Chapter 52

Again, the statistician reports, in 1890, 12,690,152 homes and farms in the United States, and of this number the Negroes own 234,747 free from all encumbrance, and 29,541 mortgaged; giving the percentage of mortgaged property owned by Negroes as 10.71, while the whole percentage of mortgaged property for the whole country is 38.97. It is further stated that of all the property held by Negroes, 88.58 per cent is owned without encumbrance. Since so much has been accomplished in the Negro's pioneer days of freedom, may we not predict with a considerable degree of assurance that the next decade and a half will far exceed our most sanguine hope? The virgin fertility of our soils, and the vast amount of cheap and unskilled labor, have been a curse rather than a blessing to agriculture. This exhaustive system of cultivation, the destruction of forests, the rapid and almost constant decomposition of organic matter, together with the great multiplicity of insect and fungus diseases that appear every year, make the Southern agricultural problem one requiring more brains than that of the North, East or West. The advance of civilization has brought, and is constantly bringing, about a more healthy form of competition. The markets are becoming more fastidious, and he who puts such a product upon the market as it demands, controls that market, regardless of color. It is simply a survival of the fittest.

We are also aware that the demands upon agriculture were never so exacting as they are now. All other trades and professions are holding out their inducements to the young men and women who are ready and willing to grapple with life's responsibilities. One says, "Come and I will make you a Gould." Another, a Rockefeller; still another, an Astor--with all the luxuries their names suggest. Too many of our own farmers illy prepare their land, cultivate, harvest and market the scanty and inferior crop, selling the same for less than it cost to produce it. I need not tell you that the above conditions imperatively suggest the proverbial mule, implements more or less primitive, with frequently a vast territory of barren and furrowed hillsides and wasted valleys. Instead of the veritable Klondyke, of which their dreams are made sweet, another mortgage has been added as an unpleasant reminder of the year's hard labor. With this inevitable doom staring them in the face, is it any wonder that so many of the youth of our land flock to the cities with the hope of seeking some occupation other than farming? The above conditions, together with the seemingly higher civilization of the city folk, I claim, are largely responsible for this. But be this as it may, in the light of what has been accomplished, I see for us a very bright star of hope in the education of two-thirds of the brightest and best of our youth in scientific agriculture.

The many excellent schools, colleges, nature study leaflets, farmers' bulletins and reading courses, conferences, convocations, congresses, fairs, and the like, are all powerful educational factors designed to lead the race into higher agricultural activities. The agricultural schools, and higher institutions of that character, are wisely laying much stress upon stock raising, dairying, horticulture, landscape gardening, poultry raising, and every manipulation incident to the successful operation of this great industry. These subjects have been taught almost wholly to young men, but recent experience has taught, not only in this, but in other countries, that many of these studies seem especially suited to women; and many are taking the advantages offered by schools in the matter of learning the technique of poultry raising, dairying, horticulture, landscape gardening, and the related sciences, along with their academy or college work, and as a reward are finding pleasant, profitable and healthful employment. Nature study, with the first principles of agriculture, is compulsory in many of the primary schools, and ere another decade is indelibly placed upon the historical records of the greatest events of the greatest century, it will find us wonderfully in advance in this particular.

Every year we see a perceptible increase in the funds for public education, and magnificent schools and colleges, with better paid professors, springing up here and there, stand out as beacon lights to this new and wonderful epoch. The wisdom of spending these ever-increasing millions upon the youth of our land becomes from year to year a matter of less concern as we seek to give our boys and girls a broader education than that of a pure scientist. It is very encouraging to note the course taken by our young men and women who have gone out from those institutions--the way they have acquired land, built homes, and are devoting their entire time and talent in that direction. I have no fears but what we, in the course of time, will do our part both nobly and well in the matter of feeding a hungry world.

SECOND PAPER.

THE NEGRO AS A FARMER.

BY H. A. HUNT.

PROF. HENRY A. HUNT.

