Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-04-30

4
possible Of the negroes and whites both
in the South and the North. The annexa.
ton Of the Hawaiian Islands, the Ameri-
can protectorate Of cuba and the policy
Of benevolent assimilation" in the Phil
ippines will force upon us some renec-
lions on our past dealings and experiences
with the Indians and negroes. Especially
VIII good result from the dispassionate
Investigation which can now be made OF
the institution Of African slavery as it
existed in the South. Robert L. Lee
| writing in 1896, characterized slavery as
an institution as "a moral and political
evil in any country" adding Il think it
a greater evil to the white than to the
black race" Senator Vance declared
"the negro has made more progress in
! one hundred years as a southern slave,
than in all the five thousand years inter
| vening from his creation until his land
| ing on these shores" Governor Wise said.
| referring TO African colonization Of the
| negroes of the South, "Africa gave TO
| Virginia a savage and a slave; Virginia
| gives back TO Africa a citizen and a
| Christian"
The race problem, after third Of a
! century Of freedom is to-day a more Sc
rious matter for this nation than ever
| 1t was in the days Of slavery. Made. by
| the laws Of a party victorious i'm war.
before the smoke Of battle had cleared
away ,he equal in citizenship of their
former masters, probably a century or
more before their progress in civilization
as race would have justified df it ever
would be justified the extension of the
franchise to them, the white people of
the South have expended in the past
thlrty years more than a hundred million
dollars in the education OF the negroes.
with present result that while the per-
centage or iliteracy among the negroes
iell from 10 TO % per cent in the decade
1871 10 1890, the percentages Of crime in
sanity, and death has most astoundingly
increased Three fourths Of the criminals
In the South are negroes. Constituting
only II per cent. Of the entire population
or the nation, they furnish 81 per cent.
OF all its hOmicides, 66 per cent of its
female homicides, and Of all those under
70 years of age about a like percentage.
or six times their share in proportion 10
op@lation-indicating that the rising
generation far outstrips In crime that
passing fcom the stage. In PENNSYLVANIA
they form per cent. of the population.
and furnish l6 per cent. of the male and
"a per cent. Of the female prisoners. In
Chicago, which some colored people call
the Negroes Heaven" they form l1-2
per cent. of the population, and furnish
10 per cent. Of the arrests.
Bishop Penick says that while the good
OF the land have left him largely alone,
the workers Of sin have been active to a
remarkable degree; the vicious Of both
races have met and mingled and ripened
into crimnahty until the land cries
aloud" In the character of the unscrupu-
lous and designing politicians. who have
from the first used the power Of the negro
vote for their own selfish ends. is found
one prominent explanation. The author
condemns most emphatically the lynch
lngs OF the negroes in the North, as well
as III the South. and cOmmends the sug-
gestion of DR. Pell for an Exchange OF |
texts that northern preaching be direct |
ed against negro crime, and southern |
against lawlessness and race |
prejudice" The author is, we think. a |
native Of Virginia, Of the family OF |
Campbells prominent at Lexington.
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANCOIS.
BY Dr. S. Weir Mitchell. Published by |
the Century Company.
In this fascinating book we find all
those splendid literary qualities which
make Or. Mitchell one of the foremost
.tory-tellers Of the day. The style is
ouoyant from cover to cover, and the
'eader absorbed in the romance
progresses without the consciousness that
he is reading al all. Francois, the hero
whose adventures are narrated is a
Unique and not altogether sanity char
cter, who, through force OF circumstan-
es, was successfully a founding. choir
10Y, beggar, jugger. fencing-master, and
entleman's valet. With these varied vo-
atoms he usually combined the art of
hievng, which he could never quite re-
ard as wrong. Lack Of proper train
az and frghtful adversely We're the
erms from which this evil habit grew. |
nd, so plausibly does DR.. Mitchell defend
is hero. that we cannot think the rascal
together bad.
Francois was a product Of those troub-
JUS times which begat the French Revo-
ition, and in that mighty Partisan chaos
e figured. though his naturally sweet ma
IRE and sunny disposition prevented him
rom ever acQuiescing in the brutality I
hich marked that era.
Though the story Is but a literary crea- T
on, We gain from the Adventures OF {
francois" a vivid idea Of the Reign Of {
error, and OF the slaughter by Mere Z
The scene shifts from Paris {
the provinces. following the wander.
lgs Of the erratic unfortunate Historic
cures live again in its pages. and, incl +
entally. we meet many characters, who. :
Rough fictitious. are representative types !
that day. r
The book Is clean. wholesome, and in
ructive. and, better still increasingly
lscinating. II is well illustrated at :
actively printed. and, altogether. plea :
ng addition 10 the most carefully select
library.
MEXICAN PRACTICE REPORTS.
Official Leading Cases in all State and
Federal Courts. Annotated and Syste-
Arranged so as 10 Include in !.
the Table OF Cases OF Each State Its
Reported. Cited, and Digested Practice
Cases. Editor-in-Chief. Charles A. :
Ray, LII. D.. ex-Chief Justice OF the
Supreme Court Of the State OF Indiana,
and Author OF Imposed Duties" Car ,
riers." Washington Iaw-Book Com
pany. Published Every Three Weeks.
Six dollars per annum.
This periodical, which now makes its
itial bow 10 the public. promises 10
come quite a fayorite with the legal
ofession. As it's name indicates. IT !
yers a wide field, even including an