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diff --git a/29714.txt b/29714.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d130fc0 --- /dev/null +++ b/29714.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4357 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Negro Farmer, by Carl Kelsey + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Negro Farmer + +Author: Carl Kelsey + +Release Date: August 17, 2009 [EBook #29714] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NEGRO FARMER *** + + + + +Produced by Tom Roch, Stephanie Eason, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. (This +file was produced from images produced by Core Historical +Literature in Agriculture (CHLA), Cornell University.) + + + + + + + + + + + + THE NEGRO FARMER + + By CARL KELSEY + + + A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA IN + PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR + THE DEGREE OF PH. D. + + + Printed and on sale by + + JENNINGS & PYE + + CHICAGO + + 1903 + + PRICE FIFTY CENTS + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I. Introduction 5 + + II. Geographic Location 9 + + III. Economic Heritage 22 + + IV. Present Situation 29 + + Virginia 32 + + Sea Coast 38 + + Central District 43 + + Alluvial Region 52 + + V. Social Environment 61 + + VI. The Outlook 67 + + VII. Agricultural Training 71 + + Population Maps 80 + + + +=OLD-TIME NEGROES.= + + + + +CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. + + +In the last three hundred years there have been many questions of +general interest before the American people. It is doubtful, however, if +there is another problem, which is as warmly debated to-day as ever and +whose solution is yet so uncertain, as that of the Negro. In the second +decade of the seventeenth century protests were being filed against +black slavery, but the system was continued for nearly 250 years. The +discussion grew more and more bitter, and to participation in it +ignorance, then as now, was no bar. The North had less and less direct +contact with the Negro. The religious hostility to human bondage was +strengthened by the steadily increasing difference in economic +development which resulted in the creation of sectional prejudices and +jealousies. The North held the negro to be greatly wronged, and accounts +of his pitiable condition and of the many individual cases of ill +treatment fanned the flames of wrath. The reports of travelers, however, +had little influence compared with the religious sentiments which felt +outraged by the existence of bond servitude in the land. Through all the +years there was little attempt to scientifically study the character of +the problem or the nature of the subject. A mistaken economic sentiment +in the South and a strong moral sentiment at the North rendered such +studies unnecessary, if not impossible. The South, perceiving the +benefits of slavery, was blind to its fundamental weaknesses, and the +North, unacquainted with Negro character, held to the natural equality +of all men. Thus slavery itself became a barrier to the getting of an +adequate knowledge of the needs of the slave. The feeling grew that if +the shackles of slavery were broken, the Negro would at once be as other +men. The economic differences finally led to the war. It is not to be +forgotten that slavery itself was not the cause of the war, nor was +there any thought on the part of the Union leaders to make the blacks +citizens. That this was done later was a glowing tribute to their +ignorance of the real demands of the situation. The Republican party of +to-day shows no indication of repeating this mistake in the newly +acquired islands. I would not be understood as opposing suffrage of the +blacks, but any thoughtful observer must agree that as a race they were +not prepared for popular government at the time of their liberation. The +folly of the measures adopted none can fail to see who will read the +history of South Carolina or Mississippi during what is called +"Reconstruction." + +Immediately after the war, new sources of information regarding the +Negro were afforded the North. The leaders of the carpet-bag regime, +playing political games, circulated glowing reports of the progress of +the ex-slaves. A second class of persons, the teachers, went South, and +back came rose-colored accounts. It might seem that the teacher could +best judge of the capacity of a people. The trouble is that in the +schools they saw the best specimens of the race, at the impressionable +period of their lives, and under abnormal conditions. There is in the +school an atmosphere about the child which stimulates his desire to +advance, but a relapse often comes when ordinary home conditions are +renewed. Moreover, it is well known that the children of all primitive +races are very quick and apt up to a certain period in their lives, +excelling often children of civilized peoples, but that this disappears +when maturity is reached. Hence, the average teacher, not coming in +close contact with the mass of the people under normal surroundings, +gives, although sincerely, a very misleading picture of actual +conditions. A third class of informants were the tourists, and their +ability to get at the heart of the situation is obvious. There remain to +be mentioned the Negro teachers and school entrepreneurs. Naturally +these have presented such facts as they thought would serve to open the +purses of their hearers. Some have been honest, many more +unintentionally dishonest, and others deliberately deceitful. The +relative size of these classes it is unnecessary to attempt to +ascertain. They have talked and sung their way into the hearts of the +hearers as does the pitiful beggar on the street. The donor sees that +evidently something is needed, and gives with little, if any, careful +investigation as to the real needs of the case. The result of it all has +been that the testimony of those who knew far more than was possible for +any outsider, the southern whites, has gone unheeded, not to say that it +has been spurned as hostile and valueless. The blame, of course, is not +always on one side, and as will be shown later, there are many southern +whites who have as little to do with the Negro, and consequently know as +little about him, as the average New Yorker. This situation has been +most unfortunate for all concerned. It should not be forgotten that the +question of the progress of the Negro has far more direct meaning for +the southerner, and that he is far more deeply interested in it than is +his northern brother, the popular impression to the contrary +notwithstanding. It is unnecessary to seek explanations, but it is a +pleasure to recognize that there are many indications that a better day +is coming, and indications now point to a hearty co-operation in +educational efforts. There are many reasons for the change, and perhaps +the greatest of these is summed up in "Industrial Training." + +The North is slowly learning that the Negro is not a dark-skinned +Yankee, and that thousands of generations in Africa have produced a +being very different from him whose ancestors lived an equal time in +Europe. In a word, we now see that slavery does not account for all the +differences between the blacks and whites, and that their origins lie +farther back. Our acquaintance with the ancestors of the Negro is +meager. We do not even know how many of the numerous African tribes are +represented in our midst. A good deal of Semitic blood had already been +infused into the more northern tribes. What influence did this have and +how many descendants of these tribes are there in America? Tribal +distinctions have been hopelessly lost in this country, and the blending +has gone on so continuously that perhaps there would be little practical +benefit if the stocks could be determined to-day. It is, however, a +curious commentary on the turn discussions of the question have taken, +that not until 1902 did any one find it advisable to publish a +comprehensive study of the African environment and to trace its +influence on subsequent development. Yet this is one of the fundamental +preliminaries to any real knowledge of the subject. + +In close connection with the preceding is the question of the mulatto. +Besides the blending of African stocks there has been a good deal of +intermixture of white blood. We do not even know how many full blooded +Africans there are in America, nor does the last census seek to +ascertain. Mulattoes have almost entirely been the offspring of white +fathers and black mothers, and probably most of the fathers have been +boys and young men. Without attempting a discussion of this subject, +whose results ethnologists cannot yet tell, it is certain that a half +breed is not a full blood, a mulatto is not a Negro, in spite of the +social classification to the contrary. The general belief is that the +mulatto is superior, either for good or bad, to the pure Negro. The +visitor to the South cannot fail to be struck with the fact that with +rare exceptions the colored men in places of responsibility, in +education or in business, are evidently not pure negroes. Even in +slavery times, the mulattoes were preferred for certain positions, such +as overseers, the blacks as field hands. Attention is called to this +merely to show our ignorance of an important point. Some may claim that +it is a matter of no consequence. This I cannot admit. To me it seems of +some significance to know whether mulattoes (and other crosses) form +more than their relative percentage of the graduates of the higher +schools; whether they are succeeding in business better than the blacks; +whether town life is proving particularly attractive to them; whether +they have greater or less moral and physical stamina, than the blacks. +The lack of definite knowledge should at least stop the prevalent +practice of taking the progress of a band of mulattoes and attempting to +estimate that of the Negroes thereby. It may be that some day the +mulatto will entirely supplant the black, but there is no immediate +probability of this. Until we know the facts, our prophecies are but +wild guesses. It should be remembered that a crossing of white and black +may show itself in the yellow negro or the changed head and features, +either, or both, as the case may be. A dark skin is, therefore, no sure +indication of purity and blood.[1] + +It is often taken for granted that the Negro has practically equal +opportunities in the various parts of the South, and that a fairly +uniform rate of progress may be expected. This assumption rests on an +ignorance of the geographical location of the mass of blacks. It will be +shown that they are living in several distinct agricultural zones in +which success must be sought according to local possibilities. +Development always depends upon the environment, and we should expect, +therefore, unequal progress for the Negroes. Even the highest fruits of +civilization fail if the bases of life are suddenly changed. The +Congregational Church has not flourished among the Negroes as have some +other denominations, in spite of its great activity in educational work. +The American mode of government is being greatly modified to make it fit +conditions in Porto Rico. The manufacturers of Pennsylvania and the +farmers of Iowa do not agree as to the articles on which duties should +be levied, and it is a question if the two have the same interpretation +of the principle of protection. Different environments produce different +types. So it will be in the case of the Negro. If we are to understand +the conditions on which his progress depends, we must pay some attention +to economic geography. That this will result in a recognition of the +need for shaping plans and methods according to local needs is obvious. +The present thesis does not pretend to be a completed study, much less +an attempt to solve the Negro problem. It is written in the hope of +calling attention to some of the results of this geographic location as +illustrated in the situation of the Negro farmer in various parts of the +South. + +The attempt is made to describe the situation of the average man. It is +fully recognized that there are numbers of exceptions among the Negroes +as well as among the white school teachers, referred to above. That +there is much in the present situation, both of encouragement and +discouragement, is patent. Unfortunately, most of us shut our eyes to +one or the other set of facts and are wildly optimistic or pessimistic, +accordingly. That there may be no misunderstanding of my position, let +me say that I agree with the late Dr. J. L. M. Curry in stating that: "I +have very little respect for the intelligence or the patriotism of the +man who doubts the capacity of the negro for improvement or usefulness." + + + + +CHAPTER II. GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION. + + +The great Appalachian system, running parallel to the Atlantic coast, +and ending in northern Alabama, forms the geological axis of the +southern states. Bordering the mountains proper is a broad belt of hills +known as the Piedmont or Metamorphic region, marked by granite and other +crystalline rocks, and having an elevation decreasing from 1,000 to 500 +feet. The soil varies according to the underlying rocks, but is thin and +washes badly, if carelessly tilled. The oaks, hickories and other +hardwoods, form the forests. In Virginia this section meets the lower +and flatter country known as Tide-Water Virginia. In the southern part +of this state we come to the Pine Hills, which follow the Piedmont and +stretch, interrupted only by the alluvial lands of the Mississippi, to +central Texas. The Pine Hills seldom touch the Piedmont directly, but +are separated by a narrow belt of Sand Hills, which run from North +Carolina to Alabama, then swing northward around the coal measures and +spread out in Tennessee and Kentucky. This region, in general of poor +soils, marks the falls of the rivers and the head of navigation. How +important this is may easily be seen by noticing the location of the +cities in Georgia, for instance, and remembering that the country was +settled before the day of railroads. In Alabama the Black Prairie is +interposed between the Pine Hills and the Sand Hills, and this prairie +swings northward into Mississippi. The Pine Hills give way to the more +level Pine Flats, which slope with a gradient of a few feet a mile to +the ocean or the gulf, which usually has a narrow alluvial border. Going +west from Alabama we cross the oak and hickory lands of Central +Mississippi, which are separated from the alluvial district by the cane +hills and yellow loam table lands. Beyond the bottom lands of the +Mississippi (and Red river) we come to the oak lands of Missouri, +Arkansas and Texas which stretch to the black prairies of Texas, which, +bordering the red lands of Arkansas, run southwest finally, merging in +the coast prairies near Austin. In the northern part of Arkansas we come +to the foothills of the Ozarks. These different regions are shown by the +dotted lines on the population maps. + +The soils of these various regions having never been subjected to a +glacial epoch, are very diverse, and it would be a thankless task to +attempt any detailed classification on the basis of fertility. The soils +of the Atlantic side being largely from the crystalline rocks and +containing therefore much silica, are reputed less fertile than the +gulf soils. The alluvial lands of the Mississippi and other rivers are +beyond question the richest of all. Shaler says: "The delta districts of +the Mississippi and its tributaries and similar alluvial lands which +occupy broad fields near the lower portion of other streams flowing into +the gulf have proved the most enduringly fertile areas of the country." +Next to these probably stand the black prairies. In all states there is +more or less alluvial land along the streams, and this soil is always +the best. It is the first land brought into cultivation when the country +is settled, and remains most constantly in use. Each district has its +own advantages and its own difficulties. In the metamorphic regions, the +trouble comes in the attempt to keep the soil on the hills, while in the +flat lands the problem is to get proper drainage. In the present +situation of the Negro farmer the adaptability of the soil to cotton is +the chief consideration. + +The first slaves were landed at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619. The +importation was continued in spite of many protests, and the practice +soon came into favor. Almost without interruption, in spite of various +prohibitions, the slave traffic lasted right up to the very outbreak of +the war, most of the later cargoes being landed along the gulf coast. +Slavery proved profitable at the South; not so at the North, where it +was soon abandoned. It was by no means, however, equally profitable in +all parts of the South, and as time went on this fact became more +noticeable. Thus at the outbreak of the war, Kentucky and Virginia were +largely employed in selling slaves to the large plantations further +south. Few new slaves had been imported into Virginia in the last one +hundred years. The center of slavery thus moved southwest because of +changing economic conditions, not because of any inherent opposition to +the system. This gradual weeding out of the slaves in Virginia may very +possibly account for the general esteem in which Virginia negroes have +been held. To indicate the character of those sold South, Bracket[2] +gives a quotation from a Baltimore paper of 1851 which advertised some +good Negroes to be "exchanged for servants suitable for the South with +bad characters." + +To trace the development of the slave-holding districts is not germain +to the present study, interesting as it is in itself. It may be worth +while to trace the progress in one state. In Georgia, in 1800, the +blacks outnumbered the whites in the seacoast counties, excepting +Camden, and were also in the majority in Richmond. In 1830 they also +outnumbered the whites along the Savannah river and were reaching +westward as far as Jones county. In 1850, besides the coast and the +river, they were in a majority in a narrow belt crossing the state from +Lincoln to Harris counties. By 1860 they had swung southward in the +western part of the state and were in possession of most of the +counties south of Troup, while the map of 1900 shows that they have +added to this territory. In other parts of the state they have never +been greatly in evidence. The influence of the rivers is again evident +when we notice that they moved up to the head of navigation, then swung +westward. + +As slavery developed, it was accompanied by a great extension of cotton +growing, or, perhaps, it were truer to say that the gradual rise of +cotton planting made possible the increased use of slaves. The center of +the cotton industry had reached the middle of Alabama by 1850, was near +Jackson, Mississippi, in 1860, and has since moved slowly westward. The +most prosperous district of the South in 1860 was probably the alluvial +lands of the Mississippi. This gives us the key to the westward trend of +slavery. Let it be remembered, too, that the system of slavery demands +an abundance of new lands to take the place of those worn out by the +short-sighted cultivation adopted. Thus in the South little attention +was paid to rotation of crops or to fertilizers. As long as the new land +was abundant, it was not considered, and probably was not profitable to +keep up the old. The result was that "the wild and reckless system of +extensive cultivation practiced prior to the war had impoverished the +land of every cotton-producing state east of the Mississippi river." As +cotton became less and less profitable in the east the opening up of the +newer and richer lands in the west put the eastern planter in a more and +more precarious situation. Had cotton fallen to anything like its +present price in the years immediately preceding the war, his lot would +have been far worse. + +Another influence should be noted. Slavery tended to drive out of a +community those who opposed the system, and also the poor whites, +non-slave holders. The planters sought to buy out or expel this latter +class, because of the temptation they were under to incite the slaves to +steal corn and cotton and sell it to them at a low price. There was also +trouble in many other ways. There was thus a tendency to separate the +mass of the blacks from the majority of the whites. That this +segregation actually arose a map of the proportionate populations for +Alabama in 1860 shows. It may be claimed that there were other reasons +for this separation, such as climatic conditions, etc. This may be +partially true, but it evidently cannot be the principal reason, for we +find the whites in the majority in many of the lowest and theoretically +most unhealthful regions, as in the pine flats. This is the situation +to-day also. + +The influence of the rivers in determining the settlement of the country +has been mentioned. Nowhere was this more the case than in the alluvial +lands of the Mississippi, the so-called "Delta." This country was low +and flat, subject to overflows of the river. The early settlements were +directly on the banks of the navigable streams, because this only was +accessible, and because the land immediately bordering the streams is +higher than the back land. Levees were at once started to control the +rivers, but not until the railroads penetrated the country in 1884 was +there any development of the back land. Even to-day most of this is +still wild. + +The war brought numerous changes, but it is only in place here to +consider those affecting the location of the people. The mobility of +labor is one of the great changes. Instead of a fixed labor force we now +have to deal with a body relatively free to go and come. The immediate +result is that a stream of emigration sets in from the border states to +the cities of the North, where there was great opportunity for servants +and all sorts of casual labor. The following table shows the number of +negroes in various northern cities in 1860 and also in 1900: + + 1860. 1900. + Washington 10,983 86,702 + Baltimore 27,898 79,258 + Philadelphia 22,185 62,613 + New York 16,785 60,666 + St. Louis 3,297 35,516 + Chicago 955 30,150 + + +Coincident with the movement to the more distant towns came a +development of southern cities. City life has been very attractive to +Negroes here also, as the following table indicates: + + 1860. 1900. + New Orleans 24,074 77,714 + Atlanta 1,939 35,727 + Richmond 14,275 32,230 + Charleston 17,146 31,522 + Savannah 8,417 28,090 + Montgomery 4,502 17,229 + Birmingham ... 16,575 + + +Other cities show the same gains. As a rule, the negro has been the +common laborer in the cities and in the trades does not seem to hold the +same relative position he had in 1860. In recent years there has been +quite a development of small tradesmen among them. + +A comparison of the two tables shows that Washington and Baltimore have +more Negroes than New Orleans; that St. Louis has more than Atlanta and +Richmond, while New York and Philadelphia contain double the number of +Savannah and Charleston. This emigration to the North has had great +effect upon many districts of the South. It seems also to be certain +that the Negroes have not maintained themselves in the northern cities, +and that the population has been kept up by constant immigration. What +this has meant we may see when we find that in 1860 the Negroes were in +the majority in five counties in Maryland, in two in 1900; in 43 in +Virginia in 1860, in 35 in 1900; in North Carolina in 19 in 1860, in 15 +in 1900. + +The map on page 13 shows the movement of the Negro population in +Virginia between 1890 and 1900. The shaded counties, 60 in number, +have lost in actual population (Negro). The total actual decrease in +these counties was over 27,000. Even in the towns there has been a loss, +for in 1890 the twelve towns of over 2,500 population contained 32,692 +Negroes. In 1900 only 29,575. The only section in which there has been a +heavy increase is the seacoast from Norfolk and Newport News to the +north and including Richmond. A city like Roanoke also makes its +presence felt. When we remember that the Negroes in Virginia number over +600,000, and that the total increase in the decade was only 25,000, a +heavy emigration becomes clear. + + +=VIRGINIA, 1890-1900. MOVEMENT OF NEGRO POPULATION. + +Shaded Counties show decrease. White Counties indicate increase. Figures +show extent of change.