discord, envy, jriiloiisy. and even liatrcd has liccii sown and (ajclully cultivated hy both races for had all llie wiiiie, in) matter what^the wislu s oi those who have made honest efforts to allay discord and har- niiiiii/e all differences hetweell (he l-iees. Then. RACE FEELlNfi IN THE SOUTH. 29 again, the Northern press has done much in sow- ing the seed of discord, and causing tliis feeling of dishke to gather vohiine .and force in its growth and extent ; while the distinguished AVendell Phil- lips, Bishop Gill)ert Haven, and Canon George Kawlinson have added a dou])]e measure of their full share in widening, deepening and lengthening the gap, even to making an abyss whose width, depth and length cannot be measured — in advis- ing, preaching and proclaiming that the solution of the race problem in the South could only be by the amalgamation of the two races. They might as well have shaken a red flannel flag in the face of a Spanish bull, or applied a fire brand to a powder magazine. How much mischief and harm such men have done in making lines hard and difficult, not alone for the negro, but for both races in the South, can never be known. Near the birth of the pres- ent generation, in our State Constitutions, we forever declared against the inter- marriage of the races. If these celebrities could to-day pass through our Southland, they would see oui' peo- ple further from their advice and preaching than they were at the close of the war, which i-e- sulted in the negro's freedom. We of the South believe that the amalgama- tion of the two races is no part of God's i)lan. In this we believe our Northern friends agree. A nobler race of people, of proud inheritance, 80 THE RACE PROBLEM. brave lueii, w ith beautiful women, never adorned any spot of this earth. Possessed of virtue, in- teUigence, and great race pride, to say that they would amalgamate with the negro race would be to turn back the wheels of evolution, to stop progress, deny all that scientists have done and discovered in all ages, and start afiesh down the road of race degradation and ruin. " " Over the few marriages between white women and negro men, which occasionally occur in tln' North, we draw the mantle of charity, and at- tribute such f(jlly in white women to mental de- rangement and temporary insanity. No self- respecting white woman, in the full possession of her senses, North or South, would ever l)e so lost to shame and love of race pride as to unite herself in marriage with a negro, to become the mother of a hybrid nuilatto race, (lod foil'ids such a union. While we give the negro credit for nuich and believe him capable of more progressive advance- uieiil. in the way of learning and civilization, \'et we know he is an inferior race, who, undei- the most favorable conditions, will not and can- not ever achieve what his white friend (an. be- en use it is not 1 be imrpose of ( lod, t lie gi'eat wise Cieatoi'. tliat he should; then to say tbat tbe amalgamation of tbe two races is tlie sobition ot the great race |tr instancB, animals of the same genus but diftVn-- ing in species, left undisturbed they would never interbreed; nor would they ever associate and mingle in companionship, each with thc^ otlier. The same is true of the human family; if obser- vent of nature's instincts and tendencies, they would never hybridize. We feel sure that the negro, obedient to natural instincts, would like to assemble together in exclusion of all others, in some place wherein they could live solely, sep- arately and alone. In this does he differ from our observation of the experience of other mem- bers of the human family ? Do we not see the Israelites, while scattered over the face of the earth, gathering themselves together in little colonies, in those towns where they happen to be, living to themselves socially, inter- marrying with none but their own race ? This people, throughout the world, are to-day forming them- selves into societies and planning their return to Palestine. The Jew^s are with us, but not of us. Their desire to return to their native land is in conformity to natural laws, which are Divine, and therefore obedient to the wall of God. Go to the city of New York and other large cities, and w^e find the German settlements, Chinatown, Italian quarters, and on to the end of the cata- logue. Like the Gulf stream in the sea of waters, still maintaining their separate and distinct identity. ;U THF. RACE PKOBLKM. N\'t' liMvc t;ivt'ii ill the foregoing some reasons show ill- tilt- tendencies of this race, like all others, to congregate and live togetlier in exclusion of other people. There is little reason to douht the willingness of this ])eople to embrace any favor- ;iltlc o|ipoituiiily lo coloiii;:!'. under the auspices ol this govermneiit. JS'o well ileveloi)ed plan, of which the author has any knowledge, extensive in detail, has been given to the public, looking to the separation ol' the two races and the coloni- zation of the negro, it is true, we believe, some have hinted or suggested colonization in some of the South American States, also in Arizona and in New Mexico of the United States. We do not think that any proposed ]>lan of colonization of this race in any unfavoivd section slioukl l)e en- terl.iiiied. however, the ])lace suited and the rea- sons lor its selection will he j'onnd in another ' ha]tt(M'. In this chapter the plan and possibility of this country. of which class it is hojted (tur legislators and statesmen :\\r ni;i(le. The good will of tln' |teo|»|(' of the Tniled CAN WE COLONIZE THE NE(JRO V :)7 States, and certainly, too, of the South, which would be measured not only in wishes but in deeds and substance, the negro would take with him in his new home. The race feeling, we have seen in the preced- ing chapter, existing in the South, the natural tendencies of all races to live in exclusion of others, the proposed plan of the government to help him in securing homes and paternally ad- vising and assisting in the formation of his plan of government, the^dangers which they must see through the mist of years towards humanity of both races in the South, the results of such a conflict in the survival of the fittest and strong- est, and conversely the destruction of the weaker, can haN^e, we think, but one effect, the hearty approval of the opportunities of gathering to- gether this people in some favored chme, sepa- rate and apart from all others, where alone and undisturbed, they may serenely enjoy the glory of that power, peace and i)rosperity which the friends of this race hope foi- them in the years to come, when a full opportunity, if ever is given, to exemplify to the world their abihty. ;^S THK KACE PKOBLEM. CHAPTER IV. THE negro's capacity FOR SELF-(i()VERNMENT AND SKPAKATE EXISTENCE. We have no sufficient data, drawn from actual experience of any civilized and intelligent race of negroes, in modern times — ^there are no such. We are driven, then, to speak from ohservation and experience of those we know something of. Our knowdedge of the hahits. customs and ways of the Southern negro is such as to teach us to expect a favorable answer to the query. Tn those sections of the Southern States whcicin this race are largely in the majority — for in- stance, in Mississii)pi, Louisiana and Alabama, the negro becomes large land-owners, good farm- ers. ])i'os])eroiis and sncccssfid. Taking a com])arison made hetwiHMi contigu- ous counties wherein the blacks are largely in the majority in the one. the wliites in the other, we find the taxable vahie of the jdoperty largely fa\ay the taxes now so grudgingly given i'ov the education of this race, to iiid and assist tlieiii in tlieir new lioiiies, renio\t'(J from conflict CAPACITY FOR SELF-GOVERNMENT. 41 with them in the industrial race, constituting no longer a barrier to their success. Then the North- ern friends of this race, always disposed to aid them, could, with less restraint, carry on their work of assistance. All of this we are fully per- suaded would stimulate the negro to greater deeds and efforts to succeed and be like his white neighbors, especially when his missionary white friends, from all parts, interested in his success and well-being, would come among them, teach, and show them the ways of life. Race pride would play no inconspicuous part in urging them onward to success; aware that the eye of the world would center its gaze, critically too, upon them, would be an incentive which would stir them both in mental and physical activity ; know- ing well that thousands of expectant friends anxiously, but hopefully awaited the results of their own experience, would inspire them under their new condition to great efforts. We now come to consider the negroes' capacity for self-government. This, too, will be experi- mental ; we are aware that many there are, who will insist that this race is incapable of mak- ing or creating any government founded upon Christian example and moral precept, managed in an enhghtened and civiHzed manner, for the greatest good of their people. We are aware that there are those who insist that this people, left by themselves, would relapse into barbarism and 42 THE KACE PROBLEM. the benighted practices of their Afric ancestors. AVe are aware th^t many insist that this people would not exist save and except in a state of bar- l)aric life, as did his ancestors in his native land, if he had not the plenteous barn and smokehouse of his w^hite friend to go to. The valuable lessons of their slave ancestors, learned while in touch with their white masters, and in turn handed down to their posterity, that thirty-two years of education of the present gen- eration, learned in the presence of the white man, with the benefits of the directing influence of their salutary exaniidc would serve them no good purpose, if colonized, and left alone to work out the problem of their own race existence. We admit that what the Southern negroes are the white race of the South have made them ; it is true that if they are anything, it is the result of the training and education by example and precept of their white friends as well as the learning had in the school-i'ooiu. We know that the negro is an imitative crea- ture, for that matter, who is not'? and living with the white ])eo])le he is constantly doing whatever he sees his white friends do. We nvv not for- getful th:it the best way of teaching is by exam- ple. We are uot forgetful tliat to reiuove liini woiiM (le|>iive this p(M)j)]e of much in this way; then he woultl he ihixt'H to the necessity of iu- (le|ien(lent action .ind thought: and onr en(|nii-y CAPACITY FOK SELF-GOVERNMENT. 48 iu the remaining pages of this chapter, is the ability and capacity of this race for independent action. We differ with those who are of this mind. We beheve the negro, colonized in some favorable section in the Sonthern part of the United States, in tonch with the Chiistian civili- zation, and where the governmeat can have over him a parental, supervising care, would give to the world a surprising demonstration of his ca- pacity to manage his own affairs. Certainly we do not mean to convey the idea that he would offer to the world any conspicuous example of government worthy of emulation in the beginning duiing the first years of their new histor5^ for who would expect that of this race ? This we mean, that left alone, taking with him the education and training of a genei-ation, and in easy reach of the white man's government, whom he has shown a disposition in other mat- ters to imitate; this people would satisfy the world of their ability, not only to prosper and get ahead in the management of living and prop- erty getting, but like ability to govern them- selves. Were they not in the remote ages of an- tiquity in civilization and enlightenment, in ad- vance of all people y Does not ancient history prove that, ''when Asia was a land of tents and shepherds, Greece a waste, Rome a desert, and the western coutinent unknown in song and story, Africa rose the proud mother of nations and the 4+ THE RACE PROBLEM. central source of civilization and social refine- ment y " We know, those of us who have given the mat- ter any thought, that the negroes' environments check and c;url) theii- ambition ; they know that education to them is only useful to the extent of learning to read and write and make figures; beyond this they have no incentive; for that the ' best they can hope to do, and the Kmit of theii ambition, is to teach in the conniion schools, with an occasional chance of becoming a little prominent, with his own people, as a minister of the Gospel. They know that in the field of possibilities open to white men, they have not and will not be permitted to enter. Colonized, with the rights of self-government, at once you open up a new world to them, they see the pos- sibilities of greatness, in the realms of science and higher education ; open to them the way to a seat in the United States Senate and in the halls of Congress, chances of Governorship, Judgeship, and all the offices innumerabK^ in the system of State government; at once you i]isj)ire them to greater deeds; they would call u])on the latent energies of their being to gratify their ;inil)i1 ion : they would i)ut into the work tlie utmost and best strength of theii- natui-e; <'nnil;it ion and rivalry wouhl play theii- best r(de, in a word, with tlii'in lolonized in States, uitli a rightoC seH'-irovernnient. tlie\ wonid tind ail the ave- CAPACITY FOR SELF-GOVERNMENT. 