But at this point in the discussion of the problem we are confronted with a grave difficulty. It is a matter of the first The Negro's importance that the facts concerning the condition Progress. of the negro and his progress since emancipation should be the subject of accurate ascertainment. And yet of all things relating to the subject this is found to be the most surprisingly difficult. So much again depends upon the attitude of the observer toward the problem. We are all familiar with the difference in the apparent magnitude of objects as viewed through the opposite ends of an operaglass, and something of this enlargement or diminution of the progress and prospects of the negro race appears to follow the attitude of the observer toward the doings of this mysterious people.

If we are to accept the statements of the average Southerner as they appear in newspapers, magazines, and books upon the subject, the negro race is in a state of retrogression. It is over and over again alleged that the race is rapidly deteriorating in every relation of life; unthrifty, immoral, unreliable, ignorant, and superstitious; in short, that it is in a state of relapse into the condition of its ancestral surroundings.

On the other hand, if we are to be guided by the averments of some members of the negro race, or the roseate-hued statements of his progress appearing in the publications of

negro schools and universities, and are to base our belief upon the emanations of the Southern Educational Conference, we should be compelled to believe that the recent progress of the descendants of former slaves is of almost miraculous character and that the negro displays a marvellous facility for the acquisition of property and adaptation to modern environment, and manifests a desire for education and advancement quite unique and unparalleled in the progress of any other race. Does not President Booker T.

Washington from time to time inform us that in the last fifty years his race has made more progress than any other race in the annals of all history can exhibit during a similar period, and that its acquirement of land during the past forty years exceeds in area the combined territory of Holland and Belgium?

It, therefore, becomes us to observe the utmost caution in the examination of this subject, and to rely more upon census statistics and well ascertained facts than upon the representations of those who are, for one reason or another, interested only in presenting one single aspect of the problem.

Now, the first thing that strikes the mind of the dispassionate observer in the contemplation of the condition of the negro population in the United States, as his eye passes over the whole field of its endeavor and achievement, is that in its present condition and acquirements the negro remains an alien, exotic, and isolated race. Neither in race nor creed, in history, tradition, color, or bent of mind may he establish kinship with the other inhabitants of the country. From whatever view-point he may be regarded, he is a stranger in a strange land. While he is with us, he is not of us, and his existence is as remote from the ordinary thought and sentiment of the white people as though he were physically the inhabitant of foreign territory.

To establish this proposition, the attention of the reader is invited to the standing of the African race in its different relationships with the other elements of the American people. The political condition of the negro is one of the most important facts to be given consideration in our discussion.

His

The essential purpose of American institutions, Political the very basis of our political organization, the Condition. groundwork of our democracy, and the vital principle of our system of government, require the participation of every qualified citizen in governmental affairs,

together with an eligibility to occupy the public offices of the commonwealth, wherein honor and profit follow from service loyally rendered, and exclusion from which operates as a badge of degradation. Let us consider how the negro stands in this relationship.

As our examination of the census returns has established, we have in this country at the present time a population of some eighty-six millions, composed of seventy-six millions of the white race and ten millions of the black. Of this ten millions of blacks, nine million are to be found in what are popularly called the Southern States, the other million being scattered throughout the rest of the country. Upon the simple ratio of population throughout the community, the negro should participate in the honors and emoluments of political life in the proportion of something like one to seven and one-half. Now what are the facts, the cruel, inexorable facts, bearing upon this branch of the subject?

Under the United States Government his participation is insignificant in its character and extent. In the Executive Department none of the higher honors are for him; he holds no Cabinet position, but one superior office in the great departments, scarcely even a minor clerkship outside of the competitive class. In the army and the navy, with the exception of a few subordinate positions, the negro is unknown upon the roster. By law, until recently four regiments of the army were required to be of his race, but how little of glory he has gained from this fact the records of those organizations during the recent past will bear evidence. In the Legislative Department he is absolutely without representation.

For some years following reconstruction, both in the Senate and the House of Representatives the negro was fairly well represented. Two United States Senators and twenty-two Representatives of that race have at different times occupied

seats in Congress. At the present time, while in proportion to population he should have a representation of at least twelve in the Senate and fifty in the House of Representatives, as a matter of fact neither House contains one member of his color. Indeed, it is many years since a representative of the African race has raised his voice in either chamber of the national legislature.

If we turn to the Judicial Department of the government, the result is the same exclusion of the negro. Not a Supreme Court Justice, not a Circuit or District Judge, District Attorney or Marshal is of his color. He is absolutely and utterly without representation upon the Federal bench; and not a minister, ambassador, or representative of any importance to a foreign government is allotted to his race. With very few and unimportant exceptions, no participation in the great administrative departments of our national government is permitted to the negro. The appointment of a member of the negro race to even a minor position is a subject of wide-spread comment.

After long consideration such an appointment to the comparatively unimportant position of Auditor of the Treasury for the Navy Department has recently been made by President Roosevelt. Opposition was developed to any local appointment of the aspirant, and in order to relieve the situation the position mentioned was selected.

Let us follow the subject further. It may be said that by reason of the great minority in which the negro is found it is not to be expected that he should be represented in the general government of the country. If this be the case, we might well look to the local subdivisions of our land to find him exercising some influence in public affairs, but here, in like manner, we look in vain. A survey of the list of officials of the states in the Union discloses the startling fact that not a governor or high state official of any character of negro

blood occupies public office at the present time. And so far as known, not a member of the negro race sits upon the bench of a court of record throughout the expanse of our land.

During the year 1906, an inquiry was conducted as to the participation of the negro in legislative affairs during the prior year in the different states by addressing a communication to the Secretary of State of each of the United States upon the subject, with the result of disclosing the astonishing fact that out of more than 5500 participants in legislative work in the higher and lower houses of the fortyfive states of the Union, only five were of the African race; two in Ohio, one in Illinois, one in Georgia, and one in West Virginia forming the representation. Can any feature of the question embody a deeper significance than this complete exclusion of the negro from the law-making power of the country? In his striking letter of July 16, 1778, to the Earl of Carlyle and his associate peace commissioners Samuel Adams forcibly declares the principle upon this point:

I believe that to be bound by laws to which he does not consent by himself, or by his representative, is the direct definition of a slave.

Take the situation as presented in the New England states. The six states comprising that enlightened section contained, by the census of 1900, a trifle short of sixty thousand negroes. The aggregate number of Senators in the state Legislatures was 199, of Representatives in the lower houses 1336, making a total of 1535, without one negro representative in either body in any state. Consider the meaning of this! In the land of Sumner, Whittier, Andrew, Buckingham, Garrison, and Harriet Beecher Stowe, of this sixty thousand African population not one rises to the dignity of an election to the humblest legislative office.