New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-06-02
THE,NEGRo AND HIS FUTURE
SOME etooMY VIEWS EXAMINED.

peets IN vIrrinia DY Philip A. Bruce. 1srne'
pp. 2os. g. y. Putnam's soma
This Is careful and generally impafuai Soo
Of the plantation negro 40 seen In what y kno"a
ss the . black bets Of Virgins. where te phloA
popul ssIop fsr outnunbers the white, and wnere
fbs nasmrnI tendencies Of the negro race In 9
state OF freedom develop with the minimum OF re-
sfssi1s Mr.. Bruce deals sokly with the oond-
lions which have arisen since emancipation ana
/. CAREFUL 10 say that for al knowledge OF the
state Of slavery he is indebted to the experience
OF others His own observation has led him TO
distinctly gloomy conclusions concerning the
prospects Of the Southern negro. and IL may ne
as oace admitted that his facts, taken entirely oy
thetnseKes, appear TO warrant no hopeful ex-
poctssions BIT we shall here endcavor to show
that the facts can only lead TO safe infer
eunes II examined relatively and COMPARE
lively; and that being so examined, while
they certainly tend to indicate the gravity OF the
pscblern, they do not neccssitate the abandonment
Of hope or justify pessimistic appFehensions Tor
the future Of the negro race IN this country.
Dir. Bruce deals with the plantation negro from
everr point Of view. The positions and relations
Of parent end child; OF husband and wife; OF
master and servant: Of the negro and the com"
morwenlt the negro and the criminal law, gen
eral characteristics, moral and mental; religion,
superstition, education, material condition, etc.
ARE separateiy analysed with patience and cleaz
aesaye TO set a. the truth. Among the conclusions
reached are the following: Mr.. Bruce finds that
since emancipation the negro has tended to
withdraw more and more from contacts with Tie
whites: that at the same time his moral condition
he's been growing worse than during slavery
owing TO the removal OF all restraint and the de-
cline in the influence of example The negro is
wanting in moral sense His ideas of the relations
OF the sexes are very Lax. Marriage has no Sane
tity for him, nor confluence any obhgauons Inc
women ia this respect are said 10 be even ieSN a"-
ysncsd than the men, and they are Represented as
exertsns mischievous influence by reason OF their
RIGHTEOUSNESS. The new generation, reareo atnons
such conditions, has naturally inside no progress III
ethics Public school education has ehec'eo NOM
ing IN this direction, and little in any other Tho
,evai,ns tendency IN the race is restlessness and
iuatience OF the restraints which civilization i'm
posss This Il felt IN the labor market, the negros
rafusal To be bound by contracts having become
=, notor;ous that many employers have abandoned
an ATTEMPTS 70 bind him in that way. Again. DIS
.arcnt inability to think for the future prevents
him from accommodating property. he is nke ..
child 70 whom the present Is everything. Wnen
endowed. be is, % rule, ~ debt 70 the fuh eh-
sens OF his credit On the plantation ne WORKS
,w,ll n constantly supervised, but he Cannot DC
,-,,.t.a alone The old relations between him ana
cha rlAnters have mostly disappeared, ana soue-
pepdence has made the negro less ~as1"or'nS.
and also less easy to get on with. he longs ior
social progress but Is sure 70 abuse every oonceS-
.aon and this being known, the whites are more
.ont;ou. and colder with him, and be separates
fr-u them more and more. He has shown his in
.h,Yitv "a cultivate the soil on his own account
.housh that Is the position he prefers The snare
sy-ssern after fair trial. Is beng soanoohed' DC
cause ths negro will not work assiduoosy "neh
not oosupeiled He is . natural and ineofr's'"ie
nifferer. but he shrinks from more serious crimes
with one exception, and that Is the crime WniTn
most exasperstes the whites, ana most surely
49,. Down swift punishment upon the criminal
Murder .s seldom committed. nut "neh ~ 70 w
.asa.siu IL always discovered because he taxes no
n-A... iona having every clew exposed, and not
selasm fssaoasly displaying the spoiis taken from
n. yte,t,n IN the very ncighborhood of the hom,-
Ia a,,e negro u religious, though immoral ana
~. ,rIivyon Is serious matter to him lie 10 emo
s,6s,a.. Oriental in his imsgnngs, uopacai IN ma
.ansunRrn. tickle nutnblc, DEPENDENT pE'sVo,
IA politics he tends 20 gregariousness, ana uh'i'
r,centlv he was the easy prey OF the most tfahs-
ua,ens dsmagogues The soldity OF his Voee re-
pa,ns an important, and, in MI Bruces Vlew' Oil
cminous fact aa
e,ne. tho war the negro has been tending to re-
cant "a the African type; that is, the muiauos
ga disanYearinr. Isolation 10 at the same time
y.nposneins many savage traits. The savage
ssn,ors-An American modification OF the 'ooooo
aoc,or--vas never In such request as to-day ou-
,,s.s,,.son aonrishes rankly IN the black CON-
u,unitses. and the negro preachers, VINO are very
,,ns,rrfui do not combat IL, but on the contrary
,alxc advantage Of the docility and excitaoity VI
s,,.ty aocks Discrimination TO DO nara "OrA -
beeomieg more general among tho yonhs men Gun.
.sn.allv But perhaps the most serious sthtehehV
a. 80, rsspro,,na the withdrawal Of the negroes
,.,. chair communities This involves the prac-
-, sxtspctson Of oil the influence Of white ex-
.,onle ana the erection Of special aegro standard
~ ouin,on necessarily low and demorahnhe Ror
-, fhsse evils and weaknesses Mr.. Bruce can sec
M remedies. He indeed suggests the des'r"o',, ,
~ intxoduc,ng manual training into the pupho
.ehools. but he recognizes the practc"i o"S"'0S'
% ,his scheme, aud he docs not aIter aih apps
"a hone very much from 1t. Hh opinion p'"i"p
is that the plantation negro is IN "'u
that emancipation has been te'"' '" "n' 49,
,s., there Is every year less reason 70 hOPe
~, hs win prove able 70 work out MS own
..l,,s,soc Certainly the picture drawn 10 ui,'s
,ah,,,. ia a dark one, and since II is maniiesVS
~. oolorea by any psejudces, Mr.. Druees con,
alns,,ns are entitled to serious and respec'i"i
coasideration.
IN the lrst place IL must De po'n'eu ou" 80 =.
sn nearly every instance the charac'erl r,'S ~
,-,hp,ed 70 the plantation negro, ana when WI
ss.,ss cons,ders as belonging peculiarly to the
ss,ro race. really mark every type oil humanity
,.h,.h has mot advanced beyond savsgery. Inc
unprorressed man everywhere is Iast what the
.svro /. mid 20 be- But that Is not all. Many
~ the vices and weaknesses here ascrlbed TO tne
- r,. b.lons also TO the masses In what is called
s,ss,izstiou. Take for example the coincidence
o. feebls moral sense with strong religious
ssn.e.. Surely 10 cannot be asserted that THIS
condition is peculiar to saNagcs Of any kind' OF
- ,he backward races alone. Cases arc on record