= + + +As a common laborer also the negro has borne his part in the development +of the economical resources of the South. He has built the railroads and +levees; has hewn lumber in the forests; has dug phosphate rock on the +coast and coal in the interior. Wherever there has been a development of +labor industry calling for unskilled labor he has found a place. All +these have combined to turn him from the farm, his original American +home. The changing agricultural conditions which have had a similar +influence will be discussed later. + +Having thus briefly reviewed the influences which have had part in +determining his general habitat we are ready to examine more closely his +present location. The maps of the Negro population will show this for +the different states. A word regarding these maps. They are drawn on the +same scale, and the shading represents the same things for the different +states. The density map should always be compared with the proportionate +map to get a correct view of the actual situation. If this is not done, +confused ideas will result. On the density maps if a county has a much +heavier shading than surrounding ones, a city is probably the +explanation. The reverse may be true on the proportionate maps where the +lighter shading may indicate the presence of numbers of whites in some +city, as in Montgomery County, Alabama, or Charleston County, South +Carolina. + +Beginning with Virginia, we find almost no Negroes in the western +mountain districts, but their numbers increase as we approach the coast +and their center is in the southeast. The heavy district in North +Carolina adjoins that in Virginia, diminishing in the southern part of +the state. Entering South Carolina we discover a much heavier +population, both actually and relatively. Geographical foundations +unfortunately (for our purpose) do not follow county lines. It is very +likely, however, that could we get at the actual location of the people, +we should find that they had their influence. Evidently the Sand 'Hills +have some significance, for the density map shows a lighter negro +population. So does the Pine Flats district, although in this state the +Negroes are in the majority in the region, having been long settled in +the race districts. In no other state do the blacks outnumber the whites +in the Pine Flats. In Georgia the northern part is in possession of the +whites, as are the Pine Flats. The Negroes hold the center and the +coast. In Florida the Negroes are in the Pine Hills. In Alabama they +center in the Pine Hills and Black Prairie. In Mississippi, Arkansas and +Louisiana they are in the alluvial regions, and in Texas they find their +heaviest seat near Houston. Outside of the city counties we do not find +a population of over 30 negroes to the square mile until South Carolina +is reached, and the heaviest settlement is in the black prairie of +Alabama and the alluvial region of Mississippi, and part of Louisiana. +In Tennessee they are found along the river and in the red lands of the +center, while in Kentucky they are chiefly located in the Limestone +district. Summarizing their location, we may say that they start in the +east-central portion of Virginia and follow the line of the Pine Hills +to Alabama, only slightly encroaching upon the Metamorphic district, and +except in South Carolina, on the pine flats. They occupy the black +prairie of Alabama and Mississippi, and the lands of the river states +with a smaller population in the Oak Hills of Texas, the red lands of +Tennessee and some of the limestone district of Kentucky. It is worth +while to examine one state more in detail and Alabama has been selected +as being typical. The Negro proportion in the state in 1860 was 45.4 per +cent, and in 1900 was 45.2 per cent. + +An examination of a proportionate map for 1860 would show that the slave +owners found two parts of the state favorable to them. The first is +along the Tennessee river in the North, and the second, the black +prairie of the center. Of these the latter was by far the seat of the +heavier population. It has already been suggested that this was probably +the best land in the slave states, save the alluvial bottoms. Both +districts were accessible by water. The Tombigbee and Alabama rivers +reached all parts of the prairie, the Tennessee forming the natural +outlet of the North. By referring now to the map of 1900, it is evident +that some changes have taken place. The prairie country, the "Black +Belt," is still in the possession of the Negroes, and their percentage +is larger, having increased from 71 to 80. The population per square +mile is also heavier. Dallas, Sumter and Lowndes counties had a Negro +population of 23.6 per square mile in 1860, and 39.2 in 1900. In the +northern district an opposite condition exists. In 1860 the region +embracing the counties of Lauderdale, Limestone, Franklin, Colbert, +Lawrence and Morgan had a colored population forming 44.5 per cent of +the total. In 1900 the Negroes were but 33 per cent of the total. The +district contains some 4,609 square miles, and had in 1860 a Negro +population of 11 to the square mile; in 1900, 13.5. Of this increase of +2.5 per mile, about one-half is found to be in the four towns of the +district whose population is over 2,500 each. The smaller villages would +probably account for most of the balance, so it seems safe to say that +the farming population has scarcely increased in the last forty years. +Meantime the whites in the district have increased from 12 per square +mile to 25.4. The census shows that between 1890 and 1900 six counties +of North Alabama lost in the actual Negro population, and two others +were stationary, while in the black belt the whites decreased in four +counties and were stationary in two. It will be seen that the Negroes +have gained in Jefferson (Birmingham) and Talladega counties. The +opportunities for unskilled labor account largely for this, and +Talladega is also a good cotton county. In Winston and Cullman counties +there are practically no Negroes, the census showing but 28 in the two. +In 1860 they formed 3 per cent of the total in Winston and 6 percent in +Blount, which at that time included Cullman. The explanation of their +disappearance is found in the fact that since the war these counties +have been settled by Germans from about Cincinnati, and the Negroes have +found it convenient to move. Roughly speaking, the poor land of the Sand +Hills separates the white farmers from the colored. From 1890 to 1900 +the Negroes lost relatively in the Metamorphic and Sand Hills, were +about stationary in the Prairie, from which they have overflowed and +gained in the Oak Hills, and more heavily in the Pine Hills. This +statement is based on an examination of five or six counties, lying +almost wholly within each of the districts, and which, so far as known, +were not affected by the development of any special industry. The period +is too short to do more than indicate that the separation of the two +races seems to be still going on. A similar separation exists in +Mississippi, where the Negroes hold the Black Prairie and the Delta, the +whites the hill country of the center. + +It is evident that there is a segregation of the whites and blacks, and +that there are forces which tend to perpetuate and increase this. It is +interesting to note that whereas in slavery the cabins were grouped in +the "quarters," in close proximity to the "big house" of the master, +they are now scattered about the plantation so that even here there is +less contact. In the cities this separation is evident the blacks occupy +definite districts, while the social separation is complete. It seems +that in all matters outside of business relations the whites have less +and less to do with the blacks. If this division is to continue, we may +well ask what is its significance for the future. + +This geographical segregation evidently had causes which were largely +economic. Probably the most potent factor to-day in perpetuating it is +social, i. e., race antagonism. The whites do not like to settle in a +region where they are to compete with the Negro on the farms as ordinary +field hands. Moreover, the Negroes retain their old-time scorn of such +whites and despise them. The result is friction. Mr. A. H. Stone cites a +case in point. He is speaking of a Negro serving a sentence for +attempted rape: "I was anxious to know how, if at all, he accounted for +his crime, but he was reluctant to discuss it. Finally he said to me: +'You don't understand--things over here are so different. I hired to an +old man over there by the year. He had only about forty acres of land, +and he and his old folks did all their own work--cooking, washing and +everything. I was the only outside hand he had. His daughter worked +right alongside of me in the field every day for three or four months. +Finally, one day, when no one else was round, hell got into me, and I +tried to rape her. But you folks over there can't understand--things are +so different. Over here a nigger is a nigger, and a white man is a white +man, and it's the same with the women.' ... Her only crime was a poverty +which compelled her to do work which, in the estimation of the Negro, +was reserved as the natural portion of his own race, and the doing of +which destroyed the relation which otherwise constituted a barrier to +his brutality."[3] + +Mr. Stone has touched upon one of the most delicate questions in the +relationship of the races. It would be out of place to discuss it here, +but attention must be called to the fact that there is the least of such +trouble in the districts where the Negro forms the largest percentage of +the population. I would not be so foolish as to say that assaults upon +white women _may_ not take place anywhere, but as a matter of fact they +seem to occur chiefly in those regions where white and black meet as +competitors for ordinary labor. Beaufort County, South Carolina, has a +black population forming about 90 per cent of the total, yet I was told +last summer that but one case of rape had been known in the county, and +that took place on the back edge of the county where there are fewest +Negroes, and was committed by a non-resident black upon a non-resident +white. Certain it is that in this county, which includes many islands, +almost wholly inhabited by blacks, the white women have no fear of such +assaults. This is also the case in the Mississippi Delta. Mr. Stone +says: "Yet here we hear nothing about an ignorant mass of Negroes +dragging the white man down; we hear of no black incubus; we have few +midnight assassinations and fewer lynchings. The violation by a Negro of +the person of a white woman is with us an unknown crime; nowhere is the +line marking the social separation of the races more rigidly drawn, +nowhere are the relations between the races more kindly. With us race +riots are unknown, and we have but one Negro problem--though that +constantly confronts us--how to secure more Negroes." Evidently when we +hear reports of states of siege and rumors of race war, we are not to +understand that this is the normal, typical condition of the entire +South. If this is the real situation, it seems clear that the +geographical segregation plays no mean part in determining the relation +of the two races. It is safe to say that there is a different feeling +between the races in the districts where the white is known only as the +leader and those in which he comes into competition with the black. What +is the significance of this for the future? + +The same condition exists in the cities, and of this Professor Dubois +has taken note: "Savannah is an old city where the class of masters +among the whites and of trained and confidential slaves among the +Negroes formed an exceptionally large part of the population. The result +has been unusual good feeling between the races, and the entrance of +Negroes into all walks of industrial life, with little or no +opposition." "Atlanta, on the other hand, is quite opposite in +character. Here the poor whites from North Georgia who neither owned +slaves nor had any acquaintance with Negro character, have come into +contact and severe competition with the blacks. The result has been +intense race feeling."[4] In one of the large towns of the Delta last +summer, a prosperous Negro merchant said to me, in discussing the +comparative opportunities of different sections: "I would not be allowed +to have a store on the main street in such a good location in many +places." Yet, his store is patronized by whites; and this would be true +in many towns in the black belt. Other evidences of the difference in +feeling towards the Negroes is afforded by the epithets of +"hill-billies" and "red-necks" applied to the whites of the hill country +by the lowland planters, and the retaliatory compliments +"yellow-bellies" and "nigger-lovers." Does this geographical segregation +help to explain the strikingly diverse reports coming from various parts +of the South regarding the Negro? Why does Dr. Paul Barringer, of +Virginia, find that race antagonism is rapidly growing, while Mr. Stone +of Mississippi, says that their problem is to get more Negroes? + +The influence that this segregation has upon school facilities for both +races should not be overlooked. The separation of the two races in the +schools is to be viewed as the settled policy of the South. Here, then, +is a farming community in which there are only a few Negroes. What sort +of a separate school will be maintained for their children? Probably +they are unable to support a good school, even should they so desire. +The opportunities of their children must necessarily be limited. Will +they make greater progress than children in the districts where the +blacks are in large numbers and command good schools? If the situation +be reversed and there are a few whites in a black community, the whites +will be able to command excellent private schools for their children, if +necessary. At present among the males over 21, the greatest illiteracy +is found in the black counties. This may be accounted for by the +presence of the older generation, which had little chance in the +schools, and by the fact that perhaps those moving away have been the +more progressive. It is a matter of regret that the census does not +permit us to ascertain the illiteracy among the children from 10 to 21 +years of age, to see if any difference was manifest. It would seem, +however, that this segregation, coupled with race antagonism, is bound +to affect the educational opportunities for the blacks. A problem which +becomes more serious as the states waken to the needs of the case and +attempt to educate their children. + +Yet again, this fact of habitat should lead us to be very chary of +making local facts extend over the entire South and of making deductions +for the entire country based on observations in a few places. Neglect of +this precaution often leads to very erroneous and misleading conceptions +of actual conditions. For instance, on page 419, Vol. VI, Census of +1900, in discussing the fact that Negro receives nearly as much per acre +for his cotton as does the white, it is stated: "Considering the fact +that he emerged from slavery only one-third of a century ago, and +considering also his comparative lack of means for procuring the best +land or for getting the best results from what he has, this near +approach to the standard attained by the white man's experience for more +than a century denotes remarkable progress." This may or may not be +true, but the reason and proof are open to question. It assumes that the +land cultivated by the Negroes is of the same quality as that farmed by +the whites. This certainly is not true of Arkansas, of which it is +stated that "Arkansas shows a greater production per acre by colored +farmers for all three tenures." The three tenures are owners, +cash-tenants, share-tenants. Mississippi agrees with Arkansas in showing +higher production for both classes of tenants. Are we to infer that the +Negroes in Arkansas and Mississippi are better farmers than the whites, +and that, therefore, their progress has infinitely surpassed his? By no +means. The explanation is that in the two states mentioned the Negroes +cultivate the rich bottom land while the white farmers are found in the +hills. The alluvial land easily raises twice the cotton, and that of a +better quality, commanding about a cent a pound more in the market. +There may possibly be similar conditions in other states; certainly in +Alabama the black prairie tilled by the Negroes is esteemed better than +the other land. Since this was first written I have chanced upon the +report of the Geological Survey of Alabama for 1881 and 1882, in which +Mr. E. A. Smith sums up this same problem as follows: + + "(1) That where the blacks are in excess of the whites, there are + the originally most fertile lands of the state. The natural + advantages of the soils are, however, more than counterbalanced by + the bad system prevailing in such sections, viz.; large farms + rented out in patches to laborers who are too poor and too much in + debt to merchants to have any interest in keeping up the fertility + of the soil, or rather the ability to keep it up, with the natural + consequence of its rapid exhaustion, and a product per acre on + these, the best lands of the state, lower than that which is + realized from the very poorest. + + "(2) Where the two races are in nearly equal proportions, or where + the whites are in only a slight excess over the blacks, as is the + case in all sections where the soils are of average fertility, + there is found the system of small farms, worked generally by the + owners, a consequently better cultivation, a more general use of + commercial fertilizers, a correspondingly high product per acre + and a partial maintenance of the fertility of the soils. + + "(3) Where the whites are greatly in excess of the blacks (three to + one and above) the soils are almost certain to be far below the + average in fertility, and the product per acre is low from this + cause, notwithstanding the redeeming influences of a comparatively + rational system of cultivation. + + "(4) The exceptions to these general rules are nearly always due to + local causes which are not far to seek and which afford generally a + satisfactory explanation of the discrepancies." + + +If we are to base our reasoning on the table cited we might argue that +land ownership is a bad thing for Negroes, for tenants of both classes +among them produced more than did the owners. The white cash tenants +also produced more than white owners. In explaining this it is said: +"The fact that cash tenants pay a fixed money rental per acre causes +them to rent only such area as they can cultivate thoroughly, while many +owners who are unable to rent their excess acreage to tenants attempt to +cultivate it themselves, thus decreasing the efficiency of cultivation +for the entire farm." This may be true of the whites, but it is a lame +explanation for the blacks. Negro farmers who own more land than they +can cultivate appear to be better known at Washington than they are +locally. The trouble with the entire argument is that it assumes that +the Negro is an independent cultivator of cotton. This is not quite the +case. In all parts of the South the Negro, tenant or owner, usually +receives advances from white factors, and these spend a good part of +their time riding about to see that the land is cultivated in order to +insure repayment of their loans. If their advice and suggestions are not +followed, or if the crop is not cultivated, the supplies are shut off. +On many plantations even the portion of the land to be put in cotton is +stipulated. The great bulk of the cotton crop is thus raised under the +immediate oversight of the white man. There is little call for any great +skill on the part of the laborer. No wonder the crop of the Negro +approximates that of the white man. It is to be further remembered that +cotton raising has been the chief occupation of the Negro in America. +The Census gives another illustration of the unhappy effects of +attempting to cover very diverse conditions in one statement in the map +Vol. VI, plate 3. From this one would be justified in believing that the +average farm under one management in the alluvial lands of Mississippi +and Louisiana was small. As a matter of fact they are among the largest +in the country. The map gives a very misleading conception and it +results wholly from attempting to combine divergent conditions. + +The quotation from Mr. Smith touched upon another result of this +segregation. Where the whites are the farmers the farms are smaller and +better cared for, more fertilizers are used, and better results are +obtained. The big plantation system has caused the deterioration of +naturally fertile soils. Of course, there must come a day of reckoning +wherever careless husbandry prevails. + +City conditions are more or less uniform in all sections. The +geographical location of the farmer, however, is a matter of +considerable importance not only as determining in large measure the +crop he must raise, but as limiting the advance he may be able to make +under given conditions. It is estimated that about 85 per cent of the +men (Negroes) and 44 per cent of the women in productive pursuits are +farmers. Their general location has been shown. For convenience we may +divide the territory into five districts: (1) Virginia and Kentucky, +above the limit of profitable cotton culture. (2) The Atlantic Sea +Coast. (3) The Central belt running from Virginia to Central +Mississippi. This includes several different soils, but general +conditions are fairly uniform. (4) The Alluvial Lands, which may be +subdivided into the cotton and cane districts. (5) Texas. These +different districts will be treated separately, except Texas, which is +not included. + +In summing up this chapter it may be said that the location of the mass +of the Negro farmers has been indicated, and also the fact that there is +a separation between the whites and the blacks which promises to have +important bearing on future progress, while the various agricultural +districts offer opportunities by no means uniform. + + + + +CHAPTER III. ECONOMIC HERITAGE. + + +=IN PLOWING TIME.= + +Previous to the appearance of the European, West Central Africa for +untold hundreds of years had been almost completely separated from the +outside world. The climate is hot, humid, enervating. The Negro tribes +living in the great forests found little need for exertion to obtain the +necessities of savage life. The woods abounded in game, the rivers in +fish. By cutting down a few trees and loosening the ground with +sharpened sticks the plantains, a species of coarse banana, could be +made to yield many hundred fold. The greater part of the little +agricultural work done fell on the women, for it was considered +degrading by the men. Handicrafts were almost unknown among many tribes +and where they existed were of the simplest. Clothing was of little +service. Food preparations were naturally crude. Sanitary restrictions, +seemingly so necessary in hot climates, were unheard of. The dead were +often buried in the floors of the huts. Miss Kingsley says: "All +travelers in West Africa find it necessary very soon to accustom +themselves to most noisome odors of many kinds and to all sorts of +revolting uncleanliness." Morality, as we use the term, did not exist. +Chastity was esteemed in the women only as a marketable commodity. +Marriage was easily consummated and with even greater ease dissolved. +Slavery, inter-tribal, was widespread, and the ravages of the slave +hunter were known long before the arrival of the whites. Religion was a +mass of grossest superstitions, with belief in the magical power of +witches and sorcerers who had power of life and death over their +fellows. Might was right and the chiefs enforced obedience. It is not +necessary to go more into detail. In the words of a recent writer: + + "It is clear that any civilization which is based on the fertility + of the soil, and not on the energy of man, contains within itself + the seed of its own destruction. Where food is easily obtained, + where there is little need for clothing or houses, where, in brief, + unaided nature furnishes all man's necessities, those elements + which produce strength of character and vigor of mind are wanting, + and man becomes the slave of his surroundings. He acquires no + energy of disposition, he yields himself to superstition and + fatalism; the very conditions of life which produced his + civilization set the limit of its existence." + + +It is evident from the foregoing that there had been almost nothing in +the conditions of Africa to further habits of thrift and industry. The +warm climate made great provision for the future unnecessary, not to say +impossible, while social conditions did not favor accumulation of +property. It is necessary to emphasize these African conditions, for +they have an important influence on future development. Under these +conditions Negro character was formed, and that character was not like +that of the long-headed blonds of the North. + +The transfer to America marked a sharp break with the past. One needs +but to stop to enumerate the changes to realize how great this break +was. A simple dialect is exchanged for a complex language. A religion +whose basic principle is love gradually supplants the fears and +superstitions of heathenhood. The black passes from an enervating, humid +climate to one in which activity is pleasurable. From the isolation and +self-satisfaction of savagery he emerges into close contact with one of +the most ambitious and progressive of peoples. Life at once becomes far +more secure and wrongs are revenged by the self-interest of the whites +as well as by the feeble means of self-defense in possession of the +blacks. That there were cruelties and mistreatment under slavery goes +without saying, but the woes and sufferings under it were as nothing +compared to those of the life in the African forests. This fact is +sometimes overlooked. With greater security of life came an emphasis, +from without, to be sure, on better marital relations. In this respect +slavery left much to be desired, but conditions on the whole were +probably in advance of those in Africa. Marriage began to be something +more than a purchase. Sanitation, not the word, but the underlying idea, +was taught by precept and example. There came also a dim notion of a new +sphere for women. Faint perceptions ofttimes, but ideas never dreamed of +in Africa. I would not defend slavery, but in this country its evil +results are the inheritance of the whites, not of the blacks, and the +burden today of American slavery is upon white shoulders. + +Many of the