The gold leaf., 1901-12-26
EDUCATION AND THE NEGRO PROBLEM
Clear Statement Of Facts by Thomas
Nelson Page-fte Speaks Upon the
Authority Of an Absolute Acquaint.
ance With the Subject in all its
Details
Washington Post.

contribution TO the race question
symposium. which has recently ex-
perienced 4 recrudv>crnrr II remark
able energy and vigor. As was 10
have been expected from such =
source, the paper is just, truthful.
and intelligent from beginning 10
end. Mr.. Page is a representative Of
the old slave-holding landlord aris-
tocracy of the South. lie speaks for
the only class of whites that still re-
tain sentiment OF sympathy and
affection for the negro. And he
speaks. furthermore. upon the
authority Of Al absolute acquaint-
ance with the subject in all its de-
tails.
1t need hardly be said. therefore,
that Mr.. Page finds the negro under
going moral and physical degenera-
sion. He points out the fact-the in
disputable fact-that the death rate
among the blacks has increased TO
an appalling extent since their
emancipation, and quoting from an
official report in the Washington
Post, November -. 1901. which re-
port SAYS: Tho death rate ef the
colored race is far in excess of the
white race, being nearly double.
The excessive mortality
among the colorcd race has not been
confined to any particular age Or sex.
The average age of death Of the
whites is found to he forty wears. one
month and twenty-five davs. and OF
the colored twenty-scven wears, nine
months and four days The cause OF
the excessive death rate of the color
ed race is attributable To defective
houses and clothing, ignorance of the
rudimerts of sanitary science. and
neglect" he makes it quite clear that
thirtv-tive years Of freedom have
served only to lower the race in the
social scales. As slaves thsv were
compelled TO observe the laws OF
health and good behaviour, and il is
true today that the negroes who have
| the best manners, the best disposi-
| tion, and lead the most moral liv0s
| are those who were born in slavery
The same comparison holds good in
the material affairs Of life Mr.. Page
goes on to say:
"A negro member of Congress, in
defense and eulogy Of his race. de-
clared in a speech delivered on Jan
uary 30, 1901, that since the war the
negroes have reduced the illiteracv OF
the race at least 10 per cent; that
they have in practice over 1000 law
yers and corresponding number OF
doctors, that they have about li0, 900
farms and homes valued at about
$3.50. 900, and personal property
valued at about $l70, 900, 900; that OF
this they have over coo, 900 acres OF
land in the South alone. This is a
fair showing. though the speaker
committed an error in attributing all
of this advance to the negro.
unfortunately, tho statistics are
not at hand TO speak generally, but
Judging the whole South by that part
with which the writer is familiar, he
would say that OF the rural estate
owned by tie negroes in the South,
over 80 per cent. has been accumu-
lated by those born in slavery"
| What Mr. Page says of Virginia is
true of Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama
every Southern State in which the
race has accumulated property and
achieved material advancement. The
work has been done in nine cases out
OF ten, by those who enjoyed the
moral and industrial training that
was part OF the institution Of slavery.
Speaking on this part Mr.. Page
says:
..As matter Of fact, speaking phil
osophically, slavery, whatever it may
have been so far as the whites are
concerned. was, if not the means, at
least the avenue through which the
negro race has attained the greatest
good that has come since the
dawn OF authentic history. Two hun
dred years of slavery under the South
crn whites ha. brought large section
OF the negro race to a higher point OF
civilization than it had ever attained
elsewhere.
Thus we come to that sadly mis-
represented and misunderstood quss-
tion-the education of the negro"
The report of the Commissioner OF
Education, 1898'99, shows that dur
ing the nineteen years preceding it's
compilation the former sixteen slave
States and the District of Colum bia
had expended on the education Of the
negroes fl0l ,S60,GGl. The statistics
OF tho various States show that less
than one-tenth OF this fund was
drawn from taxes paid by negroes.
How much good this education" has
done for the negro in particular or
Tor society in general can be calcu-
lated by reference to the statistic. Of
crime and health in the localities to
which it has been applied, in this
connection Mr.. Page gives us the re-
suit OF his observation in no uncsr-
tain terms:
"Cnhappily. the system Of educa-
ton heretofore pursued has been so
futile in its results that a consider
able section Of the whites in the
SOuth, knowing the facts, believe
sincerely that the educated negroes
are more worthless and more danger
Gus to the peace and welfare Of the
community in which they live than
the uneducated.
That is. that education for him
has been failure. II is unioubted-
ly true that The apparent result has
been disappointing. There are few
thousand professional men. a con-
siderable number Of college or high
school graduates, but for the greater
part there is discernsble little appar-
cnt breadth Of view, no growth in
ability or tendency to consider great
questions reasonably; rather = ten
dency to solidarity on all questions
whatsoever. continued failure to dis
tinguish soundly between outward
gifts and character; general incli-
nation to deny crime and side with
criminal. against the whites. no
matter how fragrant the crime"
No Southerner of Mr.. Pages class