se are not worthless and shiftless
Negroes, but persons who work hard from Monday morning until Saturday
night. As a rule, they are on their farms at sunrise, and remain there
until sunset. They have their dinners brought to them in the fields. I
have seen small families grow into large ones under these conditions. I
have also seen infants grow to manhood under same. Now, these people who
have been working in this way for twenty-five and thirty years are
becoming discouraged. When you ask them why they do not ditch,
fertilize, and improve their farms, their answer is, that if they do
this, the next year they will either have to pay more rent or hunt
another home for themselves.

It seems to be the policy of the landlords and the merchants of the
rural South to keep their tenants and customers in debt. It is this
abominable method of the landlords and tenants of the rural South more
than anything else, that has caused many of the best farming lands there
to be turned into pastures, others to be sold at sheriff sale, and still
others to be growing up in weeds. Another menace is loss of fertility of
the soil.

The problem is, how can we stop these people from leaving the country
for the cities and other places of public works and again reclaim these
waste fields? It was once thought that the places of these Negroes could
be supplied by immigrants from foreign countries, but this hope is now
almost abandoned. In fact, the few immigrants who have gone into that
section have, in many instances, been oppressed almost as much as the
Negroes, many have gone to other parts of the country or have returned
to their homes. So we find ourselves face to face with large and fertile
agricultural areas in the South with no labor to till them.

The remedy of these evils lies in the Negro himself. He is best suited
to the work, best adapted to the climate, and understands the southern
white man better than anyone else. Furthermore, he knows the white man;
knows his disposition and inclinations, and therefore, knows what is so
called his place. He feels that justice is wanting in the courts of the
South and he therefore tries to avoid all troubles. Most of all, he
prays for a chance to work and educate his children. He labors and waits
thus patiently because he has faith in the American people. He believes
that ere long the righteous indignation of this people will be aroused
and like the great wave of prohibition, will sweep this country