as the learned,
and the black as much as the white. Indeed, the free and untrammeled
use of the ballot makes its possessor a veritable sovereign and gives
him power over men and their possessions. Opinion is divided as to the
wisdom of giving the Negro citizenship at the time it was given him.
We think no mistake was made. It came at the time the Negro needed it
most. It was the weapon with which he defended himself when he had but
few friends. The Negro has not been a failure in politics. The very
leaders who urge our young men to let alone politics, will, on the
other hand, point out Bruce, Douglass, Pinchback and others as the
most worthy and conspicuous characters of the race. That a reaction
has set in, and the Negro is being deprived of the ballot, should
occasion no alarm and little surprise.

The grandfather clause in the different state constitutions will serve
as a check to the white man's progress along educational lines, but a
spur to urge us on. These seeming setbacks in the concession of
political rights I count as progress, and place it to the white man's
credit.

The decision of the Supreme Court at Washington against the
constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act of 1875 has had its effect,
and to-day we find the Negro more discriminated against in his civil
than in any other class of rights. Then, too, the social bugbear has
had much to do with this discrimination. However, progress has been
made. It has been slow, of course, because of the channel (public
opinion) through which it has been compelled to come. In many sections
of the country the Negro enjoys the most of his civil rights. He is
admitted to the hotels, theaters, and other public places, and on
public conveyances he is furnished fair accommodations. We believe in
the ultimate triumph of right. Let us be patient. There is a
disposition on the part of the better class of white people to do the
fair and just thing by the Negro. This class will continue to
increase, and some day the Negro will enjoy all of his rights, and our
fair country will indeed be the land of the free, as well as the home
of the brave.

TOPIC XIX.

THE NEGRO AS A LABORER.

BY N. W. HARLLEE.

[Illustration: Prof. N. W. Harllee]

N. W. HARLLEE, A. M., A. B.

The subject of this sketch was born a slave in Robeson
county, near Lumberton, North Carolina, July 15th, 1852. His
father was a Methodist preacher who exhorted the p