The Negro Laborer: A Word to Him

by W. H. Councill

The South can not be too earnest nor too lavish in the cause of education. It can well afford to give two dollars to the cause where one goes now. It is right, and self preservation demands it. While the schools are being increased and put upon a higher plain, the work must be carried on in the families. Let industrial training become the watchword of every man interested in the true growth of our country. I know of a family (of Huntsville) which has done much in the training of domestic servants. The good lady of the house took great pains in explaining (not scolding) and teaching (not driving) to her servants things which her superior education enabled her to understand, or which she had been taught. She, in this manner, educated two or three servants, who, when the time came for separation (and it was always peaceful), were able to earn larger wages than their more unfortunate fellow servants.

I hope that all who love the happiness of home and are concerned about the good of society, will give this matter thoughtful investigation, and earnestly endeavor to benefit this important class of our employes.

XIV. "Social Equality."

"Social equality" is a political scare crow, as there is no such thing, in fact. It is to the illiterate class of whites what putting the Negroes back into slavery was to the ignorant class of colored people. Those who talk most about it know the least about it. The cultivated southerner is not disturbed about social equality. There has never been, and there will never be, among the same race, nor between different races, any such thing as social equality. Freedom does not mean "social equality" nor manhood. It means only the opportunity to be a man. Freedom per se brings nothing but abstract principles, but it opens the avenue for all that is grand and noble in this life and in the great hereafter. Freedom, legislative enactments and judicial adjudications cannot make men socially equal. The merit must be in the individual himself, and find a corresponding merit in some other individual. But I shall not attempt to follow out this line of thought here. I shall speak upon social contact or mixture (if I am allowed to use the word) of the races, improperly called "social equality" by some. They mean combination of races, I suppose, if they mean anything. I use mixture and combination in their broadest sense, preferring the chemical definitions. I am opposed to combination of the races in the least degree, and I see no necessity for mixture outside of business relations. I oppose it for more than one reason, which I cannot discuss here. Keep the Negro race separate and distinct, if it is desired to perpetuate its identity. The lines can not be too tightly drawn, for such lines guarantee the protection of the virtue of the colored girls of the South. The desire to mix with the whites—to marry and associate with that race—is a concession, on the part of those who have that desire, which is cringing and craven, and puts a libel upon the boast that the "Negro blood is equal to any other race". If it is so grand and noble a race, why seek combination and mixture with any other race? But I do not put this question to you. It must be answered by those who advocate such nonsensical doctrine. We can find in our own race ample scope for the exercise of our social ambition. However, I am willing to make the following contract with the white race of the South: "We, the Negroes, agree on our part, to hang by the neck until dead, every colored man who violates the seventh commandment with a white woman, if you, the white people, will agree to punish according to law every white man who violates the seventh commandment with a colored woman. So help us God." There is not a sensible colored man in the whole South who will not sign the contract, and I know the better class of whites, those who say least of "social equality," will sign it for their race. Separation of the races does not mean depreciation of the merits or talents of either of them, any more than the division of States by geographical lines, or the continents, teeming in varied natural wealth, divided by the great oceans, signify the underestimation of the worth of one or the other. In his famous speech upon Mars Hill, St. Paul beautifully and eloquently said: "God * * * giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation." Whether these bounds appointed by God be physical distinctions in the races, or whether they consist of deep oceans or towering, craggy mountains, they must be observed.

There will never be even a mixture of the races, to say nothing of combination, in this country, to any appreciable degree, even if there were an inclination on the part of both in that direction, until the condition of the Negro is changed, and I claim, paradoxical as it may appear, that when the Negro's condition is changed by the cultivation of virtue, there will be even a less desire than now to mix and combine with the white race. In nine cases out of every ten the mixing and combining is the substratum of both races. I can not pursue this subject further at this time.

XV. The Employer.

I have confined my remarks so far to the duties of the employe. The responsibilities of the employer are even greater and more numerous. I can not speak of them at length now. The employer must have care of the health of the employe, as well as provide for him the necessaries of life while he is performing his work. The employer should ever be mindful of the general welfare of his employe. He is more than a mere medium of exchange of labor for dollars. On account of his superior knowledge, there are certain duties which the moral law requires him to discharge. To pay liberally and promptly are minor duties when compared with his general oversight of the moral and intellectual welfare of the laborer. He must not only not defraud the employe himself, but he must see that others do not take advantage of his ignorance or inexperience. He must provide suitable and comfortable homes for his workmen, having due regard for the laws of health. I have in my mind three model men of Huntsville, Alabama, of this class, whose names I will be pardoned for mentioning in this connection.

Dr. J. J. Dement is so kind and upright in dealing with his tenants that they give into his hands their net cash, allowing him to keep all the accounts. This confidence can come by dealing according to moral principles, which are broader and higher than formal business rules. Col. William M. Holding is another employer, or landlord, who has stamped himself indelibly upon the hearts of his employes or tenants. He is ever mindful of their interests, and stands between them and the men who are always watching for a chance to get their hard-earned dollars by fraudulent means. Mr. Holding supplies his tenants himself at cash prices, and never charges them one cent of interest, and yet he pays as high wages and rents his lands as cheaply as any other man in the county. Hon. Edmond I. Mastin is the third model employer. He runs a brick yard. His foreman is a Negro of almost full blood. Mr. M. contracted with him to work for $25 per month, but finding the foreman constantly increasing in competency, and finding his own cash account growing larger, he voluntarily advanced the wages to $50 per month. This struck the foreman with great surprise. One of his men had mortgaged his house and lot,—this Mr. M. paid off, secured to him the property, and charged no interest. These kinds of employers and landlords understand their relations to their tenants and employes. There are hundreds of others scattered over the South, and each one is doing more to build up the country and establish and maintain confidence and friendly relations between the races than a dozen politicians. I wish all the landlords and employers in the country would carry such ethics into their business relations with their laborers.

XVI. Be a Good Citizen.

What is the object of life? It is to make society better, and thereby honor and glorify the great Maker. How can you benefit society? By making of yourself a man, as God intends you to be—a good citizen, as the laws require you to be. It is not necessary, in order to be a good citizen, that genealogy shall play a part. It is of little consequence whether the Negro came from Adam, or whether he was evolved by the Darwinian theory. It does not matter whether his ancestors were the pyramid builders of Egypt, or the compatriots of Hannibal or Scipio, or whether they were the fetich worshippers of African jungles. It is not a question of comparison of the Caucasian and Negro intellectual abilities, capacities or attainments. It is not important to decide which race can dig deepest and soar highest in the sciences. These questions may be considered by anthropologists and scientists, but, for the laboring man, the main question is how to win bread—how to be a citizen. Whatever may have been your ancestry, whatever may have been their condition, is of little value to you. In this age of electricity and steam, men no longer are run on the pedigrees of their foreparents, regardless of merit. A lawyer whose only recommendation is the illustrious name of a dead progenitor, will never have clients. The physician, who pleads the excellence of a line of noble blood reaching into the far receding centuries, will find poor sale for his pills. The merchant who expects to get his inferior goods off his shelves on the credit of family name, will soon find the sheriff at his door. What would you think of a man, totally ignorant of carpentry, or masonry, or agriculture, proposing to work for you upon the worthiness of some dead relative? Be meritorious. Be a citizen of whom the State may be proud, and your ancestry will care for itself. I do not undervalue an honorable family record. It is diamond. But you must be worthy yourself.