The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-10-14

and crime In oil the States of the Union.
Freedom from both Of these evils unques-
tionably indicates healthful and elevated
civilization. The southern States stand
highest In the list in these respects. con-
trast the statements made In the Census Re-
port with regard to pauperism and crime in
the New England States and in the southern
States not for the purpose OF making an
invidious comparison, which have no de-
sVe to do, but because the New England
States are generally spoken Of as distin-
guished for thrifty industry and high moral
character. -..-.. ~
! l. Paupcrism prevails in the New Eng;
land States in the proportion of forty-four to
every 10000 Of the entire population. In
the southern States the proportion is thir.
teen to every 0,0O0 of the entire population.
9. In the native New England population
the ratio is forty-seven to every 10000. In
the entire white population Of the South. ma
tive and foreign, the ratio is only fourteen to
10000. 8. In the foreign population OF the
New England States the ratio of pauperism
is thirty.iiye to every 10000. Among the
colored people Of the southern States the
ratio is thirteen to every 10000.
l. in the United States censuS-tab'es OF
criminal statistics we arc told that in the en-
tire New England population the proportion
is II in 10, 600; in the entire southern popu-
latlOn it is S in 10000. .. In the native New
England population it is S in every 10000.
In the entire white population of the South,
nativc and foreign, the proportion OF crlml-
mails is Il little over d; in every 10000. 3. In
the foreign New England population the
proportion of criminals is % in every 10000 ;
in the colored population Of the southern
States it is about Is in 10000.
Another surprising revelation which these
censlls-tabIcs makes is in reference to church
accommodations: l. In the New England
States there are 5,42l churches, with 2,2O3,-
Coz sittings. Total population, 3,4S1 ,O94.
In the southern States there are $4,000
churches. with S:ttingS for 4,I06,931 per-
sons. Total population, 9,4S7 1856. ,. Or
to state it in another form, in New England
there is one church for G43 inhabitants. In
the South there is one church for 0lS inhab-
itantS. ...t
THE NEGROES.
And vet there is vast work to he done
for the cvangcization OF the native popula-
ton of the South. and still greater for the
spiritual welfare Of two other very diSsmilar
but most interesting races, the one in the
providence Of God intermingled with Us,
and the other dwelling upon our border. In
the eleven southern States there are about
$500, 900 whites, and little less than 4,0OO,-
600 negroes. In three of the southern States
they outnumber the whites. In South Caro-
lima they have majority of more than
125 900.
1t will be interesting to those whose SYM
pathes have been enlisted in behalf Of the
freedmen, and who have had little opportu-
nitv of learning what Christian philanthropy
is attempting for their Improvement, to hear
something definite with regard to the efforts
which are made, first, for their secular edu-
cation, and, second, for their religious train.
ing.
The Freedmen's Bureau. out of S13,000,-
600 expended only $500, 900 for educational
purposes. Letter from Virginia, in Old and
Ne,c. Boston, November 1921 But what is
needed is some regular and permanent pro-
vision, such rs is contemplated in the free
school system of the southern States, which
provides for the education of the children of
both races. Oppressed as were the property
holders by the burdens of taxation, they
nevertheless addressed themselves to the
work of establishing free Schools for white
and colored children without discriminating
between them.
Virginia has taken the lead in this great
work. and there the free school system inau-
rllrated in 1870 has been most faithfully and
efficiently managed, as it might have been
al! over the South but for the fact that in
some of the States, where aliens have monop-
oliZed Office and ignorance has expelled in
telIigcncc from the halls Of legislation, the
public school fund has been squandercd, and
the interests OF the colored people betrayed.
The question of leyying local tax for
providing school accommodations was car
ried in Virginia in every case where it was
presented to the suffrage of the people, eN-
cept in one district, in which the colored peo-
pie voted solidly against if. In another
large district, where the colored people were
in the majority, they left the question Of the
schoo-taX to be decided exclusively by the
whites, who were the property holders. Not
a vote was cast by a freedman, but the white
people voted unanimously for the tax.
The establishment Of normal schools for
the negroes, like the excellent and well-en-
dowed Agricultural and Polytechnic Iusti-
tute at Hampton, near Fortress Monroe, will
do more than anything else to confirm their
possibly wavering interest in educational
schemes for their benefit. Enlightened and
wel-trained colored teachers, thoroughly
understanding the idiosyncraSies Of their
own race, and sincerely deSirous to promote
their good, without partisan or selfish aims,
will become the best agency for keeping
alive their present zeal for self-mprovement,
and for instructing them how TO guard the
great political estates so recently and sud-
denly conferred on them against the raids of
plllaging and unprincipled demagogues.
AFRICAN INDEPENDENT CHURCHES.
Next, AS to the efforts made for the direct
religious instruction of the freedmen, may
saw that every Evangelical Church in the
South has their spiritual welfare at heart,
and gladly embraces every opportunity for
doing them good. The coored people
among us prefer separate independent ecele-
siastjcal organizations, and those of the white
ruce who have given the subject the most
conscientious thought are disposed to en-
courage them in forming churches OF their
own. with ministers and officers OF their own
choosing-all to be gathered, when become
sufficiently numerous, under the care OF
Presbyteries, Synods, Conferences, Assocla-
tiops. or Conventions, according TO the de-
nominations to which they belong, their
white brethren in the mean time giving
them all the encouragement, pecunlary aid,
and moral support in their power. This IS
the preference of the freedmen and the pol
lev Of the Methodist and Baptist Churches,
m which denominations the colored people
in the South for The most part belong.
Few of them now remain in connection
with the Methodist Church South. But
with its approval and under its ausplces.an
African Methodist Church has been organ
lied, distinct and independent, yet still look
ing to their old spiritual guardians for SYM
pathy, counsel, and help. This they receive.
AN the houses of worship belonging to the