Morning journal and courier., 1883-05-17
The Negro in the South.
Southern Testimony That he is on the Whole Improving Financially, Intel. IsctuaIly and Morally.

| Southern Testimony That he is on Ib I Whole Improving Financially, Intel l IsctuaIly and Morally.
 1 From the New Orleans Times-Democrat
 That the negro has not made as great pros
 ress as was expected of him cannot be de nied. Those who set him free harbored tn ! wild delusion that he would step from slave ry into all the attributes of freeman. be
 come good and intelligent citizen, perform ing his political duties satisfactorily that h ] would devote himself to the cause of educa tlon and self-1mprovement and to the acqui I sition of property that the negroes, in fine ! would become a race of yeomen. All o ! these fond deluslons were soon defeated, an
 it cost the South 8 decade of misery an I suffering, of riot corruption and bankrupt cy, to prove how wild this experiment was ! from the evil effects of which we are suffer ing to this day. But while this sudden free dom and license have done the negro i'm measurable harm. it has become evident ! from his rapid growth in numbers, that lib | erty has not had the effect, predicted b, I many, of causing the decay and decadenct \ of the colored people; on the contrary, they | have increased with startling rapidity, adding ! million and half to our population in the ! past decade.
 l If the race is morally as bad and is deteri orating as some pretend, it would be most unfortunate thing for the South; but we
 must regard these stories of negro depravity
 as somewhat exaggerated, or at least as too
 general, applying only to few specimens in stead of to the whole race. The negro, in this State at least, has been improving moral ly and financially, and is constantly going forward-very slowly, it is true, but still pro gressing. He has acquired considerable prop erty, which he knows how to hang on to. In the sugar districts, at Cypremort in St. Landry, and at other points, and in the i'm mediate vicinity of this city, there are a Iov 1ar oe fov of fa-1 owned and cultivated by negroes, and which are profitable and improving and their num- Der is annually increasing.
 In the matter of religion, also, on which point the principal charges are being brought just now against the race, there has been marked improvement. That the charges of immortality against some of the preachers are true; that to n any of the church members religion is merely moekery, form of pray ing and singing having no connection or re- lation whatever with morality or good beha- vior, must be confessed but there is cer- taiuly movement in the right direction and evidences of improvement. Some of the negro preachers, just now, are showing 8 commendable spirit in attacking the private vices and immortality of members of their congregation, and are meeting with the best results. Under their teachings and influence the loosen-ss that formerly prevailed among the negroes in the matter of their marital re- lablOu6-bA6 uhtuT1 OuGSEOWtQ pI the SO- called marriages of slaves of thirty years ago has disappeared, and the separations of husbands and wives are much less frequent, and new marriages, which were formerly contracted without any appeal to the law, are latterly giving place to regular divorce pro- ceedings and legal remarriages.
 In the matter of contributions to the sup port of their church, the negroes cannot be accused of any lack of generosity. Thus the colored Methodists of this State contributed last year the large sum of $41, CPS to the support of their church and for benevolent and missionary purposes and now own church property to the value of $I21, ,O0O. This is only one denomination and not the most numerous in Louisiana.
 The records of our public schools show a larger attendance of colored pupils and some decrease in the number of colored illiterates In fine, from every point of view, the ne- groes of the South-or of Louisiana, at least are progressing slowly. it is true, but still exhibiting an improvement instead of deteri- orating as the northern and western papers declare. It would be 8 most discouraging sign if this race, which constitutes two ffths of the population of this section, and a ma jority in many States, were really retrogra- ding or at stand-still.