Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1874-08-13
THE NEGROES IN THE RURAL DISTRICT!

j. j. Barreau, colored teacher who has
spent two years in the rural sections of South
Carolina, has published an essay on hesocial,
educational and political condition Of the un-
educated masses of the colored people of South
Carolina" +" to show "to the unprejudiced reader
that they will compare favorably with the
uneducated white man of any nation OH the
face of the EARTH" His conclusions are, that
the social amusements of the colored people
are as sensible as the customs of the peasants
of Norway and Sweden; that their treatment
of their females is as good and respectful, and
their treatment of children as good, as among
the same classes of whites; that the present
prospects are cheering to the friends of educa-
tion; that the rural colored people are emf
nently religious people; that "the condition
of the government is shameful, and the people
of the rural districts are, for once, alive to the
needs of the hour, and every man Of the least
knowledge sees that the presentstate of things
must be changed" and that SHOULD the men
who have ruined the State, and prostituted
their offices, again attempt to force themselves
upon the people, they will undoubtedly suffer
an ignominious defeat"
As regards the comparison of the social
status of his race we are not disposed to join
issue with the colored teacher. We only hope
his people are making that progress which he
claims for them. No rejecting white man
can object to the moral advancement of the
colored race. Their interest is Identical with
that of the white citizens of the State-an
important fact which we imagine the colored'
people are slowly beginning to learn. But we
doubt if they have yet reached that point as
to be "alive to the needs Of the hour" They
have not yet been educated to realize the re-
sponsiblity devolving upon them as free citi-
zens. To deposit ballot we grant they un-
derstand; but that the great mass of them
have any conception of the import of this,
the greatest right of the citizen, we seriously
doubt. So far, since they have obtained the
right of the ballot they have only learned the
form of voting; we might say, in manner,
their education in this respect is similar to
that of the Irishman whose only political
creed was to vote early and often. We do
not however, charge this to the colored voters,
though their exercise of the franchise is some
what analogous to the Irishman's standard.
They too often vote only as designing, in
triguing and unprincipled politicians direct,
without once looking to the consequences. As
it has been in the past, we fear it will be for
a long time in the future.
In our own State, the veal or the woe of
both races depends almost entirely upon the
blacks. As the whites prosper so will the
colored people prosper; and as the material
prosperity of the whites is retarded by bad
legislation, in the same ratio will the blacks
suffer. The whites may be oppressively taxed,
and the revenue wrung from them may be
souandered and stolen by dishonest officials ;
yet indirectly do the laboring classes bear the
burden of oppression. The black people, who
constitute large majority of the laboring
class of the State, pay considerably more tax
than the mere captation they hand to the tax
collector. Heavy taxation causes high prices
of every article sold, whether from the farm
or the sto,e, and it is the consumer who pays
this tax in the way of increased price. Op-
pressive taxation may bear heavily upon the
property-holder, the land-holder or the mer-
chant but at the last it comes from the pock-
cts of the tenants, the laborers and the con-
sumers This is matter on which the COL
ored voters of the State should ponder and
reflect Were we going to teach them in the
art and mystery of citizenship and the science
of political economy, after discarding the
Union League manual, the ideas above ad-