TABLE VI.

NEGRO POPULATION AND NUMBER AND PER CENT. OF INCREASE BY TEN-YEAR PERIODS: 1790 TO 1900.

It is generally conceded that the census of 1870 was very inaccurate in relation to the number of the negro population. An investigation made shortly after it was completed showed beyond question that serious mistakes were made in this regard, as the negro population was returned at much less than its real numbers. Taking this into consideration, it will be seen that the percentage of increase has been fairly uniform for the past 110 years; and, as before noted in the general discussion of the number of this population, there is nothing in the census returns which indicates any probability of much falling away of this increase in the immediate future.

The negro population is an exceedingly illiterate one, the census of 1900 establishing the fact that among the negroes

of ten years of age and upward, 44.5 per cent. were so illiterate as to be unable either to read or write. The states are arranged in the order of decreasing per cent. of negro illiteracy in 1900, and the decrease in per cent. of the illiterates during the ten years is shown in the last column:

TABLE VII.

PER CENT. ILLiterate in NEGRO POPULATION AT LEAST IO YEARS OF AGE: 1900 AND 1890.

TABLE VII-Continued.

Per cent. illiterate Decrease in per

STATE OR TERRITORY HAVING AT LEAST in negro popu

500 NEGROES 10 YEARS OF AGE

AND OVER IN 1900.

lation at least cent.illit10 years of age.

erate: 1890 to

This table exhibits one of the most appalling difficulties incident to bringing about any solution of the negro problem. Here we have nearly one-half of the members of the race concerned absolutely unable to read and write. From this fact we may readily infer something of the condition of the residue who are living in this mass of illiteracy and who have but recently emerged from a similar condition. The simple test of reading and writing is but a meagre thing, and the probabilities are that at least 75 per cent. of the race are intellectually in what might be designated as an illiterate, uneducated condition.

It is true, as it appears from the foregoing table, that some considerable progress in education is being made, and that

the negro is slowly acquiring ability to read and write. But after full and due weight is given to this element of improvement, the situation presents such a degree of ignorance and incapacity that the prospect of any speedy improvement is far from encouraging.

The census returns exhibit a disheartening condition of family life among the negroes. Of course, it is very diffiConjugal cult to obtain accurate statistics upon this subject, Condition. but from those presented it is quite apparent that in manner of life, general morality, and observance of the obligations of the marital state, the negro, both North and South, is greatly lacking. Without going into details upon this subject, we may say that the condition of immorality in life presented by this people is one which adds to the difficulty of any adequate solution of the problem.

The consideration of the social condition of the people of this race is not particularly conducive toward leading to a hopeful view of the evil. This will be considered more in detail in the ensuing chapter upon the condition of the negro race, but is introduced here for the purpose of drawing attention to the fact that the statistics show that, while in a general way a large portion of the race is engaged in industrial pursuits, the employment of the labor of women, and especially of children, is much greater than in any other class of our population. Child labor appears to be the rule, and owing to the absence of any adequate accommodation for schooling, is probably greater than would otherwise be the

case.

The census shows that of the male negro children between ten and fifteen years, 49.3 per cent. are engaged in gainful occupations, and of the female population between the same ages, 30.6 per cent. are likewise employed. The bare statistics show the extent of this evil. Probably as most of these children are employed in farming, the evil is not

so great as might otherwise appear, but even with this concession its proportions are somewhat appalling.

As the negro is principally engaged in agricultural pursuits, the statistics of his employment in this relation are of great interest, and the following, taken principally from the report of the twelfth census, are important in this connection:

General

There were in the United States in 1900, 746,715 farms operated by negroes, of which 716,512 were improved by buildings. These farms contained 38,233,933 Statistics. acres, or 59,741 square miles, an area about equal to that of the state of Georgia or that of New England; 23,362,798 acres, or 61 per cent. of the total area, was improved for farming purposes. The total value of property on these farms was $499,943,734, of which $324,244,397 represented the value of land and improvements, $71,903,315 that of buildings, $18,859,757 that of implements and machinery, and $84,936,265 that of live stock. The gross value of all products on farms of negroes in 1899 was $255,751,145. Of this sum, however, $25,843,443 represents products fed to live stock, the value of which reappears and is to that extent duplicated in the reported. value of animal products such as meat, milk, butter, eggs, and poultry; subtracting this amount we have a net value of $229,907,702, or 46 per cent. of the total value of farm property, in farms cultivated by negroes. This sum represents the gross farm income. The total expenditure for labor on farms of negroes in 1899 was $8,789,792, and the expenditure for fertilizers was $5,614,844.

Very few of the negroes in the North are engaged in farming, their occupations being generally those of menial character in the cities and larger towns. From the census reports the condition of the negro farmer in the South is that of a man of a low order of intelligence wringing a scanty existence from a naturally fertile soil. The system of agriculture in