Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1880-04-28
TIE fact that colored people are

The fact that colored people are
leaving the South in great numbers.
is an important fact, one that is the
cause of no little Thought in the
minds of people, who ask themselves,
Why do the co!ored people leave the
South! What effect will their leaving
have on the community What effect
will their presence have on the com
munity where they locate! They go
in great numbers to Kansas. The
North .7merican of TIE 18th inst. pub
lished the following relative to the
colored refugees in Kansas:
Since the first of November the
Committee has received and forward
ell for the relief of the cofOred refu-
gees in Kansas S1700 in cash, and
241 packages of supplies. consisting
OF clothing, bedding. crockery, kitch-
en- utensils, building hardware, seeds,
Bibles, school books. etc, in value
not less than $4,000. To the sup
ply of clothing many private individ-
uals, as well as Dorcas societies and
sewing circles, have contributed. A
large portion of these donations have
come from anonymous sources, but
whenever the name and address of
the donor could be ascertained writ
ten acknowledgment has been made.
At least one-third came from New
England, few from New York and
Delaware, and the remainder from
New Jersey and Pennsylvania
Free transportation was procured
not only from several of the points
of shipment to Philadelphia, but also
from Philadelphia to Kansas. For
their liberality in this respect ac-
acknowledgements are due the Clyde
and Winsor steamship lines and the
Pennsylvania and Chicago and Alton
Railroads.
The distribution of these supplies
has been entrusted to Mrs. Elizabeth
L. Comstock, who, in operation
with the Governor of the State and
the Kansas Freedmen Relief Asso-
citation, has, with most self sacrificing
devotion. given herself to this work
for the past five months.
The most reliable estimates place
the number of refugees who have
reached kansas in the last few
months at not less than 10000.
They come in families, not only the
able bodied men and women, but the
old people and the children, most of
them very destitute, and their suffer
ings have been severe.
There seems to be no decline in the
movement. Mrs. Comstock writes /:
A steady stream of emigration con-
tinues. The refugees come to To
peka at the rate of 260 to 300 per
week. We hear from different parts
of the State of fresh arrivals in still
larger numbers, and in great destitu-
ton. They are crowding in faster
than they can be cared for" The
exodus is principally from Louisiana
and Mississippi, but is spreading into
other States, and is likely this spring
to be very large.
For seventeen years these poor
people have been looking for the re-
lief which emancipation promised
them. 1t has not come, and it should
be no surprise to us that they should
at length seek this relief in emigra-
ton, as oppressed people have ever
done.
The friends of the refugees do not
propose to support them in idleness.
Every endeavor is made at once to
distribute them where home and en-
ployment can be had. Their readi-
ness to take the positions found for
them, and the alacrity with which
they enter upon work, evidence that
the emigration is of the better sort.
and the representations made as to
their general good conduct and So
briefly are among the most gratifying
features of the work. Very few of
these people can be put upon their
feet at once, and made wholly inde-
pendent. Under the most favorable
circumstances to be looked for. most
of them will need help to help them
selves.