The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1868-12-23
The Future of the colored Rnce.

The hand of Omnipotence could, in an
instant, convert three million of ignorant
serfs into three million of intelligent and
industrious free men. But this is not an
age of miracles, and if they who were
slaves four years ago are not as steadily
laborious as the working white man, there
is not in the simple fact, any reason for
assuming that the freedmen will never be-
come more thrifty and prudent than now.
When the surrender of the Confederate
armies made emancipation q practical fact,
the colored people knew not how to turn
their liberty to good account. Those whom
they were accustomed to obey were stripped
of all but moral power, and were declared,
besides, to be the foes of the colored race.
But there were men ready to receive them
with open arms, to promise them lifetime
of ease and plenty, to tempt them and de-
ceive them with aattery and bribe. And
so the freedmen became entangled in the
meshes of political intrigue. They were
taught that the land end its fullness was
theirs; and, too Otter, the bread lost by idle
ness and folly was won by trick and theft.
As time rolled on, politics lost much Of
their charm. By degrees. more attention
was paid to obtaining employment and keep
ing it when obtained, and during the last
year thousands of colored men have Ia
bored with far more zeal than they ever
showed as slaves. This, it is true, has been
the exception rather than the rule; but it
is an encouraging indication of what is
likely to be the course ofthe mass of the col
ored people when they appreciate the mo-
tives which have governed their more saga
cious fellows.
A slave has no ambition, as he has no
future. If any part of his earnings falls
to his share, it is but the merest triAe. And
when he becomes free he is satisfied at first
to labor just enough to Keep body and soul
together. The African, however, although
moving in lower plane, has the same feel
ings and desires as the Caucasian, how
ever rude they may bv, and us he SECS tho
comforts and epjoyments of those living
around him, he is driven to desire such
pleasures for himself When his lot is cast
with degraded people, the colOred man,
slave or free, cannot be improved. When
he lives in the midst of men of industry
and intelligence he will, in his own degree,
become diligent and worthy Of trust 1nthis
way, the colored people Of the South will
be moulded into new form. They have not
an immense numerical majority, or their
native inferiority might assert itself and
drag down the white minority. They are
in the minority in the South, and in the
hands of the white man they will be as clay
in the hands of the potter.
The progress which has been made by
the colored people of this State during the
last tn elve months, is in some sort guar
antee for their future. They see on every,
eide men working hard and enjoying the
rewards Of their labor. They see men of
their own color steadily growing rich.
They know now that labor only will con-
quer every obstacle, and begin to under
stand that for the poor, whether. white or
black, the choice is-work or starve. The
world is not standing still, nor is any part
of it; and the colored people of the South
controlled and directed, perhaps uncon-
sciously, by the white race, are also march
ing on. They have already made o great
forward stride, and if we appreciate prop
erly our own responsibilities and know our
own interest, we. shall encourage them in
well.doing, and show them that in South
Carolina every industrious colored man may
be prosperous as we'll as free. In this ma
ter, as in most others, example is more po-
tent than precept. We have given that ex-
ample in striving manfully to conquer for
tune, ard in making the best of the things
we could not avoid. In this way We do our
part; and we firmly believe that the lesson
so taught will not be lost, and that the COL
ored population, with new hopes and new
wishes, will follow in our footsteps and be-
come, in course of time, the sober and dill
gent working men whom the Southern States
rpouire