4;") naes of greatness in the professions and all things open to him that are open to the whites in other sections. The love of power and influence, which conies with the position, the influence which money and property brings would have full play upon their inspiration for nobler and greater efforts to acquire them. We have some evidence of the negroes' capac- ity to govern and organize among us ; we know that their church organizations are superb. We will pause here to say that this race love their church. They are religious, and wait upon the ordinances of their church with almost idolatrous pleasure. The will of the pastor is supreme, if worthy, and they have confidence in him. No emperor ever had greater influence over his peo- ple than they have over their flocks. All of us know the power of their political organizations ; no people or party have given a greater exam- ples of perfect political organizations than we have, in this race of people in the South, except in those sections of the South where State Con- stitutions impose quahfication to suffrage, or the right of ballot. Their Burial Societies are managed with con- summate success. In this they set an example which the whites, and especially the poorer whites, might well follow. Their lodges, in so far as the public have any knowledge, are as well managed as the lodges and secret orders of 46 THE RACE PKOBLEM. the whites. We know tliat in those sections wherein he is thickly settled, and especially in those sections where they live in entire exclusion of almost all others, those who own their homes are the best citizens, and wield a powerful intiii- ence for good. From this is adduced the argu- ment, that those who get property, either among us or when colonized, would make an effort for the protection of themselves and their posses- sions, as well as for others wlio own pi-()))erty, to have good government. Wo have seen in another chai)ter the plan of colonization would be to interest all in good gov- ermiient by making them property owners, open- ing u]) entries of homestead to them at little or no cost, becoming owners of their homes would at once beget in them the desire of good govern- ment for the protection of home and family. Those of us who think it well for the good of posterity and the future of our Southern coun- try, forming no inconsiderable part of this Un- ion, in wliich every citizen of this nation should feel a great interest without ivgard t(^ section, that the negro siiould be colonized, have never at any time entertained the thought of sending ihiin into a State of separate existence, wilhont sending with liini, not only the good will and best wishes foi- th«*ii' success, of our ])eo])le, but thos(» cajiable of ti-acliing and wilHng to instrnci him in 1 he arl of seH'-u-oveiiuncnl . The friends of 1 lie CAPACITY FOR SELF-GOVERNMENT. 47 negro would desire that the general Government shall take a part in the formation of their State government, at least until he has hecome accus- tomed to and practiced in the ways of governing and directing the affairs of State. The friends of this race, both North and South, would wish the general Government to furnish him substan- tial^aid, not only in the art of governing, but in the more practical and needful lessons of living and earning a separate and independent exis- tence. There are good people in all sections of this country, patriotic men and women inspired by love of humanity, as well as their love of coun- try, who would be willing to give of their means and time in helping and teaching this race of people in their new homes the ways of good government and moral life. The world never has seen a more marked example of encourage- ment, sincere and well meant, even to the point of rendering material aid and substantial assis- tance by neighboring people of another race, than the negro would have, as a people, in their new and colonized home. The nation would w^ish their success because they would form a part of this nation of people. This nation would do all possible to aid and encourage them in the field of industrial development, in making them useful and good citizens ; in short, it would be to the interest of the United States to have them 48 THE RACK PROBLEM. succeed, tor our uatioii would he stroug or weak just in the proportion to the prosperity, happi- ness and success of its whole people. Under these conditions we believe verily that the negro is capable and would manage his own affairs if put alone in some favored section, with the kindly assistance of their white friends. Another sign of encouragement is that the more intelligent and advanced thinkers of his pt>oi)le are beginning to have a race pride, and are looking towards the elvation of their i)eople. The love of power and influence which follows the possessions of wealth and intelligence, the encouragement they w^)uld receive from their white friends, the aid and assistance which this nation would give them, would be an incentive to great efforts, and greater than all this, that which would more influence the intelligent and tlioughtful of this race would be the knowledge, that not only the nation but the eyes of the world would with interest watch their success or laihiic: tliis more than all else would biiiig into play the latent energies and capahihties of this once great race. The satisfaction and pleasure of (lisa]»})ointing and surprising those who see lur tliis people only failure and the satisfaction their success would affoi'd their friends, and tliosi^ who beheve them (•ai)al)le would be a ])owerful. inciting cause of action, sufficient to biing into use all the ability this | pie possess. CAPACITY POR SKLK-CJOVEKNMENT. 4'.> AVe cannot (Mmelude this chapter without an appeal to critics to forbear. We do not know the possibihties of this race, and therefore ask for them a stay of the tongue, which will utter any sentiment tending to discourage them, when the idea of colonization has, as it certainly will, take possession of this people, when the matter is agitated. - Not alone will it take possession of this race, but we are confident when we come to think seriously upon the matter, that we, too, will be possessed with the idea of a separation as the best thing for the good of both races in the South. _5> 50 THK HACK PHOHLKM. CHAPTER V. THE NKGKO A BARRIER TO INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS. It has long been evident to the enquiring that the presence of the negro in the South is a real mountain in the way of Southern prosperity, enterprise and progress. With fertile lands, broad rivers, magnificent forests, rich in mineral resources, salubrious cli- mate, the South is not making the strides along the roadway of prospeiity and progress which might be expected of her. We have said the negro is a barrier, an obstacle of mountainous proportion in the road of Southern progress. It is with no intention on their part that this is true, but it is true, nevertheless. Experience and observation teaches, that not many more than one-half of the peo})le of the South are act- ually employed in any })r()tital)le work. Of this idle class there are as many of one race as there are of the other, though not in proportion to the mnnerical strength of each people. There are as Mianv idle white people as there are negroes. Hot IlKMC. While the white J)ojtulat ioll of the ten Southern States ( X'irgiiiia, Noith Carolina, South Carolina. Ceoi-gia. Kloiida, Alal)ama, Mississippi, Louisiana. Texas and Arkansas), was, in 1890, eight niillinn three linndred thousand. The ne- A BARRIER TO INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS. .") 1 gro population of the same States at the same time was five miUion eight hundred tJiousand, ahout fifty per cent of hoth sex of the negro race are idlers. There are as many idle whites, but not fifty per cent of the population. This candid statement will greatly astonish, no doubt, our Northern friends, who are trained to indus- trious habits of useful employment from their childhood. What is the reason for this ? There is a cause for every effect ; we have the effect, and see indolent, idle men and women (both ra- ces) throughout the South. Where and what is the cause ? Are the white people of the South by nature indolent and lazy ? The author will never make that admission. He would not so slander the brave sons and beautiful daughters of the people from whom he descended, and with whom he first saw the light of day, and among whom he has spent all the days of his life. Well, what is the cause ? First, let's speak of the idle negro and the cause of his indolence. The negro, by reasons of certain conditions and environments is not over anxious to work. His efficiency as a laborer we will speak of in another part of this chapter. They know, through the kind indulgence and lax ways of their more for- tunate white friends, whether they work or play, they will obtain a subsistence. Dealing with facts and truths, we are constrained to say that a part of their creed and training even from 52 THK HACK PKOBl.KM. cliiklliood is to learu ways aod means to get all from the white ^lan they possibly can, and give in return for the same just as little as they can. This feeling generates idleness among them, in many ways, particularly this : The few employed, religiously practicing the lessons of faith and childhood training, get all for their labor possible from the white man, and then add to this store all else in their way, he is able to support a half- score in idleness, which they seem to take a great pleasure in doing. They can, when willing, live on as little as any other })eo])lo, and by grou])ing make the expense of house rent almost nothing. This condition is not true in as large a degree in the rural districts as in the cities and towns. We will })ause here to say this habit of idleness with the negro race would be cured, if removed from his white friends and thrown on his own personal resouces, it would then be root i)ig or die poor, the pig Avould root. All the world knows that the natural inclinations of all living crea- tures is to live in ease and idleness, and the pio j)<)rtion of idle timi'. is just in proixution lo the providence of other means for an existence aiid support. Man is no exception to this rule, and it is cci'tain llic negro is not. Just as long as tbe few employed, being mainly j)arents and older ones. c,in ( "ire (or •,\i\(\ suppoi't this liord of un- eniployed ill their idleness, llieii tile conditions above snokeii of will coiit iinie to e.xist. When A BARRIEK TO INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS. 58 this people come to know that, from their own corn-crib and smoke-house they must hve, a great change will come over the spirit of their dreams ; in good weather they will be seen preparing for the storm that is to come, the fifty per cent of the unemployed will be seen with the plow, shovel and hoe, axe and saw", using their brawn and muscle in honest effort to provide support for themselves and their dei)endents. It is true in a large degree the white people are responsible for these conditions. In the days of slavery, slave owners were in the habit of trusting much of their business, and especially the farm and labor, to the manage- ment of their slaves, who, in many instances, were faithful and good managers ; their owners became careless and enjoyed their leisure, letting affairs take care of themselves, in a sort of hap- py-go-lucky style. The examples of parents leave its impress upon the children, generation after generation, even to the present, have imbibed and practiced these careless habits of business ; the results are as is always the case. We have an inefficient system of labor and laborers, in no way comparing with the labor of our Northern and Western friends. The experience of all people teach that labor left" to look after itself is poor labor ; moreover, having the full opportunities, entrusted with the management of affairs, he makes the best of it, 54 THK RACE PROBLEM. oot always particular and scrupulously exact in the returns he liiakes to his emi)loyer. From this we see that conditions in the South, tending to demoralize labor and at the same time giving oi)})ortunity to the few employed, whose moral education, for want of time, is not u]» to the standard, to add largely to the supplies which his wages would buy. enabling him to kee]) in idleness a horde of unemployed about him. Then, is it surprising that our people of the South are slow in the way of progress and enterprise. For a while now w^e will see the other side of the picture. We have said, that there are as many idle whites in the Southern States as tiiere are idle negroes, and in a large majority of in- stances, the idle of the whites are ])()orly off in this world's goods, and could not afford to live a life of idleness. We have said, also, that these are not idle through choice, but so from condi- tions surrounding them. In all sections where slavery ol)tains menial work is considered de- grading, and none but slaves are called u]»oii or expected to do the baser sort of labor. These conditions sprung uj) in the South with the be- ginning of slavery; the white man of w oiiiaii \vli(» Weill out to service in the capacity of a common laborer, were esteemed no bettei' llian the slavish negro. However foolish it may seem, it is nevertheless vei'ily true, as any can ]irove wlio cai'e to J ml ibem -selves to llie t rouble. 'I'be A BARRIER TO INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS. 5 5 result was and now is that the poorer classes of white people will eke out a miserable existence at home, if they are fortunate enough to have such, rather than go into service as cooks, house- maids and the like ; or men as laborers, because the work is considered degrading — it is the func- tion of the negro. In order to be respected, I cannot and must not do a negroes' work. Gold, even at high prices, will not hire our white girls for cooks and house-maids, although at home they have a scant existence, with clothes not the best. Oh, no, that is the negroes work, and I am better than a negro ; and while in need of better dresses and a better filled larder, still I cannot afford to put myself upon a common level with the negro; foolish condition it is true, but it is true notwithstanding. All of us here in the South know they are not so much to blame, for work does degrade and detract from one's social stand- ing. The class of the South who suffer most, perhaps, because of this inexorable law of so- ciety, is largely the aristocracy of the land. For generation after generation, their ancestry were wealthy and large slave owners ; children born, raised in the belief that work formed no part of the plan of their existence. All of this swei)t away by the war, finding themselves poor indeed, they have continued in the same state, not rally- ing, not recuperating their fortunes for the one and only reason; the little mite left, and all :)<; THK KAC'E PROBLEM. they have earned, is paid out to uegro servants, in order that the daughters and young men may- keep their hands from the degrading employment of work. Now will any one be unkind enough to say, these are not willing to work; not so, gladly would they better their condition by hon- est toil. l)ut for that inexorable and ironclad law of (^ur social fabric, wiiich makes work disrepu- table. For shame 1 for shame ! that thirty-two years of struggle and hardship since the smoke of battle cleared away, since the boys who wore the blue and grey laid down their arms and be- came friends, and yet ourpoverty-stricken people have not hved down these foolish conditions and adjusted themselves to the wants and needs of a people struggling to rebuild their fortunes. The beHef that labor degrades, added to