The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1901-03-28
THE NEGRO PROBLEM.
SECOND PAPER.

IhdCttr want TO say, nrSt OF all, | do
not agree with those who represent
the moral condition of the race as be-
ing worse now than during slavery
time. That it is easy enough so to
represent the case, / admit. But it
must be remembered that while to-
day the whole race stands exposed to
view, and that now the public YER
dict is made upon the basis of the en-
tire colored population, in the ante
bellum days but a comparatively few
individuals of the race were brought
to public view and these in almost all
cases the very best of their color
those chosen on account of superior
talents, comliness, virtue and hon
esty to serve in places of prominence
and trust, as coachmen, body-ser-
wants, seamstresses, chambermaids,
cooks, etc. On these exceptional few
the public made up its case when
passing judgment on the races con
ditions. The common heard of Negro
bondmen was rarely seen by any save
the owner and his intimate nelghbor.
Who shall say that that common here
possessed purer morality in the days
OF bondage than does the average
Negro of today? Indeed, is it not the
fact that they were rated about as
other chattels? In vast majority
of cases their moral condition did not
in the slightest degree enter into the
calculation. And is it at all likely
that, looked u pom as they were in the
maln--as chattels and so treated--they
could attain and preserve a high, or
even comparative, excellency of char
acter? Certainly not. Even the
matter of mating between the sexes
was not, as a rule, left to free choice.
but was dictated or directed by the
owner, with an eye to what would be
best in the field or in the market.
That there were fewer cases of VIC
lence, proportionately, may be true:
but who will undertake to say what
would have been the case if the race
had not been restrained and disci-
plined as they were as slaves As a
rule, they were shut in much as
horses and cattle.
Another thing | want to call special
attention to: How comes the Negro
to be as base as he is today? Is it all
his own choosing? his own doing,
Nay, verify. How much liquor is
manufactured by the black race
And what is the color of the average
saloon keeper? Who makes and sells
the deadly pistol? How many of these
deadly things would the race have in
hand if they themselves to be manu-
tacturer and merchant of the goods ?
And | am not at all certain that there
is not outside agency in prompting
the beastly passion that leads to the
crime that is so commonly dealt with
by Judge Lynch. If any reader of
these lines does not fully understand
me at this point let him ascertain my
mind through the channel of private
correspondence.
We are shocked by the deep degra-
dation which from time to time is I'M
covered in the slum quarters of our
larger cities. But we all know that
SUM element to be very largely the
product of peculiar environment of a
vicious publicgsentiment touching the
treatment of certain laboring classes.
Low wages and high temptation to
wrong doing have more to do in Gre
ating..slums than any and all things.
This we know well to be the case.
The very same conditions are active
i'll degrading the Negro in this coun-
try today. Rough treatment, course
food and stinted wages-these are
enough to degrade any race. Why,
the single matter of compelling the
Negro toiler to eat his food in a sep
arate and too often unsavory place is
enough, one should say, to make him
a harte of the race that puts the in
dignity upon him. 1t does not help
matters to say ''he is used to it-he
expects nothing else No doubt this
is true; but does he feel satisfied with
the treatment? And | will not un-
dertake to say how this matter is to
be set right. Certainly there is wrong
in it, and it breeds mischief 1t will
be for those who insist that the two
races must jointly work out the Ne
gro's destiny to find mitigation for
the CALLING yoke put about the black
mans neck through the social ostri-
cism which everywhere meets him.
In the field and at the ballot box,
equally; in the dining room and in the
parlor, distinction. 1t will not work.
But the reader will say, Is this
solving the problem Remember, |
disclaimed ability so to do from the
start. Yet if these things that have
called attention to were not or were
otherwise. could not something be
done, yea must be done, toward the
desired solution And if privilege is
granted me | shall seek in q third and