Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-06-15
THE NEGROES ADVANCE
Illustrated in the State of
Georgia.
ARE NATURAL FARMERS
In the Country They Thrive and Do
Well.
SOME STATISTICS ARE GIVEN
How They Have Progressed in
Owning Property Of Every
Description.
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
| Special Correspondence Of The Star and the
| Chicago Record-Herald.

BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence OF The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.
AT SEA. SIS. BALTIC, June 5, 1908.
while was down in Georgia last spring
heard great deal of: complaint from,
just and fair minded people about the
misrepresentation that have appeared in
recent magazine articles concerning the
ana the treatment they have been suffer-
ing from the whites. 1t was made to ap-
pear that the cOlored man Is impoverish-
co. downtrodden and oppressed to such.
an extent that his condition was worse
than slavery. and that the race is going
backward physically, morally and in a
aterial sense because the whites will
not give them show. ! was told that
these articles had done great injustice
to both races because the statements
are not true. and because such misrep
reservations stimulate prejudice and widen
the breach between the whites and the
! blacks. My friends contend that no
stranger can come into this country and
give a correct analysis Of the situation,
which. from political. chronological, eco
nomical points of view involves the most
complicated and serious problem that ever
| taxed the wisdom of the human race.
Furthermore. they assert that no north
ern man can understand the situation,
because he insists upon studying 1t from
visitor seems to forget that the south
ern people have an average degree of in
telligence; that they have cOnsciences;
that they are as anxious to do the right
no stranger can realize half so fully as
themsevey how serious their problem is
and how great are their responsibilities
in trying to find a solution.
A National Farmer.
eff the negro problem is ever settled"
said a gentleman in Atlanta one evening.
sit will be settled by the white people
of the south. And 1t will not be settled
upon a theoretical, but on q practical
basis.
If northern philanthropists are really
sincere in their desire to improve the
condition of the colored race they VIII
help us to place them and keep them on
the farms. where they belong ana wheIe
they thrive and prosper, and keep them
out Of the cities, out Of the professlons'
and particularly out Of politics.
The colored man is natural farmer,
and every one in this state or any otner
state who has shown any industry IN
cultivating the soil has prospered and
gained the respect of his white as well
as his colored neighbors. It is only in the
cities and towns that. the negro race
shows signs of deterioration and de-
pravity. Keep them out of the tempta
tons of the towns and cities and they
will do well. Teach them to apply their
labor intelligently upon the soil and they
will prosper and be contented.
And my friend called my attention to
a recent census report showing the pros
porous condition of the colored farmers
of Georgia and the astonishing progress
they have made in the ownership of
land and the accumulation of wealth.
''People from the north who come down
here to write about the negro problem
usually stay few days. or few weeks
at most in our cities. without going near
A~H.1 %h~fp Svf~ fA,, fY(N
unsuccessful negro lawyers and prejudiced
preachers" continued my friend, whereas
If they would go out into the country
they would hear an entirely different
story. Or If they would only study the
official statistics or the tax returns they
would discover that the negroes of
Georgia at least are not impoverished
or downtrodden or oppressed. but are
getting along quite as well as the aver
age white man.
Progress in Agriculture.
Georgia is the best place to study the
progress of the negro in agriculture. be-
cause it has the largest negro population
Of any state; because it has the greatest est
diversity of conditions; because 1t is the
only state that has kept a record of
negro landholding since emancipation
''At the close Of the war we had about
900 negroes in Georgia; now we have
over a million. There were about 1900
free negroes; the rest were slaves. The
general assembly of this state passed a
very wise law, requiring the returns of
property for taxation by the two races to
be kept separately. SO that the tax books
contain a true record of the progress of
the freedmen,> and their accuracy is be-
You'd question.
THE first returns after emancipation
show that the property Of the negroes of
this state then had only a nominal value.
In 1874 the entire race returned only $21.-
1856 in household furniture. which. during
the next four years. increased to 500, $50:
farm tools and implements in 1874 were
assessed at $2O.O17, and their entire prop
erty of every sort was assessed at 81, 21.-
4J7, of which $475,597 was city real estate.
Now. If you want to see what prog
ress in wealth the colored people of Geor-
gia have made since that date compare
the returns of 1874 with the figures Of the
recent census report. That gives these
facts:
Total farms in Georgia, 224 300, COM
prising &c, 1872, O57 acres
Owned by negroes, s2.s22 farms. COM
prising 5,474.S9S acres. valued at $4S,-
69s. 931. or an average of 1854 each.
I'm 1906 the negroes cultivated 2O.7 per
cent of the land in the state. they pro-
duced 2S.7 of the crops and they owned
2l.S of the live stock
THE improvements upon farms owned
by negroes in Georgia are worth more
than $40. 100000, and this is how the land
is divided among them:
"Seventy-two negroes own more than
1000 acres each: 1853 own between 500 and
1000 acres each: 1.475 own between go
and 5000 acres each: 800 own between
175 and 26O acres each; 1892 own be-
tween 100 and 175 acres each: 1905 own
between 30 and 100 acres each; 1852 own
between 30 and 50 acres each.
Individual Cases.
"Of Individual cases I might tell you of
Cody Bryant, who has a farm of 1850
acres under cultivation near Covington.
Newton county. He is probably the rich
est negro in the state and has made every
dollar of his 100000 or more by hard
work and intelligent management in
twenty EIGHT years. when he first rented
six acres and began farming as a tenant
He was then twenty-one years old. He
is now fOrty-nine, and no man in Georgia
is more highly respected or commands
greater confidence. Last year he made
AS bales Of cotton. gathered 1900 Bushels
of corn, 1000 bushels of oats 1000 bushels
Of potatoes and a corresponding amount
of other staples. besides sharing with
eleven black tenants. Bryant has had
very little schooling. and is entirely self
educated. He Is, however. a very skillful
farmer and shrewd business man. If
you should ask his opinion he would tell
you frankly that he has no use for city
niggers' and that the only place for COL
ored people is in the country, cultivating
the land
Another notable negro farmer is Deal
Jackson. who lives near Albany, Dough-
erty county He has ma rketed the first