this, the in- disposition of the more fortunate whites, to see white servants put in the same position and or- dered around as negroes, is the cause and means which make in the South as many idle white |)c()]»lc as there are idle negroes, not idle from choice, but for reasons which they cannot con- trol. No people on earth can prosper and do well, nor accumulate wealth among whom such tilings exist, with no well directed efforts, we are sorry to say, to prevent it. AnotlK'i- bai'rier to Southern (leveloi)ment, glowing out of the presence of the negro, is, as we have seen in anoliu'i' (•liai)l('i', the results of A BARRIER TO INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS. ') i intense feeling existing between the two races, tending to keep and actually keeping emigrants and capital away from us. We have seen that the Northern press, using as the means the oc- casional lawless outbreaks in the South which sometimes result in lynching, to inflame the Northern mind, the effect of which is to frighten persons of small means from coming among us and investing their small fortunes, in the belief that they are resting upon a slumbering volcano, which at some unexpected moment may explode in an outbreak between the two races, sweeping away their little all and ])ossibly endangering life itself. A separation ol the two races will re- move the exciting cause, lynching would stop, the press could no longer flaunt the signal of dan- ger in the face of would-be settlers and investors, and a land so blessed by nature's bounteous gifts, would become the home wherein the fortunes of so many would be made. Separation of the two races would cause the countless thousands of unemployed whites, glad- ly to engage in the very work done by this people. While they in their new homes would engage in useful employment as a necessity to existence, being removed from the storehouse and assis- tance of their indulgent white friends. It is therefore not diflicult to sec the results which follow. Labor always finds its reward: the employment of th /^ whites would result in :),S THE KA("E PROBLEM. bettering their condition in every way, giving them homes, farms, honest employment, and in the orderly course of things, fortunes. With happy homes and plenty, the result and reward of industry, comes power, w^ealth and greatness to the State. Contrasi this with the other view, an idle peo- ple, with young men and young women without honest employment, with but poor if any home, less comforts, presenting the appearance of shab- by genteel, not enough of cash to indulge them in the simplest necessities of life, makes a wx'ak people, makes a people without power and influ- ence, the ambition and spirit of success goes out. Fortunes are seldom if ever made, a competency for their offspring only to a few; and this view is what is seen all through the South, especially in those partslwhere the negro foiins a conspic- uous part of the population. We have heard some insist that'the South can- not get on'^without them, being the only labor. What a mistake : First. Not more than fifty per cent of tliis race are employed. Second. For every idle negro m;iii .iiid woman in the South there is an idle white man and wo- man; not idle from clioice, who would be willing and glad to take the place and do the work done, if this race could be sent int(^ colonization, thus removing f lie degrading notions, tliat white ]>eo- A BARRIER TO INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS. 59 pie must not do the negroes' kind or sort of work. So that, if it were possible to remove him l)odily and at once, we have those holding their hands in discontented idleness, and enough ready and willing to fill his place without feeling the loss at all. We have already said that he is not a good la- borer. Of course this statement must be quali- fied, for that it does not apply to all; there are exceptions ; some of them are very good workers, with commendable fidelity try to earn their em- ployers money in doing good service; the ma- jority are not good laborers; they are careless and indifferent, oftimes doing the work in hand more harm than service, :ilways needing some one to urge them onward and see to it that their work is properly done. We have already discussed the reasons for this, and see that for much of his inefficiency, as a laborer, the white man is responsible. Send them into colonization, and we believe the whole South, including their colonized territory, will start upon a new era of prosperity. They in their new home will work to make comfortable and happy their own possessions. What a volume of meaning this sentence takes with it, to improve one's possessions. They would be made self-reli- ant, and we verily believe, and hope will become better and more useful citizens. Certainly we think their morals would improve, for then the 60 THE RACE PROBLEM. great temptation to relieve their white friends of a part of their belongings, excusing their con- science in that they helped at least to make it, would he removed. AVe think, also, the virtue of the young women wTjuld be better guarded. It would be the pride of the better class of this race to use all possible means for the betterment of their moral condition. The knowledge of the fact that the eyes of all mankind are upon them, is the most powerful incentive to greater action, in the hope of winning applause, that is known. We will conclude this chaj^ter by contrasting the condition of the farmers and i)eople, in the western and mountainous section-; of the South- ern States, wiiere they are to be found only few in number, with the eastern and cotton sections, and in and near the cities and towns, where he forms a conspicuous part of the i)opulation, oftimes largely in the majority. In the former we find the farming people out <^f debt, most of them with some money, sometimes money lend- ers: whereas , in the negro sections, we find the fanners in debt, heavily mortgaged, and increas- ing their moi'tgages each year. What is the cause of this? There are two reasons. In the t'oiinci-. tilt' hand tliat giasps the dollar is llic liaiul that ma(U' i1. l)y working tor it : whereas, in th«' lattt'i", fainis arc too large, but chiefly, one white man will wear t he seat of his pants t liiv;i(ll),iiv Ml tlic sliadt' of a tiTc watcliiiii;- t wo A BARRIER TO INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS. HI negroes, not specially interested in^his success, doing what he might, with applied energy and muscle, himself do. The former works hard upon his own lands, and settles with himself for the labor done. The latter does not work at all, while the negro laborers, accustomed to the care- less and not over-exacting ways of his white friends, work poorly. Suppose you take from him his two negro laborers, send them upon lands of their own, and he takes hold Avith brawn and muscle and does the work himself, that which he has been in the habit of hiring done. What would be the result? Each of the negroes on his own land would do good work, putting forth their best efforts to improve their homes and earn a support for those dependent upon them, while the family of the man with threadbare pants would witness an era of prosperity, enjoying comforts and luxuries to them before unknown ; instead of paying double wages for not the best of labor, with improved farming implements, brain and muscle, he would do the work and set- tle with himself for the labor. Hl> THE RACE PROBLEM. CHAPTER VI. THE BURDEN OF EDUCATING THE NEGRO RACE TOO ORE AT FOR THE SOUTH ALONE. Another strong argument favoring the separa- tion of the two races in the South and the colo- nization of the negro, is, we think, the matter of education. Our Southern folk have acted a noble part in this work. With fortunes swept away by the ravages of war, with millions of slaves made free, clad with all the habiliment of citizenship, densely ignorant of their rights as such, unfitted for the new conditions, our people set themselves to work to ]-emove the pall of ignorance over- hanging this race, and prepare them by education to properly appreciate and u&e all rights and privileges given them by President Lincoln's Proclamation. We have s])oken of this in an- other chapter of this woik. It is. however, our purpose here to enlarge upon what has already been said. No ])eopl(' oil earth ever acted more nobly than (lid oiif |»eople of tlie Soul lierii States with regard to negro education. By Mr. Lincoln's ])roclama- tion this race of j)eople, who ft^r generations had V)een their slaves and their proj)ei-ty. were made citizens wit li <'(|iial rights before the Inw. All EDUCATION OF THE NEGRO. 68 history does not give a more conspicuous exa]n- ple of forbearance without murmur, of a more wiUing and ready adjustment to new conditions. The people of the South set themselves to work to repair their broken fortunes, to educate their own children and the children of their old slaves. Our State Constitutions were remodeled to suit the new conditions. What a monument of glory to the generosity of the hearts of our Southern folk, to bind ourselves and our posterity to edu- cate the children of a slave race. The yoke of this burden was self-placed upon our neck. Our people felt kindly to the old slave. He had stood a faithful sentinel, guarding the homes of our mothers, wives and daughters while the boys in grey were upon the battle field of Virginia fight- ing to perpetuate his slavery. Then, too, he had au affectionate regard for his master, his wife, and their children. The old nurses had been as faithful in raising the children of their mistress, as they had been raising their own and loved them as well. We assumed the burden willingly, imposed the tax which the whites then and now almost exclusively pay, for the education of his child as well as our own. The burden was a great one, but like true men we carried it and paid the tax, not grudgingly, but with a willing and open hand. Then there was another reason which prompted the people of the South ; we felt that the best results flow from a trained and ed- H4 THE KA' E PROBLEM. ucated citizenship. Tlie fabric of the criminal law excused no one of (n'ime on the scoi-e of ig- norance. Justice demanded that the citizen made amenable to the law for crime, should be educated in the knowledge of the law, which punished for crime, that he might know the thing is forbidden and learn obedience to the law. Responsive to the demands of justice, to en- lighten an ignorant people, to fit them for citi- zenship, to give them an understanding of our institutions, to acquaint them with the law and the ways to observe it ; as Christians, to ])repare them for religious truths, and to teach them that good citizenship consisted in obedience to official requirements; to love the form of government under which they lived, was the task our people willingly took upon themselves, and have faith- fully discharged the responsibilities thereof. We do not mean to be forgetful of the assis- tance rendered in negro education in the South by our Northern friends, both in furnishing teachers and means to build school houses, and establishing larger institntions of learning, which is a monument to their generosity and Christian j>urpose. Ill speaking of the disposition of the Southern people to iicgi-o education. W. .). Hai'ris, Com- missione]' of Education, in his able rej)ort for 1S!H— 1s9,8(»(i; Louis- iana — white, 203,400; colored, 2U),T00; South Carolina — white, 171,60(i; colored, 28S, 100 (here we find much over fifty per cent of the i)ublic school revenue goes to the education of the ne- gro children, while in Alabama and Georgia nearly fifty per cent ; in North Carolina and Flor- ida, forty per cent; Virginia, forty and a thiid per cent; in Texas and Arkansas, thirty-three and a third per cent. These statistics are given that it may be seen in those sections of the South wherein the negro is most populous, is imposed u])on the whites the almost incalculable burden of educating the children of a propertyless race of people who pay no taxes. Commissioner Harris shows that in these States seventy-five to eighty million dollars have l)een expended in th(^ education of the colored chihhen since ls7f> to the school year of 1S!);ms!»4. It is estimated upon the same basis for the years of isi>4-lsi>.-,. ls!»,vis!u;, ISIHJ-lsit: twenty niil- bons more will be added since ls7o,600 live in the States of Vir- ginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, about three- fourths of the total, making these eight States, of the one hundred million dollars pay seventy- five million dollars. Texas and Arkansas have done their part too. In these States there are, in Texas, :U!3,50() negro children of school age — Arkansas, 12-i,500, at the same ratio. Texas has paid about eight millions, Arkansas about four millions in the v^^ork of educating this race, while the six other former slave States (Missouri, Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia) have paid only thirteen million dollars. These figures are not accurate, but are approximately correct. Who, then, will say that the matter of educating this race should be left alone to the Southern people. The proclamation of President Lincoln, si)eak- ing for the people of this Union, made the slaves free. By amendment to our Constitution he was made a citizen of the United States and the State wherein he resides, with all the rights, privileges and protection under the law enjoyed by othei- citizens — indeed, made equal before the law with all men. We insist that in the beginning the public burden of educating this race should have been shared among the whole people of this »5S THE RACE PROBLEM. Union. Certainly, since we have, unaided, for a whole generation sustained the burden of edu- cating this race. We of the South believe we have discharged our duty, and that now and from this time onward the whole people of the United States should be taxed for the education of the negro children. The people of the South never for one moment would ask to be relieved and discharged from their proportionate share of this burden, but do ask in equity and justice that the people of other sections contribute by taxa- tion their share of this obligation. We believe that when the well-meaning and thoughtful make an equitable and just examination of the situation, they can reacli but one conclusion, and that is, that this race made free by the people of the United States, should be the wards of this nation. That the South, having for a generation faithfully fuinish<^d the revenues for the educa- tion of this })ropertyless race, the time has now come when