The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-01-05
THE NEGROES cor MORE.


We printed in our news columns a
few days ago extracts from a broad
minded, courteous and appreciatiye let
ter written by Prof. ]. H. Council, head
Of the COlored Normal School of Ala
bama, to Col. J. NJ. Falkner of Bir-
mingham, Offering assistance to the
Confederate Soldiers Home. Prof.
Council, a negro and an ex-slave, ex-
pressed the highest appreciation of
those grand old men who followed
Lees tattered banners down to Apo
mattOx," and said that he and his
school would "be proud to assist" in
the effort to provide for their declining
years.
There are two points made in Prof.
Councils letter that are especially
worthy of notice. With reference to
the Confederate veterans he wrote: Il
feel that when they have passed away,
and when their old slaves have passed
away, in a measure the power of the
balance wheel of Southern society will
be gone" Between masters and slaves
before the great war there was a
strong bond of sympathy and loyalty.
TO this day that bond exists between
ex-masters and ex-slaves. Each has
respect for the other, in numerous in
stances amounting to affection. This
mutual respect and consideration be-
tween the older members of the races
is not to be found in the younger gen.
eratiOns. Under the old system the in
terests of master and man were close
ly interviewer; under the new, the in
terests of individuals of the races are
separate. The sympathy that comes
not exist, and the races are further
apart now than they ever were, with
the tendency towards a still greater
estrangement.
Prof. Council, fearing the possibility
of misinterpretation of his proffer Of
assistance, says: THE propriety of
this offer on my part may be called in
to question by those who do not meas
ure slavery as l do. / feel that the
slaves got more out of slavery than
their masters did, in that the slaves
were helped from the lowest level of
barbarism to Christian citizenship of
the greatest government the world ever
knew" This is a view of the matter
that is seldom taken in the North or
by the negroes themselves. And yet 1t
Is unquestionably a fact that but for
the enforced emigration of African
hlnplrG IN, bn
were put through the school of slavery,
their descendants who are now enjoy
ing the benefits of a high civilization
and the protection of one of the great
Powers of the world, would be naked
barbarians in the forests of the dark
continent or the coolie laborers of en-
terprising Europeans who are exploit
ing that country. The African native
has never been a colonizer or an ex-
plorer He seeks no new countries.
and has no higher ideals than a full
stomach and the worship of a fetch.
II In the old days the African negroes
had been left to their own devices
they would have remained in their
1ungles; and. for the sake of illustra-
ton IL may be said even Profs Coun-
Gil and Booker Washington, who show
the possibilities Of the race under in
telligent guidance, might to-day be
roaming the forests clothed only
with ignorance and ring through the
nose seeking whom or what they might
devour. Instead of this these men
have reached, through a period of
slavery, positions of Importance in the
midst of nation of white men. And.
In the case of the race Of Council and
Washington, Its civilization has been
acquired in a few hundred years with
the aid of white men, while II took the
white race thousands of years to work
out the civilization which 1t is now
sharing with the blacks.