The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-12-16

South is alarming and provOkes the
serious study of our thinking people.
Fifty years ago suicide was a rare
event among the white race, and new
er heard of among the negroes. When
it did occur, it was considered an ev-
idence of insanity. | do not recall but
one instance in my youth and that
was woman who jumped into deep
well when no help was within reach.
But nowadays almost every daily pa
per contains an account of one of
more self-murders and even negroes
have taken the infection for they will
initiate every vice and frailty of the
whites. Old Lewis who is my wood
chopper, asked me the other day how
it was that the white folks kill der
selves so much, and de niggers didn't. :"
Because" said I, white folks are
more easily overcome with griet, or
remorse, or distress, than negroes.
You negroes don't borrow trouble, nor
take it hard when it does come. You
don't give yourselves much anxiety
about tomorrow, or next week, or next
year. You don't grieve long over a
death in the family; your emotional
nature is of low grade; your mar
riage relation is loose; in fact, it is on
the decline since freedom came. The
marriage records show that your legal
marriages are go per cent less, accord
ing to population, than in the white
race, and the decrease gets less and
less every year. Your young men and
women don't marry; they just take
up and quit when they please, and SO
the men don't care very much about
the welfare of their children, if they
have any. Besides all this, Uncle
Lewis, your race has a trait of steal
ing little things, and this accounts
IN a great measure for their indiffer-
ence TIC the laying up of something
for the future; something for the
winter, or the rainy days, or for old
age. If the worst comes to the worst
they know they can steal or beg. Ii
your young folks, men and women,
haven't got but dollar in the world,
they will spend it for a watermelon,
or an excursion, and take the chances.
Now, Uncle Lewis. you remember
when there wasn't a chaingang in the
South, nor a heinous crime nor
brutal outrage, committed by your
people, from the Potomac river to the
Rio Grande. Now there are in Geor-
gia alone over 1000 of your people i'll
the chaingangs, and there would be
1000 more if all the little stealings
were punished" Uncle Lewis had
stopped cutting and was leaning on
his axe helye. "Dat's all so.' said he.
land boss | knows it, and boss what
i wants to know is dis: What must
we poor niggers do about it?' There
is the rub. / couldn't tell him, but
did say, ''Urcle Lewis, your race has
got some mighty good traits, and |
70 oHNn o1yn
kind-hearted. good-natured. easy to
please, and don't carry malice or re-
venge in your hearts; you steal, but
you don't cheat anybody. The white
race won't steal, but they will cheat,
or take advantage in a trade, and that
is worse. If you trust a negro with
anything he will not abuse your con-
fidence, but white man will embeZZle
and defraud and even the cashiers of
banks will appropriate the banks
money, and falsify the books for
months and years. Every race has its
traits, both bad and good. Some of
your bad ones We're almost run out
by slavery, but they have come back
again, and all your college education
does not stop it. 1t makes it worse.
There is nothing that will stop it but
work, constant work, every day, I'M
der some good employer. Work on
the farm is your best safeguard, or
work as mechanics under good con-
tractors. Your people make good me-
chanics, and the white people employ
them and patronize them just as will
hngly as they do white mechanics.
The negro blacksmiths and masOns
get good employment here and every
where, and as for cooking and wash
ing and nursing. your women have it
all. The two races would fit together
nicely if it wasn't for politics and idle
ness. An idle negro is a dangerous
creature and should be taken up and
put to work. He is much more dan
gerous than an idle white man, for
he has no shame, and fears not God
nor regards man. If I were a law
maker, / would make continued idle
ness a crime, for, us Ben Franklin
says: 1t is the parent of vice
/ started to write about suicides,
but got to preaching Uncle Lewis a
sermon and got off the track. Nine
teen hundred years ago Plutarch, the
Greek historian, said that self-murder
was cowardice, for a brave man would
suffer rather than take the life that
God gave him. Self-murder was
heinouS crime under the old English
law. The estate of the felo de Sc was
confiscated, and taken away from his
family. His body was buried ON the
highway without coffin and a sharp
spike thrust through it to mark the
accursed spot. Suicide was under the
ban of the church, and no prayers
were said for his soul. In no civiliz-
ed country has suicide been justified,
except in such cases as that of Saul,
who fell on his sword because, as he
said, Lest these uncircumcised Phil
istines thrust ME through and abuse
me- Or perhaps that other notable
ease the Scriptures record, that of
Judas, whose remorse was so dreadful
he preferred hell or anything that
would be change. But generally it
is better to endure the ills we have.
than fly to those we know not Of
Almost every day we read of young
men and young women killing them
selves because of disappointment or
dissipation, or about love or money.
They must believe there is no here
after, or all punishment ends with
this life Surely no Christian man