the task of lifting from tliem the pall of ignorance should be the work and care of the whole nation; that every citizen of the United States, every foot of soil and every dollar should bear its just proportion of tliis burden. No <»)it' Would (liiiik for a monieiil that the jtlan vvonld work \v«'ll for tin' gent^-al (iovcrn- meiit U) make an appro]»riation of the money to l)e expended in n<'gro education living among the whites, there would lie jaiiiui:' friction and EDUCATION OK THK NEGRO. {\U troubles innumerable, bad enough soon to destroy any movement like this made for the sole l^enefit of a race living at tlie same time upon the same soil with another race of people. Then how should it be done, alid what is the plan? Colo- nize the negro ; place these people to themselves, and then you have at once solved the difficulty. The general Govei-ument then could make an ap- pi'opriation of money to be used in the education of this race of people, limited only to the States and territory wherein they are colonized; then have the State wherein they are now thickly set- tled, so amend their Constitution as to give to the children of the negro race only the school fund gathered from the taxes levied upon the property owned by this race, the effect would at once be felt. From such States, after the Con- stitutions have been amended as suggested, for want of means to educate their children, foi' let it be said the negro Ukes to go to school. The enn' - gration movement would at once take possession of them, and ere long the purpose intended would be accomplished, this people would gather them- selves together in their own dominion, where they could receive the benefit of the appropria- tion for the education of their children, and other purposes which the peo|)le of the United States, through their Congress, would, we beheve, most generously and liberally give. The sum of this appropriation cannot be accurately given, by es- »<• THK RACE PROBLEM. tiinatioii wu believe between six and eight mil- lion dollars are expended annually in the former slave States in educating the children of this rare. What part of this sum added to the sum of the taxes gathered from these negro colonized States cannot be fairly estimated. The author is not wedded to any plan of his own for obtain- ing the money necessary to aid these people col- onized, in their education; if by direct tax the result would be better, then let us have that w^hich is best. We believe, however, aid through Congress would be by far the better plan. The main object aimed at, is the equalization of this burden among all the people of the Union. We l)elieve that all people will admit the justice of the claim of the South, that the expense of edu- cating this race should be borne by all the people of the United States alike. It was the act of the Union, the work of the nation in liberating the slave; the South was not only deprived of his ]>roperty value, but for a genoation have alone boiiie the burden of his public education. We insist, in th<' l)eginning, that the education of this race should have been the work of the na- tion. If it be true that this claim was then just, bow iiuicli iiKuc must it be now. There are many good people tluoughout the North who thought this denumd a reasonable one. and proved tbeii' failfi in Ibe laige and geii- erons donalions uixfn in maiiv sectioir^^ t'oi' the EDUCATION OF THE NEGKO. 71 establishment of many institutions for their edu- cation. Inspired by the generous action of the South, aforementioned in this chapter, the splendid efforts made in the face of grave difficulties, the self-imposed burden in the midst of their great poverty, incident to the war resulting in the lib- eration of the slaves, we believe that the well- meaning men of the Northeast and West would respond in their hearts and minds, "Yes, tliat it is only just, fair and equitable that this property- less class of people who, as slaves, were liberated by this nation without compensation to his owner, the burden of whose education, for a generation has been borne by the Southern peo- ple alone, should now become the task and bur- den of the whole people of this Union." The South asks no relief from its share of this bur- den. It could not if it so disposed. All it wishes is that the people of the whole country share it with them, which could only be done by separa- ting the two races and by legal enactment of Con- gress, providing some means and raising the rev- enue necessary for this great and laudable pur- pose, • -2 THE RACE PROBLEM. CHAPTER VII. DOES EDUCATION KDlJCATE V The value of the answer to this query depends largely upon wlio makes the answer. Of course there are many who will quickly say, '* X"^, that the education of this race is a worthless expendi- ture of money. They are incapable of receiving or gritsping learning of any considerable value." Then there are many more who will answer the query in the negative, in violation, we fear, of judgment, in order to satisfy the feeling of prej- udice against the education of the negro, espe- cially when he contributes little or nothing of the pay for the same. To answer the (jucry trutlifiilly is not an easy task, for the answer certainly cannot be based upon sufficient ex})erience. Therefore, it must be in part speculative. We believe the thoughtful, disposed to honestly and fairly answc;- the ([ues- tion after careful and diligent invcstigalion. will answer the query in the affiiniativc. A generation of experience in the school room is not suflicit'iit t<» jiuigc oi" t lie intellectual cai)aci- ti«'S of any pcojjlt' just emci-gcd from a condition of slavish ignorance; but there is underlying this suV)ject, necessary to reach a correct conclusion, an cx|M'ii('ncc wliicli ca:i never he liiiiiisheil so DOES EDUCATION EDUCATE ? 73 long as the two races continue to occupy the same territory. It is proposed here to divide the discussion into two parts: First, the education of the negro among the whites under present conditions throughout the South. Second, the separate education of this race colonized after the plan proposed in this work. Something has already been said of the want of an inspiring cause in a preceding chapter, yet in the absence of inspiration, ambition chilled lor want of place and field to display or utilize their attainments, we find the children of this race energetic in study, keeping well apace with the children of the white race, at least until a certain point is reached, which is usually after the ac- quirement of a limited knowledge of the three "■ R's, " reading, riting and rithmetic. " This is the experience and observation of the white Su- perintendents of the public schools in the differ- ent counties having in charge the schools of both races. It is the common observation not alone of superintendents, but of us all. We might be permitted to pause here and state, a strong factor in negro education at the public expense is the disposition of the parents of this race to compel their children to attend school, making any sac- rifice to this end. We cannot say as much for the whites; it is too often the case that white 6 74 THE RACE PROBLEM. children are permitted to follow the inclinations of their own mind, w^hich is* naturally frolic and play ; or for the convenience of parents, are kept at work, when they should be in the school- room, all of which furnishes a strong argument favoring compulsory education. After the requirement of the three " R's" has ])c'en attained, then a perceptible stop is seen, while the white children seem to push forward with greater ease and less exertion, proportion- ate to the growth of mind, than in the begin- ning. It is insisted by many that this is because the mind of the negro child has reached the limit of its capacity, while we will endeavor to show in the second division of this chapter, that sepa- rate education, after the plan of colonization, will bring out the latent energies of this people, revive in them their ancient glory, dormant dur- ing the intervening ages. Still we insist that their education, living among the whites, is by no means a failure, whether the evidence and experience of a generation warrants us in saying what the moral effect of educating the children of this race, or not, this we do know, that the higher institutions of learning for the education of the negro in tlie Soutli are turning out you)ig men and women by the hundreds, well e(jni]>)>('(l in mental training for tlie })Ositions in all tiie walks of life. One only need attend the Coni- iiK-ncciiii'nl cxci'cisc/. of" St. .\nirustine Colloiro DOES EDUCATION EDUCATE ? 75 and Shaw University at Raleigh, North CaroHna: Claflin University, Sonth CaroHna, and other colleges in Mississippi, the various higlier insti- tutions of learning in Georgia and other parts of the South, to he convinced that the capacity for the mental training of tliis race is far greater than many are disposed to admit. The minds of the skeptical, if they could be present at these Commencement exercises, would be put at rest. Their apprehensions and fears, that the negro must be a failure because of inability to learn and their capacity of intellectual development, will no longer be entertained, at least will not h ive tne same ground work for the basis of such foars and apprehensions. Now we reach the discussion of separate edu- cation, after the plan of colonization. We would call a man foolish who would in- vest his fortune and time in anything which could be after completed, of no value to him. We would call a man a fool who would work the best years of his life in acquiring a knowledge of a thing which could be of no pleasure and cer- tainly of no value, for want of an opportunity to utilize the same. This reasoning will apply to the folly of this race, spending their best days and money in acquiring an edu^.ation which can be absolutely of uo practical value to them. We do not mean to say there are no exceptions, and that education is never useful to the negro, for 7(; THK KACE I'KOBLEM. certainly a few of them are needed as ])reachers and teachers of this race while living along with the whites in the same territory. We are not speaking of exceptions. We here mean to speak of the wiiole race. What need is there of edu- cation for the negro under present conditions, further than a limited knowledge of reading, writing, and knowing how to make figures. There is no place for them, and they well know it, in the realms of learning along side of his white friends. In tlie mystic field of scientific exploration, he knows that he is not wanted, whatever may be his attainments, because of tlie color of his skin. He knows no good can come out of his centering his covetous eye on any of the positions occupied by the great men of this country, just so long, as in such position, he would be the representative of both races. 0? what value would the knowledge of the law be to him, when he knows the fondest hopes of his ambition can never be realized in a seat upon the bench of even our inferior Courts. The i)hysician of this race knows that while it is })()ssibl(i for him to become a member of the Medical Board of the State wherein he Hves. y>.^t the dispositi(jn to friM'ze him out will cripple his usefuUness and tend to bring him in select two locations, e(|ii;illy favoreil in ;i(lv;mtages. DOES EDUCATION EDUCATE? 77 with sc3ueiy sublim3 and beautiful, the cUmate salubrious, in short, equally possessed of all the heart and eye can desire for mental and moral training, and here plant two colleges for the edu- cation and training or young men, equip each of these institutions with a President and Faculty of equal merit and ability, and in each make the standard of education the same. At each of these institutions of learning educate annually one hun- dred young men. To the students of one close all the avenues of greatness, put place and honor, fame and distinction beyond their reach ; to the other give them license for entry in the competi- tive race among men for all positions of honor, fame and greatness, both at home and abroad, as President of this great Republic, as represen- tative of the Court of St. James, as Chief Justice of the United States, the greatest legal tribunal on earth, a seat in the United States Senate, Governors, and all that the ambition of men would hope to attain, would it be difficult to tell in which of these institutions of learning the students would make the most progress. Those denied all tbe superior advantages given the lat- ter would have the ambition of their souls chilled to the very marrow, college life would be tedious to them, while the latter in the consolation of hope and expectancy, with redoubled energy ? would push forward to the goal of success. Forcibly illustrating this idea, we will give a 7S THE RACE PROBLEM. little incident, which came nnder our observa- tion. In the fall of ISHO, during the Presidential campaign, we were driving in a private convey- ance to an appointment where we were booked to speak. The driver, a young man and a good specimen of his race, both })hysically, mentally and morally, we had known for years to be a first-class skillful horseman. It would be difii- cult to find one who could better manage and control a team of horses — all the years of his hfe lie had spent in this business, with no inconsid- erable experience u])on the turf. I said to him, calling him by name, " I have confidence in your ability and skill to manage horses. I expect there is not nmch you do not know about this animrd. " Yes," he said, in no spirit of vanity. " I know something of horse flesh. There is every rea- son why I should; from my earliest boyhood I have done nothing else. I like the turf, and am hjippiest when driving a horse of speed." But, said he, *' It will never be worth to me moi-c than the pay of an ordinary laborer, because I am a negro ; the color of my skin makes the train- ing of a life-time woi-tli oidy the i)ay of an ordi- nary laboi'cM- }>esid(' the wliite man ol e(jual al)il- ity, who will for iiis sei'vices command his own ])rice. "' NV(*11 do we know tlie truth of wliat this negro tuiTiiian said. This illustration will illusti'ate all along the line. No hope of rcMliziiig their am- DOES EDUCATION EDUCATE? 