Chapter C: G. Woodson (12)

Mr. Lesesne opened the meeting with a most appropriate address,
in which he stated ... meeting, at his leisure, who shall present
by letter or otherwise, the foregoing preamble and resolutions to
the Governor of the State, and require of him, as necessary for
the preservation of public peace, that he do remove the said
commissioners of election, or a majority of them, and appoint, in
their stead, commissioners of known integrity, intelligence and
impartiality, who will see that in every matter pertaining to the
election, equal and exact justice shall be done to all citizens,
irrespective of class, color or political party; and further,
that the said committee shall, in the event of the refusal of the
Executive to grant this request, call a mass meeting of the
people to take such action as will then be necessary.

Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed by the chairman
of this meeting, at his leisure, who shall immediately ascertain
what protection can be secured to the voters of Charleston County
under the United States laws relating to elections, which
committee shall immediately report the result of their
investigations, through the public prints, with such
recommendations for the guidance of the citizens as they may deem
advisable.

After the reading of the above preamble and resolutions, Mr.
Joseph W. Barnwell addressed the meeting, and was followed by the
Hon. G. A. Trenholm, who spoke with much eloquence and at
considerable length.

Mr. Trenholm, holding the Chronicle in his hand, read therefrom
the following extract from the third plank of the Republican
platform: "We shall hold all men as enemies to equality of rights
who interfere with the ballot or deny the free and lawful
exercise of its use to any citizen, whatever may be his party
creed."

He called attention to the fact that these sentiments were in the
Republican platform and were published in the Charleston
Chronicle, the only Republican paper in this city; but, strange
to say, this portion of his speech does not seem to have made a
great impression on either the News and Courier reporter or the
Sun man. For the News and Courier fails to report it, and the Sun
does not shine upon it.

The Hon. A. J. Ransier then took the platform, but his address
was interrupted by an unlooked for incident.

A number of policemen having in charge some of the men who were
wounded in the fracas with the strikers, of which an account is
given elsewhere in this issue, were seen marching down Meeting
street followed by a considerable crowd. The bigger crowd seeing
the others, and not knowing what was up, became demoralized, and
a panic ensued followed by a general stampede.

SPEECH OF W. A. HAYNE, OF MARION,

_On Outrages In Edgefield County S. C._

The House, in Committee of the Whole, having under consideration
the following message from His Excellency:

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA,
Executive Chamber,
Columbia, March 1, 1876.

HON. ROBERT B. ELLIOTT, Speaker House of Representatives:

_Sir:_--I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a copy of
a resolution adopted by the House of Representatives and
concurred in by the Senate, by which I am requested to report to
this General Assembly at the earliest practicable moment all the
facts and information in my possession in relation to outrages
alleged to have been committed recently in Edgefield County.

I have the honor, in reply, to say that the information received
by me respecting the matter referred to is, in substance, that,
on the night of the 11th of February, some twenty-five or thirty
mounted men, in disguise, went to the house of James Perry,
living near Ridge Spring, in the County of Edgefield; that they
found in the house Freeman Gardner, his wife, Julia Brooks, a
woman between seventy and eighty years of age, and Zilpha Hill, a
young woman--all colored; that this disguised band took all four
of the immates of the house to a point of about a mile and a
quarter distant and then stripped and whipped them all; that
after the whipping was over, the woman, Patsey Gardner, was
severely and systematically burned by the application of liquid
sealing wax or burning pitch to her back and limbs; that the
young woman, Zilpha Hill, who was pregnant was also beaten and
severely abused, to such an extent as to endanger her life; that
the only pretext for this conduct was given in a remark of one of
the disguised band about John Gaston's goods.

This is the account given by the victims of the outrage, and the
condition of the woman, Patsey Gardner, seems to indicate the
truth of her statements as to the injuries inflicted upon this
woman.

This is the substance of the information in my hands at the
present time.

Very respectfully,
(Signed) D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, _Governor_.

Mr. Hayne said:

_Mr. Chairman_--Perhaps no member regrets this outrage more than
I do, for in the last campaign it was my earnest desire, yea, the
height of my ambition, to bring about not only purity in my
party, but harmony between the two races, and therefore my
regret. I am disappointed, almost discouraged, for it seems as
though 'tis love's labor lost. But, sir, just so long as the
newspapers of the country continue to exert their influence in
this direction will our State be disgraced by these foul
outrages. They fire up the hatred of the hot headed, indiscreet
youths of the State by their incendiary articles, and make them
believe that to slay and scourge all who differ from them in
opinion are doing God and their country a service. They never
heap the ashes of charitable oblivion upon the coals of prejudice
and hate, but continue to replenish it with the most exciting and
fiery appeals. The Edgefield paper makes light of this dastardly
violence done to aged and inoffensive women by ascribing it as
the work of "rash boys." Manly pastime for these brave boys! a
crime sir, that in any other State, and done to any other class,
would have demanded and met with immediate punishment, perhaps in
the Court of Judge Lynch, as was the case in Marlboro County a
few weeks ago, when a white lady was abused, the perpetrators,
two colored men, met with immediate punishment. They would not
have brooked the law's delay. Yea, sir, an outraged community
would have taught these "rash boys" a lesson that I fear they
will learn in no other school, and the courteous Sheriff would
not have been put to the trouble of "inviting them to be
arrested."

