The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-05-27
CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS
A Boston Man Declares That in Africa He Learn
 cd Anew About the Negro.

The Century Magazine for May con- tains an article by Charles Francis Ad- ans that is attracting very general at tention, because it embodies the New Englander's confession that the way the negro problem was handled here after the war was great mistake, que to the ignorance of those who had the matter in charge. The following IS copious extract from this article. but the article as whole should be read | by those who desire to know the full of his argument.
 Finally, as to conclusions: During nine weeks passed in Africa, the only | really suggestive experience was that obtained above the juncture of the two Niles strong reflected light was thrown on our most perplexing home problem--the African in America. It gave much food for thought--first, as respects Africa: second, as respects the negro. .s Plainly. no matter what is coming to the African, Africa's time Is coming.
 The Nile problem is in process Of speedy solution; that of central and interior Africa will certainly follow hard upon 1t. Of the country beyond
 the White Nile, whether Abyssinia or
 that about the Nyanzas, I know noth-
 ing; of the Nile basin I know some
 thing,-not much, I admit. but little;
 and the country beyond is corollary to 1t. South of Khartoum-that is. up
 the Nile-there is, very considerable not, as such things go, a, vast region, which if drained and then Irrigated. would produce largely of cotton, sugar rice and tobacco. It is a mere ques- ton of water in a country of uneveniy distributed rainfall-where there Is any rainfall at all,--lyfng under tropical | T9y1& tG Fnf a for the Caucasian. It is a country to he exploited and developed. not one to be occupied and peopled. That It VIII now be developed admits of little ques- l ton.
 The construction of the Assuan bar rage, following hard on the scientin" occupation of the Soudan. settles the question. There is money in it-and | big moneyi So the work will hence forth 20 right along: the waters Of the Nile will be economized at their sources | whether in Abyssinia. or at their out l let of the Nyanzas The gradual re- claiming and systematic irrigation or
 very considerable part Of the Nlie
 basin north of Lake No will follow ana even the Sud-that wretched, hea~t- rendIug morass-may, not improoaoly,
 be drained by degrees. and made habit able |. 1 Now a vast papyrus wilderness. It | would then prove a great rice swamp and sugar field So far as the natlves
 are concerned-what will ioilow 1ie, a.5 Iv. this: The African will at last ma his place in civilization, whatever that l nIaee may prove to be In the Soudan and Nile basin, he will not be brought, 1 as in our Southern cities, into industrial l conflict with the white man. IT ne meets with any competitor It Will pc the in. ported Asiatic--the Asiatic pur- I xa I yEh 1 will not 50. or can not so we'll do. The | native African Of the Nile basin Is now l a sava re-he herds cattle and cultivates | the soil to e limited extent. He IS dis- l tinguished from the brute creation only by the fact of articulate speech. the use of tools and weapons of the most pr'm- tive kind, and knowledge of the prop | art,es of fire. In such matters as
 clothes. food or sanitation, he Is In no
 essen tial respects better than various kinds of animals. savage. he admits like nearly all known negro savages'
 of an initiative domestication. Thus Tn Africa, the simple question Is as 10 lhow far he can be developed by external Influences and under altered conditions' for as yet he has evinced no self-ele- | vatine capacity. If Africa proper Is
 now to be developed, and if the labor ing man will not. because he can not,
 make a home in 1t or in large portions | of 1t, the field Is open 10 the ndtlNe' Can he occupy that field and f4ll 1t, or must he, free from forced. regulated labor, languish and die out like the
 American aboriginal, and the Austra- Han?
 A large question, 1t is as interesting
 as It's anwswer Is obscure-as yet!
 Fortunately, its solution is in the best
 of hands-those of the British. Asiattc
 experience thus throw light on the Af-
 rican problem; and again. the problem
 working out in Africa Is full of sug-
 eestions as respects America. One
 thing seems clear, without being re-
 duced to servitu6e. the inferior race must be recognized as such, and, In
 some way, so dealt with. Facts are
 facts, and only confusion results when
 things essentially not equal are dealt
 with on the basis of natural equality
 The world has now for some time been
 pondering the African prohaem-pon
 dering 1t in America as well as in the
 place of its origin-it has been laying
 up store of experiences bearing upon it-experiences stretching through at least 2,000 years. The discovery or the
 Nile source was delayed to our time;
 in its turn that discovery now bids falr