79 bition, is it any wonder they stop progress in schools and elsewhere, after learning only a suffi- ciency to serve their purpose in the ordinary affairs of a laboring man. Colonize this race of people, give them States of their own, give them State government. In short, give them all the attendant rights and privileges belonging to and enjoyed by other peo- ple of other States. Then we show you another view of the picture. Let the children in the school-room see open a gate-way leading into the fields of competition, wherein merit and ability has for its reward, success. Opening up to them the possibilities of greatness in the particular sphere of their choice, letting the ambitious eye of him, who likes the law, see in the distance a Judgeship. Of him who likes to govern, a Gul>- ernatorial chair. And to those whose tastes run in the direction of Statesmanship, a place in the United States Senate or a seat in Congress. Open the gateway, let these people into the fields of honest competition and rivalry. Assure them of the certain realization of the hope of their ambi- tion, whether it be in the way of property get- ting, as teachers, filling the minor offices or achieving distinction in occupying the highest position in the gift of their people, then you open up the beginning of a new era. With renewed hope they apply their enei'gies in a field of attainments heretofore almost un- 80 THK raw: IMiOBLKM. known to them. What a chtference it nnist make in the efforts of a man, no matter to what race he helongs, ambitious to achieve distinction, who knows that there is no barrier betw^een him and success save that of honest competition. How bhghting it must be to the hopes of him who knows that wJuitever may be his natural gifts, how^ever great may be his accomi)]ishments. he is handicapped on account of his color, and ex- cluded from participating in the pleasures and enjoyment of those honors, which, under differ- ent conditions, is the lot of men of learning and ability. Colonize these people under favorable condi- tions upon some spot where climatic and geo- graphical conditions is in keeping with the phys- ical requirements of this race, then let the gen- eral Government take auspicious care of them, having a supervising, parental control, with an eye single to their best welfare and success. Then our answer to the query, " Does education educate?" is with nuicli em])hasis. '' Yes.'" Tt is hoped the idea contained in this cha])ter will find lodgment in the minds of tliose, who in the past have contributed nuich in the effoit to educate the child i'< 'II of this race, and whose hope foi' their success in tlie future will causr lliciii to make a careful and faitlifnl examination ol this subject, believing that Mic conclusion icaclicd will !)(' the oid\" siicccssl'ul wav of cdiicat iiiu.' tin- DOES EDICATIOX EDUCATE? 81 negro race, is to place them where, when edu- cated, the same field of honor and em])loyment are open to them, as to the meritorious and suc- cessful of other races. This done under the watch- ful and solicitous eye of the Government, then education will educate; otherwise, for genera- tions yet to come, there will be much ground for criticism among those not predisposed in favor of negro education. 82 THE RACE PROBLEM. CHAPTER VIII. THE POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES OF COLONIZATION. We come now to discuss colonization in its re- sulting effects upon the politics of the South. The 13th and 14th Amendment to the Consti- tution of the United States clothed the negro with all the rights of citizenship, and with un- restricted and unqualified right of ballot. We will refrain from a discussion of the moral right or wrong of this act on the part of the people of this Union, for the purposes of this work we are not called upon to engage in the discussion of that question. The ignorant negro was well educated by the Republican party in the knowledge of the fact that his freedom and his right of citizenship was its gift ; and that in return for it he owed ever- lasting fealty to this i)arty. No teachers were ever more successful. First, they taught in part the truth, but they seem to have been successful also in teaching that it was the duty of the ne- gro to be everlasting in his fealty. We of the South have long since learned that K])hi"iim is joined to his idol, and we will let him alone. In latter years the more thoughtful have i-eached this conclusion, that it is best he slioiild continue joined lo his idol, tji.il llie political disintegra- tion ol the negro as a |»aity is not to be desii't'd. CONSEQUENCES OF COLONIZATION. S;} First, for that so long as he solidly remains a part of the Rejiublican })arty, and our campaigns are conducted on the color line, it solidifies and unites the white people. Second, he has learned that the Caucasian will always govern, there is no political preferment for him into whatever party he may go. This, of course, would always make him a floating and purchasable vote, which is not desired in any country. Then, too, he is almost sure, with few exceptions, to unite himself with the less com- petent to govern, for the reason, we suppose, there lurks in his innermost soul a desire to even up, by inflicting the punishment of bad officials upon the white people who he knows will never permit him to occupy any position of honor or trust or take any part in Government. He also knows that he can stand incompetent and bad officials with far less injurious efi'ect than can his white friends w^ho own the bulk of the prop- erty. He is sure always with his vote to jeopar- dize the progress and prosperity of the section wherein he lives. It is not our purpose to say (moreover, we dis- avow such intention), that there are no good Re- publicans in the South, or that any of these are ever elevated to official positions. We mean only to speak of existing political conditions, which tend to make the solid South ; and while tempo- rarily the line may be broken, the same condi- 84 THE RACE PROBLEM. tions will cause each State teini)oranly a loss, to swing back in line. Again, there is much feeling manifested between the two races in political times, even to unwillingness among the masses, to have the negro vote the Democratic ticket. The poorer class of white people do not want the negro to vote with them. Of course this feeling, the causes whi(^h tend to divide the Avhites from the blacks in politics in the South might be en- larged upon. There is much more that could be said of the past history of the neg:io in politics in the South since the late war. We might re- view some of the consequences of his pohtical acts, in putting upon us in the early days of and following reconstruction times, bad and wicked men, whose acts and misdeeds ])r()ught us to des- perate straights, oftinu^s to humiliation, shame, and almost to the very verge of dishonor. But we will refrain from further reference: it is not our purpose to offend any ; rather it is our inten- tion, in these pages of this book, to offer facts proving a condition in su})})ort of our argument for the colonization of this race of people. All of us know the past and })i'(^sent ett'ect of these conditions upon our peo]»le and section at Wash iiiL;i oil. ( )iii- t rrat mciit at the hands (if any administration is substantially th^'samc. While for the past years, the Soiitli has hfcn solidly Democratic, still the gi-cat I )(ino(iali<- |»ait\ of the Cnitcd States has rc^garded it solid as a mat- COXSEC^UENCES OF COLOXlZATlON. 85 ter of necossity, Id order to protect its people from negro domination and misrule. This true, we have not received the consideration at the hands of this party which is our due. Likewise a Republican administration is not considerate of the claims and demands or the South, for that it argues, with truth, that the South is a Demo- cratic stronghold. We get nothing in the Elec- toral College from this section. We therefore have something to gain by bestowing the honor- ary patronage of this Government, like ambas- sadorships, consulships and other honorary places upon men of other sections. This is owing to the presence of the negro. The South, great as it is in resources, where the munificent hand of na- ture has been lavish in her gifts, the climate sa- lubrious — in short, possessed in a large degree of all that goes to make up one of the rarest, richest and most magnificent sections on the globe, populated by a people in intellect, the equal of any, the home in other days of some of the bright- est and most conspicuous lights which adorn the pages of our nation's history, is ignored. It is true either administration may throw out a few crumbs to appease the anger it party lead- ers in this section, but in the matter of substan- tial recognition, we have no place, no honors, no gifts, while the hope of a President or Vice-Pres- ident from this section is only a dream. Politi- cally and otherwise, as we have seen in the pre- si; the race problem. ceediug chapters, this race forms the boue of contentiou, the point of divergence between the sections, north and south of Mason's and Dixon's hne. To insist that the people of either of tliese sec- tions desire to keep up this bitterness of feehng and sectional antagonism is folly. It may be that for political purposes, orators wave the bloody shirt, appeal to the passions of their au- dience in order to insure party success, wiiilf the thoughtful and true of both sections would wel- come the obliteration of every vestige of sectional feeling as one of the richest and rarest gifts from heaven's storehouse; but alas, so long as they remain a part of and mixed with th(^ population of the South, we fear they will continue uninttn- tionally the cause for outbursts of feeling and bitter contention between the two sections. Col- onize the negro and this cause of difference will be forever removed. Strife between the two sec- tions will end. The two great parties will divide up tlie white ]) 'Ople of the South; the great issues of differ- ence between the parties will have as many suj)- })orters on the one side as upon the other. Our losal State government will he satisfactory to the pf'oplc with cither ])arty in powiM'. No longer will a solid Demo.-ratic representation go to Washington from tli*' difn^rent States. The ne- groes, foi- S(»in ' lime to come, of cour-^e, woild CONSEQUENCES OF COLONIZATION. ST send representatives of only one party. Soon they would find the necessity of two parties. The South would then take her proper place in the sisterhood of States, while the different adminis- trations will accord to her all that is due. The fact that a solid vote is given in Congress for or against any measure by a particular sec- tion, furnishes safticient cause for the united ac- tion of representatives hailing from other sec- tions. It is always better for the different sec- tions of this country if the representatives for each section should divide their vote, and espe- cially would this be true of the South. We have seen that a combination of circumstances, chief among them is the negro, has united our people in the South, sending almost a solid representa- tion to Congress of one party, which, as a rule, casts a solid vote. Under colonization this would stop, the solid South would be broken, the representatives in Congress would be made up of the two domi- nant parties, whose vote would be divided ac- cording to the necessities of the occasion and as local interests demand. The negro will l)ecome a student of political economy in his new home. In politics he will support the party whose policy best suits the material developments of the sec- tion and the progress of his people. A new era of prosperity would set in throughout the South ; no matter what party at the helm, the ship of 88 THE RACE PROBLEM. State \V(tul(l he steered into that haven wherein the material development and prosperity of the State is best preserved, the happiness and pro- gress of the whole people insured. Offices would no longer be used as a means of punishing the oppisition. In conclusion, the i)olitical consequences and effects alone offer a sufficient argument for the colonization of this race of people in a place where they will still be and remain citizens of the United States, entitled to all the rights and privileges as such; the general Goverament meanwhile having a great care for their well- hcing. happiness and success. COLONIZATION, RESULT TO SOUTH. 89 CHAPTER IX. THE RESULT OF COLONIZATION TO THE SOUTH AS A PART OF THE UNIOI.^ Ill the truest, fullest and broadest sense the South is in name only a part of the Union. There is a cause for this ; many, too many, answering this question without due deliberation, w^ould say, the war of the Rebellion. The pages of his- tory bear record in ancient or modern times of no struggle between men in arms which will compare with that between the boys who wore the blue and the boys who wore the grey. For fear that some one reading this chapter may misunderstand us, we wish to preface what follows by saying, we are at heart, if we fully understand ourself, truly loyal to this govern- ment. We cannot discuss the late war without a sigh intermixed with joy and sorrow; we are truly glad that the slave was made free, glad that our posterity will not^have for their inheri- tance fortunes made in the traffic of human lives, with all the attendant evils common to slavish conditions. We are glad that this Union was preserved unbroken, and we of the South and North have one government, one common country, free to all men. We regret the neces- sity of the struggle which .resulted in the defeat 90 THE RACE PROBLEM. of tlie bt)y.s who wore the grey, whose heroic- struggle amidst great privations has never been equaled in the world's history. We are glad, that although defeated, we went dowm with our face to the enemy, winning the respect of our foes and all people, without a blot upon the fair fame and honor of our glorious Southland. We are glad that on both sides the war was the occasion of bringing to the \vorkrs view the military ge- nius, eclipsing in greatness and s])leii(l<)r those who upon the field of battle won fame in any age. It is pleasant to contemplate, that after four years of conflict, nniid want and suffering, in times which tried men's souls, not only did the men who wore the gray lay dow^n their arms with respect to the boys in blue, but their heroic efforts, their almost inhuman struggle against terrible odds and superior lumibcrs. amid hardshijjs and trials, w^on for them as w«.'ll the great admira- tion of their generous foes. A1 the snri-ender at Appomattox, the two great armies jjarted with good will for each other, but in eontem))lation of the hardships of camj) life and Itloody l)attle fields, ripened into real friend- slii|». wliicli has heen inanifestly and nmnistaka- l)ly shown whenever an occasion has present(>d. since those lioublesoine times. Those who took |tait in Ihat nicnioial)le st I'uggle sinci-rcly liojie I'oi