Henry A. Hunt was born in Hancock County, Ga., in 1866. He attended the public schools of Sparta, the county seat, until 1882, when he entered Atlanta University and was graduated from the college course in 1890. He also completed the course of instruction given in the Industrial Department of that university. He kept up his expenses, in a measure, by working as a carpenter during his vacations and during his spare hours while in school. He was considered a most promising young man and a thorough scholar by his professors and schoolmates. He became a professing Christian while pursuing his college course. In all of the athletic sports of the university he took an active part and served as captain of the base ball team for several years. He graduated with the highest honors of his class. Through a most flattering recommendation from the Superintendent of the Public Schools of Atlanta, Ga., he was called, in 1891, to the principalship of the Charlotte Graded School, which position he filled acceptably, until he resigned, during the same year, to accept the superintendency of the Industrial Department of Biddle University, Charlotte. N. C. In 1896 he was given, in addition to his industrial work, the superintendency of the Boarding Department of Biddle University. These two positions he is now filling in a most acceptable manner. Mr. Hunt's work and close touch with the young men of the university have been most gratifying. He encourages and takes part with them in all of their sports, being the leading spirit in their athletic association. He is a noble example of the manly man and his influence over the students for straightforward and manly endeavor has been truly helpful. The respect and esteem in which he is held by the graduates and undergraduates are most noteworthy. In August, 1900, Mr. Hunt called together the farmers of Mecklenburg and surrounding counties for the purpose of holding a farmers' conference. A permanent organization was effected, of which he was made president. The influence of these annual conferences is far-reaching and will no doubt result in great good to the farming class of western North Carolina. He was for several years the president of the Queen City Real Estate Company of Charlotte, N. C., an organization designed to help those wishing to obtain homes. He was forced to relinquish this work because of other duties. Mr. Hunt is a strong and courageous young man, he is firm in his convictions and believes the royal road to success is attained through the faithful performance of each day's duties. His sympathies are near to the interests of the working classes. As a college-bred man he urges his people to become skilled artisans and to build up reliable business enterprises and thus become independent. His kindness of heart and plain honest dealing with his fellow-man, along with his intellectual attainment, have won for him a host of friends and made him a popular man with all the people.

While attending Atlanta University, Mr. Hunt met the girl--Miss Florence S. Johnson, of Raleigh, N. C.--who in the year 1893 became his wife and to whom much of whatever success he has attained is attributable. To them there have been three bright and beautiful children born--two girls and a boy.

In a chapter on this subject it may not be out of place to give some little attention to the early history of the Negro as a farmer in America.

Without stopping to discuss the motives of the sea captain who brought over the first load of Negroes to America, or why the Northern colonists discontinued, at a comparatively early date, the use of slave labor, let us note a few things about the Negro in the South.

The fact that they could easily endure the summer sun of the cotton belt; that they learned quickly the simple methods of farming used in the cultivation of cotton, rice, sugar-cane, and tobacco; that they required but little in the way of food, clothing, housing and medical attention, and the further fact that they possessed a peculiarly happy and light-hearted disposition, all tended to make them especially valuable to the Southern planters.

It seems that slave labor was looked upon, at a comparatively early date, as being not only desirable, but absolutely necessary to the growth and development of the Southern colonies.

For several years after the settlement of Georgia no slaves were allowed to be used in that colony, but, finding that the colony seemed to be doomed to failure, the "trustees" permitted the introduction of slaves and the colony began immediately to prosper.

The following lines attributed to George Whitefield--the famous minister--in referring to his plantations in Georgia and South Carolina, give a fair idea of the feelings of the Southern colonists on the subject of slave labor at that time. He speaks thus about his Georgia plantation: "Upward of five thousand pounds have been expended in the undertaking, and yet very little proficiency made in the cultivation of my tract of land, and that entirely owing to the necessity I lay under of making use of white hands. Had a Negro been allowed I should now have had a sufficiency to support a great many orphans, without expending above half the sum which has been laid out." How different are his expressions concerning his South Carolina plantation, where slavery existed: "Blessed be God! This plantation has succeeded; and, though at present I have only eight working hands, yet, in all probability, there will be more raised in one year, and without a quarter of the expense, than had been produced at Bethesda for several years past. This confirms me in the opinion I have entertained for a long time that Georgia never can or will be a flourishing province without Negroes are allowed."

With the invention of the cotton gin slave labor became still more valuable, the South more prosperous, and the planters verily believed that cotton was king and South Carolina the hub of the universe.

But, while it is true that the Negro became an indispensable factor in the material prosperity of the South by his work on the plantations, yet he did not at that time occupy a position that could be dignified with the name of farmer. During the days of slavery the Negro occupied a position more closely akin to that of a farm animal than that of a farmer. Of course there were exceptions but we are speaking now of the masses.

