The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-06-14

the Eternal City the range of wolves.
 "Thebes and Memphis and Hiliopols contained a civilization in some points that has never been equalled. and Rome stretched across the Mediterranean and sent her civillzating powers along the boundaries Of the continent. The Moors
 possessed the civilization then that is
 vet marvel The Queen of Ethiopia Is spoken of Tn the Scripture as bringing wonderful gifts to Solomon. Since ther large parts Of the earth have been civi llzed. but the negro has never yielded
 to her illumination The Roman 'h'
 Greek, the Frank, the Teuton' saxon
 Celt. have all played their part on th' stage of history, and the negro Atricaf has remained the barbarian.
 The Negro In America.
 Two hundred and odd years of iiff on the American continent read from some view points seem 10 disperse tho darkness from the picture. From other
 viewpoints the darkness deepens and the hopelessness becomes more sicken- Ing. In 1se5 the negro had no rival in the entire field of industry and labor in the south. Ninety-five per cent of all the industrial work of the southern states was in his hands and he was fully com petent to do 1t. Every adult was A  fallacious teachings of equality deluded him Into dropping the substance for the shadow
 "There are now approximately In these United States nine million negroes who now according 10 the largest estimate have seen, three hundred millions of dollars. including all kinds and shades of possessoins It is claimed by the ne- groes themselves that they have one million educated people able to cope with the best t=type of European. This they claim to be the result of forty years of the life of freedom Before the war closed the class known as free negroes owned forty-five millions of prop erty. When We stop to consider that in the last eighty years the world has gotten together more money than was hitherto gotten together in the whole history of man, when we stop to eonsld- CT that in that same period what IS known in the modern world as great cities have been built; that prior to that London was but big country town and Paris was not large, Berlin was but a village Chicago had never been dreamed of; when all this money and building in America of the great cities is to be placed against the attainment of the negro, his property holdings appear pit fable.
 Tn all the cities of the south there are StGt1OIS WntIc llt poOitt htSAPNS dwell the names of which indicate the character of the habtation This char acter of dwelling works a hardship on the better class of negroes who by in- dustry and economy are selecting bet ter home life Nevertheless it shows how hopeless is the attempt to put the negro where his holding of property even will indicate anything like equality with the white man. In the city of St. Louis. on one street, as 1 recall, the investment or negroes in property bllghts all property that is adjacent thereto. The contrast to any thinking person Is so marked, as yon recall the splendid homes that have been built by the white man in all the cities of Amer lea. the business that has been built up by him, as to make one ask the ques- tion. Has the negro attained anything at all? Put over against his three hun dred million the entire accumulation of wealth even in the southland since 1865; recall that one hundred and ten million dollars have been voluntarily spent by southern whites on his education, more than one-third of all his accumulation; contrast the white mans banking insti- tutions with the negro's banking instf- tutions and is 1t right to let him think he is working out his salvation on these lines?
 "The effect that the mistaking of the SlIuallOn IS 0HNHlB Oil int dont-care class of negroes Is becoming appalling Just the other day lady requested d servant to remain in her house while she attended the funeral of a relative. stating that if she did so she would not require her to wash the dishes and would give her the next day as holiday with full pay Her reply was, I cant do that; l have got to go to the dentist. This is due to the fact that they have been led to believe they are destined to go into a life of privilege in an exceptional way. The situation, as many see 1t in the southern cities now, is that a large class of negroes live because they are fed by negro cooks and large class of negro women are kept up on the earnings of car porters and negroes who take jobs This makes them flock to the cities-places that are surely destroying his life and taking away his hope, because of his likeness and his shiftlessness. And still his northern friends will insist that he is making such progress as eventually will work out his salvation. It is becoming more difficult to get the negro to see that every one becomes a menace to community in1icts a hardship on those of the race who seek to attain 10 re- spectability and are willing to observe those lines that must ever divide the races in this country. It is this per SlSIeHI DlbGlHE Ol DuIutnS On Fl Iililh race that he canot bear and are difficult even to as highly a civilized man as Saxon to bear that makes the hopeless ness of the situation To expect such results from race that has neither book nor monument. nor statue, nor ruined temple nor code of laws, nor revelation, nor achievements in all the past, Is to be unreasonable in the pres ent
 How Came It So?
 "In the face of these facts, which none can successfully deny, the question is pertinent How did the negro ever come to such a plight? and the answer is, Through mistaken kindness on the part of his friends and injustice on the part of his enemies.
 First the north legalized slavery; second, they insisted on giving the fran chise to the race and put the negro un- der responsibilities that the Anglo-Saxon could hardly bear. For forty-five years his supposed friends have persisted in making him believe that they could bring him to a point of equality with his white neighbor. and as l indicated. the theory of Booker Washington is nothing short of ths. He says to the southern people that he Is striving for the negro to keep his place until he fits himself. He says to the northern people that the negro is oppressed But the question Is, For what Is the negro to fit himsef?
 ""The answer is the well-worn answer the northern people have been giving since the civil war, namely, to live on an equality with the white race. Now |. ti,a-tt,na urhen avery friend of ha