The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1906-05-11

tum---JnDM ~ up pue puoIe III "
very considerable, not as such things
90, a vast region. which IL drainedl
aud then irrigated, would produce
largely Of cotton, sugar, rice and to-
baooo. 1t Is q mere QUESTION of wat.
er In a country Of uneyenly distrlbu-
tod ra~infall-where there 10 any rain.
fall at all--!ying under q tropical SUI.
But iG Is ilOG = SoGaagy saitaD,s foe.
the Oaucasian--it Is q country to be-
exploited and Developed, not one to
occupied and popped. That it will
now be developed. admits Of little
question The co os,ruotion OF the
Assuan borrage, following hard on
the scientific occupation Of the Sud-
an, settles the question. Tnere is
money In 1t land big money! SO the
work will henceforth 60 right along
the waters Of the Nile will be como
mizcd at their souroes, whether in
Abyssinla or at the outlet Of the Ny
anzas. The gradual reclatming and
systematic irrigation Of q very oonsii-
cradle part of the Nile basin north OF
Lake No. will folio " and even the Sud
that wretched, heart-rend ng NOR
rass-may, not impcsslbly he drained
by degrees, and made habitable.
Now a vast papyrus wilderness, 1t
would then prove a great rice swamp
and sugar field. So far as the natives
are coIcarned-what will follOwP
Clearly, this: The African will at
last find his place in civilization, what
ever that place may prove to be. In
the Ou1an and nile basin,i he will noU
be brought, as In u Southern States
into industl ial conflict withithe white
man. If he meets with any compati-
tion 1t will be the imported Asiatic-
the Asiatic purposely imported to do
what the African will not do or cam
not so we'll do. The native African
Of the Nile basin is now u say ige-he
herds cattle and cultivates the soil to
a limited extent. He ia distinguish
ed from the brute creation only by
the fact Of artioulats speech, the use
of tools and weapons Of the most
primitive kind, and o knowledge Of
the proprltles Of fire. In such mat.
tiers as clothes, food or sanitation he
Is In no essential respects better than
various kinds or animals A savage,
he aemits, like nearly al known ne
gro savages, Of an initiative domesti-
cation. Thus, in Africa. the simple
question Is how far he can be de yelor-
ed by external Il! %lnences, and under
altered conditions; for as yet he has
evinced no self elevating capacity. l
Africa proper Is now to be developed
and II the laboridg white man will
not, because he canDos. make p home
IN it, the field Is open to the native
Can he occupy that field, and fill II;
ar must he, free from forc:d, regul.,
ed labor, langulsh aud die out like
the American and the Australian.
A largo question, 1t Is as interest
i1g as its answer Is obscure--as yeti
fortunately, its solution is In the
best Of hands-thOSe of the British
Asiatic experience thus throws light
on the African problem; and again,
the problem working out In Africa is
full Of suggestion as respects America.
One thing seems clear, without be-
lug reduced to servitude, the inferior
race must be recogD zei as such, and,
in some way, go dealt with. Facts
are facts; aud only confusion results
when things essentially not cqlal are
dealt with on the basis of natural
equality. The world has now for
some time been prudering the Afri-
can RI blem, bordering 1T in Amori
Ca az well as In the place Of It's origin;
1T has been laying up a store Of OK
periences bearing upon it,-experi-
snces stretching through at least Q :
600 years. The discovery tf the Nile
source was delayed to our time; In it's
turn that dc very now bids fair to
involve the IN uce OF the negro. The
wild animals II Africa are to O.; will
the negro go with them? The alter
native Is domestication. That he
will not go with the wild animal our
experience shows. That he is imita.
tive has been proven. That he can
ever become, or be made, self.elevasr
Ing IN the mass remains to be SHOWN.
TIE AFRICAN IN AMERICA
Finally, az to the African In Ameri-
ca. WhatRleam of suppos able light
Goes a bFief visit to the White Nile
throw On our home problem? A good
deal perhaps! In the first place,
LOOKING alb tut me among Africans In
A~ffica--far removed from that Amsri-
gan environment to which / have
been accustomed, the scale fell from
my eyes. | found myself most i'm
pressed by a realizing sense of the
appalling amount Of error and cant in
which we Of the United States have
INDUCED on this topic. We have &C
tually wallowed in a bog Of self sufii.
c1ent ignorance, especially we phil
antflropists and theorists of New
England. We do so still. Having
eyes, we will not see Even now we
not infrequently hear tine successor
to the abolitionist and humanitarian
Of the ante Civil. war perlod--the
'UCc'c Tom" period announce that
the difference between white man and
the black man Is much less consider.
able than is ordinary supposed, and
that the only real obstacle In the
Negroes way Is that-'He has never
boon given a chanc ! Err myself,
after visiting the back man In his
own house. l come back with q de
cided impression that this is the
aheerest OF decisions, due to pure
Ignorance OF ru1imentary facts; yet
"e built upon 1t in Reconstruction
Gays IS upon q foundation .stone-a
se!f'evident truth Lot those who
indulge IN SUCH theories go to the
Sudan, ard pass a week at Omdur.
man. mat p'a3e marks In commerce.,
In letters and In art, in science and
the highest point of de.
90 a nA ~ - ar 49,