changes have been mentioned, but the greatest is reserved +for the last. This is embraced in one word--WORK. For the first time the +Negro was made to work, not casual work, but steady, constant labor. +From the Negro's standpoint this is the redeeming feature of his slavery +as perhaps it was for the Israelites in Egypt of old. Booker Washington +has written:[5] "American slavery was a great curse to both races, and I +would be the last to apologize for it, but, in the providence of God, I +believe that slavery laid the foundation for the solution of the problem +that is now before us in the South. During slavery the Negro was taught +every trade, every industry, that constitutes the foundation for making +a living." + +Dr. H. B. Frissell has borne the same testimony: + + "The southern plantation was really a great trade school where + thousands received instruction in mechanic arts, in agriculture, in + cooking, sewing and other domestic occupations. Although it may be + said that all this instruction was given from selfish motives, yet + the fact remains that the slaves on many plantations had good + industrial training, and all honor is due to the conscientious men + and still more to the noble women of the South who in slavery times + helped to prepare the way for the better days that were to come." + + +Work is the essential condition of human progress. Contrast the training +of the Negro under enforced slavery with that of the Indian, although it +should not be thought that the characters were the same, for the life in +America had made the Indian one who would not submit to the yoke, and +all attempts to enslave him came to naught. Dr. Frissell out of a long +experience says: + + "When the children of these two races are placed side by side, as + they are in the school rooms and workshops and on the farms at + Hampton, it is not difficult to perceive that the training which + the blacks had under slavery was far more valuable as a preparation + for civilized life than the freedom from training and service + enjoyed by the Indian on the Western reservations. For while + slavery taught the colored man to work, the reservation pauperized + the Indian with free rations; while slavery brought the black into + the closest relations with the white race and its ways of life, the + reservation shut the Indian away from his white brothers and gave + him little knowledge of their civilization, language or religion." + + +The coddled Indian, with all the vices of the white man open to him, has +made little, if any, progress, while the Negro, made to work, has held +his own in large measure at least. + +Under slavery three general fields of service were open to the blacks. +The first comprised the domestic and body servants, with the +seamstresses, etc., whose labors were in the house or in close personal +contact with masters and mistresses. This class was made up of the +brightest and quickest, mulattoes being preferred because of their +greater aptitude. These servants had almost as much to do with the +whites as did the other blacks and absorbed no small amount of learning. +Yet the results were not always satisfactory. A southern lady after +visiting for a time in New York said on leaving:[6] + + "I cannot tell you how much, after being in your house so long, I + dread to go home, and have to take care of our servants again. We + have a much smaller family of whites than you, but we have twelve + servants, and your two accomplish a great deal more and do their + work a great deal better than our twelve. You think your girls are + very stupid and that they give much trouble, but it is as nothing. + There is hardly one of our servants that can be trusted to do the + simplest work without being stood over. If I order a room to be + cleaned, or a fire to be made in a distant chamber, I can never be + sure I am obeyed unless I go there and see for myself.... And when + I reprimand them they only say that they don't mean to do anything + wrong, or they won't do it again, all the time laughing as though + it were a joke. They don't mind it at all. They are just as playful + and careless as any wilful child; and they never will do any work + if you don't compel them." + + +The second class comprised the mechanics, carpenters, blacksmiths, +masons and the like. These were also a picked lot. They were well +trained ofttimes and had a practical monopoly of their trades in many +localities. In technical knowledge they naturally soon outstripped their +masters and became conscious of their superiority, as the following +instance related by President G. T. Winston shows: + + "I remember one day my father, who was a lawyer, offered some + suggestions to one of his slaves, a fairly good carpenter, who was + building us a barn. The old Negro heard him with ill-concealed + disgust, and replied: 'Look here, master, you'se a first-rate + lawyer, no doubt, but you don't know nothin' 'tall 'bout + carpentering. You better go back to your law books.'" + + +The training received by these artisans stood them in good stead after +the war, when, left to themselves, they were able to hold their ground +by virtue of their ability to work alone. + +The third class was made up of all that were left, and their work was in +the fields. The dullest, as well as those not needed elsewhere, were +included. Some few became overseers, but the majority worked on the +farms. As a rule little work was required of children under 12, and when +they began their tasks were about of the adult's. Thence they passed to +"half," "three-quarter" and "full" hands. Olmsted said:[7] + + "Until the Negro is big enough for his labor to be plainly + profitable to his master he has no training to application or + method, but only to idleness and carelessness. Before children + arrive at a working age they hardly come under the notice of their + owner.... The only whipping of slaves I have seen in Virginia has + been of these wild, lazy children, as they are being broke in to + work. They cannot be depended upon a minute out of sight. You will + see how difficult it would be if it were attempted to eradicate the + indolent, careless, incogitant habits so formed in youth. But it is + not systematically attempted, and the influences that continue to + act upon a slave in the same direction, cultivating every quality + at variance with industry, precision, forethought and providence, + are innumerable." + + +In many places the field hands were given set tasks to do each day, and +they were then allowed to take their own time and stop when the task was +completed. In Georgia and South Carolina the following is cited by +Olmsted as tasks for a day:[7] + + "In making drains in light clean meadow land each man or woman of + the full hands is required to dig one thousand cubic feet; in swamp + land that is being prepared for rice culture, where there are not + many stumps, the task for a ditcher is five hundred feet; while in + a very strong cypress swamp, only two hundred feet is required; in + hoeing rice, a certain number of rows equal to one-half or + two-thirds of an acre, according to the condition of the land; in + sowing rice (strewing in drills), two acres; in reaping rice (if it + stands well), three-quarters of an acre, or, sometimes a gang will + be required to reap, tie in sheaves, and carry to the stack yard + the produce of a certain area commonly equal to one-fourth the + number of acres that there are hands working together; hoeing + cotton, corn or potatoes, one-half to one acre; threshing, five to + six hundred sheaves. In plowing rice land (light, clean, mellow + soil), with a yoke of oxen, one acre a day, including the ground + lost in and near the drains, the oxen being changed at noon. A + cooper also, for instance, is required to make barrels at the rate + of eighteen a week; drawing staves, 500 a day; hoop-poles, 120; + squaring timber, 100 feet; laying worm fence, 50 panels per day; + post and rail fence, posts set two and a half to three feet deep, + nine feet apart, nine or ten panels per hand. In getting fuel from + the woods (pine to be cut and split), one cord is the task for a + day. In 'mauling rails,' the taskman selecting the trees (pine) + that he judges will split easiest, 100 a day, ends not sharpened. + + "In allotting the tasks the drivers are expected to put the weaker + hands where, if there is any choice in the appearance of the + ground, as where certain rows in hoeing corn would be less weedy + than others, they will be favored. + + "These tasks would certainly not be considered excessively hard by + a northern laborer, and, in point of fact, the more industrious and + active hands finish them often by two o'clock. I saw one or two + leaving the field soon after one o'clock, several about two, and + between three and four I met a dozen women and several men coming + to their cabins, having finished their day's work.... If, after a + hard day's labor he (the driver) sees that the gang has been + overtasked, owing to a miscalculation of the difficulty of the + work, he may excuse the completion of the tasks, but he is not + allowed to extend them." + + +In other places the work was not laid out in tasks, but it is safe to +say that, judging from all reports and all probabilities, the amount of +work done did not equal that of the free labor of the North, then or +now. If it had the commercial supremacy of the South would have been +longer maintained. + +Some things regarding the agricultural work at once become prominent. +All work was done under the immediate eye of the task master. Thus there +was little occasion for the development of any sense of individual +responsibility for the work. As a rule the methods adopted were crude. +Little machinery was used, and that of the simplest. Hoes, heavy and +clumsy, were the common tools. Within a year I have seen grass being +mowed with hoes preparatory to putting the ground in cultivation. Even +today the Negro has to be trained to use the light, sharp hoe of the +North. Corn, cotton and, in a few districts, rice or tobacco were the +staple crops, although each plantation raised its own fruit and +vegetables, and about the cabins in the quarters were little plots for +gardens. The land was cultivated for a time, then abandoned for new, +while in most places little attention was paid to rotation of crops or +to fertilizers. The result was that large sections of the South had been +seriously injured before the war. As some one has said: + + "The destruction of the soils by the methods of cultivation prior + to the war was worse than the ravages of the war. The _post bellum_ + farmer received as an inheritance large areas of wornout and + generally unproductive soils." + + +Yet all things were the master's. A failure of the crop meant little +hunger to the black. Refusal to work could but bring bodily punishment, +for the master was seldom of the kind who would take life--a live Negro +was worth a good deal more than a dead one. Clothing and shelter were +provided, and care in sickness. The master must always furnish tools, +land and seed, and see to it that the ground was cultivated. There was +thus little necessity for the Negro to care for the morrow, and his +African training had not taught him to borrow trouble. Thus neither +Africa nor America had trained the Negro to independent, continuous +labor apart from the eye of the overseer. The requirements as to skill +were low. The average man learned little of the mysteries of fruit +growing, truck farming and all the economies which make diversified +agriculture profitable. + +Freedom came, a second sharp break with the past. There is now no one +who is responsible for food and clothing. For a time all is in +confusion. The war had wiped out the capital of the country. The whites +were land poor, the Negroes landless. It so happened that at this time +the price of cotton was high. The Negro knew more about cotton than any +other crop. _Raise cotton_ became the order of the day. The money +lenders would lend money on cotton, even in advance, for it had a +certain and sure ready sale. Thus developed the crop-lien system which +in essence consists in taking a mortgage on crops yet to be raised. The +system existed among the white planters for many years before the war. + +A certain amount of food and clothing was advanced to the Negro family +until the crop could be harvested, when the money value of the goods +received was returned with interest. Perhaps nothing which concerns the +Negro has been the subject of more hostile criticism than this crop-lien +system. That it is easily abused when the man on one side is a shrewd +and cunning sharpster and the borrower an illiterate and trusting Negro +is beyond doubt. That in thousands of cases advantage has been taken of +this fact to wrest from the Negro at the end of the year all that he had +is not to be questioned. Certainly a system which makes it possible is +open to criticism. It should not be forgotten, however, that the system +grew out of the needs of the time and served a useful purpose when +honestly administered, even as it does today. No money could be gotten +with land as security, and even today the land owner often sees his +merchant with far less capital get money from the bank which has refused +his security. The system has enabled a poor man without tools and work +animals without food to get a start and be provided with a modicum of +necessities until the crops were harvested. Thousands have become more +or less independent who started in this way. The evil influences of the +system, for none would consider it ideal, have probably been that it has +made unnecessary any saving on the part of the Negro, who feels sure +that he can receive his advances and who cares little for the fact that +some day he must pay a big interest on what he receives. Secondly, this +system has hindered the development of diversified farming, which today +is one of the greatest needs of the South. The advances have been +conditioned upon the planting and cultivating a given amount of cotton. +During recent years no other staple has so fallen in price, and the +result has been hard on the farmers. All else has faded into +insignificance before the necessity of raising cotton. The result on the +fertility of the soil is also evident. Luckily cotton makes light +demands on the land, but the thin soil of many districts has been unable +to stand even the light demands. Guano came just in time and the later +commercial fertilizers have postponed the evil day. The development of +the cotton mills has also served to give a local market, which has +stimulated the production of cotton. It seems rather evident, however, +that the increasing development of western lands will put a heavier +burden upon the Atlantic slope. This, of course, will not affect the +culture of sea-island cotton, which is grown in only a limited area. To +meet this handicap a more diversified agriculture must gradually +supplant in some way the present over-attention to cotton. In early days +Virginia raised much cotton, now it stands towards the bottom of the +cotton states. Perhaps it is safe to say that Virginia land has been as +much injured by the more exhaustive crop, tobacco, as the other states +by cotton. Large areas have been allowed to go back to the woods and +local conditions have greatly changed. How this diversification is to be +brought about for the Negro is one of the most important questions. +Recent years have witnessed an enormous development of truck farming, +but in this the Negro has borne little part. This intensive farming +requires a knowledge of soil and of plant life, coupled with much +ability in marketing wares, which the average Negro does not possess. +Nor has he taken any great part in the fruit industry, which is steadily +growing. The question to which all this leads may be stated as follows. +To what extent is the Negro taking advantage of the opportunities he now +has on the farm? What is his present situation? + + + + +CHAPTER IV. THE PRESENT SITUATION. + + +The southern states are not densely populated. Alabama has an average of +35 per square mile; Georgia, 37; South Carolina, 44. These may be +compared with Iowa, 40; Indiana, 70, taking two of the typical northern +farming states, while Connecticut has 187. In the prairie section of +Alabama the Negro population ranges from 30 to 50 per square mile, and +this is about the densest outside of the city counties. There is thus an +abundance of land. As a matter of fact there is not the least difficulty +for the Negro farmer to get plenty of land, and he has but to show +himself a good tenant to have the whites offering him inducements. + + +=A CABIN INTERIOR.= + + +Negroes on the farms may be divided into four classes: Owners, cash +tenants, share tenants, laborers. Share tenants differ from the same +class in the North in that work animals and tools are usually provided +by the landlord. Among the laborers must also be included the families +living on the rice and cane plantations, who work for cash wages but +receive houses and such perquisites as do other tenants and whose +permanence is more assured than an ordinary day hand. They are paid in +cash, usually through a plantation store, that debts for provisions, +etc., may be deducted. Both owners and tenants find it generally +necessary to arrange for advances of food and clothing until harvest. +The advances begin in the early Spring and continue until August or +sometimes until the cotton is picked. In the regions east of the +alluvial lands advances usually stop by the first of August, and in the +interim until the cotton is sold odd jobs or some extra labor, picking +blackberries and the like, must furnish the support for the family. The +landlord may do the advancing or some merchant. Money is seldom +furnished directly, although in recent years banks are beginning to loan +on crop-liens. The food supplied is often based on the number of working +hands, irrespective of the number of children in the family. This is +occasionally a hardship. The customary ration is a peck of corn meal and +three pounds of pork per week. Usually a crop-lien together with a bill +of sale of any personal property is given as security, but in some +states landlords have a first lien upon all crops for rent and advances. +In all districts the tenant is allowed to cut wood for his fire, and +frequently has free pasture for his stock. There is much complaint that +when there are fences about the house they are sometimes burned, being +more accessible than the timber, which may be at a distance and which +has to be cut. The landlords and the advancers have found it necessary +to spend a large part of their time personally, or through agents called +"riders," going about the plantations to see that the crops are +cultivated. The Negro knows how to raise cotton, but he may forget to +plow, chop, or some other such trifle, unless reminded of the necessity. +Thus a considerable part of the excessive interest charged the Negro +should really be charged as wages of superintendence. If the +instructions of the riders are not followed, rations are cut off, and +thus the recalcitrant brought to terms. + +For a long time rations have been dealt out on Saturday. So Saturday has +come to be considered a holiday, or half-holiday at least. Early in the +morning the roads are covered with blacks on foot, horse back, mule back +and in various vehicles, on their way to the store or village, there to +spend the day loafing about in friendly discussion with neighbors. The +condition of the crops has little preventive influence, and the handicap +to successful husbandry formed by the habit is easily perceived. Many +efforts are being made to break up the custom, but it is up-hill work. +Another habit of the Negro which militates against his progress is his +prowling about in all sorts of revels by night, thereby unfitting +himself for labor the next day. This trait also shows forth the general +thoughtlessness of the Negro. His mule works by day, but is expected to +carry his owner any number of miles at night. Sunday is seldom a day of +rest for the work animals. It is a curious fact that wherever the +Negroes are most numerous there mules usually outnumber horses. There +are several reasons for this. It has often been supposed that mules +endure the heat better than horses. This is questionable. The mule, +however, will do a certain amount and then quit, all inducements to the +contrary notwithstanding. The horse will go till he drops; moreover, +will not stand the abuse which the mule endures. The Negro does not bear +a good reputation for care of his animals. He neglects to feed and +provide for them. Their looks justify the criticism. The mule, valuable +as he is for many purposes, is necessarily more expensive in the long +run than a self-perpetuating animal. + +In all parts it is the custom for the Negroes to save a little garden +patch about the house, which, if properly tended, would supply the +family with vegetables throughout the year. This is seldom the case. A +recent Tuskegee catalog commenting on this says: + + "If they have any garden at all, it is apt to be choked with weeds + and other noxious growths. With every advantage of soil and + climate, and with a steady market if they live near any city or + large town, few of the colored farmers get any benefit from this, + one of the most profitable of all industries." + + +As a matter of fact they care little for vegetables and seldom know how +to prepare them for the table. The garden is regularly started in the +Spring, but seldom amounts to much. I have ridden for a day with but a +glimpse of a couple of attempts. As a result there will be a few +collards, turnips, gourds, sweet potatoes and beans, but the mass of the +people buy the little they need from the stores. A dealer in a little +country store told me last summer that he would make about $75 an acre +on three acres of watermelons, although almost every purchaser could +raise them if he would. In many regions wild fruits are abundant, and +blackberries during the season are quite a staple, but they are seldom +canned. Some cattle are kept, but little butter is made, and milk is +seldom on the bill of fare, the stock being sold when fat (?). Many +families keep chickens, usually of the variety known as "dunghill +fowls," which forage for themselves. But the market supplied with +chickens by the small farmers, as it might easily be. Whenever +opportunity offers, hunting and fishing become more than diversions, and +the fondness for coon and 'possum is proverbial. + +In a study of dietaries of Negroes made under Tuskegee Institute and +reported in Bulletin No. 38, Office of Experimental Stations, U. S. +Dept. of Agriculture, it is stated: + + "Comparing these negro dietaries with other dietaries and dietary + standards, it will be seen that-- + + "(1) The quantities of protein are small. Roughly speaking, the + food of these negroes furnished one-third to three-fourths as much + protein as are called for in the current physiological standards + and as are actually found in the dietaries of well fed whites in + the United States and well fed people in Europe. They were, indeed, + no larger than have been found in the dietaries of the very poor + factory operatives and laborers in Germany and the laborers and + beggars in Italy. + + "(2) In fuel value the Negro dietaries compare quite favorably with + those of well-to-do people of the laboring classes in Europe and + the United States." + + +This indicates the ignorance of the Negro regarding the food he needs, +so that in a region of plenty he is underfed as regards the muscle and +bone forming elements and overfed so far as fuel value is concerned. One +cannot help asking what effect a normal diet would have upon the sexual +passions. It is worthy of notice that in the schools maintained by the +whites there is relatively little trouble on this account. Possibly the +changed life and food are in no small measure responsible for the +difference. + +Under diversified farming there would be steady employment most of the +year, with a corresponding increase of production. As it is there are +two busy seasons. In the Spring, planting and cultivating cotton, say +from March to July, and in the Fall, cotton picking, September to +December. The balance of the time the average farmer does little work. +The present system entails a great loss of time. + +The absence of good pastures and of meadows is noticeable. This is also +too true of white farmers. Yet the grasses grow luxuriantly and nothing +but custom or something else accounts for their absence; the something +else is cotton. The adaptability of cotton to the Negro is almost +providential. It has a long tap root and is able to stand neglect and +yet produce a reasonable crop. The grains, corn and cane, with their +surface roots, will not thrive under careless handling. + +The average farmer knows, or at least utilizes few of the little +economies which make agriculture so profitable elsewhere. The Negro is +thus under a heavy handicap and does not get the most that he might from +present opportunities. I am fully conscious that there are many farmers +who take advantage of these things and are correspondingly successful, +but they are not the average man of whom I am speaking. With this +general statement I pass to a consideration of the situation in the +various districts before mentioned. + + +TIDE WATER VIRGINIA. + +The Virginia sea shore consists of a number of peninsulas separated by +narrow rivers (salt water). The country along the shore and the rivers +is flat, with low hills in the interior. North of Old Point Comfort the +district is scarcely touched by railroads and is accessible