Our part is not fitly sustained upon the earth unless the range of our intended and deliberate usefulness includes not only the companions, but the successors of our pilgrimage.

God has lent us the earth for our life; it is a great entail. It belongs as much to those who are to come after us, and whose names are already written in the book of creation, as to us; and we have no right, by anything that we do or neglect, to involve them in unnecessary penalties, or to deprive them of benefits which it was in our power to bequeath. And this the more, because it is one of the appointed conditions of the labor of men that in proportion to the time between the seed-sowing and the harvest, is the fulness of the fruit, and that generally, therefore, the farther off we place our aim and the less we desire to be ourselves the witnesses of what we have labored for, the more wide and rich will be the measure of our success.

Men cannot benefit those who are with them as they can benefit those who come after them; and of all the pulpits from which human voice is ever sent forth, there is none from which it reaches so far as from the grave.

JOHN RUSKIN.

PREFACE

IN presenting to the public another work upon the much

discussed negro question, it seems fitting that some word of explanation should be offered as to the reason for its appearance. For some years the subject has been to me one of engrossing interest, and in my reading from time to time of the controversial literature upon the subject in its various relations, I have been forcibly impressed by the constant repetition of the thought that the problem is in its essential character insoluble. This view finds expression in the repeated employment of this particular word, and also in the frequent recurrence of phrases of similar import, denoting an apparent acceptance of the hopelessness of any attempt to secure a satisfactory adjustment of the relations between the Caucasian and African races in this country.

It was the consideration of this aspect of the problem which induced me to give the subject renewed examination, in order to ascertain whether the present unsatisfactory condition of affairs must continue indefinitely to embarrass our national development, or whether, after all, this old and vexatious question is not susceptible of a solution at once adequate and righteous. Can there be, in the nature of things, a national evil of this momentous character so deeply rooted in our institutions as to be impossible of extirpation? In pursuing this line of inquiry, I was soon to learn that Abraham Lincoln had early elaborated a plan to guard his country against the future evils which he clearly discerned

as originating in the presence of the negro; and that having once proposed this plan to his countrymen he had steadily adhered to it up to the hour of his untimely death. The thought then came to me to examine the present condition of the matter, and to ascertain if Lincoln's plan was yet feasible and if it could be successfully applied under the changed circumstances brought about by the forty-six years which have passed since he issued the famous Emancipation Proclamation. After study and reflection, feeling profoundly convinced that the plan is still feasible, and that the years which have elapsed since Lincoln laid it before Congress have but served as a period of preparation for its execution, I have determined to invite the attention of my readers to a serious and thorough investigation of this important subject.

I am not unmindful of the circumstance that others have suggested the same remedy, and that in many studies upon the problem it has been the subject of casual discussion. Its obvious character would assure that fact. But I am not aware of the existence of any work devoted to the topic upon the lines advocated by Lincoln, and which addresses itself solely to the consideration of the solution of the problem. Books there are in plentiful supply, of discussion of the history of the slavery question and of the virtues and defects of our negro population, but none devoted exclusively to the subject of providing a remedy for a concededly intolerable situation.

The plan proposed in the following pages is advanced as a radical remedy for the evil caused by the presence of the negro race, which so seriously affects the national welfare. It is not urged as an evasion of our responsibility, or as a postponement of the question, or as a palliative of the evil. It dares by analysis to seek the origin of the disease, and by foresight, coupled with generosity, to apply the means requi

site for its cure. Although the proposed solution is difficult, it is beyond question practicable, and though expensive in the beginning would be found in the end to subserve the purposes of economy.

In my treatment of the subject I have endeavored to be scrupulously accurate in the presentation of facts, and fair in the inferences and conclusions which I have sought to deduce from them. The book is not written to promote any theory of politics or to advance the fortunes of any political organization. If there be in its pages matter calculated to give offence to any section of the country, or to any race or class of people, this arises from the necessity of frank and fearless speaking upon the subject, and not from any desire of mine to inflict needless affront.

I feel that the work needs no apology for its existence. "By the truth alone we are made free," and the purpose of the book is the ascertainment of truth. For upward of a century the country has wrangled and theorized about the negro race. Its presence in the land has always operated as an impediment to progress and as an element of national disintegration. Our late Civil War is directly attributable to our contention concerning the black man, and on at least three other occasions in our history the menace of fratricidal strife has arisen, invoked by causes springing directly from sectional differences upon the subject of his treatment. In the present acute and unsatisfactory condition of the subject of the negro's future, the suggestion of a little heart searching upon the problem appears timely, and if the present work may in some small measure contribute to its final and successful solution, my purpose will be accomplished.

My intention has been to spare the reader, so far as possible, the labor of examining tables of statistics. I have, therefore, introduced only such matter of this character as seemed

indispensable to the proper development of the thought, and have sought to make the application of the figures presented of the most practical character.

In conclusion, I desire to express my obligation to the many friends who have aided and encouraged me in the preparation of this work. Especially, to Mr. Hugo Wintner of the New York Bar, for his invaluable assistance in the reading and revision of the manuscript and his numerous suggestions leading to improvement of the text; to my brother, Mr. J. D. Pickett, for like services and for his constant helpfulness in the correction of the proofs and the preparation of the book for publication; and to Miss Ethel L. Frost, for her untiring assistance in the preparation of the manuscript and for many valuable suggestions as to the form and arrangement of the matter.

NEW YORK, January 1, 1909.

WILLIAM P. PICKETT.