Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 12.djvu/366

The white people are realizing fully now that the negro is a constant quantity at the South ; that he has no idea of moving away and settling at the North and elsewhere; that he must be educated and fitted for citizenship as rapidly as possible ; that it is better to help and encourage him than to repress him ; and the whole drift now is to elevate him by education. It is worthy of remark that although he was freed as a war measure, still the great government which freed him has done nothing to remove his illiteracy, poverty and ignorance; but the great burden has fallen on the impoverished white people of the South mainly, which was the most disorganized section of the Union as a result of the war, and they are taxing themselves with as liberal and unselfish a spirit as has been shown by any people under similar circumstances anywhere on the globe. It is not just to say either that the negro, who was and is the principal farm laborer, is not entitled to a large credit for the great and valuable crops raised in the South since 1880. It is true he was directed by the white people who owned the land, but the crops were made mostly through his labor. The white people went to work also on the farms and made a large part of the crops themselves. They worked harder and more industriously than ever, and in the white belts raised a large per cent of the crops. I believe that the next census will show a much better record for the colored race. I remark, then, that the great progress of the South is explained in the energy and push of the Southern whites, under the great necessity to retrieve and save their country and transmit its Anglo-Saxon civilization unimpaired, and as far as possible untarnished by negroism or its consequences; that the rapid accumulation of wealth was brought about in spite of the incubus of an inferior race, which was forcibly carried along and made to do its part. The negro has seen the great difference and feels it is best for both races. Repression of the negro vote will gradually pass