only by +steamers. + +Gloucester County, lying between York River and Mob Jack Bay, is an +interesting region. The hilly soil of the central part sells at from $5 +to $10 per acre, while the flat coast land, which is richer although +harder to drain, is worth from $25 to $50. The immediate water front has +risen in price in recent years and brings fancy prices for residence +purposes. Curiously enough some of the best land of the county is that +beneath the waters of the rivers--the oyster beds. Land for this use may +be worth from nothing to many hundreds of dollars an acre, according to +its nature. The county contains 250 square miles, 6,224 whites and 6,608 +blacks, the latter forming 51 per cent of the population. + +This sea coast region offers peculiar facilities for gaining an easy +livelihood. There are few negro families of which some member does not +spend part of the year fishing or oystering. There has been a great +development of the oyster industry. The season lasts from September 1 to +May 1, and good workmen not infrequently make $2 a day or more when they +can work on the public beds. This last clause is significant. It is +stated that the men expect to work most of September, October and +November; one-half of December and January; one-third of February; any +time in March is clear gain and all of April. According to a careful +study[8] of the oyster industry it was found that the oystermen, _i. e._, +those who dig the oysters from the rocks, make about $8 a month, while +families occupied in shucking oysters earn up to $400 a year, +three-fourths of them gaining less than $250. The public beds yield less +than formerly and the business is gradually going into the hands of +firms maintaining their own beds, with a corresponding reduction in +possible earnings for the oystermen. + +The effect of this industry is twofold; a considerable sum of money is +brought into the county and much of this has been invested in homes and +small farms. This is the bright side; but there is a dark side. The boys +are drawn out of the schools by the age of 12 to work at shucking +oysters, and during the winter months near the rivers the boys will +attend only on stormy days. The men are also taken away from the farms +too early in the fall to gather crops, and return too late in the spring +to get the best results from the farm work. The irregular character of +the employment reacts on the men and they tend to drift to the cities +during the summer, although many find employment in berry picking about +Norfolk. Another result has been to make farm labor very scarce. This +naturally causes some complaint. I do not say that the bad results +outweigh the good, but believe they must be considered. + +The population is scattered over the county, there being no towns of any +size, and is denser along the rivers than inland. The relations between +the two races are most friendly, although less satisfactory between the +younger generation. The Negroes make no complaints of ill treatment. In +the last ten years there have been only four Negroes sentenced to the +state prison, while in the twelve months prior to May 1, 1903, I was +told that there was but one trial for misdemeanor. It may be that the +absence of many of the young men for several months a year accounts in +part for the small amount of crime. The jail stands empty most of the +time. The chief offenses are against the fish and oyster laws of the +state. Whites and blacks both claim that illegitimate children are much +rarer than formerly. I was told of a case in which a young white man was +fined for attempting to seduce a colored girl. The races have kept in +touch. White ministers still preach in negro churches, address +Sunday-schools, etc. + +In all save a few of the poorer districts the old one-roomed cabin has +given place to a comfortable house of several rooms. The houses are +often white-washed, although their completion may take a good many +years. Stoves have supplanted fireplaces. The fences about the yards are +often neat and in good repair. So far as housing conditions are +concerned, I have seen no rural district of the South to compare with +this. The old cabin is decidedly out of fashion. + +Turning to the farm proper, there are other evidences of change. There +are no women working in the fields, their time being spent about the +house and the garden. The system of crop liens is unknown. Each farmer +raises his own supplies, smokes his own meat or buys at the store for +cash or on credit. Wheat and corn are ground in local mills. The heavy +interest charges of other districts are thus avoided. It is stated that +a great number of the Negroes are buying little places, and this bears +out the census figures, which show that of the Negro farmers 90.9 per +cent in this county are owners or managers; the average for the negroes +as a whole is 27.1 per cent. + +Although so many earn money in the oyster business, there are others who +have gotten ahead by sticking to the farm. T---- now owns part of the +place on which he was a slave, and his slave-time cabin is now used as a +shed. He began buying land in 1873, paying from $10 to $11.50 per acre, +and by hard work and economy now owns sixty acres which are worth much +more than their first cost. With the help of his boys, whom he has +managed to keep at home, he derives a comfortable income from his land. +His daughter, now his housekeeper, teaches school near by during the +winter. What he has done others can do, he says. + +Y---- is another who has succeeded. His first payments were made from +the sale of wood cut in clearing the land. In 1903 his acres were +planted as follows: + + Orchard 2 acres. + Woodland 8 acres. + Pasture 10 acres. + Corn 8 acres. + Rye 3/4 acres. + Potato patch + Garden and yard. + + +His children are being trained at Hampton, and he laughingly says that +one boy is already telling him how to get more produce from his land. + +B---- is an oysterman during the winter. He has purchased a small place +of four acres, for which he paid $18 per acre. This ground he cultivates +and has a few apple, plum and peach trees in his yard. His case is +typical. + +Wages in the county are not high. House servants get from $3 to $8 per +month. Day laborers are paid from 50 to 75 cents a day. Farm hands get +about $10 a month and two meals daily (breakfast and dinner). I have +already mentioned that farm laborers were getting fewer, and those left +are naturally the less reliable. Many white farmers are having +considerable difficulty in carrying on their places. The result is that +many are only partially cultivating the farms, and many of the younger +men are abandoning agriculture. What the final result will be is hard to +tell. + +In summarizing it may be said that agriculture is being somewhat +neglected and that the opportunity to earn money in the oyster industry +acts as a constant deterrent to agricultural progress, if it is not +directly injurious. Here, as elsewhere, there is room for improvement in +methods of tilling the soil and in rotation of crops, use of animal +manures, etc. + +The general social and moral improvement has been noted. It is a +pleasure to find that one of the strongest factors in this improvement +is due to the presence in the county of a number of graduates of Hampton +who, in their homes, their schools and daily life, have stood for better +things. + + +CENTRAL VIRGINIA. + +The difficulty of making general statements true in all districts has +elsewhere been mentioned. The reader will not be surprised, therefore, +to find many things said in the immediately preceding pages inapplicable +to conditions in the tobacco districts. The little town of Farmville, +Va., is the market for some 12,000,000 pounds of tobacco yearly. The +county Prince Edward contained in 1890 9,924 Negroes and in 1900 but +9,769, a decrease of 155. The county does not give one the impression of +agricultural prosperity. The surface is very rolling, the soil sandy and +thin in many places. Along the bottoms there is good land, of less value +than formerly because of freshets. Practically all of the land has been +under cultivation at some time, and in heavily wooded fields the corn +rows may often be traced. On every side are worn-out fields on which +sassafras soon gets a hold, followed by pine and other trees. + +Labor conditions have been growing worse, according to common report. It +is harder to get farm hands than formerly, and this difficulty is most +felt by those who exact the most. The day laborer gets from 40 to 50 +cents and his meals, while for special work, such as cutting wheat, the +wage may rise to $1.50. Women no longer work in the fields, and about +the house get 35 cents per day. Formerly women worked in the fields, and +wages for both sexes were lower. Hands by the month get $7 to $8 and +board. In this county are many small white farmers who work in the +fields with the men, and the white housewife not infrequently cooks the +food for the Negroes--quite a contrast to typical southern practice. + +The movement from the farm is not an unmixed evil in that it is +compelling the introduction of improved machinery, such as mowing +machines, binders. On many a farm only scythes and cradles are known. + +Another element in the problem is the fact that many negroes have been +getting little places of their own and therefore do less work for +others. There are many whites who think this development a step forward +and believe that the land owners are better citizens. There are others +who claim that the net result is a loss, in that they are satisfied +merely to eke out some sort of an existence and are not spurred on to +increased production. It is quite commonly reported that there were some +organizations among the Negroes whose members agreed not to work for the +whites, but I cannot vouch for their existence. + +Although agriculture here is much more diversified than in the cotton +belt, the Negro finds it necessary to get advances. These are usually +supplied by commission merchants, who furnish the fertilizers and +necessary food, taking crop liens as security. Advances begin in the +spring and last until the following December, when the tobacco is +marketed. The interest charged is 6 per cent, but the goods sold on this +plan are much enhanced in price; interest is usually charged for a year, +and the merchant receives a commission of 2-1/2 per cent for selling the +tobacco, so the business appears fairly profitable. + +It is difficult to estimate the average value of an acre of tobacco, as +it varies so much in quality as well as quantity. It is probably safe to +say that the Negroes do not average over $20 per acre, ranging from $15 +to $25, and have perhaps three or four acres in tobacco. It is generally +expected that the tobacco will about pay for the advances. This would +indicate, and the commission men confirm it, that the average advance is +between $50 and $75 per year. The rations given out are no longer merely +pork and meal, with which it is stated that the Negroes are not now +content, but include a more varied diet. + +The customary rent is one-fourth of all that is produced, the landlord +paying one-fourth of the fertilizer (universally called guano in this +district). Tobacco makes heavy demands on the soil and at least 400 +pounds, a value of about $4.50 per acre, should be used. When the +landlord furnishes the horse or mule he pays also one-half of the +fertilizer and gets one-half of the produce. The rent on tobacco land is +thus large, but the average cash rental is between $2 and $3. + +The standard rotation of crops is tobacco, wheat, clover, tobacco. The +clover is not infrequently skipped, the field lying fallow or +uncultivated until exhausted. The average farmer thus has about as many +acres in wheat as in tobacco and raises perhaps twelve bushels of wheat +per acre. Some corn is also raised, and I have seen fields so exhausted +that the stalk at the ground was scarcely larger than my middle finger. +The corn crop may possibly average 10 to 15 bushels per acre, or, in +Virginia terminology, 2 to 3 barrels. + +The average farmer under present conditions just about meets his +advances with the tobacco raised. He has about enough wheat to supply +him with flour; perhaps enough corn and hay for his ox or horse; +possibly enough meat for the family. The individual family may fall +short on any of these. The hay crop is unsatisfactory, largely through +neglect. In May, 1903, on a Saturday, I saw wagon after wagon leaving +Farmville carrying bales of western hay. This is scarcely an indication +of thrift. + +The impression one gets from traveling about is that the extensive +cultivation of tobacco, in spite of the fact that it is the cash crop +and perhaps also the most profitable, is really a drawback in that other +possibilities are obscured. It may be that the line of progress will not +be to abandon tobacco, but to introduce more intensive cultivation, for +the average man, white or black, does not get a proper return from an +acre. To-day there is always a likelihood that more tobacco will be +planted than can be properly cultivated, for it is a plant which demands +constant and careful attention until it is marketed. + +B---- has a big family of children and lives in a large cabin, one room +with a loft. He owns a pair of oxen and manages to raise enough to feed +them. He also raises about enough meat for his family. During the season +of 1902 he raised $175 worth of tobacco; corn valued at $37.50 and 16 +bushels of wheat, a total of about $221. Deducting one-fourth for rent +and estimating his expenses for fertilizer at $25, he had about $140 out +of which to pay all other expenses. B---- is considered a very good man, +who tends carefully and faithfully to his work. It is evident, however, +that his margin is small. + +The farmer has opportunities to supplement his earnings. Cordwood finds +ready sale in the towns at $2 per cord, and I have seen many loads of +not over one-fourth of a cord hauled to market by a small steer. Butter, +eggs and chickens yield some returns and the country produces +blackberries in profusion. + +There are some Negroes who are making a comfortable living on the farms +and whose houses and yards are well kept. As has been said, this is not +the general impression made by the district. Considerable sums of money +are sent in by children working in the northern cities. This is offset, +however, by those who come back in the winter to live off their parents, +having squandered all their own earnings elsewhere. + +The situation in a word is: A generation or more of reliance on one +crop, neglect of other crops and of stock, resulting in deteriorated +land. The labor force attracted to the towns and the North by higher +wages. Natural result: Decadence of agricultural conditions, affording +at the same time a chance for many Negroes to become land owners. When +the process will stop or the way out I know not. Perhaps the German +immigrants who are beginning to buy up some of the farms may lead the +way to a better husbandry. + +For an interesting account of conditions in the town of Farmville see +"The Negroes of Farmville," by W. E. B. DuBois, Bulletin Department of +Labor, January, 1898. + + +THE SEA COAST. + +=A SEA-ISLAND CABIN.= + +The low-lying coast of South Carolina and Georgia, with its fringe of +islands, has long been the seat of a heavy Negro population. Of the +counties perhaps none is more interesting than Beaufort, the +southernmost of South Carolina. The eastern half of the county is cut up +by many salt rivers into numerous islands. Broad River separates these +from the mainland. The Plant System has a line on the western edge of +the county, while the Georgia Railroad runs east to Port Royal. +According to the census, the county contains 943 square miles of land +and a population of 32,137 blacks and 3,349 whites, the Negroes thus +forming 90 per cent of the total. There are 37 persons to the square +mile. With the exception of Beaufort and Port Royal, the whites are +found on the western side of the county. The islands are almost solid +black. Just after the war many of the plantations were sold for taxes +and fell into the hands of the Negroes, the funds realized being set +apart for the education of the blacks, the interest now amounting to +some $2,000 a year. In the seventies there was a great development of +the phosphate industry, which at its height employed hundreds of +Negroes, taken from the farms. Enormous fertilizer plants were erected. +Most of this is now a thing of the past and the dredges lie rotting at +the wharves. It is the general opinion that the influence of this +industry was not entirely beneficial, although it set much money in +circulation. It drew the men from the farms, and now they tend to drift +to the cities rather than return. + +A livelihood is easily gained. The creeks abound with fish, crabs and +oysters. There is plenty of work on the farms for those who prefer more +steady labor. Land valued at about $10 per acre may be rented for $1. +More than ten acres to the tenant is not usual, and I was told that it +is very common for a family to rent all the land it wants for $10 per +year, the presumption being that not over ten acres would be utilized. +The staple crop for the small farmer is the sea island cotton. Under the +present culture land devoted to this lies fallow every other year. The +islands are low and flat, subject to severe storms, that of 1893 having +destroyed many lives and much property. The county was originally +heavily wooded and there is still an abundance for local purposes, +though the supply is low in places. On the islands the blacks have been +almost alone for a generation and by many it is claimed that there has +been a decided retrogression. By common consent St. Helena Island, which +lies near Beaufort, is considered the most prosperous of the Negro +districts. On this island are over 8,000 blacks and some 200 whites. The +cabins usually have two rooms, many having been partitioned to make the +second. They are of rough lumber, sometimes whitewashed, but seldom +painted. There are few fences and some damage is done by stock. +Outbuildings are few; privies are almost unknown--even at the schools +there are no closets of any kind. The wells are shallow, six feet or so +in depth with a few driven to 12 or 17 feet. A few have pumps, the rest +are open. At present there is no dispensary on the island but there are +a number of "blind tigers." The nearest physician is at Beaufort and the +cost of a single visit is from five to ten dollars. The distance from +the doctors is said not to be an unmixed evil as it saves much foolish +expenditure of money in fancied ills. + +In slavery times there were 61 plantations on the island and their +names, as Fripps Corner, Oaks, still survive to designate localities. +There was in olden times little contact with the whites as Negro drivers +were common. Each plantation still has its "prayer house" at which +religious services are held. Meetings occur on different nights on the +various plantations to enable the people to get all the religion they +need. These meetings are often what are known as "shouts," when with +much shouting and wild rhythmic dancing the participants keep on till +exhausted. The suggestion of Africa is not vague. The Virginia Negro +views these gatherings with as much astonishment as does any white. Many +of the blacks speak a strange dialect hard to understand. "Shum," for +instance, being the equivalent for "see them." + +The land is sandy and should have skillful handling to get the best +results. Yet the farming is very unscientific. The first plowing is +shallow and subsequent cultivation is done almost entirely with hoes. +When a Hampton graduate began some new methods last year the people came +for miles to see his big plow. It is said that there was more plowing +than usual as a result. The daily life of the farmer is about as +follows: Rising between four and five he goes directly to the field, +eating nothing until eight or nine, when he has some "grits," a sort of +fine hominy cooked like oat meal. Many eat nothing until they leave the +field at eleven for dinner, which also consists of grits with some crabs +in summer and fish in winter. Some have only these two meals a day. Corn +bread and molasses are almost unknown and when they have molasses it is +eaten with a spoon. Knives and forks are seldom used. One girl of +eighteen did not know how to handle a knife. There are numbers of cows +on the island, but milk is seldom served, the cattle being sold for +beef. The draft animals are usually small oxen or ponies, called "salt +marsh tackies," as they are left to pick their living from the marshes. +Some chickens and turkeys are raised, but no great dependence is placed +on them. There are no geese and few ducks. Little commercial fertilizer +is used, the marsh grass, which grows in great abundance, being an +excellent substitute of which the more progressive take advantage. The +following statement will illustrate the situation of three typical +families, an unusual, a good, and an average farmer. The figures are for +1902: + + No. 1. No. 2. No. 3. + Number in family 8 13 4 + Number rooms 6 5 2 + Number outbuildings 5 3 0 + Number horses 4 1 0 + Number cows 9 5 1 + Number hogs 10 3 0 + Number other animals 1 dog 2 goats 1 dog + 1 dog + Number fowls 90 30 10 + Acres of land owned 55 21 0 + Acres of land rented 0 0 10-5/8 + Acres in cotton 10 3.5 5 + Acres in corn 8 5 5 + Acres in sweet potatoes 3 3.5 3/8 + Acres in white potatoes 1/4 0 0 + Acres in peas (cow) 5.5 1.5 1/4 + Acres in rice 1.5 0 0 + Garden Very small Poor None + +The rice is grown without flooding and known as "Providence Rice." + +With the great ease of getting a livelihood the advances necessarily are +small. From January 1, 1902, to July 15 (which is near the close of the +advancing season) several average families had gotten advances averaging +$15.00. The firm which does most of the advancing on the island writes: +"We have some that get more. A few get $50.00 or about that amount, but +we make it a point not to let the colored people or our customers get +too much in debt. We have to determine about what they need and we have +always given them what was necessary to help them make a crop according +to their conditions and circumstances as they present themselves to us." +The firm reports that they collect each year about 90 per cent of their +outstanding accounts. + +Below are given the customary forms of the Bill of Sale and the Crop +Lien given to secure advances: + + THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA, + COUNTY OF BEAUFORT. + + Know all men by these presents, that ............ of the said + County, in consideration of the sum of ............ dollars, to be + advanced in merchandise by ............, of Beaufort County and + State, have bargained and sold unto the said ............ the + following personal property, ............, now in my possession, + and which I promise to deliver on demand of the said ............ + + (Signed) ..................... + + $............ + + + On the .... day of 19.., I promise to pay to the order of + ............ ..........., at Beaufort, South Carolina, ............ + dollars for money and supplies to be advanced and furnished me by + the said ............, merchants, Beaufort, South Carolina, for use + in the cultivation of crops on the plantation or farm cultivated by + me in Beaufort County, South Carolina, known as the ............ + plantation, and containing about ............ acres, during the + year 190... + + And in consideration of the said advance made me I hereby give, + make and grant to the said ............ a lien to the extent of + said advance on all the crops which may be grown on the said + plantation or farm during the year 190.., wherever said crops or + parts of them are found. + + This lien hereby given is executed and to be enforced in accordance + with the laws of the State of South Carolina. + + I, the said ............, in consideration of the foregoing, do + hereby agree to advance to the said ........... ..... dollars, as + above stated. + + Witness the hands and seals of both parties. + + In the presence of ............, L. S. + ............ ............, L. S. + +This is then recorded in the County Court as is an ordinary mortgage. + +On this island considerable money has been saved and is now deposited +with a firm of merchants in whom the people have confidence. In July, +1902, there were about 100 individual depositors having some $4,000 to +their credit. The money can be withdrawn at any time, all debts to the +firm being first settled. Interest at five per cent. is allowed. Some of +this money comes from pensions. There are round about Beaufort a +considerable number of U. S. pensioners, as the city was headquarters +for Union soldiers for a long time. The effect of the pensions is +claimed both by whites and blacks to be bad. + +A great deal of the credit for the good conditions, relatively speaking, +which prevail on St. Helena is given to the Penn School which for years +has come into close touch with the lives of the people. The Negroes have +also been in touch with a good class of whites, who have encouraged all +efforts at improvement. Wherever the credit lies, the visitor is struck +by the difference between conditions here and on some other islands, for +instance, Lady's Island, which lies between St. Helena and Beaufort. +Even here it is claimed that the older generation is more industrious. + +In the trucking industry, which is very profitable along the coast, the +Negroes have only been engaged as ordinary laborers. On the main land, +wherever fresh water can be obtained, is the seat of a considerable rice +industry. In recent years, owing to the cutting of the forests in the +hills, the planters are troubled by freshets in the spring and droughts +in the summer. The work is done by Negroes under direction of white +foremen. The men work harder on contract jobs, but work by the day is +better done. Women are in better repute as laborers than the men and it +is stated that more women support their husbands than formerly was the +case. Wages range from $.35 to $.50 per day, varying somewhat according +to the work done. They are paid in cash and the planters have given up +the plantation store in many cases. All work must be constantly +supervised and it is said to be harder and harder to get work done. A +planter found it almost impossible in the winter of 1901 to get fifty +cords of wood cut, the work being considered too heavy. When I left the +train at Beaufort and found twelve hacks waiting for about three +passengers it was evident where some of the labor force had gone. + +In this county there is a great development of burial and sick benefit +societies. The "Morning Star", "Star of Hope", "Star of Bethlehem" are +typical names. The dues are from five to ten cents a week. Many of the +societies have good sized halls, rivaling ofttimes the churches, on the +various islands, which are used for lodge and social purposes. + +Beaufort and the other towns offer the country people an opportunity to +dispose of fish and any garden produce they may raise, while it is not +uncommon to see a little ox dragging a two-wheeled cart and perhaps a +quarter of a cord of wood to be hawked about town. During part of the +summer a good many gather a species of plant which is used in +adulterating cigarettes and cigars. + +This little account indicates that, so far as the farmers are concerned, +there are few evidences of any decided progress save in the district +which has been under the influence of one school. The ease of getting a +livelihood acts as a deterrent to ambition. Yet the old families say +that they have the "best niggers of the South" and certain it is that +race troubles are unknown. + + +CENTRAL DISTRICT. + +=THE OLD CABIN.= + +In the central district life is a little more strenuous than on the sea +coast. The cabins are about the same. The average tenant has a "one mule +farm," some thirty or thirty-five acres. Occasionally the tenant has +more land, but only about this amount is cultivated and no rent is paid +for the balance. The area of the land is usually estimated and only +rarely is it surveyed. This land ranges in value from $5.00 to $15.00 +per acre on the average. The customary rental for a "one mule farm" is +about two bales of cotton, whose value in recent years would be in the +neighborhood of $75.00, thus making the rental about $3.00 per acre. On +this farm from four to six bales of cotton are raised. The soil has been +injured by improper tillage and requires an expenditure of $1.75 to +$2.00 per acre for fertilizers if the best results are to be obtained. +As yet the Negroes do not fully appreciate this. The farmer secures +advances based on 1 peck of meal and 3 pounds of "side meat," fat salt +pork, per week for each working hand. About six dollars a month is the +limit for advances and as these are continued for only seven months or +so the average advance received is probably not far from $50.00 per +year. An advance of $10.00 per month is allowed for a two horse farm. +The advancer obligates himself to furnish only necessities and any +incidentals must be supplied from sale of poultry, berries and the like. +Clothing may often be reckoned as an incidental. The luxuries are bought +with cash or on the installment plan and are seldom indicated by the +books of the merchant. The cost of the average weekly advances for a +family in 1902 was: + + 10 pounds meat (salt port sides) @ 13-1/2c $1.35 + 1 bushel corn meal .90 + 1 plug tobacco (reckoned a necessity) .10 + ------ + $2.35 + + +=THE NEW HOUSE.= + + +Conditions throughout this district are believed to be fairly uniform, +but the following information was gathered in Lowndes County, Alabama, +so has closest connection with the prairie region of that state: + +Lowndes County lies just southwest of Montgomery and there are 47 +persons to the square mile. The Negroes form 86 per cent. of the +population. East and West throughout the county runs the Chennenugga +Ridge, a narrow belt of hills which separate the prairie from the pine +hills to the South. The ridge is quite broken and in places can not be +tilled profitably. The county is of average fertility, however. + +There are not an unusual number of one-room cabins. Out of 74 families, +comprising 416 people, the average was 7 to the room, the greatest +number living in one room was 11. The families were housed as follows: + + No. No. Largest No. Average No. + Families. Rooms. Persons. Persons. + 17 1 11 6 + 31 2 12 (3 fam.) 6 + 16 3 9 5 + 7 4 14 6 + 3 5 9 5 + + +The cabins are built of both boards and logs as indicated by cuts on +pages 43 and 44 while the interior economy is well shown by the +photograph on page 29. + +Field work is from sun to sun with two hours or so rest at noon. The man +usually eats breakfast in the field, the wife staying behind to prepare +it. It consists of pork and corn bread. The family come from the field +about noon and have dinner consisting of pork and corn bread, with +collards, turnip greens, roasting ears, etc. At sundown work stops and +supper is eaten, the menu being as at breakfast. The pork eaten by the +Negroes, it may be said, is almost solid fat, two or three inches thick, +lean meat not being liked. The housewife has few dishes, the food being +cooked in pots or in small ovens set among the ashes. Stoves are a +rarity. Lamps are occasionally used, but if the chimney be broken it is +rarely replaced, the remainder being quite good enough for ordinary +purposes. The cabins seldom have glass windows, but instead wooden +shutters, which swing outward on hinges. These are shut at night and +even during the hottest summer weather there is practically no +ventilation. How it is endured I know not, but the custom prevails even +in Porto Rico I am told. In winter the cabins are cold. To meet this the +thrifty housewife makes bed quilts and as many as 25 or 30 of these are +not infrequently found in a small cabin. The floors are rough and not +always of matched lumber, while the cabins are poorly built. The usual +means of heating, and cooking, is the big fireplace. Sometimes the +chimney is built of sticks daubed over with mud, the top of the chimney +often failing to reach the ridge of the roof. Fires sometimes result. +Tables and chairs are rough and rude. Sheets are few, the mattresses are +of cotton, corn shucks or pine straw, and the pillows of home grown +feathers. + +The following regarding the cooking of the Alabama Negro is taken from a +letter published in Bulletin No. 38, U. S. Department of Agriculture, +Office of the Experiment Stations: + + "The daily fare is prepared in very simple ways. Corn meal is mixed + with water and baked on the flat surface of a hoe or griddle. The + salt pork is sliced thin and fried until very brown and much of the + grease tried out. Molasses from cane or sorghum is added to the + fat, making what is known as 'sap,' which is eaten with the corn + bread. Hot water sweetened with molasses is used as a beverage. + This is the hill of fare of most of the cabins on the plantations + of the 'black belt' three times a day during the year. It is, + however, varied at times; thus collards and turnips are boiled with + the bacon, the latter being used with the vegetables to supply fat + 'to make it rich.' The corn meal bread is sometimes made into + so-called 'cracklin bread,' and is prepared as follows: A piece of + fat bacon is fried until it is brittle; it is then crushed and + mixed with corn meal, water, soda and salt, and baked in an oven + over the fireplace.... One characteristic of the cooking is that + all meats are fried or otherwise cooked until they are crisp. + Observation among these people reveals the fact that very many of + them suffer from indigestion in some form." + + +As elsewhere the advances are supplied by the planter or some merchant. +The legal rate of interest is 8 per cent, but no Negro ever borrows +money at this rate. Ten per cent. per year is considered cheap, while on +short terms the rate is often 10 per cent. per week. The average tenant +pays from 12.5 per cent. to 15 per cent. for his advances, which are +sold at an average of 25 per cent. higher than cash prices on the +average. To avoid any possible trouble it is quite customary to reckon +the interest and then figure this into the face of the note so that none +can tell either the principal or the rate. Below is an actual copy of +such a note, the names being changed: + + $22.00. Calhoun, Alabama, June 2, 1900. + + On the first day of October, 1900, I promise to pay to the order of + A. B. See Twenty Two Dollars at ............ + + Value received. + + And so far as this debt is concerned, and as part of the + consideration thereof, I do hereby waive all right which I or + either of us have under the Constitution and Laws of this or any + other State to claim or hold any personal property exempt to me + from levy and sale under execution. And should it become necessary + to employ an attorney in the collection of this debt I promise to + pay all reasonable attorney's fees charged therefor. + + ATTEST: C. W. JAMES. his + A. T. JONES. JOHN X. SMITH. + mark. + +The possibility of extortion which this method makes possible is +evident. + +It is worth while also to reproduce a copy, actual with the exception of +the names, of one of the blanket mortgages often given. The italics are +mine. + + THE STATE OF ALABAMA, + LOWNDES COUNTY. + + On or before the first day of October next I promise to pay Jones + and Co., or order, the sum of $77.00 at their office in Fort + Deposit, Alabama. And I hereby waive all right of exemption secured + to me under and by the Laws and Constitution of the State of + Alabama as to the collection of this debt. And I agree to pay all + the costs of making, recording, probating or acknowledging this + instrument, together with a reasonable attorney's fee, and all + other expenses incident to the collection of this debt, whether by + suit or otherwise. And to secure the payment of the above note, as + well as all other indebtedness I may now owe the said Jones and Co., + and all future advances I may purchase from the said Jones and Co. + during the year 1900, whether due and payable during the year 1900 + or not, and for the further consideration of one Dollar to me in + hand paid by Jones and Co., the receipt whereof I do hereby + acknowledge, I do hereby grant, bargain, sell and convey unto said + Jones and Co. the _entire crops_ of corn, cotton, cotton seed, + fodder, potatoes, sugar cane and its products and _all other crops + of every kind and description_ which may be made and grown during + the year 1900 on lands owned, leased, rented or farmed on shares + for or by the undersigned in Lowndes County, Alabama, or elsewhere. + Also any crops to or in which the undersigned has or may have any + interest, right, claim or title in Lowndes County or elsewhere + _during and for each succeeding year until the indebtedness secured + by this instrument is fully paid_. Also all the corn, cotton, + cotton seed, fodder, peas, and all other farm produce now in the + possession of the undersigned. Also all the live stock, vehicles + and farming implements now owned by or furnished to the undersigned + by Jones and Co. during the year 1900. Also one red horse "Lee," + one red neck cow "Priest," and her calf, one red bull yearling. + Said property is situated in Lowndes County, Alabama. If, after + maturity, any part of the unpaid indebtedness remains unpaid, Jones + and Co., or their agents or assigns, are authorized and empowered + to seize and sell all or any of the above described property, at + private sale or public auction, as they may elect, for cash. If at + public auction, before their store door or elsewhere, in Fort + Deposit, Alabama, after posting for five days written notice of + said sale on post office door in said town, and to apply the + proceeds of said sale to the payment, first of all costs and + expenses provided for in the above note and expense of seizing and + selling said property; second, to payment in full of debt or debts + secured by said mortgage, and the surplus, if any, pay to the + undersigned. And the said mortgagee or assigns is hereby authorized + to purchase at his own sale under this mortgage. I agree that no + member of my family, nor anyone living with me, nor any person + under my control, shall have an extra patch on the above described + lands, unless covered by this mortgage; and I also agree that this + mortgage shall cover all such patches. It is further agreed and + understood that any securities held by Jones and Co. as owner or + assignee on any of the above described property executed by me + prior to executing this mortgage shall be retained by them, and + shall remain in full force and effect until the above note and + future advances are paid in full, and shall be additional security + for this debt. There is no lien or encumbrance upon any property + conveyed by this instrument except that held by Jones and Co. and + the above specified rents. If, before the demands hereby secured + are payable, any of the property conveyed herein shall be in + _danger of (or from) waste, destruction or removal, said demands + shall be then payable and all the terms, rights and powers of this + instrument operative and enforceable, as if and under a past due + mortgage_. + + Witness my hand and seal this 10th day of January, 1900. + + ATTEST: B. C. COOK. SAM SMALL. L. S. + R. J. BENNETT. + + +It may be granted that experience has shown all this verbiage to be +necessary. In the hands of an honest landlord it is as meaningless as +that in the ordinary contract we sign in renting a house. In the hands +of a dishonest landlord or merchant it practically enables him to make a +serf of the Negro. The mortgage is supposed to be filed at once, but it +is sometimes held to see if there is any other security which might be +included. The rascally creditor watches the crop and if the Negro may +have a surplus he easily tempts him to buy more, or more simply still, +he charges to his account imaginary purchases, so that at the end of the +year the Negro is still in debt. The Negro has no redress. He can not +prove that he has not purchased the goods and his word will not stand +against the merchant's. Practically he is tied down to the land, for no +one else will advance him under these conditions. Sometimes he escapes +by getting another merchant to settle his account and by becoming the +tenant of the new man. When it is remembered that land is abundant and +good labor rare, the temptation to hold a man on the land by fair means +or foul is apparent. Moreover, the merchant by specious reasoning often +justifies his own conduct. He says that the Negro will spend his money +at the first opportunity and that he might just as well have it as some +other merchant. I would not be understood as saying that this action is +anything but the great exception but there are dishonest men everywhere +who are ready to take advantage of their weaker fellows and the Negro +suffers as a result, just as the ignorant foreigner does in the cities +of the North. + +The interest may also be reckoned into the face of the mortgage. In any +case it begins the day the paper is signed, although the money or its +equivalent is only received at intervals and a full year's interest is +paid, often on the face of the mortgage, even if only two-thirds of it +has actually been advanced to the Negro, no matter when the account is +settled. The helplessness of the Negro who finds himself in the hands of +a sharper is obvious when that sharper has practical control of the +situation. In many and curious ways the landlord seeks to hold his +tenants. He is expected to stand by them in time of trouble, to protect +them against the aggressions of other blacks and of whites as well. This +paternalism is often carried to surprising lengths. + +The size of a man's family is known and the riders see to it that he +keeps all the working hands in the field. If the riders have any trouble +with a Negro they are apt to take it out in physical punishment, to +"wear him out," as the phrase goes. Thus resentment is seldom harbored +against a Negro and there are many who claim that this physical +discipline is far better than any prison regime in its effects upon the +Negro. In spite of all that is done it is claimed that the Negroes are +getting less reliable and that the chief dependence is now in the older +men, the women and the children. One remark, made by a planter's wife, +which impressed me as having a good deal of significance, was, "the +Negroes do not sing as much now as formerly." + +To get at anything like an accurate statement of the income and expenses +of a Negro family is a difficult matter. The following account of three +families will give a fair idea of their budget for part of the year at +least. + +Family No. 1 consists of five adults (over 14) and one child. They live +in a two-roomed cabin and own one mule, two horses two cows. Their +account with the landlord for the years 1900 and 1901 was: + + 1900. + To balance 1899 $ 32.60 + Cash ($25.00) for mule 36.00 + Clothing 19.68 + Feed 15.20 + Provisions 23.00 + Tools 2.03 + Interest and Recording Fee 16.87 + ------- + $145.38 + + 1901. + To balance 1900 $ 15.21 + Cash 26.57 + Clothing 9.55 + Feed and seed 44.19 + Provisions 26.29 + Tools .55 + Interest and Recording Fee 16.34 + ------- + $138.70 + +Their credit for 1901 was $10392, thus leaving a deficit for the +beginning of the next year. As the advances stop in August or September, +and the balance of the purchases are for cash and may be at other +stores, there is no way of getting at them. In 1900 the family paid $201 +toward the 85 acres they are purchasing, part of this sum probably +coming from the crop of 1899, and in 1901 they made a further payment of +$34. This family is doing much better than the average. It may be +interesting to see a copy of his account for the year 1901 taken from +the ledger of the planter. + + Jan. 1. Balance 1900 $ 15.21 + + Jan. 12. 10 bu. corn, $5.00; fodder, $1.20; cash, $8.00 14.20 + + Jan. 19. Cash for tax, $1.43; recording fee, $1.00; cash, $13.25 15.68 + + Feb. 2. Plowshoes, $1.40; gents' hose, 10c; 20 yds. check, $1.00; + 2 straw hats, $1.20 3.70 + + Feb. 2. 23.5 bu. corn, $14.94; cash, 79c; shoes, $1.50; plow + lines, 20c 17.43 + + Mar. 15. 15 yds. drilling, $1.20; 15 yds. check, 75c; 4.5 lbs. + bacon, 48c 2.43 + + Apr. 6. 10 bu. corn, $7.00; 5 bu. cotton seed, $1.75; 4.5 lbs. + bacon, 53c 9.28 + + Apr. 12. Bu. meal, 65c; spool cotton, 5c; tobacco, 10c; 7 lbs. + bacon, 81c; 5 bu. corn. $3.50 5.11 + + May 1. Cash, $1.00; 30 lbs. bacon, $3.45; work shoes, $1.10; + gents' shoes, $1.25; half bu. meal, 35c 7.15 + + May 1. 30 lbs. bacon, $3.45; (25) 30 lbs. bacon, $3.30; sack + meal, $1.35 8.10 + + June 8. 2-3 bu. oats, 35c; 1-3 bu. corn, 25c; bu. meal, 70c; sack + feed, $2.50 3.80 + + June 14. Sack meal, $1.35; 12 lbs. bacon, $1.32; cash, $1.00; (22) + 12 lbs. bacon, $1.38 5.05 + + June 22. Sack meal, $1.35; sack feed, $2.50; plow sweep, 35c 4.20 + + July 1. 6 lbs. bacon, 69c; (5) sack feed, $2.60; half bu. meal, + 35c; (9) bu. meal, 75c; 10 lbs. bacon, $1.15 5.54 + + July 18. 8 lbs. bacon, 92c; (19) sack feed, $2.60; (25) bu. meal, + 90c 4.42 + + Aug. 6. Half bu. meal, 50c; 4 lbs. bacon, 46c; cash, 35c 1.31 + + Aug. 6. Interest 15.34 + + Oct. 6. Cash, 75c .75 + ------- + $138.70 + + +The second family consists of three adults and three children. They have +three one-roomed cabins, own one mule and two cows, and are leasing +fifty acres of land, the effort to buy it having proven too much. Their +account for 1900 and 1901 was as follows: + + 1900. + Balance Jan. 1 $ .50 + Cash 9.00 + Clothing 9.79 + Feed 11.50 + Provisions 13.48 + Tobacco .80 + Tools, etc. .40 + Interest and recording fee 5.77 + ------ + $52.24 + + 1901. + Balance Jan. 1 $ 4.15 + Cash 2.82 + Clothing 7.55 + Feed 21.22 + Provisions 17.69 + Tobacco .55 + Tools, etc. .70 + Interest and fee 7.90 + ------ + $62.48 + +The debit for 1900 was all paid by November first and by November first, +1901, $58.40 of the charge for that year had been paid. In 1900 the man +paid $94.61 towards his land but has since been leasing. + +The third family consists of two adults and three children. They live in +a board cabin of two rooms, have one mule, one cow and one horse. They +are purchasing 50 acres of land. Their accounts for 1900 and 1901 stand +between the two already given. + + 1900. + Balance 1899 $17.24 + Cash 23.20 + Clothing 4.73 + Provisions 19.80 + Tools 4.40 + Interest and fee 8.04 + ------ + $77.41 + + 1901. + Balance 1900 $13.93 + Cash 21.28 + Clothing 6.30 + Feed 26.50 + Provisions 21.36 + Tools 3.50 + Interest and fee 12.40 + ------- + $109.28 + +By November 30, 1901, they had paid $79.13 of their account. In 1900 +they paid $180 towards their land and $29.60 in 1901. + +All of these families are a little above the average. The income is +supplemented by the sale of chickens, eggs and occasionally butter. In +hard years when the crops are poor the men and older boys seek service +in the mines of North Alabama or on the railroads during the summer +before cotton picking begins, and again during the winter. + +The outfit of the average farmer is very inexpensive and is somewhat as +follows: + + Harness, $1.50; pony plow, $3.00; extra point, 25c $4.75 + + Sweepstock (a), 75c; 3 sweeps, 90c; scooter (b), 10c 1.75 + + 2 hoes, 80c; blacksmith (yearly average), 50c 1.30 + ----- + Total $7.80 + + +(a) A sweep is a form of cultivator used in cleaning grass and weeds from +the rows of cotton. + +(b) A scooter or "bull-tongue" is a strip of iron used in opening the +furrow for the cotton seed. + +A cow costs $25, pigs $2 to $2.50, wagon (seldom owned) $45. A mule now +costs from $100 to $150, but may be rented by the year for $20 or $25. +Owners claim there is no profit in letting them at this price and the +Negroes assert that if one dies the owner often claims that it had been +sold and proceeds to collect the value thereof. From either point of +view the plan seems to meet with but little favor. + +The following table will give some idea of the condition and personal +property of a number of families in Lowndes County: + + ----------+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+---+---+----+---+----+ + | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | + ----------+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+---+---+----+---+----+ + Family 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |[9]0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | + " 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | + " 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | + " 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | + " 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | + " 6 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | + " 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | + " 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | + " 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | + " 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | + ----------+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+---+---+----+---+----+ + 10 | 35 | 16 | 11 | 8 | 25 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 10 | + ----------+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+---+---+----+---+----+ + + Key to columns: + + A Adults + B Children under 14 + C Log Cabins + D B'd Cabins + E No. Rooms + F Sewing Machines + G Mules + H Horses + I Oxen + J Cows + K Pigs + L Dogs + + +It will be seen that the number of oxen is small. I should not be +surprised if some of the hogs escaped observation. + +An account of this district would not be complete without reference to +the herb doctors who do a thriving business, charging from twenty-five +cents per visit up. They make all sorts of noxious compounds which are +retailed as good for various ailments. The medicines are perhaps no more +harmful than the patent compounds of other places. There are also witch +doctors, of whom the Negroes stand in great awe and many a poor sufferer +has died because it was believed that he or she was bewitched by some +evil person, hence physicians could have no power. + +The budgets given indicate, and this is my own belief, that the farmers +in this district are just about holding their own. They are not trained +to take advantage of their environment to the full so they do not +prosper as they might, while occasional designing persons take great +advantage of them, thereby rendering them discouraged. The introduction +of a more diversified farming, the greater utilization of local +resources in fruits and vegetables, thereby giving variety in the diet, +the development of pastures and stock raising would enable them to break +away from the mortgage system, which retards them in many ways. + +This view that the farmers here are about able to make a living is +supported by the investigations of Professor Du Bois.