But, Mr. Chairman, it happens to be the poor despised Africans
who have tilled their fields for centuries, educated and amassed
for them princely fortunes, and while they were engaged in
riveting tighter the chains of bondage, were engaged in the care
and protection of their defenceless families. Mr. Chairman, I
ask, is this the mode to bring about harmony and prosperity? Will
this tranquilize this already distracted country? No, sir. On the
contrary, it will raise to its highest temperature the ill
feelings of an outraged people, and cause them to adopt for their
redress _lex talionis_, in opposition to the Edgefield _lex
loci_, as Mr. McDuffe truthfully says, "God has planted in the
breast of man a higher and holier principle than that by which he
is prompted to resist oppression; the vilest reptile that crawls
on the earth, without the gift of reason to comprehend the
injustice of its injuries, would bite, or sting, or bruise the
hand by which they were inflicted. Is it to be expected, then,
that freemen will patiently bow down and kiss the rod of the
oppressors?" I had hoped that the swift retribution that followed
the K. K's reign, and the withering rebuke administered by their
own counsel, (Hon. Reverdy Johnson,) would have put an end to
these inhuman and disgusting outrages; but, sir, the newspapers
must live and thrive, and this can only be done by a healthy
subscription list, and, in order to swell that list, they must
excite the worst passions of depraved men and pander to their
prejudices.

Are the disgraceful scenes that darkened the history of South
Carolina and cast a foul blot upon her proud escutcheon to be
re-enacted? It must not. If we expect to enjoy peace and
prosperity in our State, we must be more mindful of the rights of
each other, more tolerant in our political views, and finally,
leave the punishment of violators of the law to Courts of
Justice, and not constitute ourselves a Vigilance Committee for
every imaginary wrong. The Courts are certainly doing their duty,
as our increased appropriation for the penitentiary will evince.
If this course of action is followed, then, and not until then,
will South Carolina blossom as the rose, and peace and prosperity
flow as a river within her borders.

Again, Mr. Chairman, if the people of that and any other County
would only turn away from the siren voice of selfish
office-seekers, and put in office men who would dare to do their
duty at all times and in all places, without fear, favor or
impartiality, then, sir, would their rights be secured, and they
would sit down under their own vine and fig-tree, with none
daring to molest or make afraid; then would these lawless men
respect the rights of the occupants of the humblest cabin; for
the law properly administered would indeed be a terror to these
evil doers, and wherever that aegis of America's honor, and her
citizen's protection floats, men would fear to disregard the
rights of his fellows or take the law into their own hands; and,
my fellow-citizens, let me entreat you, in the exercise of your
rights as citizens hereafter, select only such men as are worthy
of these high offices--men who will do their duty. When I have
given such advice hitherto you have scorned it, but take heed in
future, for your interests, the security of your rights, make it
an imperative duty on you.

Mr. Chairman, if departed spirits are visitants of this earth,
and familiar with the actions of men, the spirits of the
patriotic Rutledge and of the sainted Gasden must have wept tears
of anguish over the degeneracy of these men bearing their
patronymics as they witnessed the outrages (the details of which
are heart sickening) which were perpetrated upon those
inoffensive women. Has the chivalry of South Carolina degenerated
thus far? Is this the work of her brave sons? Could they find no
more worthy foe than an aged, infirm woman, brutally maltreated
and her person exposed, who, even if guilty, should have excited
their sympathy? Another, in a condition that would have appealed
not in vain to the protection of savages, much less civilized
men, cruelly beaten, and her life and that of her unborn child
endangered thereby. Shame on you, degenerate sons of a brave and
chivalrous ancestry! The recording angel in heaven's chancery
must have shed tears as, with his diamond pen, he noted this
additional evidence of man's depravity. I am no advocate of the
"bloody shirt" doctrine, neither do I endorse the rash
sentiments expressed by the member from Charleston, (Mr. Davis);
but inasmuch as His Excellency has furnished this House with
official information of this outrage, I have felt it my duty as a
representative to express in positive, forcible terms my utter
abhorrence and condemnation of this brutal outrage. The Governor
has faithfully performed his duty in furthering the arrest of the
guilty parties, and I hope the Court of justice will administer a
lesson that will not soon be forgotten by that community. The
laws are adequate; we simply require efficient and faithful
officers to execute them; and as a legislative body we have done
our duty in condemning this outrage, the punishment of which we
leave to another tribunal--the Nemesis of justice.

THE HIPPODROME

SECOND DAYS EXHIBITION!

_They go for a Reporter And Catch a Tartar!_

_Large Attendance but Poor Performance._

The exhibition at this place of amusement yesterday was of only
an indifferent character. Unless the managers improve the show in
some way, it will hardly draw for many more performances. True,
the tricks of the acrobats are worthy of mention; the riding
passable, and the performance of the numerous ring-masters
tolerably creditable; but the "dagger pitchers" and
"revolver-swallowers," and inferior parts assigned to the clowns
in the ring, were altogether too limited to please the
amusement-loving public. There must be more robber declarations
and full-blooded excited performances anxious for bloody fames,
or the thing will be a failure. This pretense of fight won't do;
there must be a regular shooting and dying for principle, or we
shall pronounce your cheap show a humbug; and some of you at
least know that no third rate "Punch and Judy" exhibition will be
tolerated by the party in power in South Carolina. With this
warning and introduction, we proceed to give an account of the
performance.

