The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1890-01-30
SENDING THE NEGROES TO AFRICA
The Work Of the Colonization Society In
Over Seventy Years.

ltrom the st. Louis Globe Democrat
WASHINGTON, D. c., January 1s.-
In the midst of the Senate discussion
of the negro question the venerable
Colonization Society comes forward
with its seventy-third anniversary.
The exercises were held at the Church
of the Covenant tonight. This Colo
nization Society was organized in 1916.
Its purpose was exactly what Senator'S
Morgan and Butler are now champion
ing-the removal of the negroes to
Africa. Statesmen, jurists, philan-
thropists, ministers of the gospel and
missionaries looked to the Colonization
Society as possible savior of Africa
from heathenism and of America from
civil war. Madison, Charles Carroll,
Clay, Webster, Crittenden, Benton,
Everett, Cameron, Seward, Birney,
Douglas, Lincoln, Fillmore and Weed :
advocated the objects of the society,
and seemed to believe that means would
be found to carry out its undertakings.
The society intended only to. remove
eepeople Of color and such slaves as
were manumitted from time to time,
but its projectors and many of its adj
vocates looked upon the projectas fur
nishing the means by which African
slavery in this country could gradually
and safely be abolished. Bushrcd
Washington was its first president;
Charles Carroll, second; Madison,
third; Clay, fourth, and Latrobe, fifth.
Garrison and Phillips and their abo-
lition friends laughed at the society,
derided its missionary features, and
secuted the idea of removing" 4,000,-
600 people. Up to the time Of the war
the Colonization Society had many
wealthy friends. Since its beginning
in 1916 it has spent nearly $3,0Oo,OOO,
and has been able to send about 10000
American negroes to Africa. It ac-
complished great deal of work, and
the African Republic of Liberia is its
child. Every year of its existance it
has sent ship to Liberia to carry
negro emigrants from this country.
One of its vessels arrived only few
days ago in New York, bringing four
native African children to America to
be educated. They were stopped by
the collector of New York as "undesi-
rahle" immigrants, and now await the
decision of the Secretary of the Treas
ury as to whether they are assisted
immigrants" The fact that the Colo
nization Society has spent $1,000, 600
and has accomplished SO little serves to
call attention to the magnitude of this
work if undertaken in earnest. Sena-s
tor Butler proposes to start the removal
of the negroes back to Africa with
$1,000, 900 which his bill appropriates.
That sum would not pay the expense
of carrying off two months natural
increase of the negro population. The
negroes of the country increase attbe
rate of 350, 900 per year, nearly 1000 a
day. To gather and transport them to
a seaport, feed them on the way, and
give them q little start in the new
country, and pay very low rate for a
steamer passage of twenty or thirty
days, would cost not less than $500 per
head. So to remove even the natural
increase of one year would foot up a
cost of S70,000,OO0. It would require at
least 100 first-class steamships to do
the work, giving to each six round trip
voyages per year. The sc: :00G, 900 thus
spent would then have made no appre-
ciable inroad upon the original mass Of
100000 blacks.