a rciiniiiii nol onK in name hnl in lad ; 1 hose COLONIZATION, RESULT TO SOUTH. U\ who would keep afresh the wound and flaunt the bloody shirt for the war's sake, were those who knew nothing of the hardships of this great struggle, who either fought in the great battles by substitute, or like Job's war horses, sniffed the smoke of battle from afar. Such knew not the smell of gun-powder, the roar of the cannon or the crying whiz of the deadly minie-ball. Those who answer the causes which make the South a part of this Union only in name, the war of the rebellion, are only mistaken. We must look for another cause. The fact must not be overlooked, that inter- ested in the great results of the war, there were far more than those who fought on the field of battle. The negro was freed, the institution of slavery abolished, while but few contributed to aid him in his struggle for existence amid the new conditions which surrounded him. he be- came the pet of the many who watched over him with jealous care, and pounced hawk-like upon the people of the South for every thing a jealous mind faacied a wrong done this race, without understanding the causss or the reasons which proaipted such action. While the soldiers in blue, and many others who felt like them, wish these animosities forever buried in a common grave, yet the editors of newspapers and many others, v/ithout regard to the consequences of their action, have kept the chasm of separation 92 THK RACE PROBLEM. apait, witli a teiuluucy to deei)cu and widen. The peoi)le of the South, in possession of the frail- ties common to all men. were naturally incensed. Our soldiers had laid down their arms and re- turned to their broken lionies sincerely desirous of peace and the hope to be let alone in the re- building of their lost fortunes, the whole South, with broken hearts over the "lost cause, '' bowed in honorable submission to the will of the ma- jority and wished complete restoration to the Union. We insisted, yea more, we pleaded to the North and Northern press to be let alone ; that our actions were not understood; judgment reached u])on tlie evidence contained in news- pai)ers, who wished cheap notoriety, was errone- ous. All, we are sorry to say, was of no avail. In the halls of Congress, upon the floors of the Senate, this warfare against the South for would- be outrages of the negro, was kept up. Inves- tigations were had, debates followed. Our Sen- ators and Representatives in Congress resenting the interference and defending our people from the slanderous charges, indulged in tlie use of bitter satire and severe language. They felt keenly the injustice of the interference and the effects of t])(^ outrageous slander. Of course w« kn(»w, and so did our Senntors and Re])r(^senta- tivcs in Congress, tliat lawlessness and riotous oiil bleaks would occasionally bappfii. just as i1h'\(Io in ibc North and Kasl. sometimes llie COLONIZATION, RESULT TO SOUTH. !»;'> court of Judge Lynch called into use and a negro hanged, just as was recently done in Ohio, and occasionally done in other Northern and North- western States; but we thought, and so did our Senators and Repi'esentatives, that it was inquis- itorial interference for the National Congress to take upon ii^Sc'lf the task of righting these troubles, of which the State Courts had jurisdic- tion. These unpleasant controversies tended to de^ fame our fair country in the eyes of the world, the influence and usefulness of our Senators and Representatives in Congress were lessened. The willing and receptive mind of countless thousands of the North heard and believed. These circum- stances, with the necessity of united action in the South to protect ourselves from negro domi- nation and misrule, made what is commonly called ;i solid South in politics, and as these agen- cies began to lessen, the mind of the North be- coming more at ease and less disposed to excite- ment, for want of belief of the inflamatory press publications, men like Senator Hoar. Lodge and others, for the double purpose of political advan- tage and humiliating the South, pressed upon us their inglorious force bill. Such a measure could only have emanated from the minds not kindly disposed to the section aimed at, wanting in statesmanship, in patriotism, and all else but hatred for the section intended to humiliate. many to know that the South is aot doing her duty by one-half in developing her resources, or in the way of wealth making, and thus contrib- uting her share to the greatness, power and wealth of the United States ; not because of any indisposition on the part of any of our people ; not because of any mental incapacity, but on ac- count of the presence of the negro race, not much more than fifty per cent of which are employed, with as many idle whites, made idle for reasons elaborately given in another chaj^ter of this work, which briefly repeated here is the presence of slavish customs which still obtain, making it degrading to work with the negro or do the work the negroes are usually employed to do. Every citizen of this Union is affected by the untoward conditions of the South. As yet we have seen no solution of the diffi- culty offered, a continuation of the troubles which disturb our social fabric, good order and law are certain to continue under existing con- ditions. Emigration and capital in any consid- erable amount will stay from our borders. The best of good will, feeling and brotherly love be- tween the inhabitants of the great Northern and Southern sections wn'U not be wdiat is desired. But we have a remedy. A remedy in w^hich all should feel an interest, because it concerns all. Let the people of the United States colonize the negro and at once a change will set in, so 1i(tad statt'smanshi|i. |iatiiotic COLONIZATION, RESULT TO UNION. 101 love, should inspire the great men of this coun- try to undertake the task deterniind to succeed, in solving the race problem in the South, for the sake of their love of country, but more for the sake of posterity. It may be that conditions in the South are at present tolerable, but who knows what the future has in store ? What man, inspired by the love of his people and the love of his country, is will- ing to bear with present conditions, to see a great country, inhabited by a great people, stagnant, blocked in the way of progress, peace and hap- piness; if the troubles can be removed, the diffi- culty solved, the condition of all made better ? Such is the problem of the South confronting the people of this nation. It is our duty as statesmen, patriots, citizens, as a great people to undertake the solution of this difficulty, for the sake of both races. This is a debt we, the people of the United States owe our own race in the South, a debt we owe to the poor negro, in no way responsible for his pres- ence here, and not to be charged overmuch ^\ith blame for the conditions existing in the South. The whites are better able to take care of them- selves. We in the South with white skins ask nothing in the solution of this difficulty, further than the assistance of the brain and thought of the people of this nation, in providing some plan by which a solution, forever settling our race 1(»2 THE RACE PROBLEM. troubles can be reached, while tor the negro we ask the material and substantial aid. We of the South would not ruthlessly turn theni aside in some secluded spot to solve the problem of his own future fortune. We would not, for the sake of the memories of the i»ast. we would not for- get the happy days of yore, when as slave and servant he was true to the trust in him reposed, doing his best for the success of his master's affairs. Those of us born in the days of slavery, can never forget the watchful and almost parental care of Uncle Tom and Black Mammy. How lovingly and tenderly they watched our first efforts to walk, and with what satisfaction they hstened to the lisping prattle of baby tongues. We know the jealous ])ride they had in the chil- dren of theii' owners. We remember the pleas- ant hours spent in the cal)in listening to the mar- velous stories of Uncle Tom and Aunt Dinah about the childhood days of our fathers and mothers: with what evident i)leasure Uncle Tom would tell that Master in childhood was just the si)rightliest and most active boy in the neighbor- hood; that Mistress in ber girlhood was the like- liest gal ill Ibc coiiiil \ . W I' ile the younger gen ^ eraiioii nl tbis lace may not make the citizen we desiii'. iii.iy give us fioiii lime to time trouble, yet 111!' iii;iii <»r set of iiicii wlnt will cliMrge. llial Wf 1)1 llie Sdlllli would be l( t|-gel I'ul of llic |)as1. COLONIZATION, RESULT TO UNION. 1(»:5 that the thoug-htful and influoutial of this section are unkindly disposed to this race, state that about which they know nothing, and which is false, in fact. You may doubt, ''that the sun moves, that the stars do shine, doubt the truth to be a liar," but never doubt the disposition and wish of the Southern people to have material and substantial justice measured out to the negro. In doing them substantial justice, we would have the whole people of this Union to join with us in making his future happy and prosperous. This we believe and insist can be done in colonizing the negro in some happily selected spot, suited in every way to his physical and mental develop- ment, letting the people of this nation the while, in every way, contribute substantial and mate- rial aid, especially caring for his mental and moral education, and aid him in the formation of his peoples' government in their new home. The whole Union is interested. The negro race is eight million five hundred thousand strong in this country, and just in })roportion as their lot is improved, they are made happier and bet- ter, the nation is made stronger. This is true of the white people of the South, as their condition is improved, the resources of this section devel- oped, the power and wealth of this Union in- creased. It would be criminal in a physician, knowing the disease and cure of a sick patient, not to apply the remedy ^d restore to health. lO-l THE RATE PROBLEM. One of the strongest members of the body of (•HI- Rejmbhc is languishing. We know tlie dis- ease, the cause; we have at hand the certain remedy and sure cure. To insist that anything less than colonization, the separation and remo- val of the two races from each other, is the pre- scrii)tion of quack doctors, w^ho, owl -like, look wise, and talk much, sell their medicines, draw their pa y, without understanding the disease of their patient. The proper treatment for disease is, first, to remove the cause and then the cure of the pa- tient. The end of troubles in the South between the races can only be permanently reached by a separation of the two people, and tlien the cure. The languishing member would then take in new blood, the development of our rich resources would set in, and soon the w^hole Body Union, affected by the disease of one of its strongest nu'mbers, will take on new color, new strength, power and influence. This whole Union is in- terested in the work, and the people of this Un- ion should further it until the results lio])ed for are accomi)lished. THE FUTURE WITHOUT COLONIZATION. 105 CHAPTER XI. THE TALE OF THE FUTURE WITHOUT COLO- NIZATION. Ill the foregoing pages of this work w^e have seen something of the feeling between the races existing throughout the Southern States. We have seen how^ the whites of the South have done their duty in the matter of educating the negro race. We have seen that while he owns but little property and pa} s less tax, his children have an equal opportunity in the public schools. It is a fact, that in so far as it is possible for tlje human mind to divest itself of race feeling, he gets equal and substantial justice before the law. In all places where he comes in contact with the intelligence of the white race, he receives kind consideration and just treatment. In re- turn for all this, the younger generation of this people show nothing but evident ingratitude, no signs of appreciation, and acknowledge therefor no debt of obligation. The chasm separating the white and black man in the South, instead of closing up, as all good men would desire, is widening and deepen- ing with each coming year. The dishke and hatred the negro bears for the poorer classes of the whites increases. Wherever this i-ace is in 106 THE RACE PROBLEM. the iiiajoiity, then the true inwardness of real feeling is seen, their manner is insolent and intol- erable. It is true the younger generation of this race seem to think their importance, where they are in the majority, is not felt or understood un- less he demonstrates in some forceful way his contempt for the poorer class of whites. No sane man would ever insist that the whites, under like conditions, would not be guilty in some de- gree of similar action. It is, however, a truth- ful fact, that the negro is largely resi)f)nsible for the conditions which exist throughout the South. Patience is ceasing to be a virtue, with a gener- ous peo])le. who for thirty odd years have done so much to better the condition of the freed man. to see in the generation which has come on since the abolition of slavery, so ungrateful, and show so little appreciation for the favors done. " Pa- tience ceases to be a virtue" with the whites of the South, who for thirty-odd yoais have heli)ed the negro in trouble, sheltered him in stress of weather, administered to his wants in sickness: in short, done what they could in every way to im})rove and better liim : to b.ave in return for it only a dispositi(tii 1<» humihalc his benefactors, to aid at the ballot box with his vote in placing in ])owei" to govern, not one of his own coloi-; for tliat would Im- impossiI>lc. I)iil in many in- stances those whose policy in every way tends to clieck the material growth and indspeiity of our Soiit lieiii count rv. THE FUTURE WITHOUT COLONIZATION. I(l7 Common talk amoug young negroes of the concessions they have wrung from the white peo- ple, and in the coming day, when with superior numhers they will whij* the whites into submis- sion to their will, which is often overheard, tends to make Ihies hard for this people. It is not wisdom to blind ourselves to real con- ditions, better far it is to prepare for the storm and seek harbor before w^e are in the midst of its destroying fury. " In times of peace, let us pre- pare for war.'' It would be well for the wise men of our country, in this day and generation, to drop the scales from their blinded eyes and see the conditions existing between the two races in the South as they are, to draw aside the veil