The record-union., 1894-07-07


ting off the day of his disappearance,
which a distinguished divine has just in
formed me is to be the solution OF the
negro question in the South.
Making trip by steamer from New
Orleans into Bayou Lafeurche, I had
some opportunity to observe the power
and endurance of the negro as an ordi-
nary laborer. The main business Of the
steamer is carrying freight between New
Orleans and the towns and villages and
sugar plantations along the bayou. The
freight consists chiefly of grain, potatoes,
sugar, pork, machinery and flour, and
about forty negroes are shipped each
trip to load and unload it. The
trip up the Mississippi is made
in the night, but after entering the bayou
at D0naldsonyille early III the morning
the whole force Is constantly on duty for
forty -eight hours. 1t is essentially con-
tinuous work, for the intervals between
the landings are very brief, and the labor
is carried on under high pressure. 1t was
necessarily exhausting, but through II all
the negroes appeared to remain remarka-
bly, cheerful. Their songs, however, be-
came less frequent toward the end OF the
long watch. Nature was somewhat sub
dued. Yet, considering the fine physical
development OF these men, their endur-
auce and recuperative energy, the basis
of the divine's conclusion that they are to
disappear is hard to find, except, per-.
haps. in his wish that it may be so.
1t is significant that in Louisiana, where
there appears to be the largest surplus
population, the people are organizing a
systematic effort 10 provide themselves
with good domestic servants. TIE diff
Guilty in the North has sometimes been
thought to be lack OF such surplus, or,
in other words, the ease with which per-
sons OF all sorts have been able to attain
such degree OF independence as TO per-
NIT them to give up domestic work for
others. The members Of this
class in New Orleans are described
in the editorials of the leading
newspapers as, with rare exceptions,
lazy, dirty, dishonest and unreliable,
wandering from house to house, and
seldom serving out their month, working
only when it is necessary to do so, and,
in the case of housegirls as nurses Of
children, capable of desperate crimes. 1t
is noteworthy that in the hotels and
restaurants the service is very largely in
the hands of white persons, while farther
north, as in Washington, both domestic
and hotel service is almost universally
performed by negroes. The explanation
of this state of things may be a tendency
on the part OF the negroes to become de-
generate where they constitute very
large clement in the population; or it
are likely to live up or down, as the case
may be- TO the estimate in which they are
held in the community; in other words,
that the consideration with which the
negro is treated in some places stimulates
him to become worthy OF such consideR-
ton; while the old-fashioned cursing
which is bestowed upon him in other
places tends to convince him that he is
what he is represented to be, and makes
it appear to him absurd to attempt to act
up TO any other character.
Whatever may be the cause of this diff
Guilty in one place or another, there is an
evident need of training. The young
uegress coming up from her parents rude
hut in the country, or from her home in
the siuIns of New Orleans, is entirely un-
prepared TO undertake any part of the
work Of a properly managed household,
and the same is III a large measure true
Of the girls or young women whose
homes are in the squalid parts of the
large cities OF the North. They have need
to serve an apprenticeship before they
will be fitted to take up domestic work,
yet no means are provided for such an
apprenticeship. But If there are reasons
for devoting either public or private
funds to teaching boys to become work
srs in wood and metals there are equally
potent reasons for deyoting part of these
or other funds to teaching girls those
things that will fit them to take UP with
credit domestic work. If it is said that
these things should be taught at the
homes. il may be replied that a
large proportion OF the homes OF
the poor in our great cities are not
places where these things can be
taught; in these homes even q; a;knowledge
of them is wanting. The ladies of New
Orleans, therefore, in calling for an es-
tablishment for preparing young women
for domestic work, are doing what
ought to be done elsewhere. By giving
to nurses systematic training, that oc-
cupation has been raised almost to the
dignity of profession. By giving sys-
tematic training to the other workers in
a household, their occupation may be
raised above the contempt under which
it seems to have fallen. The experience
of the South is a pointer for the rest of
the country. 1t is not enough to have
surplus OF people in order to get the kind
OF workers we wish. There must be also
training; and if the conditions under
which this might be had privately have
passed away, it must be given publicly.
Moreover, If philanthropist wishes to
do something TO ameliorate the condition
of the coming generation of working
men, let him establish an institution IN
which the girls who arc TO become the
wives of these men will be taught to
children.
If the cooking and economical domestic
management of the French people were
substituted for the present domestic
regime of the middle and lower ranks of
the United States, it would be equal to
doubling the family incomes of about
two-thirds of this Nation. The tradi-
tional poor white of the South, or his
modern relic, illustrates the degeneracy
Al, fro,
yapid talk, his want OF resolution, his
emaciated figure, reveal his general
worthlessness. The poor Mexican thinks
with pleasure of his hat; the Italian is
proud of the, graceful manner in which
he can throw his cape, however ragged.
over his shoulder; but this unfortunate
son of the South has apparently no
in anything about himself. He appears
to have inherited broken spirit,
but, in fact, he is the victim of genera
tions of improper feeding. His sons
stand about him, copies OF the original,
with no evident mission in life but to
lean against the fence and wear freckles.
The impression Of hopelessness which
these people make on one is not agree
able. They seem to stand at certain
stage in a movement downward from
better condition of their ancestors. The
French creoles of the bayou region of
Louisiana may have also fallen some-
what from their original estates; they are
certainly largely illiterate; but their gen.
tie manners and soft speech suggest at
least refinement and cultivation.
Herein survival stands to
their advantage. The last thing a
Frenchman is likely to forget is his
characteristic outward bearing. So this
French cololy, isolated among the
swamps and bayous, long separated from
the national life OF its native stock, has
lost much that distinguished its ancestors,
has Jailed to keep pace with the modern