The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-08-16

- AZ oenaeOr BRUCE says, tne UPBTOeS oI ti,e
!. eouth are doing too well whore they nro
/ 10 make the hazardous experiment OF emil
! grating to Liberia under the scdmctions OF
fhe boastful eloQuence OF an agent of u
aaberisn colonization scheme.
! In many respects they nre tho most for
tunate laboring population in the world.
Ghey passed suddenly from slavery to free
dom and citizenship. tho transition involve
ong complete social and political rovolu.
.tion, and yet the change took place peace
, ably. Their former owners suffered tre-
: 1mendous loss OF property by their emanci-
patton, but the negroes were not made
:. victims OF the vain regrets OF their masters.
. Srhe relations between capital aud labor
s~ere radically revolntlonlzed, yet no
violent collision occurred. Tho snve was
transformed into free wngo Garner,
:. and ho became eharer Il tho crop
Sbe raised, or q tenant Of his old mas
tfer, from whom he received every 0p-
!. portunity to profit by his own industry
.and frugality. II he suffered from lack Of
capital, his landlord also was otten II not
I" usually. In the same situation himself
!; Both wero obliged to trust to tire chance Of
! the crops to carry them through. LIT their
Hens. and pay their debts for supplies. The
:. tenant was better Off than the landlord In
having q lighter load Of obligations aud
fewer wants. He risked nothing except his
labor. for he began with nothing except HIS
own hands.
Thus the former slaves had opportunities
for acquiring independence enjoyed by no
other laboring population. They were al
most wholly aqrculturists, and land for
their filling was ready at their hands. They
had . substantial monopoly Of the labor,
and they were peculiarly adapted to it.
Their capacities and their deficiencies were
understood fully by the Southern people, by
whom they were treated with an indulgence
which they would not have received else
~here; for the experience OF slavery had en-
rendered in the whites the habit Of cxercis-
ing guardianship over them, and Of feeling
. sense Of responsibility for thoir welfare.
Hence, with all tho talk about outrnges on
the negroes. and though some Of 1t may be
Justified In certain sporadic cnses, the
trust and affection Of the emanclpated slaves
went out to their old masters as to no other
people. They still honor Southern gentle
man as the highest type OF manhood, and
give to him an amount OF respect and con-
6dence which they yield to no one beside.
Under such treatment and with oppor-
tunitiss 30 extraordinary. tho Advancement
Of the Southern negroes since emancipation
has been without parallel In the history OF
speople 80 lately enslaved. Almost without
exception. there is not a capable. Industrious,
and thrifty negro in tho South who Is not
prospering. Az Senator BRUCE shows by
statistics, tho race has passed from COM
plets illiteracy to an education which the
free schools are making universal among
the new generation, and from absolute pow
erty to great aggregate possessions. So far,
therefore, from the South's deserving the
criticism that 1t has unjustly treated the
negroes since emancipation. it is entitled to
great praise and glory for the justice.
hberAllty wisdom, and consideration with
which 1t has dealt with them. The trc-
mendous social revolution has proceeded
simultaneously with q wonderful develop.
ment OF the prosperity OF tho region. and II
in the general progress either race has
gained the more, it has been the African.
It is not surprising then, that the negroes
of the South do not banker after Liberia,
though 1t Is In ths land OF their origin and
10 republic OF thcir own race.