CHAPTER ix. 



THE RACE PROBLEM. 



BY J. H. TURNER, NATIONAL SECRETARY-TREASURER OF THE NATIONAL FARMERS' 

 ALLIANCE AND INDUSTRIAL UNION. 



SINCE President Lincoln issued his emancipation proclamation, Janu- 

 ary i, 1863, no question has provoked more discussion and serious 

 consideration than this one, and after twenty-eight years of discussion 

 and legislation, until recently the question seemed no nearer solution 

 than it did when the famous proclamation was issued. Writers of every 

 character, both white and black, have taken a turn at its discussion, and 

 have widely differed as to the means to be employed in its solution. 



In writing this short article, I fully realize the gravity of the subject I 

 have in hand, and will therefore remain near the shore. It is not my 

 purpose to solve this question, but simply to give my experience with 

 the negro in the South, coupled with such facts and suggestions as will 

 enable those who know but very little of the real conditions that exist in 

 the South, to form correct ideas in regard to the true conditions that 

 exist between the great masses of the white and colored people of the 

 South. I shall be perfectly satisfied with my effort, if I am able to elicit 

 one thought, word, or deed that will help to bring about a better under- 

 standing all over this country, that will bring peace and prosperity to 

 the great common people, both white and black. 



I hope the reader will pardon me for alluding to myself in this con- 

 nection just enough to state that I was born on a farm in middle 

 Georgia. At the time I was born my father was a slave-owner. I have 

 been intimately associated with the negro on the farm, alt my life, and 

 know something of the relation of the two races from actual experience. 

 What I have to say on this subject shall be entirely free from all party 

 spirit, and solely in the interest of truth. 



After the war, when the negro found himself a citizen of the United 



States, he was besieged by a class of pretended friends (I allude to the 



'v/ carpet-baggers from the North) who have proven to be his worst enemies. 



To control them politically, these same carpet-baggers promised each 



head of a family forty acres of land and a mule, if he would vote right ; 



that is, for the carpet-baggers. The poor negro was not only promised 



this, but social equality with the whites, and a great many other things 



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