The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1901-07-24
THE NEGRO NOT DYING OUT
The Facts Shown by the Census
Statistics About to be Made
Public

1nc New Ofk Evening
The tabuIatlOn of population by son
nativity and color, undcv The census q
, l9OO, has DOW proceeded far cuOuu
! to show that the negro is numerical
holding his own. Those who prcAio,c
that because Of essential infcrloritv In
negro would die out as Il race fluid II,
, support IN the returns OF 1900. Tn
negro IS running along so closely will
me Whlle, whcntN Nu" the figures hay,
been taDulatCd, as TO indicate thai. 70
better OF for worse, he has yaiucd
firm foothod on tins continent, an,
one from which he is not likely to b,
soon dislOdgcd
From the figures at hand il seem.
probable that the negro population. o
the United States in 1900 was bctwccl
100000 and 9,0jO,UUO. The ratio
That the negro bears to the total in the
States already counted, if applied tc
The whole country, would Give 9 OBS, :.
600, excluding Indian Territory. whcy,
perhaps there are II, 900 more. II
that estimate be admitted as valid il
VIII make the neTlo constitute II $
per cent. Of the total population OF the
country, rs against | ID u decade AGO
| the loss being due to the grcatc: Growth
Oh thc Norlhcrn States and not to any
less proportion OF negroes IN the South
The only weakness OF such an csti-
mate comes from the fact that no
wholly typical border state has vet
| been anall Hcd, and it Is in the border
States that the peculiar DEVELOPMENTS
oi coiorcd population are most i'm evil
dcncc. Ten years ago the negro an.
pcarcd TO be leaving the bord / States
To 90 IN both dIrcctiOns-tOwald the
cotton fields of the far South and to
the large cities OF the North. Ken
lucky, Tor example, actually lost IN ne
S"o population between 1890 and 1900
There were only four other States of
which this was true Maine, New
Hampshire, Vermont and Wisconsin
aud IN each of these the colorcd pOpu.
iation was so small is TO make any de-
ductlons from the figures concerning it
OF little meaning. But IN all the Dor.
der State region the negro seemed TO
be losing his hold the climate does
not suit the thOrough-IOing African so
well as that further South. Then the
social OstraciSm which exists where the
negroes number fewer than Il fourth of
the population, as III the bordcr States,
Is rather more gallihg than where they
exist in such overwhelming numbers
as TO be sufficient unto themselves.
The antaIOnlsm Of labor unions is
more felt in the border States. since
trades unionism has, as yet, no real
foothold in the far South. at all
events, while the final conclusions as
to the exact numerical status of the ne
gro Will have 20 await the analS sis of
border returns, it is safe to say that in
the main he is fully holding his own.
How completely the negro is count.
ed is always an interesting statistical
question. Ten years ago Congress or
dCrcd 4 record made OF the degree of
negro blood, whether muulto, quad
room or octoroOn, but the information
furnished on This point, or rather the
cnumcrators' gucsscs, were essentially
worthless. There is Il constant "slufr
ing or from the black race going on
among its lightcst colorcd members,
usually accomplished by means of Il
change OF residence. a cOlurcd man
in tins city, OF unqucstioncd vcracity,
relates an Interesting incident which is
doubtless typical Of much that is going
on all over the country. This man is
so nearly white himself that unless
seen with coloicd people he would
hardly be taken for Il negro. He had
a cousin several tints lighter, who, le-
lying on that fact, decided to branch
out for himself and become a white
/ I, =,
married an unsuspccung Amglo.SaxOn
and lived unchalcngcd among his
ncighbors rs Il white man. AT the
time Of The Worlds Fair the Washiny
ton man, moved by curiosity, made a
return trip through the part of Canada
where his cousin lived, and, not to en-.
harrass him, went TO his house TO see
hmn by night. He did not know whcth-
er he would be received or ruthlcsSly
ignored. But the Canadian threw hls
arms around his Cousins neck and wei.
coined him. He reported that not the
slightest Inconvenience had ever at
tended his translation to the white
ace.
One need not travel long in the
South without leaning Of cases Of this
sort, and seeing many families whose
appearance Is so on the boIdcr-hnc
that 1t Is impossible to tell to which
race they belong. 1t is among such
people that the task OF census enumcr-
| alton is very difficult. Unless the Gnu
mcrator, from his ncighholhood ac-
quaintancc, knows Il family and its his
| tory, and records them in accordance
with that knowledge, he might have to
ask the question Of race, and if per-
chance he put it To white family his
hasty retreat from the room might he
soon necessary. 1t is thought that t!is
perhaps intcrfcrcd with the full negro
count ten years ago, when all these de-
grccs were required. 1t was so much
easier Tor an CnrmcratOr in doubt to
enter "whi'". which required no
qualification .,hn TO enter "ncgro,
and thcr Jcgin questioning as TO the
dec. ccs, IN, the O,nclit of the doubt
nay have beer Giy II in more cases
than was deserved.
| Booker Washington has said that the
negro is staying on the farms and has
always advised him to continue TO dc
so. AS matter of fact, from this cen
sus, it appears that the II gro is coins