The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-05-01
TUSKEGEE STUDENT
 PRAISES SLAVERY Says it Was a Blessing to Me-
 gro in America RE TURNED FROM AFRICA Negro Who Was Sent to Teach the Natives to Grow Cotton Says
 People Are Hopelessly De
 prayed and lndolent.
RE TURNED FROM AFRICA

Washington. April so.-tsppecaD-A special from Brenham, Tex, says:
 Horace Greedy Griffin, one of the ne- groes who were sent to West Africa, three years ago by Booker T. Wash ington at the request of the German gov ernment to teach the wilt negroes of that region how to grow cotton, has return ed to his home near Brenham. He says that he will not go back to Africa. He lived at the German colony of Togo, and says that there are many difficulties to be overcome before cotton can be suc- cessfuly raised in West Africa.
 "Notwithstand ng the fact that wild ne- groes are as thick as hair on q dog 8 most serious obstacles in the cotton grow ing industry in the Togo region," he said. ''The wild negroes are too lazy Q too in- dependent to work. If you whip one he will quit the felds and not come back ! The mass of them care nothing for money. They lead an easy. indolent life The woods, the prairies and the rivers furnish them with all the food thes want As for clothes, they do not wear any All of the children and many of the men and women go stark naked. These wild negroes will not work for the Germans. Germans are now paying the so-called negro kings to make their subjects work in the fields, which the kings regard as tkeir own. The Germans furnish the kings with seed and utensils.
 Negroes Cant Work.
 '"rhe wild negroes of the Togo region apepar to be strong and able bodied, but test shows that they have no such strength as our southern negroes One southern negro who has been used to labor can do more work In one day than a wild African can do in a week. The wild African looks ignorant. brutal and repusve, and in truth they are brutes. They worship the devil and build mud idols to the devil They believe in the existence of q God. but think that He is too good to be of any use to them. They say that God will not fight for them, while the devil Is good fighter and loves fight above anything else.
 "Cannbalism still exists among the wild Africans. If a stranger goes among them, fat and well appearing, they will kill and eat him if they can They eat their ene- , HlleS cdphuTeu III Ddltle.
 Slavery Was a Blessing. ''l think the institution of slavery as we once had 1t in the United States, was q blessing-a Gods blessing The negroes of American have been redeemed by it from hell and degradation, and it maybe that God has been preparing them to re- deem the dark continent
 ',There is no boil weevil or boil worm in the Togo region; at least l never saw or heard of any there. There are other pests, however, which are just as de- structiye to the cotton, as the weevil or worm One of these Is destructive bug which enters the boil when 1t be- gins to open, and he eats up all the seed, so that the cotton does not prop erly mature. This bug also stains the fibre so that what little is gathered can only be sold for a small price. The seed bug is as great an enemy to the cotton in Togo as is the boil weevil to the cotton In Texas Nothing has been found that will eradicate the pest. Another source of trouble in Togo is a kind of blight which kills all the leaves. and in time the whole plant When the blight hits field the yield of cotton Is very light. It is not the same as the dead spots which we have in cotton in Texas. A practical eye can see the difference, but the effect Is the same In Texas the blight Is only in spots but in Africa the blight takes in whole fields and districts. The Germans are studying all sorts of ways to overcome the bug and the blight, and they say they will succeed but they had not suc- ceeded when I left there.
 Conditions Not Favorable.
 "I left Africa before the returns of the last crop were all in. It was thought that we had raised about six hundred bales in all Togo, which is a district three hun dred miles long by one hundred and hfty broad, but the crop may have been con sIderably less than that estimate. Another trouble there. which can never be over come is that cotton cannot be planted until July Up to that time 1t rains-great tropical rains--almost continually. and the seed if planted. before the rains stop, would rot. In July the rains stop and they plant They begin picking cotton in December. In October there is almost drouth; the ground becomes dry and the plant suffers badly. Such conditions could be overcome. however, in part at any rate by irrigation"
 
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