The immigration into the United States is steadily declining, as appears by the figures reported in the papers, while the blending of the foreigners here is steadily and rapidly going forward, rendering them speedily one people. On the other hand, the colored population in the Southern States is steadily augmenting, while the alienation between the black and white races in the South is becoming more pronounced. The Southern problem is the more difficult of solution.
A clergyman in a Southern town who is connected with families of great influence, and who ministers to a large white church, is accustomed to preach every afternoon in a colored church under the care of this Association. He usually repeats to the colored church the sermon preached in the forenoon to his own people, and finds that those who hear it in the afternoon appreciate it fully. The two remarkable facts in this incident are that the gentleman should consent to do this gratuitous labor for the colored church, and that the colored church should understand and appreciate the sermon prepared for the cultured white congregation.
A Beautiful Gift.
Mr. Silas M. Rideout, of Cumberland, Maine, has presented to the American Missionary Association, through the Boston office, a most beautiful box for keepsakes. It is about 6 inches in width, 9 in length and 4 in depth, made of inlaid woods of different colors very tastefully arranged, "American Missionary" being set in the cover. The inside is lined with plush. On a card in the box the following was written by a friend: "This box was presented to the American Missionary Association by a good man living in a small town in Maine, who, like that good fisherman of whom we have heard, gives such as he had. This dear brother of four-score and two years, made this box and presented it to the American Missionary Association, with its contents $10.25, which was contributed by such of his friends as desired to have a look at the skill of their aged brother in his work of love for the cause of Christ." It was intended by our venerable friend that this box should draw other contributions and finally be sold, the proceeds to be devoted to the work of the American Missionary Association in which Mr. Rideout has been so deeply interested for many years. A gentleman in Boston offers $12 for the box. Will not some one make a better offer, and in this way recognize the remarkable skill of this aged friend in his effort to increase the income of the Association to help the needy millions among whom our missionaries labor?
The Southern Situation.
Some Suggestive Facts.
First Fact. The condition of the colored man In the South is becoming more pitiable and precarious. Mr. Grady, in his last speech, announced the unalterable purpose of the Southern whites never to submit to Negro rule, and we read not long since of a "quiet election" held in a Southern city, because the colored people, duly warned, kept away from the polls. We know something, also, of the struggles of that people against almost insuperable difficulties in trying to obtain food, homes and education. In addition to all this, the public press keeps us informed with sad frequency of the repeated murders inflicted upon the defenceless colored people.
Second Fact. We learn with gratification that Southern people of high standing denounce these outrages. Governor Richardson, of South Carolina, assured a colored delegation that called upon him, that he had offered a reward for the apprehension of the Barnwell murderers, and pledged his sacred word that nothing would be undone on his part to bring the lynchers to condign punishment. Senator Wade Hampton is said to have endorsed the sentiments of the Governor, and leading Southern papers have censured in unmeasured terms this outrage.