The mob was called to order precisely at 1 o'clock, temporary
President Swails in the chair. The proceedings of the previous
day were read from _The Union-Herald_ in his hand, and called the
attention of the assemblage to an article in that paper touching
upon the subject of the raising of a chair by some member for the
purpose of annihilating the present Governor of South Carolina.
Smalls succeeded in raising a turbulent discussion about nothing,
and a general discussion of the subject by the windy members of
the convention, for some two hours, in which many of the "end
men" took part.

The more intelligent members of the hippodrome took no part in
the discussion, with the exception of the Governor, who, in a
very dignified manner, informed them that he had feared no bodily
harm from any of them; that he had witnessed such scenes before,
and was quietly engaged in preparation for any trap that might be
sprung upon the decent members of the convention, after the riot
should have spent itself.

At this point, Maxwell, the tragedian from Marlboro, obtained the
floor. He is one of the most amusing characters connected with
the big show. He hadn't "seen any chairs raised," and, folding
his arms and throwing himself back in a tragic and majestic
position, said: "I, gentlemen, was the coolest of the cool." This
remark, brought the house down. The worst of them were compelled
to laugh; especially those who know he never keeps cool. He wound
up his harangue by saying that the day was fast approaching when
men would seek their rights on the ... face to face with
newspaper men ... got the floor....

After other speeches, of a like nature, Captain Canton, city
editor of _The Union-Herald_, stepped in front of the reporters
table, read the article, and explained to them how he obtained
his information and what he saw with his own eyes, winding up,
after being interrupted several times, by telling them that
"newspaper men were abundantly able to take care of themselves."

The discussion continued until Elliott moved that the whole
matter be laid upon the table, which was agreed to.

Mr. Keegan, the correspondent of _The Washington Chronicle_, had
listened to their foul language of denunciation of himself and
others of his profession, and seeing the question closed, the
vilified correspondent, sought his hat, and turning round to the
assembled mob, told them they had denounced him like a dog, and
had denied him the right to defend himself. This remark of the
correspondent cowed the more ignorant portion of the gang, and
the resolution was withdrawn, which permitted him to explain to
them as the representative of a Republican paper, a gentleman
and a soldier; that he had fought to free them; fought against
his own father, who owned 150 of their kind, and was a Major in
the 5th Louisiana Regiment; that he fought for principle, while
his father fought for property; that he had been sent to Columbia
to report their doings and sayings, and to see if there was a
possible hope of good government in South Carolina.

This stopped the war upon the newspaper men. We devoutly hope
that when he goes back across the Potomac he may....

ROBERTSON'S EXPULSION

AN INTERESTING REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE

_The School-Book Culprit's Speech in His Own Defense--His Attack
Upon Mr. Cathcart and The News and Courier--A Pleasant Colloquy
Between Hamilton and Leslie--The Close of the Discussion and Its
Result_

(From our special correspondent)

Columbia, S. C. February 25.--This has been a regular field day
in the House, very nearly the entire session being devoted to a
discussion of the report of the committee on privileges and
elections concerning the guilt and expulsion of J. D. Robertson,
of Beaufort.

Mr. Crittenden resumed, in a review of the evidence. He briefly
reviewed his own remarks of yesterday, and then proceeded to
quote from the letters of Robertson, while so endeavoring to
benefit the children of South Carolina, had never informed the
commission of his plans up to December 30th. One point Mr.
Robertson had made was that Ivison, Blakeman & Co. were
disappointed and for that reason they had made an attack upon
him. This, Mr. Crittenden said, was too thin, as the publishers
referred to were not that kind of men. He then concluded by
saying that he hoped the time had come when the people of South
Carolina would show to the world that the time had passed when
the adventurers could come from other portions of the country,
and with professions of love for the negroes and children of the
State, take advantage of their own pockets. The colored people
had learned better sense than to trust such people any longer.

Curtis, who was acting speaker, here asked what construction the
House placed on Act 2, section 16 of the constitution, which
relates to the number of votes required to expel a member, from
the floor. Mr. Orr held that the Supreme Court had decided that
two-thirds of the number present were competent to expel. Some
one else claimed that it required two-thirds of all the members
on roll. The speaker here cited a case in the House Journals in
which it was decided that two-thirds of the members present was
sufficient. Mr. Brayton stated that two-thirds of the House and
two-thirds of the Senate were necessary to impeach a judge, and
he thought that as much consideration should be shown to the
members of the House. In justice to themselves they ought to
insist upon the passage of the following resolution:

Resolved, that it is the sense of this House that in order to
expel a member a two-thirds vote of all the members elected is
required.

Freeman, of Charleston, spoke against the resolution, taking the
same ground as that held by Mr. Orr.

Bampfield rose to a point of order that it was the duty of the
chair to decide. If necessary an appeal could be had.

The chair stated that if he decided it would be in favor of the
view that it required two-thirds of the members present.

Freeman thought it very strange that no defense had been offered
by the friends of the accused, and proposed to amend Brayton's
resolution by striking out "elected" and inserting "present."