The Negro having been looked upon by his master and schooled to look upon himself and his fellow bondmen as possessing none of the intelligence and virtues essential to success in life, there is little wonder that a comparatively small number of freedmen took advantage of the opportunities offered immediately after the close of the Civil War to become land owners. Indeed, when we take into account the fact that there was a sort of caste feeling among the slaves, with the "field hands" as the "mud sill," and all glad of any opportunity offered to rise above the despised position, the great wonder is that so many were willing to continue an occupation considered so degrading. The fact is, that it was to a very great extent simply a matter of accepting cheerfully the inevitable that held so many of the freedmen to the farms and to farm life.

Among the positive forces that operated in taking the Negro from the farm there was, perhaps, none stronger than the desire to have his children educated--the opportunity for which being very poor in the country districts--many of the very best and most thrifty among them left the farms for the towns and cities.

But whether on the farm or in the city, only a few years of freedom and its attendant responsibilities were necessary to enable the more intelligent ones of the ex-slaves to see the importance of not only knowing something, but owning something as well, if they were to entertain any hopes or aspirations above those of the "field hand," and it was from this class of Negro farm hands that the real Negro farmer came into existence. While there were many who showed decided intelligence, sound judgment and shrewd business sense by the manner in which they managed their affairs, still the great masses had arisen, if at all, only from the position of the master's farm animal in slavery to that of his less cared for farm hand in freedom.

The condition just described represents the state of affairs during the first few years after the war, as indeed it does present conditions, except that the number of those who may be called farmers is constantly increasing and the number of mere farm hands is growing proportionately smaller. We should keep constantly in mind the distinction between the man who tills his own land and the one who works the land of another, the former is the farmer, the latter the farm hand.

The distinction just noted would seem to be entirely justifiable as ownership of the land is the first requisite for the proper interest in, and love for the work being done, to entitle a man to the name of farmer.

In order to properly appreciate the opportunities and advantages of farm life to himself and his children, there must be that love for the farm itself, its rocks, its woods, its hills, its shady rills and its meadows that can come in no other way than through the proud sense of ownership. There must be the feeling of kinship for the very soil itself; the birds, the bees, the flowers must all be held dear to the heart of him who would know nature's choicest secrets and reap rich harvests from her beautiful storehouse.

In no field are the prospects brighter for the negro than in that of agriculture. There are thousands of acres of land in the South and Southwest that may be purchased upon terms so favorable that the land being purchased, may, by proper management, be made to yield sufficient income to meet the payments.

In the combination of a mild climate, cheap land, with easy payments, ready markets and previous training of the Negro, God seems to be offering special inducements for him to come out from the condition of a landless tenant--that may grow into a serfdom worse than slavery--to that of worthy, independent and self-respecting land owners.

There is no field in which he meets so little of the unreasoning and unreasonable prejudice as in farming.

The products of the farm are the necessaries of life and people do not stop to question too closely as to whence they come or by whom produced.

Owing to the growth of manufacturing in the South, especially of cotton goods and the consequent removal of large numbers of the poor whites into the cities and towns, just now would seem to be the high tide of the Negroes' opportunity to become an independent class of citizens; and we should be careful to seize it at its flood, or all the rest of our life's voyage may be bound in shallows and miseries more distressing than those already passed.

The opportunity for buying land, becoming independent and even wealthy, are, indeed, grand, but the fact must ever be kept in mind that the present favorable conditions will not obtain indefinitely. Let the tide of European immigration once turn southward and competition immediately becomes sharper, and the further progress of the Negro decidedly more difficult.

If the Negro would put himself in position to successfully withstand this competition that will inevitably come, let him begin now by purchasing his stronghold--the farm--and fortify himself, or he may awake, when it is too late, to find himself without a home or the means with which to secure it.

Let us note just here one of the most solemn obligations resting upon those who stand as leaders of the Negroes, viz.: The duty of impressing upon the masses the absolute necessity for purchasing land and the great need, yes, the absolute necessity of doing so _now_.

It is not the purpose of the writer to create the impression that the leaders of our people are neglecting their duty, or that the masses are letting their opportunities for material betterment pass unimproved, but rather to arouse both leaders and followers to the necessity for greater activity in their work. Indeed when all things, favorable and unfavorable, are taken into account, there is much to be thankful for and hopeful over in the present condition of the Negro farmers.

