Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1908-05-14

The total population Of the thirty
:: ON, counties west. Of IN" Blu" Rid&"
VAS III 1850. 1913 o2 whit. aud "G.9Hi
nesrurS In 1900 il ~. i'3.9n9
white. ana GG,6l. n"sru"F an Incrra""
Of liG.o00 in the whites and 80" III
the negroes. In the mining sections
OF Allrghanny. Ta2eWeil amd WIZ"
and in Roanoke. thti" MaF An in'
crease in the negroes OF ~ 500. Lat
the. other parts OF that section lost
about 5000 in the twenty Years. 80
the net Increase wa small. lI'd''d.
The. depletion in the n'Fr" i'opuia
ton in these. sections al ihr stat"
would probably have been 80 h!'l iad
II rot been for III" fact that tl''' t.r"a'
decline In tk,. pric" Of Eind 'Iahl"d
MANY OF them to purchase. lots tor
themselves These haN" then h'cU!h"
.mpluy,.r% of the less THRIFT, rlar.. ri
The ir own race. About PEI cent vi
the lands II the state HAY" thus far
pa%Scd INTO the hand of u-'GrU..',
forming Il permanent ho!hihE Tor
them As a matter of course. tn" lar
ger number OF these liv" N IN" cas-
tern bart Of the stat" and they own
about T. per cent of tn" Lands "i IN"
black >.lt. The negro land owner
and tenant farmer becoming IN "u'
ploycr OF his kind. has brought forth
a wall from the white farmers VINO
have been accustomed to the negro rs
Jabur"rs and only in sheer d"Hp"ra'
ton are they taking /" tn" idea Of
foreign white labor as substitute.
:, ri ,F fhrifi, "A Ltf-.G
those accustomed to do their own
work who would heartily r"jni'" I"
see the negro go. and theS" ar" gen
orally successful, too. because they
have come mp under the present CON
uitionS
The movement Of the negro pupulI
ton has been accelerated sine" 1900.
fact that is observable on every
hand in Virginia. The changing sen
timent of the white people toward
them. the passage OF laws requiring Il
separation OF the races on public con
veyanceS and the requirements of til"
new state constitution have all Serv
ed to increase in a measur" the n"
gro discont ent. and has caused many
to leave the state. At the Same tim':
the gOCti wages which they con 81
cure in the North has been L potent
factor in inducing them to leave
There is no enmity towards the ne
gro on the part of the white people.
The selfsacrificing way in which they
have given in taxes to educat" TINS
race refutrs such an idea, but the
whites do not give the negro the same
consideration they used to do aud are
not as easily satisfied with the indif
ferent work as they used to be. anu
the younger set Of whites find tho no
gro disagreeable as coworker and
extremely unsatisfactory As !abor"r
II is only the fact that thousands
have been uHatl. to find the white Ia
Dor that has prevented a far greater
change on the part Of many white
employees and bigger movement al
the negro to other sections.
What is badly needed is a good
the negro and to fill up and build up
the wasted and deserted farm lands
not only of Virginia. but Of many 9th
er parts OF the South. IL is ! very
noticeable fact that with the dsclin"
OF the negro population there has
been a big advance in the land val
ues of those counties where this
change is observed.
The fact that tn. negroes are fast,
acquiring the lands in the black belt
l. on, OF the most serious phases OF
this quest ion before the peopl. OF this
state. and should Well cause them to
pause and consider what is best III
der the circumstances. People who
have the good of each race at heart
do not want TO see the negro retr"
grade. bat the fact that they are get
ting possession Of so much of the iand
| in the black counties is serious men
ace TO thu. future advancement OF tn"
counties mGSt affected by that trou
Bile. The figures from the stat" audi
tors report for 1901 present some
startling facts along this line.
In the black counties, taken as =
| whole. the negroes own about IL PEI
| cent. of the land They make their
strongest showing in Middlesex, in
the RappahannOCk river section
where they own nearly u per cent of
the land area. Will" i'm the number
Of separate holdings they about equal
| the whites. Tn" next highest Is King
| and Queen. in which they have II Per
cent. and Louisa and Essex they hav .
10 IL Der cent each. There are TWEEN
\ " seven cnunt!rS in the black bei'
| whore they own over 10 per cent. f
| the lana. PrinC" Edward. Charles
CITY and SuSry each have over Is pc
cent. OF their lands in the hands o.
regrons. They hav" acquired posses
son % the land IN startl ling name
| IN recent years untrI in many sections
il IS impossible {" c"f farm that hs~
no negro land oNn.r adinininE g.
TIL. Negroes viii nay almost sny