of futurity, look down the vista of time, and see the result of race feeling in the South. They know, if they are willing to see, hear and be con- vinced, that we are resting upon a burning vol- cano, which while at present gives no signs of eruption, is gathermg within the forces wiiich sooner or latei- will belch forth with all of its fearful consequences, ruinous in its effect of one of the best sections of country on the globe. In the meantime, our commerce and trade w^ill lan- guish, our agricultural interests gradually lessen until our farmers become their only consumers, our mineral and other resources undeveloped. In short, instead of becoming one of the greatest sections of this great Union, which might rea- 108 THE RACE PROBLEM. souably be expected, on account of the salubri- ousness of the climate, the fertihty of the soil and the great magnitude of our undeveloped wealth and resources, we will drag along doing as we have done, ekeing out a most miserable existence. Do the signs of the times i)oint to good re- sults for the future in continued habitation, side by side with each other of the two races in the South ? For answer to the query, we point the reader to the preceding j)ages, wherein the au- thor has been careful to state truthfully the facts fairly and impartially as they concern each race. If we have been unjust we disavow any inten- tion of such. Do the signs of the times in continued habi- tation of Southern soil by the two races ])()int to bad results? Our answer is, ' ' Yes, to both races, just as certain as night follows day, just as sure as the crow of the cock oi- the song of the early bird are the signs of coming morn.'" Tdeii it is certain that race feeling is becoming more in- tensified and dangerous in its character as the years go by. "There are none so blind as those will) will not see, none so deaf as those wlio will not hear. '" Men of the South, men of the North, men of all ])arts of this glorious country, have voii eyes and see not? have you ears and hear not the truth ? Conditions of race feeling in the South as tbev are. will yon longer Ito hyp- TH-: PUTUKK WITHOUT COL -NIZAI ION. lO'J uotized into a state of happy ignorance, of the widening and deepening chasm separating the two races ? While the South has done her duty towards the freednian and his children, is willing still as a just people to continue to open the doors of our storehouse to the mental, moral and physical ne- cessities of this race, ungrateful as they are ; yet the time is coming when the hridge will no lon- ger bear its intolerable burden ; our people will tire of the practices of this race. It is natural, and even conmiendable in the negro to celebrate each returning anniversary of his freedom, permissible for him to take part in the Fourth of July celebrations, he is a citizen of this country, and has a right to celebrate her glorious past. Such action on his part is hopeful evidence of a proper appreciation of the great and glorious country of which he is a part, of the pride he takes in the future of his race, and all thoughtful men will commend him for it. But when this race of people so far oversteps the bounds of propriety as to celebrate the anniver- sary of Lee's surrender of the Army of the South, they are adding insult to injury, fuel to the burn- ing fire, race feeling, and shows unmistakable evidence of the growing dislike between the masses of these two races. We believe it will be a surprise to many to know this practice has been inaugurated, to what extent we are not as yet 110 THE RACE PROBLEM. prepared to say. We do know that in Hender- son, North Carolina, and perhaps in other places in this year, 18J*T, it was done. This would not offend, hecause of the results of the war and freedom of the slaves, for the South would not have liim back in his previous condition of ser- vitude ; but the celebration and rejoicing at our defeat in the most manly and heroic contest be- tween brave soldiers the world has ever seen; celebrated, too, in oui- very midst, on Southern soil, and in the very presence of those who par- ticipated in that great struggle, is naturally cal- culated to offend. Thoughtful men of each race cannot control this feeling, or bridge over this chasm of se])aration, try as they may. The signs are increasing, and point as unmistakably to- ward trouble in the South, if existing conditions continue in those sections where this race has become powerful and great, by reason of its su- perior numbers, as the gray dawn of the morn- ing and the red light in the east are evident signs of the coming sun. While the white race in the South have done miicli for the Idacks, we at the same time owe something to <»ui"selves, and in due lime, when the season is ripe for it, they will resort to such measui'es as will certainly insure safety and se- curity t(» our posterity, though it beat great loss and sacrifice. Wise men <»f" this coiintiy. Chris- tian wdim-ii. w liosc intbicnce is iifcMl in h\ij^h THE FTTTURE WITHOUT COLONIZATION. 1 I 1 places, be no loiij^er deluded, awaken to the truth, see the situation in its true light, and by com- mon action, with one united purpose now while we can, avert the awful consequences which await the people of the Scjuth, without regard to color or race. Let us do now while we can that which will insure peace and happiness to both races, wealth and prosperity to one of the most magnificent sections of our common country. The longer we postpone this work, the greater will be the undertaking. To neglect it would be criminal. Posterity in future years will cry out against us for our wilful failure in removing the cause which we well knew would bring upon our descendants troubles, the breadth and extent of w^hich we cannot measure. The pages of the future historian will be marred with strife between the races, riotous outbreaks, civil war, Southern soil again drenched in blood, not in a conflict of arms with other sections, but among and between the inhabitants of our own fair Southland. 112 THE RACE PROBLEM. CHAPTEli XIl. THE TALE OF THE FUTURE WITH COLONIZATION. We do not believe the milleDium is at liand, or that the world is so Christianized, men have ceased to think or do evil. We do, however, be- long to tliat class who know that there is yet much good, much of the milk of human kind- ness in the hearts of men. When the great ma- jority have come to take an account of stock and examine the real feeling of their hearts, jeal- ousies and sectional strife will give place to bet- ter sentiments, good will and happiness for all mankind. We are confident that all people with- in the pale of this Union wish for the genei-al peace, happiness and })rosperity of every section thereof, in this belief we invite the attention of the people of the United States to a solution of the race problem in the South. Of the necessity of action in this direction, we will not speak in this chapter. The reader is re- ferred to the preceeding pages for facts and ar- gument to sustain this need. We propose herein, with a draft ui>()ii the imagination, to paint a ])ic- ture of tlir tiitiiic after colonization. It will not be so iiiucli the work of imagination eith«'i\ I'oi" we believe, in the foregoing chai)ters, sufhcient proof has been givni to fuiMiish substantial and THK FUTURE WITH COLONIZATION. I 1 :> material coloring matter for the picture, while the good will and united action of the whole people, through our Congress, would furnish the strong frame of protection to the picture we will present. Separate the two races, cause the negro to move to the land set apart for him, to plant his own vine and fig tree, and the whites living upon the same soil to move out, make room for his uninterrupted course of self -government ; have the people of this Union contribute substantial and material aid in his mental, moral and physi- cal development ; send among them missionaries who have their success at heart, to educate them in the art of government ; in short, in every way supply the deficiency in their own material re- sources until they have had full and sufficient time to become self supporting, not in a bare possible subsistence, but in peaceful, happy and prosperous success; educated morally, mentally, and trained physically — all this done with the kind and parental good will — we have then gath- ered together the material for our })icture. With paint pot and brush in hand, let the work be- gin; let the world look on the rough material gathered for the work of the artist, examine the base of the structure, the land given them for their future home, the inhabitants as they now are, then abide its time for a generation, while the work of the builder and painter is going on. lU THE RACE PROBLEM. Ill the meanwhile, over among the whites an- other picture is in progress, in sole occupation of their own territory, wliere they live in exclusion of the other race, they are painting the picture of their future. Let us now pause. For a generation the negro has heen colonized ; the white and l)lack man have lived separate and apart, occupying sepa- rate and distinct territory. The world's atten- tion is invited to an examination of the negro nation in America, settled in the Southern })art of the United States. \N'itli aniaz(^ment and sur- prise they see a happy, peaceful and prosperous people, the unmistakable evidence of which is seen all around, broad acres well cultivated, yielding abundant croi)S to the husbandmen, on every side neat and hapj»y homes, with inmates in neat attire, with well-filled corn cribs and smoke house, stock-houses with horses, cattle and hogs in plenty are found everywhere, well attended schools with competent teachers dot- ting every hillside, the steam whistle and hum of machinery is lieard in every village, factories giving employment to thousands in every town, at each county seat strong jails and ornamental court liouses furnish the unmistakable proof tliat law and order is enforced; church s})ires everywhere pointing heavenward, where each S;ihl);ttli day the pcojilc ai'e tauglil tlic ways of tlir iiicfk and lowlv Jesus. Ilie value ol' moral THE FUTURE WITH COLONIZATION. 1 1 T) life and of the life to come. At the capital cities magnificent State buildings and great officers, chosen because of their })e('uliar moral and intel- lectual fitness to govern their people for the gi'eat- est good ; a healthy public treasury ; the public debt and taxation in keeping with the require- ments of a happy, prosperous and progressive people ; their State bonds selling above par in all the markets of the world; contentment is seen everywhere; the haunts of vice few; the virtue of their women comparing favorably with that of other women; divorces seldom; race pride evident ; while at the same time they show great good will for other people, often giving expres- sions of grateful acknowledgement to the white people of the United States and their Southern white neighbors for making colonization possi- ble, and for the substantial and material aid given them in their nations new home, with great promise everywhere of a still better future, looking to the revival of the ancient glory of their African ancentors. Nor have the whites been idle; the Southern country occupied by them has become the envy of a critical world. In the place of strife, the result of race feeling, we see peace, good will and obedience to law. The idle thousands kept out of employment at the time when the two races occupied the same soil, because of certain cus- toms which obtain, are at work; plenty and com- 116 THE RACE PROBLEM. fortable homes have taken the place of want and miserable huts; the population has been largely increased by millions of successful farmers and thousands of skilled artisans and factory employ- ees; the faces of all are marked with the evi- dence of a happy and prosperous people learned in the art of money making; no longer the care- worn faces of yore. Our villages have grown into towns, our towns into great and populous cities. Our magnificent forests have been con- verted into fertile farms. In a generation the population of the South has doubled, not made up of that class who threaten the peace and good order of society, but of a healthy wealth-making class, given to good morals and strict obv^dience to law. General stagnation and sloth have given place to the bustle and activity (^f >)usy life. Ca})italists, no longer afraid of racial disturban- ces, threatening the security of th(ur fortunes, have found profitable investment, investing mil- Uoiis m developing the resources of our Sontli- ern country. The South, always agi'icultiiral, is now a manufacturing people as well. In politics, the people are divided between the two great parties; no longer a solid delegation of one politi- cal faitli is sent to rej)resent the section at the nation's Capital. The j)endulum of success swings ironi one to the other great parties; the Sontli lias taken liei- place of |>ower and inlln- eiice in 1 lie cunncils of this nation, the wave of THE FUTURE WITH COLONIZATION. 117 prosperity has swept over the entire Southland. Tourists returning from their travels through the South among hoth races tell of a people prosper- ous and hap]>y, and of a heautiful land, which fioweth with milk and honey. Such is the tale of the future in the South after colonization. Without it stagnation of bus- iness everywhere, farms grown up, fences decay- ing; want and discontentment mark the faces of the unhappy people ; race conflicts disturbs the peace and order of society ; the march of progress turned backward ; that great expanse of country, which should be the garden spot of the wcjrld, if not a barren waste, at least the Rip Van Winkle section of the United States. Statesmen, patriots, noble men and Christian women of this great country, we appeal to you and ask if the picture is not worthy of your care, ful consideration. 118 THE RACE PROBLEM. CHAPTER XIII. WHERE SHATJ. WE COLONIZE THE NEGRO? In selecting the location for the colonization of the negroes of the United States two things should he considered: First, his presence here against his will; the use made of his brawn and muscle. Second, a climate and section suited to his mental, moral, physical and constitutional devel- opment. In considering the first division of this subject, we are reminded that he was brought to our shores against his will and in chains, tlie willing- consent of his mind and heait i)laye(l no part in this work. No one will deny tliat his transpor- tation, from the wilds of Africa into conditions of slavery in the United States has i-esultecl in great and iiuali iilaV)le good to this people, and may be the means and agencies emplov(Ml in the unknown future of civilizing his entire race at home in Africa. The fact that he was at the time of bis comini::, an unwilling visitor, gives him a claim at least with hojte based upon ex- pectation of just and fair treatment. They ruth- lessly torn from lionir and friends, brought amidst strangeis. who hecame his masters and had till' heiiefil of his sefviceas slaves for irener- WHERE COLONIZE THE NEfiKO ? 