In almost every community in the South there are to be found Negro farmers who are not only making a decent living, but buying land and improving it, building comfortable dwellings, improving the grades of their farm animals, giving liberal support to their schools and churches and bringing up their children in a manner that is altogether creditable and calculated to make of them good citizens.

It is encouraging to note the increased interest on the part of many young men on the subject of farming, as evidenced by the increasing popularity of the agricultural and mechanical colleges, and the lively interest taken by them in the farmers' conferences held in various parts of the South. The number of Negro farmers who read agricultural journals and make intelligent use of the bulletins issued by the agricultural departments of the various states and the United States, is constantly increasing.

Lest there be some doubt as to the truthfulness of the favorable conditions just mentioned, let the figures speak. Since last year the Negroes of the single state of Georgia have purchased 66,000 acres of land and added $380,000 to the value of farm lands. (Prof. W. E. B. DuBois in The Independent, Nov. 21, 1901.)

Indeed it seems that if in one particular line of work more than any other the Negro has won for himself a place in the history of this country's progress that work has been upon the farm. If one section of the country has profited more than another by his toil, that section is the South, whose forests he has felled, whose roads he has built, whose soil he has tilled, whose wealth he has created, and whose prosperity he has made possible. Then let us not be discouraged, but turn our faces to the sunlight of heaven and put forth our very best endeavors, confidently expecting to reap the full rewards for our labors and attain the full measure of manhood as a race in this "the land of the free and the home of the brave."

TOPIC XXVII.

THE NEGRO AS AN INVENTOR.

BY H. E. BAKER.

HENRY E. BAKER.

Henry E. Baker is one of the most useful men in Washington. His life stands out in strong contrast to that of so many of our educated colored men who have come to Washington, obtained positions in the government service, and shriveled up so far as public usefulness is concerned. He is an active member of the Berean Baptist Church, being its treasurer, an office he has held for several years. For ten years he has been secretary, the executive officer of the Industrial Building and Savings Company, and a director of the Capital Savings Bank. His most notable characteristic is his public spirit, having been connected with almost every well-directed movement in this city for the last fifteen years, looking to the betterment of the condition of his race, especially in the matter of opening up business opportunities for them. The estimation in which he is held by those who know him best is attested by the fact that he is almost invariably called to the position of treasurer in every organization of which he is a member. Born just before the War in Columbus, Miss., he attended the public school of his home and also the Columbus Union Academy. He passed the entrance examination at Annapolis, and was admitted into the Naval Academy as cadet midshipman in 1875, where he remained nearly two years. In 1877, he was appointed "copyist" in the United States Patent Office, where he is at present employed, and where he was promoted, through the several intervening grades, to the position of Second Assistant Examiner at $1,600 per annum. He attended the Ben-Hyde Benton School of Technology in this city from 1877 to 1879; entered the law department of Howard University in 1879, graduating in 1881, at the head of his class, and from the post-graduate course in 1883.

He was married in May, 1893, at Lexington, Ky., to Miss Violetta K. Clark, of Detroit, Mich., who graces a cozy home at 2348 Sixth Street, N. W.

It is quite within the mark to say that no class of men of modern times has made so distinct a contribution to what is popularly called "modern civilization" as have the inventors of the world, and it is equally within bounds to say that the American inventor has led all the rest in the practical utility as well as in the scientific perfection of his inventive skill. Within the century just past the inventors of America have done more than was done in all the preceding centuries to multiply the comforts and minimize the burdens of domestic life. What Washington and Grant, Sherman and Sheridan did for the glory of America was done, and more, by Whitney, Morse, Thompson, Howe, Ericsson, Colt, Bell, Corliss, Edison, McCormick, and a host of other Americans, native and naturalized, to promote the progress of American inventive skill, and thus firmly to establish this country in the front rank of the enlightened nations of the world.

The true measure of a nation's worth in the great family of nations is proportionate to that nation's contribution to the welfare and happiness of the whole; and similarly, an individual is measured by the contribution he makes to the well being of the community in which he lives. If inventions therefore have played the important part here assigned to them in the gradual development of our complex national life, it becomes important to know what contribution the American Negro has made to the inventive skill of this country.

Unfortunately for the seeker after this particular information the public records of the United States government offer practically no assistance, since the public records distinguish only as to nations and not as to races. The Englishman and the American may instantly find out how each stands in the list of patentees, but the Irishman and the Negro are kept in the dark--especially the latter.