Evening journal., 1899-10-05
PERIL OF TIE NEGRO
Win Be Discussed at 2 Con
ventiou soon TO BE Held.
CRISIS THOUGHT TO BE NEAR

IEtf fLhAlIl, AND WISE LEAD
! ERsHIP is NEEDED-EDUcA-
, TIoNAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE
RACE is NEEDED-soME COM
PARSONS MADE.
New York, Oct 5-There is to be
neld in New York on November a
conference Of secretaries Of religious
organizations having educational and
religious work among colored people OF
the South. 1t is called by the Ameri-
can Missionary Association at the sug-
gestion Of Booker +. Washington.
Speaking upon the negro. General
Thomas j. Morgan, corresponding sec
retary of the American Baptist Home
Mission Society which has had much
experience with him, said:
THE present condition of things in
the South seems to me well nigh ap-
palling and the future is full Of peril.
IL is very evident that crisis of some
sort is slowly but surely approaching.
What the outcome Of the present an
/ ltagonism between the negroes and the
whites OF the South is to be no man
is wise enough to foretell. The problem
/ is one Of great perplexity, Of vast mag
nitude, and its solution must vitality af-
/ feet the South, especially, in all its ele-
ments-social, economical and politi-
cal. I know Of nothing like it in all
human history. 1 have been a close stu
dent of affairs in the South for many
years, indeed ever since the war. and
to-day it seems to me we are further.
if possible, from a solution Of the ques-
tion of the ultimate relation of the
whites and the blacks than we have
ever been.
80 far as l am able to judge 1 think
it is safe to say that the negro element
in Southern life is not only indestruc-
tible. but it is destined to steady en-
I largement The negroes are not di-
minishing. but increasing in numbers:
4 they are not leaving the South. and
will not of their own accord; they can
not and ought not to be forcibly de-
ported but must be reckoned with as
a permanent. integral factor in South
ern life. Even if they should be de-
prived Of all political privileges. which
! do not think is possible, they viii ex-
lert tremendous influence upon
Southern life in all its phases. So great
are their numbers and so intimate their
relations with the white people that it
is safe to say beyond fear of contradic-
tion that the status Of the negro ele-
ment will determine in very large
measure the status of the white ele-
ment II the negroes are not lifted up
they vii pull the white down.
NO PANACEA AVAILABLE.
4 do not believe that there is any
panacea for this condition Of things
but l am profoundly convinced Of the
absolute necessity Of a broader, more
comprehensive, more radical scheme Of
general education for the negroes than
has hitherto been provided for them.
Thirty-fve years have served to dem
onstrate their capacity for education,
and a hundred years history OF the re-
public has shown with increasing i'm
pressiveness the indispensableness of
education for the masses Of our citi-
zens. The need of popular education
has long been dearly felt in the North.
and tremendous strides have been
made and are being made to provide
proper facilities so as to bring with
in the reach of the masses opportuni-
| ties of the most varied kind for a
broad and general culture. Our COM
mon schools academies, colleges, uni-
versities, technical schools of all
grades, professional schools of all
kinds, are the wonder and admiration
the world. Untold millions are being
Expended in improving these various
educational institutions.
Nothing comparable to what Is be-
ing done for the white children of the
North is being attempted for the ne
groes of the South; indeed, it some
times seems as if It was not even
thought Of. While a steady stream Of
millions pours into educational treas
uries and foundations for the benefit of
the white children of the North there
are only little driblets being devoted
to the education of the negroes in the
South. The common schools are of the
most simple and crude kind, their
eachers lacking in almost all the es-
sential requisites Of scholarship and
raining. OF necessity. apparently. the
white schools, colleges and universi-
les OF the South are closed to the ne
groes. so that they are dependent al
most wholly for anything like a liberal
education upon the few schools estab-
llished for them by Northern Chris
] Il