[10] He gives the +following report of 271 families in Georgia: + + Year, 1898. Price of cotton low. + Bankrupt and sold out 3 + $100 or over in debt 61 + $25 to $100 in debt 54 + $1 to $25 in debt 47 + Cleared nothing 53 + Cleared $1 to $25 27 + Cleared $25 to $100 21 + Cleared $100 and over 5 + ---- + 271 + + +Regarding the general situation he says: "A good season with good prices +regularly sent a number out of debt and made them peasant proprietors; a +bad season, either in weather or prices, still means the ruin of a +thousand black homes." Under existing conditions the outlook does not +seem to me especially hopeful. + + +ALLUVIAL DISTRICT. + +=A DOUBLE CABIN IN THE DELTA.= + +The Mississippi river, deflected westward by the hills of Tennessee, at +Memphis sweeps in a long arc to the hills at Natchez. The oval between +the river and the hills to the East is known as the "Delta." The land is +very flat, being higher on the border of the river so that when the +river overflows the entire bottom land is flooded. The waters are not +restrained by a good system of levees and the danger of floods is +reduced. There are similar areas in Arkansas and Louisiana and along the +lower courses of the Red and other rivers, but what is said here will +have special reference to Mississippi conditions. The land is extremely +fertile, probably there is none better in the world, and is covered with +a dense growth of fine woods, oak, ash, gum and cypress. The early +settlements, as already stated, were along the navigable streams, but +the great development of railroads is opening up the entire district. +The country may still be called new and thousands of acres may be +purchased at a cost of less than $10 per acre, wild land, of course. +Cultivated land brings from $25 up. + +Considering its possibilities the region is not yet densely populated, +but a line of immigration is setting in and the indications are that the +Delta will soon be the seat of the heaviest Negro population in the +country. Already it rivals the black prairie of Alabama. There have been +many influences to retard immigration, the fear of fevers, malaria and +typhoid, commonly associated with low countries, and the dread of +overflows. Because of the lack of the labor force to develop the country +planters have been led to offer higher wages, better houses, etc. There +is about the farming district an air of prosperity which is not +noticeable to the East. The country is particularly adapted to cotton, +the yield is heavier, about a bale to the acre if well cultivated, +though the average is a little less, the staple is longer, and the price +is about a cent a pound higher, than in the hills. Fertilizers are +seldom used and are not carried in the stores. Some of the lands which +have been longest in use have been harmed by improper tillage, but the +injury may easily be repaired by intelligent management. + +In the Delta the average size of the plantations is large, but the +amount of land under the care of the tenant is smaller than in other +sections. About 20 acres is probably the average to one work animal. The +soil is heavier, requiring longer and more constant cultivation. For +this land a rental of from $6 to $8 per acre is paid, while plantations +will rent for a term of years at an acre. A good deal of new land is +brought in cultivation by offering it rent free to a Negro for three +years, the tenant agreeing to clear off the timber and bring the soil +under cultivation. On some plantations no interest is charged on goods +advanced by the Negro usually pays 25 per cent. for all money he +borrows. The white planter has to pay at least 8 per cent and agree to +sell his cotton through the factor of whom the money is obtained and pay +him a commission of 2.5 per cent. for handling the cotton. + +The plantation accounts of three families follow for the year 1901. They +live in Washington County, Mississippi, in which the Negroes form 89 per +cent. of the total population. + +The first family consists of three adults and one child under 14. They +own two mules, two cows, ten pigs and some chickens. They also have a +wagon and the necessary farm implements. + +Their expenses were enlarged, as were those of the other families, by an +epidemic of smallpox. + + Debit. Credit. + Doctor $39.50 Cotton $826.80 + Blacksmith 1.85 Cotton seed 147.00 + Implements 15.05 ------- + Clothes 102.55 $973.80 + Provisions 42.10 856.95 + Rent 175.07 ------- + Extra labor 53.50 Balance $116.85 + Seed 31.30 + Ginning Cotton 61.30 + Cash drawn 334.73 + ------- + $856.95 + +Their account at the close of the year showed thus a balance of $116.85. +The family raised 2 bales of cotton and had besides 180 bushels of corn +from six acres. + +The second family came to the plantation in 1900 with nothing, not even +with decent clothing. Now they have two mules, keep some pigs, own a +wagon and farming tools. There are five adults in the family and two +children. They live in a three-roomed cabin and till 30 acres of land, +four acres being wood land taken for clearing, for which there is no +rent. + + Debit. Credit. + Doctor $ 35.35 Cotton $1,091.28 + Feed 5.00 Cotton seed 196.00 + Mule (balance) 77.00 --------- + Rations and clothes 284.10 $1,287.28 + Rent 175.50 1,035.82 + Extra labor 67.60 --------- + Ginning 101.25 Balance $ 251.46 + Cash drawn 290.02 + --------- + $1,035.82 + + +The third family is of different type. They are always behind, although +the wife is a good worker and the man is willing and seems to try. They +are considered one of the poorest families on the plantation. There are +two adults and one child. They own farming implements, one mule and some +pigs. They have a two-roomed cabin and farm 18 acres for which they pay +a crop rent of 1,800 pounds of cotton. + + Debit. Credit. + Doctor $ 24.45 Cotton $498.57 + Mule 33.00 Cotton seed 91.00 + Clothing 53.40 ------- + Rations 60.00 $589.57 + Feed 11.25 576.55 + Rent 130.50 ------- + Extra labor 179.45 Balance $ 13.02 + Seed 11.90 + Ginning 43.50 + Cash down 53.50 + ------- + $576.55 + + +An examination of the accounts reveals that there is a charge for extra +labor, which for the third family was very heavy. This results from the +fact that the average family _could_, but _does not_ pick all the cotton +it makes, so when it is seen that enough is on hand to pay all the bills +and leave a balance it is very careless about the remainder. Planters +have great difficulty in getting all the cotton picked and a +considerable portion is often lost. Extra labor must be imported. This +is hard to get and forms, when obtained, a serious burden on the income +of the tenant. + +On the plantation from whose books the above records were taken the +system of bookkeeping is more than usually careful and the gin account +thus forms a separate item so that although all planters charge for the +ginning the charge does not always appear on the books. + +These three families are believed to be average and indicate what it is +possible for the typical family to do under ordinary conditions. It is +but fair to state that the owners of this plantation make many efforts +to get their tenants to improve their condition and will not long keep +those whose accounts do not show a credit balance at the end of the +year. A copy of the lease in use will be of interest and its +stipulations form quite a contrast to the one quoted from Alabama. The +cash and share leases are identical save for necessary changes in form. +The names are fictitious. + + "This Contract, made this date and terminating December 31, 1902, + between Smith and Brown, and John Doe, hereinafter called tenant, + Witnesses: That Smith and Brown have this day rented and set apart + to John Doe for the year 1902 certain twenty acres of land on James + Plantation, Washington County, Mississippi, at a rental price per + acre of seven dollars and fifty cents. Smith and Brown hereby agree + to furnish, with said land, a comfortable house and good pump, and + to grant to the said tenant the free use of such wood as may be + necessary for his domestic purposes and to advance such supplies, + in such quantity and manner as may be mutually agreed upon as being + necessary to maintain him in the cultivation of said land; it being + now mutually understood that by the term "supplies" is meant meat, + meal, molasses, tobacco, snuff, medicine and medical attention, + good working shoes and clothes, farming implements and corn. It is + also hereby mutually agreed and understood that anything other than + the articles herein enumerated is to be advanced to the said tenant + only as the condition of his crops and account and the manner of + his work shall, in the judgment of Smith and Brown, be deemed to + entitle him. They also agree to keep said house and pump in good + repair and to keep said land well ditched and drained. + + Being desirous of having said tenant raise sufficient corn to + supply his needs during the ensuing year, in consideration of his + planting such land in corn as they may designate, they hereby agree + to purchase from said tenant all corn over and above such as may be + necessary for his needs, and to pay therefor the market price; and + to purchase all corn raised by him in the event be wishes to remove + from James plantation at the termination of this contract. In + consideration of the above undertaking on Smith and Brown's part, + the said tenant hereby agrees to sell to them all surplus corn + raised by him and in the event of his leaving James' plantation at + the termination of this contract to sell to them all corn he may + have on hand: in each case at the market price. + + The said Smith and Brown hereby reserve to themselves all liens + for rent and supplies on all cotton, cotton seed, corn and other + agricultural products, grown upon said land during the year 1902, + granted under Sections 2495 and 2496 of the Code of 1892. They + hereby agree to handle and sell for the said tenant all cotton and + other crops raised by him for sale, to the best of their ability, + and to account to him for the proceeds of the same when sold. They + also reserve to themselves the right to at all times exercise such + supervision as they may deem necessary over the planting and + cultivating of all crops to be raised by him during the year 1902. + + The said John Doe hereby rents from Smith and Brown the above + mentioned land for the year 1902 and promises to pay therefor seven + dollars and a half per acre on or before November the first, 1902, + and hereby agrees to all the terms and stipulations herein + mentioned. + + He furthermore represents to Smith and Brown that he has sufficient + force to properly plant and cultivate same, and agrees that if at + any time in their judgment his crops may be in need of cultivation, + they may have the necessary work done and charge same to his + account. + + He furthermore agrees to at all times properly control his family + and hands, both as to work and conduct, and obligates himself to + prevent any one of them from causing any trouble whatsoever, either + to his neighbors or to Smith and Brown. + + He also agrees to plant and cultivate all land allotted to him, + including the edges of the roads, turn rows, and ditch banks, and + to keep the latter at all times clean and to plant no garden or + truck patches in his field. + + He also agrees to gather and deliver all agricultural products + which he may raise for sale to said Smith and Brown, as they may + designate to be handled and sold by them, for his account. + + He also agrees not to abandon, neglect, turn back or leave his + crops or any part of them, nor to allow his family or hands to do + so, until entirely gathered and delivered. + + In order that Smith and Brown may be advised of the number of + tenants which they may have to secure for the ensuing year, in + ample time to enable them to provide for the same, the said tenant + hereby agrees to notify them positively by December 10, 1902, + whether or not he desires to remain on James' Plantation for the + ensuing year. Should he not desire to remain, then he agrees to + deliver to Smith and Brown possession of the house now allotted to + him by January 1st, 1903. In order that said tenant may have ample + time in which to provide for himself a place for the ensuing year, + Smith and Brown hereby agree to notify him by December 10, 1902, + should they not want him as a tenant during the ensuing year. + + Witness our signatures, this the 15th day of December, 1901. + + SMITH AND BROWN. + JOHN DOE. + + Witness: J. W. JAMES. + +The owners have been unable to carry out their efforts in full, but the +result has been very creditable. The lease is much preferable to the one +given on page 46. + +If, as I believe, the families above reported are average and are living +under ordinary conditions, it seems evident that a considerable surplus +results from their labors each year. I wish I could add that the money +were being either wisely spent or saved and invested. This does not seem +to be the case and it is generally stated that the amount of money +wasted in the fall of the year by the blacks of the Delta is enormous. +In the cabins the great catalogs of the mail order houses of Montgomery +Ward & Co., and Sears, Roebuck & Co., of Chicago are often found, and +the express agents say that large shipments of goods are made to the +Negroes. Patent medicines form no inconsiderable proportion of these +purchases, while "Stutson" hats, as the Negro says, are required by the +young bloods. The general improvidence of the people is well illustrated +by the following story related by a friend of the writer. At the close +of one season an old Negro woman came to his wife for advice as to the +use to be made of her savings, some $125. She was advised to buy some +household necessities and to put the remainder in a bank, above all she +was cautioned to beware of any who sought to get her to squander the +money. The woman left but in about two weeks' time returned to borrow +some money. It developed that as she went down the street a Jewess +invited her to come in and have a cup of coffee. The invitation was +accepted and during the conversation she was advised to spend the money. +This she did, and when the transactions were over the woman had one +barrel of flour, one hundred pounds of meat, ten dollars or so worth of +cheap jewelry, some candy and other incidentals and no money. Foolish +expenditures alone, according to the belief of the planters, prevent the +Negroes from owning the entire land in a generation. I would not give +the impression that there are no Negro land owners in this region. +Thousands of acres have been purchased and are held by them, but we are +speaking of average families. + +Some curious customs prevail. The planters generally pay the Negroes in +cash for their cotton seed and this money the blacks consider as +something peculiarly theirs, not to be used for any debts they may have. +Although the prices for goods advanced are higher than cash prices, the +Negroes will often, when spring comes, insist that they be advanced, so +have the goods charged even at the higher prices, even though they have +the cash on hand. This great over-appreciation of present goods is a +drawback to their progress. + +In this district I found little dissatisfaction among the Negro farmers. +They felt that their opportunities were good. Those who come from the +hills can scarce believe their eyes at the crops produced and constantly +ask when the cotton plants are going to turn yellow and droop. That +there is little migration back to the hills is good evidence of the +relative standing of the two districts in their eyes. + +Wages for day labor range from 60 to 75 cents, but the extra labor +imported for cotton picking makes over double this. + + +THE SUGAR REGION. + +South of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the alluvial district is largely given +over to the growing of sugar cane with occasional fields of rice. The +district under cultivation stretches back from the river a couple of +miles or so to the edge of the woods beyond which at present there is no +tillable ground, though drainage will gradually push back the line of +the forest. These sugar lands are valued highly, $100 or so an acre, and +the capital invested in the great sugar houses is enormous. Probably +nowhere in agricultural pursuits is there a more thorough system of +bookkeeping than on these plantations. This land is cultivated by hired +hands, who work immediately under the eye of overseers. Nowhere is the +land let out in small lots to tenants. Conditions are radically +different from those prevailing in the cotton regions. The work season, +it is claimed, begins on the first day of January and ends on the 31st +of December, and every day between when the weather permits work in the +fields there is work to be done. + + +=CABINS ON SUGAR PLANTATION.= + + +These plantations present an attractive appearance. The cabins are not +scattered as in the cotton country, but are usually ranged on either +side of a broad street, with rows of trees in front. The cabins are +often for two families and each has a plot of ground for a garden. The +planters say the Negroes will not live in the houses unless the garden +plots are provided, even if they make no use of them. To each family is +allotted a house so long as they are employed on the place. Wood is free +and teams are provided for hauling it from the forest. Free pasture for +stock is often provided. + +From the fact that the men would seldom work more than five and a half +days a week arose the custom of paying off every eleven days. Each +workman has a time book and as soon as he has completed his eleven days +his pay is due. This avoids a general pay day and the demoralization +that would likely follow. Work is credited by quarters of a day: Sunrise +to breakfast, breakfast to dinner, dinner to about 3:00 p. m., 3:00 p. m. +to sunset. Wages vary according to the season, being much larger during +autumn when the cane is being ground. For field work men get 70 cents +per day, women 55 to 60 cents. During the grinding season the men earn +from $1 to $1.25, the women about 85 cents, children from 25 cents up. +Wages are usually paid through a store which may or may not be under the +direct ownership of the plantation. All accounts against the store are +deducted, but the balance must be paid in cash if it is so desired. +Nominally the men are free to trade where they will, but it is easy to +see that pressure might be brought to bear to make it advantageous to +trade at the local store. + +During the year 1901 two families were able to earn the following +amounts. The first family consists of three adults and two children, but +the wife did not work in the field. + + $10.50 7.00 13.80 12.60 10.85 12.60 11.55 + 10.85 6.65 13.80 12.95 15.40 14.50 11.20 + 2.62 1.25 2.25 4.35 + + ------------------------------------------ + $23.97 14.90 27.60 25.55 26.25 29.35 27.10 + + + 11.55 8.40 9.80 20.60 25.75 28.75 Man + 11.20 7.35 9.80 7.95 16.00 10.15 Son + 4.35 3.05 1.20 6.40 18.15 15.75 Boy + 1.85 10.12 6.75 Boy + -------------------------------------------- + 27.10 18.80 20.80 36.80 70.02 61.40--$382.54 + + +During the grinding season the men's wages were increased to $1 a day +and the boys' to 40 cents and the father had chances to make extra time +as nightwatchman, etc. This family own a horse and buggy, keep poultry +and have a fair garden. They are rather thrifty and have money stowed +away somewhere. + +The second family consists of the parents and eight children. Their +income is fair, but they are always "hard up." They spend their money +extravagantly. The man is head teamster on the plantation and makes 80 +cents per day, which is increased to $1.30 during the grinding season. +The wife in this family also did no work save in the fall. + + $16.00 14.40 17.60 15.40 18.40 16.80 17.80 + 7.87 6.85 10.10 9.25 9.65 10.10 11.00 + 12.60 8.75 12.60 13.30 15.55 14.50 11.90 + 2.90 1.50 4.50 + 1.25 1.80 .65 + + + ------------------------------------------ + $40.62 33.30 45.45 37.95 43.60 41.40 40.70 + + + 17.80 18.00 16.60 23.30 44.95 43.05 Man + 11.00 10.25 4.00 6.00 19.30 18.00 Boy + 11.90 12.40 11.70 19.25 25.75 23.00 Son + 6.75 17.25 14.75 Girl + 1.60 Boy + 2.10 8.00 5.25 Boy + 3.00 15.15 13.50 Woman + ---------------------------------------------- + 40.70 40.65 32.30 60.40 130.30 119.15--665.82 + + +These families are typical so far as known. In comparing their incomes +with those in other districts it must be borne in mind that they have no +rent to pay and their only necessary expenses are for food and clothes +and incidentals. Certainly both of the families should have money to +their credit at the end of the year. The total wages depends not only on +the willingness to work, but also on weather conditions. One gets the +impression that in some places conditions are pretty bad and even by +some white residents of the state it is claimed that a state of +servitude almost prevails on many plantations. In any case the Negroes +do not seem satisfied. The labor is rather heavy. For this or other +reasons there has been quite an exodus to the cotton country in recent +years, which has caused the cane planters much trouble and they will +make many concessions to keep their tenants. To meet this emigration for +some time efforts have been made to import Italian labor but the results +have not been wholly satisfactory. The Italians are more reliable and +this is a great argument in their favor, but with this exception they +are not considered much better workers than the blacks. The storekeepers +much prefer the Negroes, who spend their money more freely. + +The planters claim that the labor is unreliable and say they never know +on Saturday how many workers they will have on Monday. They also say it +is hard to get extra labor done. In 1900 on one plantation the women +were offered ten cents a day extra for some hoeing, but only four held +out. Higher wages were offered if some cane were cut by the ton instead +of by the day, but after a week the hands asked to return to the gang at +the lower wage. + +In the rice fields along the river about the same wages prevail as for +the field hands in the cane plantations. The rice crop, however, is but +a six months crop, so other employment must be found for part of the +year if nothing but rice is raised. It is usual in this region to raise +rice as a side crop. + + + + +CHAPTER V. SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT. + + +=COUNTRY CHURCH AND SCHOOL.