The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-31
THE G DEATH RATE.
DIR SHlDDSg OoNOIUSIONS AT THB
HAMPTON CONFERENCE.

the Conditions In the District OF CoIuuDih
Means by which A~fro-Americnns May
Diminish the Mortality In Their Race.
HAMPTON, Va, July 25.-The annual negro
conference. held at the Hampton Institute.
was more important In many respects this year
than in any previous year. This was due main
ly TO the fact that those who composed It
grappled with the phases Of the race problem
which are most perplexinR with a comprehen-
sion OF the subject and freedom In treatment
heretofore unknown In such gatherings. There
was no shrinking from the facts In q given
case. however ugly. The old and pernicious
policy OF ignoring facts or explaining them
away on the theory that they were advanced By
hostile persons and were therefore untrust-
worthy was discarded entirely. to the general
interest and advantage. This fact must mark
n distinct advance In Afro-American dovel-
opment. II IL difficult to reach the truth
when those most directly concerned are bent
upon concealinG IL. When A~fro-Americans
begin to deal with facts as such and to seek to
change them when they are not satisfactory.
instead OF seeking to pooh pooh them as the
inventions Of enemies. we shall have a more
hopeful condition OF affairs. The Hampton
negro conference has made a brave and wise
departure in this respect. I say negro" con-
ference because the members OF It preferred to
be 30 designated although there was not q
bakers dozen Of pure blacks in It. There were
many Afro-American people In 1t as white as
the SHOWS Of the Caucasus who stood up and
preferred to be counted as Afro-American
negroes or black people. There is no account
ing for tastes In this queer world Of ours.
The Hampton conference was composed Of
Afro-American black and oolored people prom
inent In educational. ministerial, and news
paper work. In sharp contrast to the compost
tton OF the Tuskegee conference. which aims
to gather the farmers and artisans and focus
their opinions. Nothing could be more inter-
estinG than to study and compare, as l have
been able to do In the past few years, the high
est and the lowest form OF Afro-American
mental, moral, and material life as reflected In
the composition Of the Hampton and Tuskegee
conferences. 1t is highly debatable which con-
ference is the moro interesting and instructive.
In each conference ono point Is equally brought
out most emphatically: The unlettered farmer
In the Tuskegee conference and the college
professor In the Hampton conference are
equally rioh Tin the gift Of gab." in the Ian
Guage Of %oratory. In the sublime faculty OF con-
veying thought In speech. Indeed. in both
conferences the stream Of talk is like unto the
stream whereof Tennyson wrote:
But mon may come and men may 70,
But 20 on forever.
Ono Of the papers which created the most pro-
found impression was presented by DR.. Fur
man J. Shadd of Washington. q graduate Of the
collegiate and medical departments Of Howard
University. who has had fourteen years in the
practice Of in the District Of Columbia.
much OF h etime as q consulting physician in
the Freedman's Hospital. His subject was "A
Remedy for the Excessive Mortality Of the
Negro" Asa basis OF his thesis he said:
In considering this important subject I
sivinE HS data Get to prove y9u the e'm Fact t thSt the fssen neSFo y y
dying more rapidly. than the whites. In fact,
under the best sanitary conpditions Of our larg-
rate is more than double that Of the whites.
persons. and this conference must take It's part
in correcting the malady by WHICH the negro
physician SSicien IS Is the nc st stq ady'G 81 I vital vitei s NGi 4hsy "a fas sne
mating and instructive. but to the student Of So
facts and deduction, A nation is an ac-
ftSS eur ndshIGa -,4 81 i6 nd sHnh E summipG up q
known Tor some time that the death StH'T rate Of t the
negro has been increasing, and In some places
showing less births than deaths. a condition
forsbodinE results Of serious gravity to the
BILE data bearing directly upon this subject, and
the time has come IN our race history when we
Prot. Kelly Miller has written an able and
TlP 4sits snd R fendde sieae OF thss A A2tlalen,sN e Faos
To the literary, portion OF our race, the deduc-
lions ana conclusions reached by the scholarly
professor may be quite convincing, but to any
among the race the facts and sHie statistiep%a are dats
thed data - w SneSe eoileec%tesa BY R w EhS ee SGentsr t and
hence the, worst phases in our life and death
the. negro does die much faster than the
whites and the causes Of bis death are gen.
have read Holman book With ca area and
most OF the facts therein contained are in
ace9rd with my professional experience. where
Tor fOlTtnPn VaATa | have Gonna In annfa0t Nth
thousands OF the poor. afflicted members of the
race. Do not understand me to affirm that all
ence teaches me that the book struck the kew
note. and il is our duty to stop quibbling over
alarming causes which are 80 graphically de-
Plcted by this statistician,, RoTman's- book
caused him, to look in upon himself. seif-ia.
sP.eSHtion Is alwayS good for the individual.
waterford sSEFS dm q eveTy inteifiF eG r personi i wS The
We deplore the pronunciation Of facts which are
detrimental to US. yet the end will Justify the
81 this alarming death rate are the following:
heredity and environment, Most OF these con.
without the aid Of outside inhuences. Only
those persons who come into intimate
Spprscfat S''f ths she S GSlR5Hd tF RIl3ple aG San c tbHily
aeteristics, Only after very careful in
s az e. The s social pr Ss nsts sFaettns to tb sns yifsf
conditions OF the negro to-day and his condi-
tions in the future. My observation leads me
to believe that more factors inimical to the race
are found within than without. In medical
language We call such conditions auto-infec-
ton. / believe that racial strength and prog
ress depend upon indiyidualization. The Jews
are an example tor US TO initiate ; they have re-
Though persecuted for SO many years.
Pho pns care f}te e and Dds pivoT1niI factor IN
ness Of the negro woman to-day is not as great
as in former times. The reasons are many,
but chief among them is a complete change Of
snyironment. She Is assimilating the tastes.
around her. She does not pride herself. as did
her mother and g~randimother over the large
filled her head. and she, like the new woman.
wants freedom from home cares. The very
conditions and physical health are the ones
who remain single, and. II married, shun the
large part, OF infant mortality Is due to
hereditary tendencies causing tuberculosis.
which proves fatal In most cases. Hence, to
control such conditions, we must restrict mar