New-York tribune., 1901-03-06

Company.
Never probably. has there been more re-
lentless criticism n the negro race Its snort
comings in character and natural ENDOWMENT
than is contained in this book by negro MI
Thomas is as he tells us I'm his preface, Of mixed
white and negro blood, and through his own
efforts. struggles and privations worked his way
inward He fought in the Civil War and lost
one arm: studied divinity taught negro schools
rractised as a lawyer in South Carolina, was
legislator in that State during the keconstruc-
tion time and fnally-though this ne u"es ho'
rnention-is nov a lawyer in MASSACHUSETTS
town. Having found, he says. that every
endowment Of manhood and womanhooo Is
within the reach of every human being VINO
puts integrity before material gain and seh-
respect before mendacious folly" he looks upon
the rest Of his people, cannot help thinking
from a somewhat lofty altitude and through an
atnlosphere in which sympathy is dimmed by
an overwhelming consciousness Of their faults
1t is somewhat significant that halfway through
the book he finds il necessary to rennho MS
readers that he holds no brief for the southern
white people and has no unreasonable preJu-
dice against the race with which. In color' we
are identified But he is led to speak as 1orcl-
bl,, as he does because he doubts if any white
person lives who has an adequate comprehen-
sion of negro characteristics; and certainly no
rnent Of a whole people. Against such sweep
ing Indictment a warning is on record that still
holds good.
The abolition Of slavery came before either
race was prepared for il. From this resulted
much Of the present difficulty. The negroes
should have been committed 10 some sort OF
probationary oversight. which would have pro-
vided for thefr industrial and mental training
Slavery had not been an unmiXed EVIL;
Despite its harbarities, slavery wrought a
salutary transformation in the negro race II
made rational men out of savage aninals. ana
iDdusfrious serfs out Of wanton idlers. IL fouhd
the negro rioting in benghted ignorance ana
led him 10 the threshold of light and knoWleuge'
The characteristic qualities Of the negro now
ever modified but uneradicated. have been per-
petuated in the American offspring of an Afri-
can ancestry The modification thus wrought
changed savage animal into rational human
creature with a possible attainment OF man
hood and spiritual consciousness. How great
the distance is Yet from this attainment, Mr.
Thomas devotes himself telling. There is
something pathetic in the passionate denuncia-
tion Of his race with which this negro observer
fills his book
The social side OF negro life has been 10 me
an omen mage Of execrable weakness, OF unblush-
ing shame of inconceivable mendacity. OF IN
durated folly and ephemeral contr1tlon- I
have seen everywhere the same fixed traces or
an environing heredity cropping out through
selfshness, insincerity and servility. nave
found the unlearned bigoted; the learned OF the
race pompous; and all, OF every sort pltlully
indifferent 10 the welfare and uplifting OF men
and women sitting in darkness and IN the
shadow OF death.
In his chapter Characteristic Traits he
points out qualities that seem to invalidate much
Of the hope for improvement elsewhere ex-
pressed apparently more article OF faith
% iaOpe he
IS an idle mental-incapable, with selfsatisfied
knowledge that substitutes shadows for sub
stance darkness for light, sound for sense. chat
tering for wisdom" TIE negro's religious beliefs
only accentuate the mischievous tendencies OF
his nature He has no convictions. and in the
last analysis church membership is TO him
what a paid up life insurance policy would be
to prudent investor; II gives moral immunity
on earth and guarantees eternal bliss In heaven
Such ethical beliefs cannot rid the negro race
of its characteristic defects. OF the negro's
moral status and criminal instincts Mr.. Thomas
writes poignantly and plainly. We need not
follow him into this field which he explores fully
and mercilessly further than TO note his con-
clusion that a moral sense in the negro is, on
the whole absolutely lacking and that the
facts show that he is slowly and steadily under
going deterioration. because he has no ethical
integrity. no inbred determination for right
doing, and consequently no clearly defined and
steadfast aversion 10 wrongdoing. The disposi-
ton among many well meaning whites TO sym
rathize with, 10 apologize for and to condone his
gravest shortcomings does no good; ii is pro-
ductve only Of harm.
Mr. Thomas's attitude toward lynching is
curious and, as & seems. not altogether con-
sstent one Never, he says in the cases for
which lynchng is usually meted out, is ven
geance too urgent in its demands for eXpiation
and redl ess; and decent negro innocence is never
iynched for indecent acts Southern negroes
themselves have never engaged in organized
attempts 10 bring white lawbreakers to justice
because they know the existence Of the class
against whom violent methods are directed;
Northern negroes who are bent on apotheosizing
their criminal brethren should understand that
they are IN no position 10 advise in this matter
We do not object 10 the killing of negroes
or others who actually commit these crimes;
il is the methods he objects 10. that make posi-
bic lawless civic conditions Lynching will stop
when the causes Of IT are stopped. Yet little
later read that there is never any justifica-
tiun for il. and that it arises from the low
sense Of Southern accountable TO law: IL is re-
sorted TO merely 10 appease and crafty an in
stinctive brutality tho part of lawless
elements of the white race, and will result in
erasing our civilization. We confess to being
somewhat bafied in pursuit OF the authors
real standing on the matter. He advocates the
exterrnation by law OF the lawless white ele-
ment, and at the same time. any hazard the
determination OF the despoiers OF virtue sug
gesting a punitive and corrective measure
for the latter one Of the most drastic and in
human proceedings borrowed from Middle Age
practices.
What is the way 10 salvation for the negro