THEOLOGY VERSUS THRIFT. 363 



peanuts, pickles, cheese and cakes — to the average amount of ahout four 

 cents per child. The same average amount is temporarily kept by each 

 child. As it is often stated, 'When I get some more to put with it I 

 will get something I want.^ The idea of putting money away for some 

 definite future use is rarely found. 



Booker Washington's 'great quadrivium' for his people consists in 

 the arts of acquiring 'property, economy, education and Christian char- 

 acter.' The success of Hampton and Tuskegee lies in the habits which 

 they form of thrift and industry, and in the new wants which their 

 students can supply by the exercise of their trades. No graduate from 

 either school will be contented without a home of his own, sufficiently 

 roomy to ensure decent privacy, supplied with clean and comfortable 

 furniture, with pictures and with books, and with a plot of land large 

 enough for vegetables and flowers. But in the Black Belt this consti- 

 tutes the wealth which is condemned by the theology of an uneducated 

 ministry. 



This theology is undoubtedly an outgrowth of slavery. It was most 

 desirable to suppress in slaves any ambition to own property. But the 

 great obstacle to useful citizenship to-day is this very lack of ambition. 

 For sloth and extravagance are justified by the belief that God has 

 placed a ban upon the fruits of industry and foresight.* 



It is a significant fact that only three children find any religious 

 sanction for accumulating property. A girl of thirteen declares that: 

 'The Lord put something on this earth for everyone,' and another 

 justifies herself by the statement: 'My Father in Heaven is rich.' An 

 Alabama boy of seventeen writes, 'I would like to be rich because I 

 could serve God better. , I wouldn't have to plow and get angry with the 

 mules.' A girl of eighteen sends a beautiful specimen of casuistry. 

 "I would like to be rich, then I would be able to live above wants. 

 Though the Bible says it is impossible for a rich man to enter the 

 Kingdom of Heaven. But I would trust God. Because there is noth- 

 ing impossible with God," 



The different religious teaching of city children certainly accounts 

 largely for their different attitude towards wealth. Among the negro 

 clergymen of the cities represented are men distinguished for broad 

 training, for careful investigation of social conditions and for rare per- 

 sonal devotion. Eealizing that the progress of their race depends 

 largely upon its industrial development they constantly exalt thrift 

 and a good standard of living in their teachings. There is no present 

 danger that the growth of avarice will destroy the negro's religious 

 sentiment. Sufficient to keep this alive for many generations is his 



* A Georgia deacon is reported who was deposed from his official position 

 in the church because he had acquired 10 acres of land and was therefore con- 

 sidered unable to 'keep his mind on heavenly affairs.' 



