150 Musings by Camp-Fire and Wayside 



the way of the negroes in the accumulation of prop- 

 erty. In the mechanical arts and in trade, while the 

 preference is given to the white mechanic or mer- 

 chant, the black man will get the work if he can do 

 it better, and he will get the trade, if a merchant, 

 if he render more satisfactory service. 



There is a great difference in the relations of the 

 two races in different localities. The better com- 

 munities of the white people are more favorable to 

 the negroes than the more ignorant communities. 

 That is to be expected. The poor whites, the 

 waste class of the population, having no inherent 

 superiority, make the most of their color as a badge 

 of dominance over the blacks. 



I took every opportunity in Montgomery, and 

 elsewhere, to enter into conversation with white 

 men of superior position. I found them genuinely 

 friendly to the negroes. For example, in conver- 

 sation with a distinguished judge, I drew him out 

 by attacking the general character of the negroes, 

 saying that they were, I was informed, both vicious 

 and worthless. He warmly resented it. "They 

 are neither vicious nor worthless. White men who 

 treat them fairly," he said, "have no trouble with 

 them. You have a more serious problem with 

 your Polacks, Italians, and Huns than we have 

 with our negroes. We do not have to call out the 

 federal troops to keep them from destroying our 

 railroads and factories." 



The old aristocracy likes the negroes. The 