Mr. Orr said that no resolution of ruling of the chair was
necessary as they had the decision of the Supreme Court on the
matter, and that was their law. Richardson's Supreme Court
Reports, volume 4, has already decided this question, and he
didn't see the use of construing the law when it was already
construed by such authority.

Chancellor Johnson stated that the matter was purely a
constitutional question, and he quoted from the Constitution to
show that the House had the right to decide all such questions,
for itself.

On motion the resolution of Mr. Brayton was laid on the table.

Hirsch then called for a ruling from the chair, and the chair
decided that it would require two-thirds of the members present.
The Saint here became very much agitated, and requested that he
be allowed to speak in his own behalf, as no one else saw fit to
take up his cause. The request was granted, and he then spoke as
follows:

Gentlemen of the House of Representatives: I will in the outset
simply draw your attention to the fact that my accuser has never
put his foot on the soil of South Carolina. If the House will not
defend me the courts will. No witnesses have been called here,
and when I asked you for your protection I am taunted with the
fact that I have offered no defence. If I had been accused in a
trial justice's court I would have had the proofs, and would have
the right to meet my accuser face to face. But here, when my
reputation and the reputation of my innocent children are at
stake, I am proved beyond doubt, and by respectable witnesses, to
be a wilful falsifier and perverter of the truth. Take notice of
this telegram from an honorable house, Messrs. Armstrong,
Scribner & Co.: "We have heard threats that the books chosen
shall not succeed, and that you shall be ruined." This is not the
first time that Ivison, Blakeman & Co., have made a similar fight
to this in the North. They have done so hundreds of times. I ask
the patience of the House, which has my future weal or woe in
their hands, to hear me yet further. Strike if you will but for
Heaven's sake hear me. Another curious phase of this matter is
that the house of Ivison, Blakeman & Co., when it suits their
convenience, do not hesitate to publish confidential
communications. And I would say here that a member of this House
has done the same thing, viz, has divulged to the press what took
place in the committee room, for his own ends.

Mr. Orr here rose and said that if Robertson referred to him he
told a malicious falsehood, and that he would get his pay for it.

Robertson said he had no doubt he would get paid for it; that he
had not mentioned Orr's name, but if he saw fit to appropriate
the remark he could not help it.

The speaker here interrupted, and put an end to the controversy.

Robertson continued: That he had married into one of the best
families of the State, and that his blood was mingled with
theirs, &c.

Holland, a coal-black representative, for what purpose or
actuated by what impulse must ever remain a mystery, here
interrupted, and asked if Robertson referred to him. Mr.
Robertson said no, he did not refer to him. This produced a roar
of laughter all over the House which the speaker had great
difficulty in suppressing.

Robertson continued: I have written some foolish things, it is
true, but I am done with Cathcart and Ivison, Blakeman & Co.
Remember the words of the Holy Writ: "Judge not that ye be not
judged." I will now refer to the letter which the gentleman from
Greenville rolled as a sweet morsel under his tongue yesterday.
That letter was confidential, and you must remember that all this
trouble is made up out of confidential letters. Which of you
would be willing to have his confidential letters published?
Concerning Guerad, I certainly did offer to help him get a
situation, as he was worthy and needy. I was asked by him and
endeavored to get it for him; and who would not do the same? Mr.
Robertson then referred to his letter in _The News and Courier_,
which, he said, the publishers of the paper had done him the
justice to publish, and which contained a full account of the
whole matter in plain terms, without any attempt to conceal or
pervert the facts.

Mr. Robertson's time here expired, but on motion of Whipper he
was allowed fifteen minutes longer. He continued: Recollect that
two constructions can be placed upon this matter. One will ruin
me and the other will not. Choose between them.

Hamilton interrupted. What particular portion of the letters do
you deny?

Robertson. What I object to in this investigation is that copies
of letters are given here purporting to be mine, when I cannot
tell whether they are mine or not. Gentlemen, what can I say
more? I built the first schoolhouse that was ever built in my
district, and supported the first teacher we had to teach the
colored children in it. And now, gentlemen for this I am to be
expelled; expelled because I have labored for the good of the
children of the State; because in my anxiety I wrote letters
which the secretary of the commission ought to have written
himself. Gentlemen I am done. "Let him that is without sin among
you cast the first stone."

Hamilton. Keep down then, it is where you belong, and if you had
your deserts you ought to be down and out of the House. Hamilton
then went on, saying that he proposed to divest himself of all
personal feelings. He proposed to speak as he thought the people
would have him speak--justly. The first ground that he took
against Robertson was that he believed him guilty and thought
that every man in South Carolina believed the same and I will say
as he says, "Out of thy mouth thou shalt be convicted." No
private confidential letters could benefit the children of the
State; they benefit only the man who writes them. These letters
undoubtedly were written to benefit himself, not the children. I
express the sentiment of my people when I say that he is guilty
of murder, not of manslaughter. This man and such as he have
done an immense harm, and it is time we were getting rid of them.
We can't hold that class of men and be successful in politics. It
is with pain that I utter what I do. If this were some other
occasion, and the gentleman was from some other county, I ... of
... Cathcart. Hayne then went into a review of the testimony,
concluding with the remark that as to the expulsion of Mr.
Robertson bringing disgrace upon his children he did not deny; it
was mournful that the sins of the fathers should be visited upon
their children.

