The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1898-04-30

the Black Race.
From the Medical Record: The race
problem in the south seems destined
to be settled according to natural laws,
unless something is done, and done
soon, to save the negro from the re-
suits of his W vices and neglect Of
elementary hygienic laws. The testi-
mony of those who have studied this
subject is all but unanimous and it has
received additional confirmation
through the investigation Of DR.. r. H
Johnson, of Brunswick, Ca, himself a
colored physician. The figures he has
gathered from a study of the vital sta
tistics of nearly 300 towns in the south
ern states show that the death rate of
negroes is double that of whites in the
same communities, and not only this,
but the birth rate is also smaller among
the colored than among the white pop
ulation. Furthermore. the day Of the
stalwart negro is passing is not already
gone. and the members of the younger
generation of the race make a good
showing as regards their size and phys
ical constitution when compared with
their grandfathers and grandmothers.
DR.. Johnson attributes this degeneracy
of his race-rightly, we believe, to the
carelessness, want of f~orethought and
dissipation so unfortunately character
istic Of a large portion of the colored
population in the south since the civil
war. In antebellum days." says DR..
Johnson, the negro seemed to be an
immune 10 n+ian on1 manu
great medical writer's and teachers
boast OF never having seen such among
the negroes. Enforced temperate liv-
ing and sanitary precautions made the
black man a physical giant, but the
giants are disappearing and in their
places Is coming a race of smaller sta
ture and decreased vitality" That this
is the true reason of the colored mans
physical deterioration is further shown
by what Surgeon General Sternberg
has to say in his recently issued an
nual report concerning the health of
the colored soldiers. Great improve
ment," he says, has taken place in
the past few years in the sanitary con-
d1tion of the colored troops. The white
troops have participated in the i'm
provement, although their rates have
not fallen so rapidly as those of the
colored men. The colored soldier lost
9.42 days from disability during the
year; the white soldier 12.71, and the
average time of treatment of zach case
was, among the colored troops, 1884
days; among the white, 1922 days.
These figures contain much to encour-
age those who have the future of the
colored brothers at heart, and who
have looked with sorrow upon their
downward progress since the day of
their emancipation. The figures show,
indeed, that the race is capable Of re-
generation, since even now it's members
living under the sanitary and moral
restraint Of army discipline are found
to be superior to their white comrades
living under the same conditions. The
proof exists that the colored race
may yet be brought back to it's former
high sanitary condition, but the prob
lem remains how to lift it up from the
abyss Of misery and how to avert its
threatened extinction. Here is a task
for colored members of our profession,
which they can accomplish far better
than their white confreres, and which
calls for their best thought and self
sacrificing devotion.