= + +Hitherto we have had to do chiefly with the economic situation of the +Negro farmer. There is, however, another set of forces which may not be +ignored if we are to understand the situation which confronts us. These +are, of course, the social forces. In discussing these it is more than +ever essential to remember that a differentiation has been taking place +among the Negroes and that there are large numbers who are not to be +grouped with the average men and women whom we seek to describe. It may +even be true that there are communities which have gained a higher +level. Any statement of the social environment of 8,000,000 people must +necessarily be false if applied strictly to each individual. The +existence of the higher class must not, however, be allowed to blind us +to the condition of the rest. + +The average Negro boy or girl is allowed to grow. It is difficult to +say much more for the training received at home. We must remember that +there is an almost total absence of home life as we understand it. The +family seldom sits down together at the table or do anything else in +common. The domestic duties are easily mastered by the girls and chores +do not weigh heavily on the boys. At certain periods of the year the +children are compelled to assist in the farm operations, such as picking +cotton, but most of the time they are care free. Thus they run almost +wild while the parents are at work in the fields, and the stranger who +suddenly approaches a cabin and beholds the youngsters scattering for +shelter will not soon forget the sight. Obedience, neatness, punctuality +do not thrive in such an atmosphere. The introduction to the country +school a little later does not greatly improve conditions. The teachers +are often incompetent and their election often depends upon other things +than fitness to teach; upon things, indeed, which are at times far from +complimentary to the school trustees. The school year seldom exceeds +four months and this may be divided into two terms, two months in the +fall and two in the spring. School opens at an indefinite time in the +morning, if scheduled for nine it is just as likely as not that it +begins at ten thirty, while the closing hour is equally uncertain. The +individual attention received by the average child is necessarily small. +The schools are poorly equipped with books or maps. The interior view +given on page 61 is by no means exceptional. + +It may not be out of place to mention the fact that recognition of these +evils is leading in many places in the South to the incorporation of +private schools, which then offer their facilities to the public in +return for partial support at the public expense. Public moneys are +being turned over to these schools in considerable amounts. In some +counties the public does not own a school building. Without questioning +the fact that these schools are an improvement over existing conditions, +history will belie itself if this subsidizing of private organizations +does not some day prove a great drawback to the proper development of +the public school system, unless it may be, that the courts will declare +the practice illegal and unconstitutional. + +The home and the school being from our point of view unsatisfactory, the +next social institution to which we turn is the church. Since the war +this has come to be the most influential in the opinion of the Negro and +it deserves more careful study than has yet been given to it. Only some +of the more obvious features can here be considered. The first thing to +impress the observer is the fact that time is again no object to the +Negro. The service advertised for eleven may get fairly under way by +twelve and there is no predicting when it will stop. The people drift in +and out, one or two at a time, throughout the service. Families do not +enter nor sit together. Outside is always a group talking over matters +of general interest. The music, lined out, consists of the regulation +church hymns, which are usually screeched all out of time in a high key. +The contrast between this music and the singing of the plantation songs +at Hampton or some other schools which impresses one as does little +music he hears elsewhere is striking. The people have the idea that +plantation songs are out of place in the church. The collection is taken +with a view to letting others know what each one does. At the proper +time a couple of the men take their places at a table before the pulpit +and invite the people to come forward with their offerings. The people +straggle up the aisle with their gifts, being constantly urged to hasten +so as not to delay the service. After half an hour or so the results +obtained are remarkable and the social emulation redounds to the benefit +of the preacher. It is difficult for the white visitor to get anything +but hints of the real possibilities of the preacher, for he is at once +introduced to the audience and induced to address them if it is +possible. Even when this is not done there is usually an air of +restraint which is noticeable. Only occasionally does the speaker forget +himself and break loose, as it were. The study then presented is +interesting in the extreme. While the minister shouts, the audience are +swaying backward and forward in sympathetic rhythm, encouraging the +speaker with cries of "Amen", "That's right", "That's the Gospel", "Give +it to 'em bud", "Give 'em a little long sweetening". There is no +question that they are profoundly moved, but the identity of the spirit +which troubles the waters is to me sometimes a question. The forms of +the white man's religion have been adopted, but the content of these +forms seems strangely different. Seemingly the church, or rather, +religion, is not closely identified with morality. I am sorry to say +that in the opinion of the best of both races the average country (and +city) pastor does not bear a good reputation, the estimates of the +immoral running from 50 to 98 per cent. of the total number. It is far +from me to discount any class of people, but if the situation is +anything as represented by the estimate, the seriousness of it is +evident. This idea is supported by the fact that indulgence in +immorality is seldom a bar to active church membership, and if a member +be dismissed from one communion there are others anxious to receive him +or her. There are churches and communities of which these statements are +not true. It is interesting to note that the churches are securing their +chief support from the women. As an organization the church does not +seem to have taken any great interest in the matters which most vitally +affect the life of the people, except to be a social center. If these +things be considered it is easy to see why the best informed are seeking +for the country districts men who can be leaders of the people during +the week on the farms as well as good speakers on Sunday. It is a +pleasure to note that here and there some busy pastor is also spending a +good deal of his time cultivating a garden, or running a small farm, +with the distinct purpose of setting a good example. The precise way in +which the church may be led to exert a wider and more helpful influence +on the people is a matter of great importance, but it must be solved +from within. + +Turning from religious work we find the church bearing an important +place in the social life and amusements. Besides its many gatherings and +protracted meetings which are social functions, numbers of picnics and +excursions are given. These may be on the railroads to rather distant +points, and because of the lack of discrimination as to participants, +many earnest protests have been filed by the better class of Negroes. +The amusements of the blacks are simple. Nearly all drink, but +drunkenness is not a great vice. Dances are in high esteem, and are +often accompanied by much drinking and not infrequently by cutting +scrapes, for the Negro's passions lie on the surface and are easily +aroused. In South Carolina the general belief seems to be that the +dispensary law has been beneficial. There is also a universal fondness +for tobacco in all its forms. Gambling prevails wherever there is ready +money and not infrequently leads to serious assaults. Music has great +charms while a circus needs not the excuse of children to justify it in +the Negro's eyes. Some of the holidays are celebrated, and when on the +coast the blacks dubbed the 30th of May "Desecration Day," there were +those who thought it well named. Active sports, with the occasional +exception of a ball game, are not preferred to the more quiet pleasure +of sitting about in the sunshine conversing with friends. America can +not show a happier, more contented lot of people than these same blacks. + +If we turn our attention to other characteristics of the Negro we must +notice his different moral standard. To introduce the little I shall say +on this point let me quote from a well known anthropologist. "There is +nothing more difficult for us to realize, civilized as we are, than the +mental state of the man far behind us in cultivation, as regards what we +call par excellence 'morality.' It is not indecency; it is simply an +animal absence of modesty. Acts which are undeniably quite natural, +since they are the expression of a primordial need, essential to the +duration of the species, but which a long ancestral and individual +education has trained us to subject to a rigorous restraint, and to the +accomplishment of which, consequently, we can not help attaching a +certain shame, do not in the least shock the still imperfect conscience +of the primitive man." From somewhat this standpoint we must judge of +the Negro. Two or three illustrations will suffice. Talking last summer +to a porter in a small hotel, I asked him if he had ever lived on a +farm. He replied that he had and that he often thought of returning. +Asking him why he did not he said that it would be necessary for him to +get a wife and a lot of other things. I suggested the possibility of +boarding in another family. He shook his head and said: "Niggers is +queer folks, boss. 'Pears to me they don' know what they gwine do. Ef I +go out and live in a man's house like as not I run away wid dat man's +wife." The second illustration is taken from an unpublished manuscript +by Rev. J. L. Tucker of Baton Rouge. + + There is a negro of good character here in Baton Rouge whose name + is ---- ----. He is a whitewasher by trade and does mainly odd jobs + for the white people who are his patrons, and earns a good living. + He is widely known through the city as a good and reliable man. + Some time ago he had trouble with his wife's preacher, who came to + his house too often. The trouble culminated in his wife leaving + him. Soon thereafter he sent or went into the country and brought + home a negro woman whom he installed in his house to cook and + otherwise serve him. Explaining the circumstances to Mr. ----, he + said: "I a'in' got no use for nigga preachers. Dey is de debbil wid + de wimmen. I tol' dat ar fellah to keep away fr'm my house or I'd + hunt him wid a shotgun, an' I meant it. But he got her'n spite a + me. She went off to 'im. Now I's got me a wife from way back in de + country, who don' know the ways of nigga preachers. I kin keep her, + I reckon, a while, anyway. I pays her wages reg'lar, an' she does + her duty by me. I tell yeh, Mr. ----, a hired wife's a heap + better's a married wife any time, yeh mark dat. Ef yeh don' line er + yer can sen' her off an' get anudder, an' she's nutten to complain + 'bout a' longs yeh pay her wages. Yes siree, yeh put dat down; de + hired wife's nuff sight better'n de married one. I don' fus no mo' + wid marryin' wives, I hires 'em. An I sent word to dat preacher dat + if he comes roun' my house now I lays for 'im shore wid buck shot." + + +Commenting, Mr. Tucker says that the man had no idea of moral wrong, the +real wife has lost no caste, the preacher stands just as well with his +flock and the "new wife" is well received. The third instance occurred +on a plantation. A married woman, not satisfied with the shoes she +received from the store, wanted a pair of yellow turned shoes. The +planter would not supply them. The woman was angry and finally left her +husband, went to a neighboring place and "took up" with another man. + +These cases sufficiently illustrate prevailing conceptions of the +sacredness of the marriage tie. Certainly this involves a theory of home +life which differs from ours. Many matings are consummated without any +regular marriage ceremony and with little reference to legal +requirements, and divorces are equally informal. Moral lapses seldom +bring the Negro before the courts. All these things but indicate the +handicap which has to be overcome. Within the family there is often +great abuse on the part of the men. The result of it all is that many +Negroes do not know their own fathers and so little are the ties of +kinship' regarded that near relatives are often unknown, and if possible +less cared for. This may be substantiated by the records of any charity +society in the North which has sought to trace friends of its Negro +applicants. To attempt a quantitative estimate of the extent of sexual +immorality is useless. It is sufficient to realize that a different +standard prevails and one result today is a frightful prevalence of +venereal diseases to which any practising physician in the South can +bear witness. I am glad to say there are sections which have risen above +these conditions. + +The transition from slavery to freedom set in operation the forces of +natural selection, which are sure and steadily working among the people +and are weeding out those who for any reason can not adapt themselves to +the new environment. Insanity, almost unknown in slavery times, has +appeared and has been increasing among the Negroes of the South at a +rate of about 100 per cent. a decade since 1860. Of course, the number +affected is still small, but the end is perhaps not reached. We have +witnessed also the development of the pauper and criminal classes. This +was to be expected. There is also some evidence of an increase in the +use of drugs, cocaine and the like. The point to be noted is that there +is taking place a steady division of the Negroes into various social +strata and in spite of race traits it is no longer to be considered as +on a level. + +I have sought to represent the situation as it appears to me, neither +seeking to overemphasize the virtues or the vices of the race. It is +clear to me that in spite of the obvious progress the road ahead is long +and hard. While I do not anticipate any such acceleration of speed as +will immediately bring about an economic or social millenium I believe +that proper measures may be found, indeed, are already in use, which if +widely adopted will lead to better things. How many of the race will +fall by the way is, in one sense, a matter of indifference. In the long +run, for the whites as well as the blacks, they will survive who adapt +their social theories and, consequently, their modes of life to their +environments. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. THE OUTLOOK. + + +"One of the things which militates most against the Negro here is his +unreliability. * * * His mental processes are past finding out and he +can not be counted on to do or not to do a given thing under given +circumstances. There is scarcely a planter in all this territory who +would not make substantial concessions for an assured tenantry." A +Northern man, now resident in the South and employing Negro labor, says: +"I am convinced of one thing and that is that there is no dependence to +be placed in 90 per cent. of the Negro laborers if left to themselves +and out of the overseer's sight." These quotations from men who are +seeking to promote the success of the Negroes with whom they come in +contact might be multiplied indefinitely from every part of the South. +The statements are scarce open to discussion, so well recognized is the +fact. If I have rightly apprehended the nature of the training afforded +by Africa and slavery there was little in them to develop the habits of +forethought, thrift and industry, upon which this reliability must be +based. + +I am not arguing the question as to whether this unreliability marks a +decadence of Negro standards or whether it is due to the present higher +standards of the white. For argument, at least, I am willing to admit +that in quality of workmanship, in steadfastness and self-control there +has really been great progress. My interest is in the present and future +rather than the past. I have tried to show that, judged by present +standards, the Negro is still decidedly lacking. Personally I am not +surprised at this. I should be astonished if it were otherwise. The +trouble is that we at the North are unable to disabuse ourselves of the +idea that the Negro is a dark skinned Yankee and we think, therefore, +that if all is not as it should be that something is wrong, that +somebody or some social condition is holding him back. We accuse +slavery, attribute it to the hostility of the Southern white. Something +_is holding him back_, but it is his inheritance of thousands of years +in Africa, not slavery nor the Southern whites. It is my observation +that the white of the black belt deal with the Negro more patiently and +endure far more of shiftless methods than the average Northerner would +tolerate for a day. It is interesting to note that Northern white women +who go South filled with the idea that the Negro is abused can scarce +keep a servant the first year or so of their stay. Of course there are +exceptions, few in number, who say as did a lumberman in Alabama last +summer: "I never have any trouble with the Negro. Have worked them for +twenty years. Why, I haven't had to kill one yet, though I did shoot one +once, but I used fine shot and it didn't hurt him much." We have +attempted to have the Negro do in a few years what it has taken us +thousands to accomplish, and are surprised that he has disappointed us. +There is no room for discouragement. Contrast the Negro in Africa and +America to see what has been done. + +Unless this unreliability is overcome it will form even a greater +handicap for the future. Southern methods of agriculture have been more +wasteful of small economies than have Northern. That a change is +imperative, in many districts at least, has been shown. Is the Negro in +a position to take advantage of these changes? At present it must be +admitted that he does not possess the knowledge to enable him to utilize +his environment and make the most out of it. It has been shown that he +is bearing little part in the development of the trucking industry, nay +more, that he does not even raise enough garden truck for his own +support. In a bulletin of the Farmer's Improvement Society of Texas I +find the following: + + Very many, in the first place, do not try to make their supplies at + home. Very often much is lost by bad fences. Lots of them don't know + where their hoes, plows, single-trees, etc., are at this minute. Lots + of them buy butter, peas, beans, lard, meat and hay. * * * Well, + really, to sum up, if there's anything like scientific methods among + the vast majority of our people I don't know it. * * * I venture to + say that not one negro farmer in a hundred ever saw the back of one + of these bulletins (agricultural), much less the inside. + + +If some of these primary lessons have not been mastered what chance is +there that the Negro will overcome, unaided, the crop lien system and +his other handicaps and introduce diversified agriculture, stock +raising, etc.? Slavery taught him something about work and he is willing +to work, and work hard, under leadership. Herein lies the possibility of +his economic salvation. He is not yet ready as a race to stand alone and +advance at the pace demanded by America of the twentieth century. He +must be taught and the teaching must be by practice as well as by +precept. Viewed from this standpoint, though it is equally true from +another, one of the great needs of the South is that its white farmers +should pay more attention to other things than cotton. So long as land +is considered too valuable to use for pasture, for hay, for the various +crops on which stock live and fatten, or so long as it is considered +profitable to sell cotton seed for $5 a ton and throw away four or five +times this amount in the food and manure which the same seed contains, +the Negro will not see the advantage of a different system. Nor does the +sight of thousands of tons of rice straw dumped into the Mississippi +each year, just as a generation ago the oat straw in Iowa was burned, +lead him to suspect unused sources of wealth. The possibilities of +Southern agriculture are great, but the lead must be taken by the +whites. + +The Negro has a great advantage over the Italian or other European +peasant in that the white man prefers him as a helper. He is patient, +docile and proud of his work. He is wanted by the native whites, and if +the reader doubts this let him go to any Southern community and attempt +to bring about any great exodus of the Negroes and he will be surprised +to find how soon he is requested to move on. This interest on the part +of the whites is a factor which must be considered. It would be a happy +day for the Negro if the white woman of the South took her old personal +interest in his welfare. This friendly sentiment will not increase with +time and each succeeding generation will emphasize, more and more, +industrial efficiency, and the Negro will not be preferred. +Corresponding to this is the fact that the Negro respects and willingly +follows the white man, more willingly and more trustingly than he does +another Negro. He is personally loyal, as the care received by the +soldiers during war time illustrated. But slavery is gone and the +feudalism which followed it is slowly yielding to commercialism, which +gives the palm to the more efficient. + +Hitherto the Negro has tilled much of the best land of the South. +Meantime the great prairies have been settled and about all the good +cheap land of the northwest taken. A tide of immigration is setting in +towards the Southern states. Already the rice industry of Louisiana has +been revolutionized by white immigrants. What may this mean for the +Negro if these incoming whites defy race prejudice and seek the rich +bottom lands of the Mississippi or elsewhere? Will the Negro be in a +position of independence or will he only assist the white? Will he till +in the future the best lands or will he be forced to the less fertile? +With the knowledge of the present regarding yellow fever, malaria and +typhoid the dread of the lowlands is disappearing. If the indications +point, as many believe, towards the South as the seat of the next great +agricultural development these questions become of vital importance to +the Negro. Can he become economically secure before he is made to meet a +competition which he has never yet faced? Or does the warmer climate +give him an advantage, which the whites can not overcome? I must confess +that I doubt it. In "The Cotton Plant" (page 242), Mr. Harry Hammond +states that in 39 counties of the Black Prairie Region of Texas, in +which the whites predominate, the average value of the land is $12.19 +per acre, as against $6.40 for similar soil in twelve counties of the +Black Prairie of Alabama, in which the Negroes are in the majority. He +says further: "The number and variety of implements recently introduced +in cotton culture here, especially in the prairies of Texas, is very +much greater than elsewhere in the cotton belt." This would indicate +that heat alone is no insurmountable obstacle. + +If these things be true, then as the late Mr. J. L. M. Curry said: + + "It may be assumed that the industrial problem lies at the heart of + the whole situation which confronts us. Into our public and other + schools should be incorporated industrial training. If to + regularity, punctuality, silence, obedience to authority, there be + systematically added instruction in mechanical arts, the results + would be astounding." + + +The question of classical education does not now concern us. The +absolutely essential thing is that the Negro shall learn to work +regularly and intelligently. The lesson begun in slavery must be +mastered. As Dr. E. G. Murphy puts it: + + The industrial training supplied by that school (slavery) is now + denied to him. The capacity, the equipment, and the necessity for + work which slavery provided are the direct cause of the superiority + of the old time darkey. Is freedom to have no substitute for the + ancient school? * * * The demand of the situation is not less + education, but more education of the right sort. + + +I would not say that I thought all Negroes should be farmers, but I do +feel that the farm offers the mass of the race the most favorable +opportunity for the development of solid and enduring character. It +seems to me that the following words from one of our broadest minded men +apply with special force to the Negro: + + If I had some magic gift to bestow it would be to make our country + youth see one truth, namely, that science as applied to the farm, + the garden and the forest has as splendid a dignity as astronomy; + that it may work just as many marvels and claim just as high an + order of talent." