n. "We might as well starve or freeze
to death in Kansas," they say, "as to be shot-gunned here." If they talk
to you in confidence, they declare that the ruling purpose is to escape
from the "slaughter-pens" of the South. Political persecution, and not
the extortion they suffer, is the refrain of all the speakers at negro
meetings that are held in encouragement and aid of the emigration. It is
idle to deny that the varied injustice which the negroes have suffered
as voters is accountable for a large part of their universal yearning
for new homes, and it will be folly for the responsible classes at the
South to ignore this fact.

As it is the negroes who are fleeing from the South, it is natural to
look among the dominant class for the injustice which is driving them
away; but it would be unfair to conclude that the blame rests entirely
upon the whites, and still more so to leave the impression that there
is no extenuation for the mistakes and abuses for which the whites are
responsible. Much of the intimidation of the blacks has been tolerated,
if not suggested, by a fear of negro uprisings. The apprehension is a
legacy from the days of slavery, and is more unreasonable now than
it was then; but still it exists. This is not an excuse, but an
explanation. The Pharaohs of the time of Moses were in constant dread
lest the Hebrews under their rule should go over to their enemies, and
their dread doubtless increased the cruelty of the Egyptians; but, while
this dread was an extenuation in the eyes of the persecutors, it did
not prevent the Hebrews from fleeing the persecution. So the blacks are
going without regard to the justification which the whites may set up
for their treatment; the only difference between the old and new exodus
is that, as the writer heard one negro speaker express it, "every black
man is his own Moses in this exodus." The negro may be lazy; it seems
impossible to be otherwise in the Southern climate. He may not be
willing to work on Saturdays, no matter how urgent the necessity; the
indulgence in holidays is said to be one of the chief drawbacks to the
advancement of the emancipated serfs of Russia. The blacks are certainly
extravagant in their way, though the word seems to be almost misused in
connection with a race who live largely on pork and molasses, and rarely
wear more than half a dollar's worth of clothes at one time. They have
not the instinct of home as it prevails among the whites, but incl