Black ... Davis then got up, and, as usual, talked a great deal
and said very little. The general tenor of the harangue, however,
was that if they expelled Robertson they would establish a
precedent that would work harm for the party. They would be
opening a door that they might not be able to shut when they
wanted to. That Republican material was scarce, and if they
punished this man it would discourage other white carpet-baggers
from coming down and help lead the party in this State.

Freeman of Charleston, then followed in a strong speech against
Robertson. He said that the question was one of peculiar
significance. It was whether the colored men of the State were
able to lead themselves, and capable of upholding their
self-respect. He had remained silent until he had heard the
defence entirely exhausted, and he was forced to say that the
accused had in his defence done nothing but make an admission
that the charges were true. He then read a letter of Robertson's
dated June 2d. This, he said, was a confidential letter, and no
public servant had the right to write such confidential letters
to put money in their own pockets. If he (Robertson) knew that it
was the character of these Northern firms to defraud the people
of the different States, as he says he did, then why did he go to
them? If he knew that they were swindlers, why did he go to them
to strike a bargain for the State. Robertson had cast an insult
upon the colored men that would not be tolerated by any other
race upon the face of the globe. He had flung out to the world
the insinuation--nay, the assertion--that the colored members of
the Legislature were for sale on every question. He hoped that
the colored members would assert their self-respect and hurl back
the charge with scorn, and show to the world that they had some
sense of honor, and will not be duped by unprincipled
carpet-baggers any longer.

Whipper then followed in a harangue in support of Robertson,
taking the old ground that the letters were not certified to,
and incompetent as testimony, &c., and wound up with a customary
slash at _The News and Courier_.

Mr. Brayton, of Aiken, followed Whipper in a strong technical
argument in support of Robertson, in which he claimed that the
form of trial was illegal, and the testimony was insufficient and
ex parte; not touching upon the guilt or innocence of Robertson
at all.

The accusers and defenders had exhausted their rhetoric and the
patience of their audience and themselves, so a vote was taken on
the question of expulsion, and resulted as follows--56 yeas and
25 nays. A few moments later and the hall was silent and in
darkness.

Nesbit and Pinckney, however, it seems, hadn't had enough of the
fight inside, but went to abusing each other about the course
they had pursued. Pinckney voted for expulsion and Nesbit against
it, and after some words they went to bruising each other in a
way that must have shocked the effigy of the father of their
country, around whose bronze form they shinned so mildly. The
entertainment broke up, however, before the gladiators had
entirely demolished each other.

The discussion of the Robertson matter in the House, if it has
done nothing else, has very clearly demonstrated that the
majority of the colored people of the State are tired of their
carpet-bagger leaders, and do not propose to be led by them any
longer.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] These articles were arranged by Monroe N. Work.

BOOK REVIEWS

_Fifty Years in the Gospel Ministry._ By THEOPHILUS GOULD
STEWARD. The African Methodist Episcopal Book Concern, 631 Pine
Street, Philadelphia, 1922. Pp. 520.

This is an autobiography covering the period from 1864 to 1914. It carries an introduction by Dr. Reverdy C. Ransom, the editor of the _African Methodist Episcopal Church Review_. Inasmuch as it is the record of a distinguished minister in one of the leading Negro denominations, it throws much light on this period, not only in ecclesiastical affairs but in matters touching the life and development of this race during that period. This is apparent to one observing that the book covers the author's twenty-seven years in the pastorate, sixteen years as a chaplain in the United States army, seven years as a professor in Wilberforce University, two of his trips to Europe and one to Mexico. The book is illustrated, but it has no index.

Taking up the work of the General Conference of 1864, the author says much to give the reader an insight into the characters and efforts of the leading churchmen of his denomination at that time. Among those passing in review are Bishops Quinn, Payne, and Nazrey, and others like H. M. Turner and Alexander W. Wayman who later became bishops of that denomination. Then follows his trip South, when the author had the opportunity to participate in the early efforts for the uplift of the freedmen, serving in Georgia and in South Carolina. He then tells how he arose to a position of usefulness and later served larger groups of communicants in Philadelphia and the District of Columbia. Referring to his record as a chaplain in the United States army, the author shows a larger acquaintance with the leading Negro statesmen through whom he obtained the position. The account of his services in this capacity, both in this country and abroad, and especially in the Philippine Islands, sets forth information, not only as to what that portion of the world was doing, but the reaction of this educated Negro to this panorama. Other interesting experiences appear in the account of his extensive travels.

The value of the book is incalculable when one takes into consideration the dearth of such literature bearing on Negroes. This work takes rank with the recent volume of Bishop Coppin entitled _Unwritten History_, for certainly there are to be found therein interesting romances taken from the life of the Negro and recorded by one of the race in the manner in which these things were impressed upon him and found expression in his mind. This is the sort of literature for which the public has patiently waited and it is devoutly to be desired that other churchmen may find time to leave a written record like these of Bishop Coppin and Chaplain Steward. For anyone desirous of studying the history of the Negro in its various ramifications, such works are indispensable.

_The Negro in Literature and Art._ By BENJAMIN BRAWLEY. Duffield
and Company, New York, 1921. Pp. 197.