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. AGRICULTURAL TRAINING. + + +There remain to be considered some of the agencies at work to better the +lot of the farmer. In this I shall not attempt to give a list of +institutions and outline of courses but to indicate various lines of +work which seem promising. + +In discussing the training of the Negro farmer credit must first be +given to the white planters under whom he has learned so much of what he +knows. Under the changing conditions of agriculture this training, or +the training received on the average farm is not sufficient and must be +supplemented by special training if the desired results are to be +obtained. + +It probably lay in the situation that the Negro should get the idea that +education meant freedom from labor. It is none the less unfortunate for +him. To counteract this idea has been a difficult matter and the +influence of the average school has not been of any special help. The +country school taught by a teacher, usually incompetent from any +standpoint, whose interest has been chiefly in the larger salary made +possible by his "higher education" has not been an unmixed blessing. The +children have learned to read and write and have preserved their notion +that if only they could get enough education they might be absolved from +manual labor. Even today Hampton and Tuskegee and similar schools have +to contend with the opposition of parents who think their children +should not be compelled to work, for they are sent to school to enable +them to avoid labor. Quite likely it could not be expected that the +country school should hold up a higher ideal, for here we have to do +with the beginnings of a system of instruction which had to make use of +such material as it could find for teachers. The same excuse does not +suffice to explain the attitude taken by the bulk of schools maintained +by the northern whites for the Negroes. Their inability to comprehend +the needs of the case can only be ascribed to the conception of a Negro +as a white man with a black skin and a total failure to recognize the +essential conditions of race progress. When the Roman monks penetrated +the German woods the chief benefits they carried were not embalmed in +Latin grammars and the orations of Cicero, but were embodied in the +knowledge of agriculture and the arts which, adopted by the people, made +possible later the German civilization. The old rescue mission sought to +yank the sinner out of the slough of despond, the social settlement +seeks to help him who has fallen in the contest of life or him to whom +the opportunity has not been offered, to climb, recognizing that +morality and religion attend, not recede progress. The old charity gave +alms and the country was overrun with hordes of beggars; the new seeks +to help a man to help himself. A similar change must come in the efforts +for the Negro. It has been sought to give him the fruits of civilization +without its bases. It will immediately be argued that this is wrong, +that the chief educational work has been but primary and that little +so-called "higher education" has been given. This is true, even to the +extent that it is possible to find a town of 5,000 inhabitants one-half +Negroes, in which the city provides but one teacher for the black +children and the balance are trained in a school supported by the gifts +of northern people. But, and this is the important thing, the spirit of +the education has been clear and definite and that the plan has not been +carried out has not been due to lack of faith in it. General Armstrong, +thanks to his observations in Hawaii, perceived that a different course +was necessary. His mantle fell on H. F. Frissell and Booker T. +Washington, so Hampton and Tuskegee have been the chief factors in +producing the change which has been noted as coming. Now that industrial +training is winning support it is amusing to note the anxiety of other +schools to show that they have always believed in it. I can but feel +that had the plans of General Armstrong been widely adopted, had the +teachers been trained to take the people where they were and lead them +to gradual improvement, that the situation today would be radically +different. It is, however, not too late to do this yet and the +widespread founding of schools modeled after Hampton and Tuskegee +indicates a general recognition of the needs of the situation. + +Yet, even these schools have not turned out as many farmers as is often +supposed. On examination of the catalog of Tuskegee for 1901 I find only +sixteen graduates who are farming and thirteen of these have other +occupations (principally teaching). The combination, I think, desirable +rather than otherwise. Three others are introducing cotton raising in +Africa under the German Government. From the industrial department nine +have received certificates in agriculture and six in dairying, but their +present occupations are not given. Asking a prominent man at Tuskegee +for the reason, he exclaimed, rather disgustedly, that they disliked +work and preferred to teach. This merely indicates the handicap Tuskegee +has to overcome, and perhaps the average agricultural college of the +North cannot show a higher percentage of farmers. An official of the +Department of Agriculture tells me that only 5 per cent of the graduates +of the agricultural colleges become farmers. To show how much +agricultural training is given at Tuskegee the following statement for +the year 1902-3 is of interest: No pupil is counted twice. One hundred +and eighty-one students are engaged in the actual operations of the +farm, truck garden, orchard, etc. Seventy-nine are taking the dairying, +etc., and 207 are taking agriculture as part of their academic work. +Yet, more of the graduates become professional men (lawyers, preachers, +etc.) than farmers, the proportion being about three to one. In citing +Tuskegee I am, of course, not forgetting that other schools, such as +Tougaloo and Talladega, have excellent farms and are seeking (though +their chief emphasis is elsewhere) to give agricultural training. + +Reverting to the different lines of work which seem hopeful, the subject +may be subdivided into several sections. We have first to do with the +efforts to make the young child appreciate Nature and become interested +in her processes. Perhaps Hampton has developed this side most +extensively, both in the little garden plots cultivated by the children +and the nature study leaflets prepared for use in other schools. +Personally I can but feel that there is a possibility of vastly +extending such instruction by means of the country schools. If they may +be consolidated, and this is being done in many sections, I think a way +can be found to make the school house the social center of the district +in such a way as will greatly help conditions. + +Actual instruction in practical farming, dairying, horticulture, etc., +is given in an increasing number of schools, but the opportunities are +still very inadequate to the needs. If it be possible the way must be +found to enable the Negro to use more and better machinery. The average +planter does not care to introduce expensive machinery lest it be ruined +by careless and ignorant tenants. + +These industrial schools can never hope to reach more than a certain +percentage of the people. There must be measures adopted to widen the +influence of the school. Tuskegee may be mentioned for its attempts to +reach out. For many years an annual Farmers' Conference has been held +which bids fair to become the Mecca of the Negro farmer. The influence +exerted cannot be measured, but it is believed to be great. One weak +spot in many of the schools is that they have little if any direct +influence upon the life of the community in which they are situated. +There are, however, some exceptions. The Calhoun Colored School has a +farmer's association meeting monthly. This is made up chiefly of men who +are purchasing land through a company formed by the school. Topics of +local interest, methods of farming, etc., are the subjects for +discussion. There is also a mother's meeting with subjects of more +domestic interest, with a savings department for co-operative buying. +Curiously enough the formation of the mother's meeting was at first +opposed by the men (and by some whites), as it took the women out of the +fields occasionally. Now it is more favored. As Tuskegee and many other +places there are similar farmers' associations, of which no special +mention need be made. Tuskegee has an outpost some miles from the school +which is doing a general neighborhood work. The following papers +circulated by the school will give a general idea of their conceptions +of the needs as well as of their efforts to influence conditions for the +better: + + MY DAILY WORK. + + I may take in washing, but every day I promise myself that I will + do certain work for my family. + + I will set the table for every meal. I will wash the dishes after + every meal. + + Monday, I will do my family washing. I will put my bedclothes out + to air. I will clean the safe with hot water and soap. + + Tuesday, I will do my ironing and family patching. + + Wednesday, I will scrub my kitchen and clean my yard thoroughly. + + Thursday, I will clean and air the meal and pork boxes. I will + scour my pots and pans with soap and ashes. + + Friday, I will wash my dish cloth, dish towels and hand towels. I + will sweep and dust my whole house and clean everything thoroughly. + + Sunday, I will go to church and Sunday school. I will take my + children with me. I will stay at home during the remainder of the + day. I will try to read something aloud helpful to all. + + + QUESTIONS THAT I WILL PLEDGE MYSELF TO ANSWER AT THE END OF THE + YEAR. + + 1. How many bushels of potatoes, corn, beans, peas and peanuts have + we raised this year? + + 2. How many hogs and poultry do we keep? + + 3. How much poultry have we raised? + + 4. How many bales of cotton have we raised? + + 5. How much have we saved to buy a home? + + 6. How much have we done towards planting flowers and making our + yard look pretty? + + 7. How many kinds of vegetables did we raise in our home garden? + + 8. How many times did we stay away from miscellaneous excursions + when we wished to go? What were our reasons for staying at home? + + 9. How have we helped our boys and girls to stay out of bad + company? + + 10. What paper have we taken, and why have we taken our children to + church and had them sit with us? + + + HOW TO MAKE HOME HAPPY. + + Keep clean, body and soul. Remember that weak minds, diseased + bodies, bad acts are often the result of bad food. + + Remember that you can set a good table by raising fruit, + vegetables, grains and your meat. + + Remember that you intend to train your children to stay at home out + of bad company. + + Remember that if you would have their minds and yours clean, you + will be obliged to help them learn something outside the school + room. Remember, that you can do this in no better way than by + taking a good paper--the New York Weekly Witness or The Sabbath + Reading, published in New York, cost very little. Have your + children read to you from the Bible and from the papers. + + + YOUR NEEDS. + + You need chairs in your house. Get boxes. Cover with bright calico, + and use them for seats until you can buy chairs. + + You need plates, knives and forks, spoons and table cloths. Buy + them with the tobacco and snuff money. + + You need more respect for self. Get it by staying away from street + corners, depots and, above all, excursions. + + You need to stay away from these excursions to keep out of bad + company, out of court, out of jail, and out of the disgust of every + self-respecting person. + + You need more race pride. Cultivate this as you would your crops. + It will mean a step forward. + + You need a good home. Save all you can. Get your home, and that + will bring you nearer citizenship. + + You can supply all these needs. When will you begin? Every moment + of delay is a loss. + + + HOW TO BECOME PROSPEROUS. + + 1. Keep no more than one dog. + + 2. Stay away from court. + + 3. Buy no snuff, tobacco and whisky. + + 4. Raise your own pork. + + 5. Raise your vegetables. + + 6. Put away thirty cents for every dollar you spend. + + 7. Keep a good supply of poultry. Set your hens. Keep your chickens + until they will bring a good price. + + 8. Go to town on Thursday instead of Saturday. Buy no more than you + need. Stay in town no longer than necessary. + + 9. Starve rather than sell your crops before you raise them. Let + your mind be fixed on that the first day of January, and stick to + that every day in the year. + + 10. Buy land and build you a home. + + +The various states are beginning to establish institutions in which +agriculture and industrial training may be given. Among these may be +mentioned that of Alabama at Normal, and of Mississippi at Westside. +Alabama has also established an experiment station in connection with +the Tuskegee Institute. + +In Texas there is an interesting movement among the Negro farmers known +as the "Farmers' Improvement Society." The objects are: + + 1. Abolition of the credit system. + 2. Stimulate improvements in farming. + 3. Co-operative buying. + 4. Sickness and life insurance. + 5. Encouragement of purchase of land and home. + + +The Association holds a fair each year which is largely attended. +According to the Galveston _News_ of October 12, 1902, the society has +about 3,000 members, who own some 50,000 acres of land, more than 8,000 +cattle and 7,000 horses and mules. This organization, founded and +maintained entirely by Negroes, promises much in many ways. In October, +1902, a fair was held in connection with the school at Calhoun, Ala., +with 83 exhibitors and 416 entries, including 48 from the school and a +very creditable showing of farm products and live stock. + +Besides these general lines which seem to be of promise it is in place +to mention a couple of attempts to get the Negroes to purchase land. +There have been not a few persons who have sold land to them on the +installment plan with the expectation that later payments would be +forfeited and the land revert. There are some enterprises which are +above suspicion. I am not referring now to private persons or railroad +companies who have sold large tracts to the Negroes, but to +organizations whose objects are to aid the blacks in becoming +landholders. The Land Company at Calhoun. Ala., started in 1896, buying +1,040 acres of land, which was accurately surveyed and divided into +plots of fifty acres, so arranged that each farm should include +different sorts of land. This was sold to the Negroes at cost price, $8 +per acre, the purchasers to pay 8 per cent on deferred payments. The +sums paid by the purchasers each year have been as follows: + + 1896--$ 741.03. Found later to be borrowed money in the main. + 1897--$1,485.15. Largely borrowed money. + 1898--$ 367.34. Men paying back borrowed money. Advances large. + 1899--$ 374.77. + 1900--$1,649.25. Money not borrowed. Advances small. + 1901--$ 871.49. Bad year. Poor crops. Money not borrowed. + 1902--$2,280.42. Advances very small. Outlook encouraging. + + +There have been some failures on part of tenants, and it has been +necessary to gradually select the better men and allow the others to +drop out. The company has paid all expenses and interest on its capital. +A second plantation has been purchased and is being sold. There is a +manager who is a trained farmer, and by means of the farmers' +association already mentioned much pressure is brought to bear on the +Negroes to improve their condition. The results are encouraging. In +Macon County the Southern Land Company has purchased several thousand +acres which it is selling in much the same way, but it is too early to +speak of results. Even at Calhoun but few of the men have yet gotten +deeds for their land. + +A word regarding the methods of the Southern Land Company will be of +interest. The land was carefully surveyed in forty-acre plots. These are +sold at $8 per acre, the payments covering a period of seven years. The +interest is figured in advance, and to each plot is charged a yearly fee +of $5 for management. In this total is also included the cost of house +and well (a three-roomed cabin is furnished for about $100, a well for +$10). This sum is then divided into seven equal parts so that the +purchaser knows in advance just what he must pay each year. The object +of the company is to encourage home ownership. Until the place is paid +for control of the planting, etc., remains with the manager of the +company. Advances are in cash (except fertilizers), as no store is +conducted by the company and interest is charged at 8 per cent for the +money advanced and for the time said money is used. + +On this place in 1902, H. W., a man aged 68, with wife and three +children, owning a horse, a mule and two cows, did as follows. He and +his son-in-law are buying eighty acres. They made a good showing for the +first year under considerable difficulties and on land by no means rich: + + Debits. Credits. + Fertilizer $ 34.88 Cotton $390.32 + Whitewashing 3.00 + Liming 19.76 + Lease contract 180.00 + Cash 130.36 + Interest 3.12 + ------- + $371.12 + ------- + Balance Jan. 1, 1903 $ 19.20 + + +This leads me to mention the question of land ownership on the part of +the Negroes. This has not been mentioned hitherto for several reasons. +In the first place the data for any detailed knowledge of the subject +are not to be had. Few states make separate record of land owned by the +blacks as distinct from general ownership. The census has to depend upon +the statements of the men themselves, and I have heard tenants solemnly +argue that they owned the land. Again a very considerable proportion of +the land owned is also heavily mortgaged, and these mortgages are not +always for improvements. Nor is it by any means self evident that land +ownership necessarily means a more advanced condition than where land is +rented. Moreover, a considerable proportion of the _farms_ owned are so +small that they do not suffice to support the owners. Conditions vary in +different districts. In Virginia it has been possible to buy a few acres +at a very low price. In parts of Alabama, or wherever the land has been +held in large estates in recent years, it has often been impossible for +the Negro to purchase land in small lots. Thus, though I believe +heartily in land ownership for the blacks and believe that well +conducted land associations will be beneficial, I cannot think that this +alone will solve the questions confronting us. Retrogression is possible +even with land ownership. Other things are necessary. On the basis of +existing data the best article with which I am acquainted on this +subject appeared in the _Southern Workman_ for January, 1903, written by +Dr. G. S. Dickerman, in which he showed that among the Negro farmers the +owners and managers formed 59.8 per cent of the total in Virginia, 57.6 +per cent in Maryland, 48.6 per cent in Kentucky, falling as we go South +to 15.1 per cent in Alabama, 16.4 per cent in Mississippi, and 16.2 per +cent in Louisiana, rising to 30.9 per cent in Texas. Evidently the +forces at work are various. + +Within a few months, at the suggestion of Mr. Horace Plunkett, of the +Irish Agricultural Organization Society, a new work has been taken up, +whose course will be watched with great interest. I quote from a letter +of Mr. Plunkett to Dr. Wallace Buttrick, of the General Education Board: + + From what I have seen of the negro character, my own impression is + that the race has those leader-following propensities which + characterize the Irish people. It has, too, I suspect, in its + mental composition the same vein of idealism which my own + countrymen possess, and which makes them susceptible to + organization, and especially to those forms of organization which + require the display of the social qualities to which I have alluded + and which you will have to develop. These characteristics which + express themselves largely, the old plantation songs, in the form + of religions exercises, and in the maintenance of a staff of + preachers out of all proportion I should think, to the spiritual + requirements, should, in my opinion, lend themselves to associative + action for practical ends if the organizing machinery necessary to + initiate such action were provided. + + What, then, is my practical suggestion? It is that your board, if + it generally approves of the idea, should take one, two, or, at the + most, three communities, such as that we inquired about, and organize + them on the Irish plan. The farmers should at first he advised to + confine their efforts to some simple object, such as the joint + purchase of their immediate agricultural requirements. * * * I would + at first deal solely with the colored people, beginning in a very + small way, leaving larger developments for the future to decide. + + +Hampton Institute has taken up the suggestion and is planning to +organize a community. Everything will, of course, depend on the +management as well as on the people. If the results are as satisfactory +as they have been in Ireland the efforts will be well expended. + +With this brief and incomplete account we must take leave of the Negro +farmer. Throughout the thesis I have attempted to keep two or three +fundamental propositions constantly in sight. Briefly summarized these +are that we have to do with a race whose inherited characteristics are +largely of African origin; that these have been somewhat modified under +American influences, but are still potent; that the economic environment +in America is not a unit and must finally result in the creation of +different types among the blacks; that the needs of the different +habitats are various; that the segregation from the mass of the whites +is fraught with serious consequences; that measures of wider application +must be adopted if the Negro is to bear his proper part in the progress +of the country; that owing to the great race differences the whites must +take an active interest in the blacks; that in spite of the many +handicaps under which the Negro struggles the outlook is not hopeless if +his willingness to work can so be directed that a surplus will result. +To my mind the Negro must work out his salvation, economic and social. +It cannot be given without destroying the very thing we seek to +strengthen--character. This is the justification for the emphasis now +laid upon industrial training. This training and the resulting character +are the pre-requisites of all race progress. Industrial education is +thus not a fad nor a mere expedient to satisfy the selfish demands of +southern whites. It is the foundation without which the superstructure +is in vain. If I have fairly stated the difficulties in the way and have +shown the possibility of ultimate success, I am content. For the future +I am hopeful. + + + + +MAPS SHOWING THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE NEGROES IN THE SOUTHERN STATES + + These maps are particularly referred to in Chapter II. The chief + geological districts are indicated. The figures are based upon the + census of 1900. The maps are here included in the hope that they + may prove of value to students of the problems herein discussed. + + +=VIRGINIA + +NEGRO PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION, 1900 + + Total Negroes 660,722 + Total Whites 1,192,855 + Negroes form 35.6% of total= + + +=VIRGINIA + +NEGROES PER SQUARE MILE, 1900 + + Square Miles in State 40,125 + Average Negroes per Mile 16.4 + Average Whites per Mile 29.7= + + +=NORTH CAROLINA + +NEGRO PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION, 1900 + + Total Negroes 624,469 + Total Whites 1,263,603 + Negroes form 33% of total= + + +=NORTH CAROLINA + +NEGROES PER SQUARE MILE, 1900 + + Square Miles in State 48,580 + Average Negroes per Mile 12.8 + Average Whites per Mile 26= + + +=SOUTH CAROLINA + +NEGRO PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL POPULATION, 1900 + + Total Whites in State 557,807 + Total Negroes in State 782,321 + --------- + 1,340,128 + +Negroes form 58.4% of total= + + +=SOUTH CAROLINA + +NEGROES PER SQUARE MILE, 1900 + + Square Miles in State 30,170 + Average Negroes to Square Mile 25.1 + Average Whites to Square Mile 17.9= + + +=GEORGIA + +NEGRO PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL POPULATION, 1900 + + Total Whites in State 1,181,294 + Total Negroes in State 1,034,813 + --------- + 2,216,107 + +Negroes form 46.7% of total= + + +=GEORGIA + +NEGROES PER SQUARE MILE, 1900 + + Square Miles in State 58,980 + Average Negroes per Square Mile 17.6 + Average Whites per Square Mile 19.9= + + +=FLORIDA + +NEGRO PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION, 1900 + + Total Whites 297,333 + Total Negroes 230,730 + ------- + 528,063 + +Negroes form 43.7% of total= + + +=FLORIDA + +NEGROES PER SQUARE MILE, 1900 + + Square miles in State 54,240 + Average Negroes per Mile 4.2 + Average Whites per Mile 5.4 + + +=ALABAMA + + Total Whites in State 1,001,152 + Total Negroes in State 827,307 + --------- + 1,828,459 + +Negroes form 45.2% of total= + + +=ALABAMA + +NEGROES PER SQUARE MILE, 1900 + + Square Miles in State 51,540 + Average Negroes per Mile 16 + Average Whites per Mile 19.4= + + +=MISSISSIPPI + +NEGRO PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL POPULATION, 1900 + + Negro Percentage in State 58.5 + Total Whites 641,200 + Total Negroes 907,630 + --------- + 1,548,830= + + +=MISSISSIPPI + +NEGROES PER SQUARE MILE, 1900 + + Average Negroes per Square Mile 19.58 + Average Whites per Square Mile 13.82 + Square Miles in State 46,340 + + +=TENNESSEE + +NEGRO PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION, 1900 + + Total Negroes 480,243 + Total Whites 1,540,186 + Negroes form 23.8% of total= + + +=TENNESSEE + +NEGROES PER SQUARE MILE, 1900 + + Square Miles in State 41,750 + Average Negroes per Mile 11.2 + Average Whites per Mile 36.8= + + +=KENTUCKY + +NEGRO PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION, 1900 + + Total Negroes 284,706 + Total Whites 1,862,309 + Negroes form 13.3% of total= + + +=KENTUCKY + +NEGROES PER SQUARE MILE, 1900 + + Square Miles in State 40,000 + Average Negroes per Mile 7.1 + Average Whites per Mile 46.5= + + +=ARKANSAS + +NEGRO PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL POPULATION, 1900 + + Negro Percentage in State 28 + + Total Whites in State 944,850 + Total Negroes in State 366,856 + --------- + 1,301,706= + + +=ARKANSAS + +NEGROES PER SQUARE MILE, 1900 + + Square Miles in State 53,045 + Average Negroes per Sq. Mile 6.9 + Average Whites per Sq. Mile 17.8= + + +=LOUISIANA + +NEGRO PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL POPULATION, 1900 + + Total Whites in State 729,612 + Total Negroes in State 650,804 + --------- + 1,380,416 + +Negroes form 47.1% of total= + + +=LOUISIANA + +NEGROES PER SQUARE MILE, 1900 + + Square Miles in State 45,420 + Average Negroes per Mile 14.3 + Average Whites per Mile 16.1= + + +=EASTERN TEXAS + + Whites in District 1,747,052 + Negroes in District 608,301 + Negro Percentage in State 20.4 + In District Covered 25= + + +=EASTERN TEXAS + +NEGROES PER SQUARE MILE, 1900 + + Square Miles included 60,453 + Average Negro .10 + Average White 28.8 + +Includes all Counties with one Negro per Square Mile= + + + + +Footnotes: + +[1] See article by A. H. Stone. Atlantic Monthly, May, 1903. + +[2] "The Negro in Maryland." + +[3] The Negro in the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta. + +[4] Bulletin, Department of Labor, No. 35. + +[5] The Future of the American Negro. + +[6] Olmsted, F. L.--The Cotton Kingdom. + +[7] Olmsted, F. T. The Cotton Kingdom. + +[8] Negroes of Litwalton, Va.--Bulletin Department of Labor, No. 37. + +[9] Rents a mule. + +[10] Bulletin, Department of Labor, No. 35. + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Passages in italics are indicated by _underscore_. + +Additional spacing after some of the quotes is intentional to indicate +both the end of a quotation and the beginning of a new paragraph as +presented in the original text. + +Inconsistencies in spelling, punctuation, and hyphenation have been +retained from the original. + +Misprints corrected: + "entrepeneurs" corrected to "entrepreneurs" (page 6) + "optomistic" corrected to "optimistic" (page 8) + "from" corrected to "form" (page 9) + "Atantic" corrected to "Atlantic" (page 9) + "stdy" corrected to "study" (page 10) + "Talledega" corrected to "Talladega" (page 16) + "inhabitated" corrected to "inhabited" (page 17) + "sevaral" corrected to "several" (page 31) + "carefuly" corrected to "carefully" (page 37) + "Tusgekee" corrected to "Tuskegee" (page 73) + "Talledega" corrected to "Talladega" (page 73) + "charactertistics" corrected to "characteristics" (page 77) + +Two footnotes are marked [7]; both refer to the same footnote. + +The key to the table on page 51 was extracted from the column headings +of the original table that were printed vertically. + +Wide tables have been split in half with one column repeated. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Negro Farmer, by Carl Kelsey + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NEGRO FARMER *** + +***** This file should be named 29714.txt or 29714.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/7/1/29714/ + +Produced by Tom Roch, Stephanie Eason, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. 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