The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-09-25

showed that 80 per cent. OF WashingtonB
criminal class were negroes, and this In
than one-third Of the total population.
Their crimes are mainly theft and assault.
As the District OF Columbia IL a political
nonentity, 1t cannot be asserted that the
prejudice against the negro here arises
however among Washinstons white popS.
ohise to the District. The main objection
Is the opportunity that would be given the
negroes to decide contests, through holding
the balance OF power, and thus enable them
to have part in the administration Of the
government.
A report recently issued by the Census
Bureau shows that In the District Of Column
bia, with 23,072 negro males OF voting age,
8.O24, or 281 per cent, were illiterate. In
among negro males OF voting age was l1.3.
In New Jersey 1t was 1873 and In Massa-
chusetts 1915. 1t was lowest In California,
with 40 per cent.
One reason for the high percentage Of
illiteracy among negroes here Is that many
of them are former slaves who did not
have school facilities. Another Is that
negroes begin to earn a livelihood at much
earlier age than whites. aud the number
OF negro children receiving wages Is far
greater proportionately than the number OF
white children so situated.
But it Is commended by some that the high
degree OF illiteracy among the colored
people Is due to racial incapability and
indifference. Many negroes, however, seek
the higher education, and 1t is said that
those who reach the high schools are nearly
all ambitious to become lawyers, physicians
or college professors
Manual trainjng schools for negroes
have been established as part OF the public
school system, but 1t is asserted that the
tendency of most OF those who are able to
continue their studies for any considerable
length Of time is to prefer the academic ana
scientific branches to the mechanical. Inc
ability to recite Greek, Latin or any OF
the foreign modern languages appeals
strongly TO the negro character. A total
of IL 1893 negroes, 4,eos Of whom were males
and 8,40O females, were attending school
in the District of Columbia in 1900.
The negroes Of the District OF Columbia
are largely Of the servant and waiter class.
According to the census OF 1900 OF 25,ll5
male negroes over 10 years OF age engaged
in some occupation, 525 performed profess
sional services, of whom 1875 were clergymen,
80 were lawyers, 90 musicians and teachers
of music, 90 physicians and surgeons, l08
were teachers and professors in colleges,
and 10 were Government officials. There
were 422 males classified as 'bookkeepers,
clerks, stenographers, &C.
Among the females over 10 years, 70, 44S
had some occupation. These included
5l9 in professional service among them AZ
teachers of music and musicians and 44S
teachers and professors in colleges. There
were LOIS women engaged in personal
and domestic service and 100 bookkeepers'
clerks, stenographers, DC.
"The negroes differ from the whites IN
having larger proportion OF single, widowed
and divorced and a smaller proportion
Of married." says the recent census bulletin
on the negro.
In january 1902, the Department Of Labor
issued bulletin on the negro. winch con-
tanned this statement:
Legal marriage is not considered abso.
lutely necessary among negroesl. on
forty couples who reported themselves as
married only twenty were legally married
in the church or by civil authorities; NJ
merous cases are seen OF two persons Legally
married and yet each living with different
person and reported as being married 10
the second
OF 3S,34s male negroes in the District OF
Columbia 2l,97i We're single ana l4,oIZ
married. OF the female negroes 25,15s
were single and sol married, while $500
were widows, as against 1858 wldowers'
In the census year there were l0,OO8 more
negro females than negro males IN the LIS
trict of Columbia. The census returns show
that the negro race has much larger pro-
portion of children than the white race.
In 1890, the figures for 1900 not havlng
been complied, 26.2 per cent. OF the DIS
tricts negro population was mulatto,
greater percentage than in any southern
State. The proportion or muiattoes h
greater in cities. where the association
between whites and negro house servants
Is more common than in the country dis
tricts. In Rhode Island, Illinois, Indiana
Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan and Maine,
the proportion Of mulattoes to the total
negro population Is greater than in the
District Of Columbia. In 1890 the proper,
ton here was SO per cent. In ls7Oit dropped
! to 1875 per cent.
Figures compiled from the records OF
places where vital statistics are registered
show that the negro death rate is sO2 per
, thousand and the white death rate for the
same places was l7.s per thousand. There
Is great mortality among negro children
in the District Of Columbia, and this is
true of the negro population generally
! OF IS, 465 persons in the District OF Column
b;a who in 1900 owned or hired the houses
in which they live, 80, 800 were native whites
| 7,l25 foreign whites and II .20s were negroes:
While 3s OILS out of white population OF
1872 900 owned their homes, only 800 negroes
ont of a oolored population. OF 900 owned
/ their homes. or negro families in the
| District 1.s per cent. owned houses and
ss.2 per cent. hired the houses in which