77] LANDOWNERSHIP AMONG THE NEGROES 77 



cotton plantations, and owing to the shortcomings of 

 the cropping arrangement, together with the credit 

 system and the declining price of cotton up to 1898, they 

 had little or no surplus left over at the end of the year. 

 In so far, however, as lands in Georgia have been abund- 

 ant — and they have been relatively abundant — the oppor- 

 tunity has been favorable for the enterprising and thrifty 

 negro to become the owner of a farm. 



A word should be said touching the status of those 

 negroes who do cultivate farms of their own. They of 

 course represent the most substantial element in the race, 

 and, as a usual thing, are respected alike by the whites 

 and the members of their own race. They obtain goods 

 from merchants upon as good terms as do white men 

 similarly circumstanced, and their complexion has no 

 influence upon the rate of interest. They live in better 

 constructed and better furnished homes, and on the 

 whole make conservative citizens. The hope of the race 

 seems to center in this element of the population. It is, 

 therefore, to be hoped that the next few generations will 

 see a large increase in the number of those possessing 

 sufficient energy and thrift to acquire farms. 