This is a revised edition of Professor Brawley's work which appeared in 1918. It follows the general outline of the first edition and sets forth additional facts but not sufficient to justify this claim to revision. The work is biographical, largely devoted to the narrative of the careers of Phyllis Wheatley, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Charles W. Chesnutt, W. E. B. Dubois, William Stanley Braithwaite, Frederick Douglass, Booker Washington, Henry O. Tanner, Meta Warrick Fuller, and Charles S. Gilpin. The unsatisfactory short sketch of Gilpin constitutes the best claim of the work to that of a revised edition.

While this work does not show by historic or philosophical development the evolution of the Negro mind as expressed in the achievements of the race in literature and art, it has some value. To have a publisher place before the public the sketches of so many prominent Negroes who might otherwise remain unknown to the public is a service to be appreciated. The world has too long considered the Negro a human machine restricted to drudgery. Any successful effort, therefore, to bring before the public from time to time the achievements of worthy Negroes, although it may be a repetition of what may be well known to the better informed few, must be welcomed as an undertaking having a direct bearing on popularizing the record of a neglected seventh of the population of the world.

Let us hope, however, that in the near future some other author, grasping more correctly the needs of the time, may set forth in literary form the interesting story of how history has been influenced by the Negro during the various stages of the world's progress and especially how the Negro of today functions efficiently in the life of Europe and America. The public will welcome too a work treating the eloquent appeals of Negro orators, the beautiful poetry voicing the strivings of this oppressed group, and its peculiar philosophy of life constructed while enduring the ordeal of racial proscription.

_The Free Negro in Maryland, 1634-1860._ By JAMES M. WRIGHT.
Longmans, Green and Company, New York; P. S. King and Son, Ltd.,
London, 1921. Pp. 362.

This is a study in a neglected field of American history. Hitherto very little has been done to inform the world as to the actual contribution of the free Negro prior to the Civil War. Few persons realize that there were half a million such Negroes in the United States at that time. It is a mistake, therefore, to consider this better selected group of the race so insignificant as not to influence the history of the communities in which they lived. A number of histories have been written since the Civil War, however, with a view to meeting this need for a treatment of this neglected group. There have appeared John H. Russell's _Free Negro in Virginia_ and Brackett's _The Negro in Maryland_. But unfortunately such works have been too rigidly restricted to the discussion of the Negro's legal, social, and religious status as determined by the laws enacted for these purposes in the South rather than to the study of the free Negro himself. As it is well known that many of these laws were never enforced, we are still at sea as to what the free Negro actually was and what he was doing.

While Professor Wright has not altogether succeeded in meeting the requirements for this more scientific study of the free Negro, he has done his task much better than those who have hitherto invaded this field. In addition to covering the ground of other such studies he has undertaken to give the historic background and by statistical method he has presented valuable information as to the apprenticeship of Negro children, the occupations and wages of free Negroes, their acquisition of property, their education and their religious strivings.

In his long-drawn-out conclusion he does not seem to have an altogether favorable impression as to the rôle played by the free Negro in the State of Maryland. He shows that the Negro was led to despise himself in keeping with the policy of regarding the white man as the superior and the Negro as the inferior. Professor Wright says, however, that the perpetuation of such a handicap for the most needy part of the population was probably not sound social policy. Upon the whites the effects were first to cause at least a formal realization of race solidarity, and secondly, to intensify class lines within the ranks, although not to define the "poor whites" as rigidly as in certain of the sister slave States. On the whole, Professor Wright believes that the free Negro was an asset to the State, but one laden with many of the characteristics of a liability. "The managers of the corporate body to which he (the Negro) belonged," says the writer, "would have been relieved, could they have written him as an item off their accounts. Nevertheless the sympathetic personal attachment of many whites to individual negro servants, whether slave or free, was permanent." Thus ends an informing book with several misconceptions, but nevertheless fraught with valuable facts.

_Batouala._ By RENÉ MARAN. Albin Michel, Editor. Paris, 1921. Pp.
189.

This is a novel which was awarded the Goncourt prize in 1921. Inasmuch as it is socially historical, it contains many facts throwing light on the conditions of Africa. Born on the Island of Martinique where the conditions of colonial rule were different from those obtaining in Africa, the scenes of which inspired this indictment of the white man's civilization, René Maran doubtless found the situation there so revolting that it evoked from him this work. Without concealing the faults of the natives, Maran discusses the robber concession companies in Africa, forced labor, high taxes and exorbitant prices for goods sold to the natives. Inasmuch as there were no railroads or "pack animals," the Negroes themselves were impressed into a "pack-man system" which together with the Tsetse fly has worked havoc in Africa. The author maintains that this "pack carrying" has caused the death of more than one million Negroes and cites as evidence that in one town the blacks rebelled against this portage service because it was considered better to die than to undergo such a hardship. The book is intended to emphasize the importance of remedying these abuses and suggests as the proper reform that the concessions granted these private companies should be withdrawn and that nature should be given the opportunity to repair the damage done by white men.

