The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-09-16
nX WILL. T. SIBERIAN.

Tuscaloosa, Sept. 15.--(Special Cor respondence. )--I passed out of the im- mense yellow building of the Bryce Insane Hospital with a new light on the vexed race problem. A new ldea of a new danger to the negro race had been presented.
 Not only was the negro menaced by the Great White Plague of tuberculo- sis, but as a race he was in peril from the insidious peril of insanity rom which he was unable to defend him. self and from which no other man might protect him. l learned that the rate of increase of insanity among the negroes was greater. very much great CT. than the rate of increase among the whites. had heard the records compared had heard the ngureS quoted which proved the assertion. had learned that since 1870 the rate of insanity among the negroes had in- creased in an alarming manner.
 It was an ominous showing for the negro. Pity and sympathy Is for the race that is menaced by the Twin Ter TOTS, Consumption and Insanity. Ana pity and sympathy is for the race whether 1t be the red race or the plaek which fate forces into the remorseless competition of the white mans civili- zation.
 Mennced by Insanity.
 had heard in a vague way before If the increase of insanity among the negroes I knew in vague way that Dr. IT. Searcy, the head of the Ala bama Insane Hospitals. had In his writings or his public utterances drawn attention to the increased insanity among the negroes of Alabama and commented upon It's significance. But the force of these published utterances, their possible bearing upon the great problem of an inferior and childish race on the same grounds and in com petition with the white man, had lost as the general public had lost it.
 The significance of the asylum sta tistics, the results of Dr. Searcys ln- vestigations came upon me with re- doubled force as we sat within his of- fee in the hospital building and as heard him discuss this phase Of his life work among the unfortunate. pr Searcy is a quiet talker, but an impress sive one. He Is reserved, but a torce- full talker. He Is one of the men whom 1t is a pleasure to interview, the man who Knows his subject and whose thoughts come forth clarified and with out being swaddled In compllcauoh of words.
 .The increase in insanity among the neRroes,' said Dr. Searcy. "has been remarkable When the hospital was first opened for negroes there were very few insane negroes in the state The rapid growth of insanity among the members of the negro race mas been astonishing. The figures on rec ord at the hospital show that the State Is now caring for thirteen times aS many negroes as 1t did In 1870. With inc increase of population since that year and the enlargement of the nos nital facilities there are only six times as many white patients.
 The Significant Figures
 Dr. Searcy plainly regards the ng- urea as of significant importance lie has been during his long connection with the hospital both student ana an investigator. To such men, m so fine a field for thought and investlga- tIon as the superintendency of nos nital. there comes ideas and conciu- sions. And beyond doubt that whicn Dr. Searcy regards as among the most imnortant development in these mat ters which relate to the mentally den- cient is the way in which the negro falls a victim to insanity.
 It Is a new cause Tor sympathy TOT the unfortunate race The negro mas ever been the pawn of fate. An untor- tunate creature with a history as som bre as his skin And to be tralled py the terrible curses of insanity ana tu- berculosis-what hope there Is of ms future grows dinner
 It is new illustration of the terrors of the white mans civilization 10 an inferior race. In the fierce white heat of inc white mans civilization the in ferior race is scorched and killed. The red man crumpled up before 1t and IS perishing from the face of the earth. is the fate of the black man to be any happier? No inferior, no infant race has stood face to face with the white man. looked him in the eye ana liVeo.
 VilI the negro do 1t, the negro who ia the easy prey of consumption and of insanity? ....t, obIc sien of race deterioration. This