1 1 1» ations, certainly would expect kind and just con- sideration in his freedom from the hands of those directly responsible for his present condition. Moreover, his brawn and muscle in the days of yore, with axe in hand, felled the trees in our mighty forests, cleared the sites for our cities and towns, and made the plantations for our fleecy white cotton. What the South was befoi-e the war between the States was largely the result of his labors, great crops of lint and other materi- als which supplied the markets of our new world were the products of his work, the value of his own body and person was added to the value of our wealth, w.nle the product of his toil was the gain of the white man. If our people were pow- erful and influential, he made them so. Nor to be just, should we be unmindful of the fact, that he has done his share in the dev^elopment of our resources since the war; and in whatever of pro- gress we have made in rebuilding our broken for- tunes since that terrible conflict, he has done much, notwithstanding the barrier, the result of race feeling and conditions existing, of which we have heretofore spoken, to the general pi'osperity of our country. We should not be unmindful of what he has done in the past, and the part he has had in the slow progress of the South in lat- ter days. Again, the fidelity of the negro at all times to the interest of his owners while in slavery, and 120 THE RACE PROBLEM. especially tlie uii])aralled example of his faithful watch of Southern homes, our mothers and sis- ters, wives and daughters, while the gray were battling with the blue to perpetuate his slavery, should at least claim our kind and thoughtful consideration. The love of humanity should play its role in the selection of the spot suited to the needs of the black man. The good people of the United States would be unwilling to put him beyond the pale of touch and easy communication : undoubt- edly their pupose and wish would be to better his condition. To do this it would be necessary to have liim in reach of assistance at some point where the Government could have an immediate view of his situation, necessities and the progress he is making, where the results of colonization coald be watched, not by a few, but by many, and where quick remedies could be apphed in the weak spots wherein the plan of colonization needed quickest assistance. Where oiii' i)eople could be by example his teachers and in easy reach of missionaries, who, for the love of hu- manity and the welfare of this race, would help him on to success. These reasons, of course, |)]ay a strong ])art in the s(^lection of territoi'v for this })eo|)l('. W'r now :i|»|>i(>a( li the second point to be con- sidered ill this chapter, the climatic and geo- giaphical sit nation with I'egai'd to theii- ni<'ntal, WHERE COLONIZK THE NEGRO? Ill moral, i)hysical and coDstitutioiial development. Thejiegrojs^a^plant of hot-house requirements; he came from the sunny tropics of Africa; he is not accustomed to a cold climate, nor will his physical composition admit of expt>sure to ex- cessive cold \ihe becomes an easy prey to the rav- ages of pulmonary diseases, common to cold coun- tries. In a large majority of instances, where they go from the Southern States to the North- ern cities, they soon become victims to consuni[)- tion. The beginning of the slave trade was in the New England States. This was soon abandoned, for the reason just given. It was found unproht- able, because he could not stand the severe cold of New England. Gradually the commerce turned to the South. It was found the tropical suns of the Southern States was better suited to his phys- ical and constitutional needs, and more like the hot climate of Africa, from whence he had been brought.. Of course, then, any idea of a region where severe^cold and winter are common, would be suicidal^and out of the question. Nor would any place beyond the })ale of United States, as some have suggested, be considered for a mo- ment, because it would be eminently uufair, un- just and bad treatment, like which the })eople of the United States could not and would not be guilty of. Under our Constitution, by our own act, we made^him'a citizen of the United States. 9 l-J-2 THE RACE PROBLEM. He came here not of his own will, brought here through the agency of oui- people, it behooves us then from every possible moral standpoint to give him an equal chance in the race of life, be- sides that any other course could not be taken without amending our Constitution, which our people, in that particular would uever permit. Since the foot of this race was first planted on our soil, he has lived upon every part of the United States, during which actual experience has shown that he thrives better on Southern soil than elsewhere, the climate is nearer like that of his native home, than we have elsewhere within our borders. Nor would it be right, if colonization is possi- 1>1('. to colonize in some new and unbroken re- gion, like Arizona or New Mexico, which has been suggested by some. Then, without doubt, the place of the United States best suited to the requirements of this people, is in that belt near- est the Gulf of Mexico and in the Mississippi Valley, found in the three States of Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana; and if these threo be found insufficient, then Arkansas might be ad- ded . Til ere are two controlling reasons for select- ing Alabama, Mississi]»)M and l,ouisiana. First, oar Soutlicni climate is all tliat is desii-ed in these States for i\u' hcallli and constitutional needs of the black man. In Miesecond place, already there ale nioie (.(■ this lacc of ])('o])le living tbei-e than WHERE COLONIZE THE NEGRO? l-2'A we tind iu any other three States of the Union, with a largely increasing and growing tendency during the past decade, to emigrate and settle here from other sections ; the natural increase of the negro population in these States, augmented by this gradual but constant stream from othei- sections, will in the very near future be so great that the white population will be lost, over- whelmed iu this growing sea of black humanity. Nearly one-third of the negro population of the United States live in the three States above named, while about seven-eights of the whole negro population live here and in other Southern States, in close proximity to these three. Again, there are more negroes in these three Southern States than there are whites. The census of 1 89( » shows a total colored pop- ulation in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana of :>,()02,2+o, while the total white population is 1,98H,280, a difference of ()o,9()(». The total number of the negroes living in the United States in 189u was 7,(i88,8HO. Calculating on the same ratio of increase from 1880 to 1890 for the years from 1890 to 1897, we have now living in the United States 8,885,845, of which about 2,202,- 4H4 live in the three States of Alabama, Missis- sippi and Louisiana, less than one-third and con siderable more than one-fourth of the entire ne- gro population. We find, including the proper ratio of increase 1_>4 THE RACE PROBLEM. of both races, from ISiH) to 1S9T, there are whites and hlacks together, 4:,H82,St)+ hving in these three States, with room a i)lenty for four or five times as many more; having the white popula- tion to move out, we have here territory sutfi- cient to contain the entire negro population of the United States, not only of to-day but for a century to come. In view of the fact that near one-third of this people already live in these States, it would be less difficult to get others to go with their people living there. The author is confident that when the matter of place is care- fully considered, after recounting our obligations to this race, his physical inability to withstand colder sections, the injustice of sending him upon untried and unbroken soil, the fact that experi- ence has shown that he is happy, healthy and contented in the sunny cotton belt of the Gulf section, the conclusion will be reached with irre- sistible force, that duty says Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana is the favored si)ot. Here, as be- fore said, his race are already in the majority, yet living well, traveling the roid of life and suc- cess at a commendable pace, with institutions of Ifiiniiiig for this race as good as the best, \vher(> he is in as easy touch of the white peojJJe of this country as it is possible to place bin; this section of all others is the favored one to be the future home (»f file iicgi'o n.ition bving in the I'nilcd States. WOULD THE WHITES EMIGRATE ? 1 -i; CHAPTER XIV. WOULD THE WHITES EMIGRATE FROM THE SEC- TION SELECTED FOR THE NEGROES? Of course our white friends living iu Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana when first put to them, would give a very positive and decided "No" for their answer to the question, would they emi- grate from their States, sell our their farms and homes, and bid adieu forever to the land that gave them birth. Nor is it a question which could be promptly answered, it is of such mo- mentous propoi'tion that its answer would require much deliberation and careful study. This done, when they have come to examine the matter in the light of wisdom, looking as well as can be into futurity, for the sake of posterity, then, doubtless, would be the beginning of a reconsid- eration of the first answer. Slow would be the process of reasoning for the solution of the prob- lem. The answer to the question put to them is a serious one, the magnitude and greatness of which cannot be easily measured. We are well aware there are many serious and perplexing questions to be answered by the peo- ple now occupying this territory, some of which would stir the uttermost depths of the great sea of sorrow, the hallowed memories of the i)ast. 1:^ing with thcii- past glory, self-sacrifice and patriotism, an an swer which will be for the goo(^ of the whole Union, of the whites of the South, and especially good U)v tlie negiH) race. Tlu'ir answer wonld nn- donbtedly l)e "Yes" to the (juestion, tlie }»rohlein of which so vitally concei-ns oui- jtosterity and the Intni-e of onr once glorious Southland. WOULD THK WHITES EMIGRATE? ll'T They see through the mist of years the fright- ful consequences of intercommunion and hfe upon the same soil of the white and black races. While conditions may be tolerable, and hardly tolerable now, yet the passage of time which gradually brings us to the distant future, is also gradually unfolding a tale which would mar the pages of the future historian. Es})ec- ially is this true in that section wherein this race is largely in the majority, and who as time gradually comes and goes will more and more assert their power. Another thought here we will mention, which will assist the people of this section in giving a favorable answer, is that the white race in these States will not increase ex- cept from natural causes, while the tendency of negro emigration is already to these parts, which in future will rapidly increase, for the reason that, they like race power; and as intelligence with them increases in future, more and more will the disposition to emigrate thither grow ui)on them. No one expects that our people in this section will at once sell their homes either to individuals or the general government, abandon their pos- sessions ,'and move away to [make room for the negro I'ace. This work must be one of slow growth, but come it certainly will ; if it is a sac- rifice, which we seriously doubt, will for the sake of posterity, certainly be made. Conditions may 1:2S THE HATE PUOBLEM. be tolerable to-day, but every true man and ))a- rent wishes to better his affairs to-morrow, and for the sake of his children struggle to leave them an inheritance, morally, mentally and ma- terially better than was his; an all-wise Provi- dence has made the pai-ent love in all nature, strong and seli'-sacrificing, the ties of parental obligation is the incentive which moves men and women to great deeds for the sake of their off- spring. The same parent love, common to all nature, planted in the breast of creation by an all- wise Creator and akin to God-love, Avill inspire the white people of the South, for the sake of their children and posterity, for the sake of un- born genc^iations, through whose veins will flow their own blood for all time, will solve tht^ prob- lem which disturbs the present and threatens the future even into annihilation of the weaker race by moving out, surrendeiing their home and the land of their nativity, to make room foi- the abode of the l)lack man, ending race conflict, restore j^eace, order and obedience to law, wliere disturbances and dangerous outbreaks threaten- ing the good oidci- and well-being of society, now exist, and in so doing, build for themselves a inoTuiineTit which for s<'lf-sacritice for tlie good of tbcir connti'v and the love of their own race. will \)c 11m' |)i'id»' and glory of posterity. CONCLUSION. iJ'.t CHAPTER XV. CONCLUSION. AVe have seen in the foregoing pages of this book the animosities and race feeUng existing between the white and black races in the Sontli- ern iStates. AVe have seen the causes which have led to this deep-rooted dislike for each other. How that certain Northern papers are pleased to fan the already burning fires, for none other than the selfish purpose of enlarging their circulation and increasing their bank account, causing tlie impassable gulf to deepen, widen and lengthen beyond the possible hope of ever bringing its shores in touch one wath the other. How" that certain persons in the beginning- helped to plant the seed of discord, yes, even hatred, by talking of amalgamation between the noble race of people that live in the Southern States and the negroes, their former slaves. We have seen that these causes are increasing as the years go by, and as the old ex-slave gradually passes away, their influence lost upon the younger generation, the negro race becomes more intolerable to the whites; while the lattei-. forgetting plantation memories, the tales and traditions of the happy past, as the older heads l:'.