This is a stirring note from a man of African blood speaking for Africa from the point of view of the native himself. It is a distinct contribution in that we have a different view from that appearing in the works of white men who have travelled through that continent, seeing it from the outside and then only "through a glass darkly." The cause of truth in that quarter is now fortunate in having there a number of intelligent Africans who, after having been trained in the mission schools and in the best universities of Europe and America, are now beginning to give the other phase of the social, economic, and political questions in Africa. Many of the conditions which have long obtained in that continent have continued for the reason that persons on the outside who might have been struck with holy horror, had such been known, have never learned and, therefore, can hardly realize that such appalling conditions exist. For this valuable contribution, not only from the literary point of view, but from that of the investigator of social and economic problems, the public must feel indebted to René Maran.

NOTES

The first Spring Conference of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History was held in the city of New York on April 3d and 4th. There was a preliminary mass meeting on Sunday, the 2d, at the Mother A. M. E. Zion Church, where Mr. James F. Morton, Prof. John R. Hawkins, and Dr. C. G. Woodson delivered addresses which were enthusiastically received.

On Monday and Tuesday, the 3d and 4th, when the actual meeting began, a larger number of persons from afar were present. The day sessions were held at the 135th Street Branch Library where, on Tuesday morning, Dr. George E. Haynes, Secretary of the Race Commission of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ, opened the discussion of the question "Why one race should know the other one." Other persons participating in the discussion and giving additional information as to the bright prospects for the cooperation of the races in the country were Bishop R. A. Carter, and Cleveland Allen who availed himself of the opportunity to emphasize the importance of placing the bust of Frederick Douglass in the New York Hall of Fame.

At the first evening session held at the Concord Baptist Church in Brooklyn the following evening there was a large attendance. The meeting was opened by preliminary remarks by the Director. He was followed by Prof. Albert Bushnell Hart of Harvard University who delivered an informing address on "Involuntary Servitude." Remarks as to the importance of this organization and how the work may be more successfully prosecuted were made by Bishop R. A. Carter of the C. M. E. Church, Bishop Lee of the A. M. E. Z. Church and by Dr. George Frazier Miller, Dr. H. H. Proctor, Dr. W. H. Brown, and Rev. J. B. Adams.

On the following day, the morning session opened with a discussion on "How to promote the Study of Negro History in the Schools," led by Mr. Thomas C. Williams of the Bordentown Industrial School. He brought forward valuable statistics out of his own experience as a teacher in this field and presented several suggestions and plans for the promotion of this work. There followed some discussion of an informing nature by Dr. I. Garland Penn, Secretary of the Methodist Episcopal Church Board of Education for Negroes, and by Dr. W. Y. Bell, who spoke of his researches in the sources bearing on the history of the Negro in Africa.

The Conference closed with an evening session at the Mother A. M. E. Zion Church where addresses were delivered by Dr. I. Garland Penn and Dr. C. G. Woodson. The address of Dr. Penn dealt primarily with the Negro as a factor in church history. Beginning with the early struggles of the denominations and their relations to the Negroes, Dr. Penn enlightened the audience on facts which are not generally known to the public. He closed his informing address with the expression of faith in the importance of the church as a factor in the progress of the Negro. The address by the Director had to do primarily with the history of the Negro by cycles, showing the varying attitude of the white man toward the Negro and the successful efforts of the Negroes to rise in the midst of trying difficulties and to convince the world of their worth. On the whole, this first Spring Conference was a success and justified itself as an innovation.

* * * * *

The Quadrennial Address of the Bishops of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church to the Fourteenth Session of the General Conference, held in St. Louis on the 3d of May, contains not only the information bearing on the church but a valuable retrospect as to the conditions among the Negroes after the World War. Among other topics are mentioned racial retrospect, race prejudice and race superiority, the aftermath of the war, the church and world conditions, and the reaction of white Christianity to lawlessness.

THE JOURNAL

OF

NEGRO HISTORY

VOL. VII--OCTOBER, 1922--NO. 4

BRAZILIAN AND UNITED STATES SLAVERY COMPARED

A GENERAL VIEW

Whether the Teutonic races are superior to the Latin races is a mooted question, subject to prejudiced points of view. However, there is no doubt that there actually exists a great difference in the institutions of religion, law, language, customs, fashions, and moral precepts between, let us say, the Anglo-Saxon and the Portuguese. In other words, the English nation has evolved an English way of living, just as the Portuguese have adapted themselves to governing society, attacking nature in their own way.

Now assume that these two nationalities with their unlike national habits and traditions are planted in the new world. Assume the one as living in a warm temperate clime, and the other under equatorial conditions. Assume that the first nationality is self-sufficient to establish a colony, and opposed to intermarriage with other races; and then imagine the second case, where there exist a few colonists in womanless settlements with consequent marriages between the native and European common, and a large half-breed population as the result. With such diversities in national character, in the make-up of the individuals, in natural and social environment, could we expect the two peoples to react similarly to a given social institution? No wonder then, that slavery in the English colonies of North America was very much unlike the institution as it existed in Brazil.

