The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1900-09-01
Grafton of all who are interested in HE

future of the Negro race.
William Thorpe, a correspondent of
the Chicago Record, has written let
ter to his paper in which he notes the
progress made. Mr. Thorpe says:
1.-The Negro will not go uader be-
fore the march Of civilization, like
the Carib, the Kanaka, the red Indian
and the Australian aborigine. He has
too much vitality and too great fac
ulty for adapting himself to new con-
ditions to succumb so easily. He
thrives on civilization and he must al
ways be the principal denizen Of the
tropics. Observation and history COM
bine to show that white colonies can
not permanently establish there and
maintain their racial purity. The
tropics can only be civilized by civiliz-
ing the Negro The government of
Jamaica is strong, just, beneicent and
progressive.
"Under this government the rise of
the Negro in Jamaica has been won
derfully rapid. The colony boasts of
larger body of peasant proprietors
than any other part of the West In
| dies. They are estimated to number
between 10000 and 1O0,O0O-one in
seven of the population They are a
very fine body of men-intelligent, in
dustrious, sober, Independent, loyal
and laW-abiding. They believe in ed
ucation and religion. Their chief am
bition is to send their children to
good schools. One might search the
world over and not find a more law
abiding country than Jamaica, al
though the colonial people outnumber
the whites by forty to one. A white
woman could walk alone from one end
Of Jamaica to the other, certain of
meeting with nothing but the utmost
respect and kindness from the Negroes
Those crimes which are alleged to
form the excuse for lynching in the
Southern states are absolutely I'M
known in jamaica, and serious crimes
of any kind are very rare. In every
possible way the Negro is given a fair
chance in the struggle for life. No
artificial barriers are placed in his
way. All the schools of the colony,
even those of the highest class, are
open to his sons and daughters, and
there is government scholarship
which has enabled several Negro lads
to obtain an English university educa-
ton. The liberal professions are
open to the black man as much as to
the white and many of the best doc
tors and lawyers of the colony belong
to the former category and enjoy ex-
cellent practices No hotel or board
ing house, or bar, or railway train, or
street car, or church, or place of en-
tertainment in Jamaica excludes a
man on account of his color or indeed
makes any distinction between black
and white.
''The same is the case in the gov
eminent of the country. Two mem
bers of the legislative council are pure
blooded Negroes, and SO are many
magistrates and members of the paro-
chial councils, which deal with the
local affairs of the several districts of
the island. 1t is possible for Negro
or brown man to rise to the highest
eminence in the British empire. Sir
Conrad Reeves, mulatto, was knight
ed by her majesty on his appointment
by the colonial Office as chief pustice
of Barbados. He fills that Office to
the complete satisfaction of all classes
and by virtue of his position ranks in
the social world of Bridgetown only
below the governor and the general
commanding the troops. The queen
has also knighted Negro in the per-
son of the mayor of Lagos, who is del
clared by all who have met him to be
a statesman and a gentleman
An Afro-American delegate to the