Brazil was being tilled by slave labor long before the settlement of Jamestown, and still boasted of hordes of slaves on its plantations as late as a quarter century after the Emancipation Proclamation in the United States had been issued. As early as 1585, Pernambuco could claim 10,000 African slaves and Bahia something like three or four thousand,[1] whereas the first shipment of slaves to the English colonies in America was introduced into Jamestown harbor by a Dutch ship as late as August, 1619.[2]

In Brazil the slave trade received an impetus as a result of royal restrictions and Jesuits' opposition to the enslavement of Indians, thereby compelling the more law-abiding and docile settlers to turn from exploiting the native labor and to seek its labor supply from Africa.[3] The labor demands of the great sugar plantations, cotton fields, tobacco lands, and later the mines, kept the slave poachers on the Guinea and Angola Coast busy, so that by the middle of the eighteenth century slaves were entering Brazil on a vast scale. From 1759 to 1803, according to Keller, the colonial registers give as consigned from Angola to Brazil 642,000 Negroes. Thus, by 1800 fully one half of the total Brazilian population of 3,200,000 was slave, and by 1818 there were 1,930,000 slaves besides some 526,000 free Negroes and mulattoes, in all about sixty-three per cent of the total.[4] By the middle of the nineteenth century there was something like three millions of slaves out of a population of seven and a half millions. Lord Palmerston estimated the total number of slaves in the sixties as being 3,000,000;[5] whereas a writer in the "Revue des deux Mondes" puts the number between 2,500,000 and 4,000,000.[6] Dawson quotes the number of slaves in 1856 as being approximately 2,500,000 or forty per cent of the total population.[7] Apparently there is no actual census available on the number of slaves for this period. Needless to say, the slaves easily comprised from forty to fifty per cent of the population, and if we add all those of mixed blood we have a majority of the inhabitants of Brazil.

Now let us turn to the Old South. Slavery we know progressed somewhat in the southern colonies, and to a negligible extent in the New England colonies. The "Asiento" in 1713, by which Great Britain at the close of the War of Spanish Succession secured the right to supply the colonies of Spain with 4,800 slaves annually,[8] augmented the slave trade throughout the new world. Negroes were in demand in the rice areas, cotton fields, and tobacco plantations. In 1710 there were only 50,000 slaves in the United States, the number increased to 220,000 in 1750, to 464,000 in 1770,[9] until by the year 1790 they numbered 697,624.[10] This number constituted one-fifth of our total population.

Slavery, however, was not a venerated institution in the Southland in the eighteenth century. In fact, it was rather supported through the force of habit and the fear of the results of emancipation. Then came Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin. The South went cotton mad. The United States now became the world's producer of raw cotton. Henceforth, slavery was held "the indispensable economic instrument of southern society."[11]

In the first half of the nineteenth century, then, American slavery was at its height. By 1850 the slaves numbered 3,204,313, about a few thousand less than Brazil, which at the opening of the century had so far led it in the number of slaves held.[12] Blake, writing in 1857, shows that by the last census, however, unlike Brazil, the proportion of black to white was not great, being in the neighborhood of fourteen per cent. However, taking the nation in sections, the ratio of black to white in the South was one to two, whereas in the North it was but one to sixty-eight.[13]

As to the extent of slavery in the two nations, in the United States slavery was largely confined to the semi-tropical country south of the Pennsylvania-Maryland line and the Ohio River. A slight form of domestic slavery had existed in New England, and to a greater degree in the Middle Atlantic Colonies, but was virtually unknown in the mines and cattle ranges of the West. In Brazil slavery existed practically everywhere the Europeans settled. There was no geographical section, whose sentiment and economic interests were antagonistic to slave holding. However, it was true that about the plantations of Pernambuco and Bahia slavery existed on a far more extensive scale than in the southern province of Rio Grande De Sul, where slavery was practised at a minimum.

In both the United States and Brazil there were diversified products of slave labor. In Brazil sugar was the great slave labor staple; in America, cotton. Besides cotton, the American slave was the cultivator of tobacco, rice, sugar, hemp, and molasses. In Brazil the other products were tobacco, cotton, and cattle, in addition to some cacao and rubber.

In the United States there were two types of slavery, one the storied domestic slavery of the towns, and the southern country seat, where the Negro was usually benevolently treated and loved as though one of the family. This type of slavery was most common along the Mason-Dixon line. The other type was determined by the large scale enterprises in the cotton and rice fields in the "southern" South, where absentee ownership was often the rule. Here frequently masters knew little about their slaves, and the driving of the mobs of laborers gave Harriet Beecher Stowe, no doubt, her concept of a Simon Legree.[14] In Brazil slaves did every type of work. First of all, they furnished the labor for the great sugar plantations of Pernambuco and also the cotton districts of the north. In the provinces of the south of Brazil, contrary to conditions in the United States, they were employed on cattle ranches. In Minas Geraes they were utilized in the mines. In the cities they carried on all the manual and menial work.

Henderson tells us of his observations of the African in urban occupations during the first decade of the last century in Rio. He relates that owners would send out slaves to do work for other employers, and to turn over their wages to their idle masters. He relates that masters sent slaves in pairs and threes, bearing baskets on their heads, soliciting work. This type was called "Negroes de ganho." Others bore great tubs on their heads with which they drew water from fountains to supply the inhabitants. At dusk the street was crowded with slaves carrying the refuse of the city to the dumps. Slave labor removed the imported goods from the docks. Few had the help of wagons. The English had tried to introduce carts to help the toiling slaves at the wharves, but the custom house clerks would have none of them, as they were making a "haul" on the city by hiring out their slaves, and wagons would lessen the amount of work to be done.[15]