The Colored Race 



119 



In reply to Mr. Tourgee he writes : — 



" In ' An Appeal to Caesar,' by Judge Tourgee, the ques- 

 tion of the future of the colored element is discussed from a 

 somewhat different point of view. Without committing him- 

 self as to the increase or decrease of the colored element in 

 the country at large, in proportion to the whites, the author 

 finds, upon a somewhat superficial study of the statistics bear- 

 ing upon the question, that in the South Atlantic and Gulf 

 States the negroes have increased decidedly in proportion to 

 the whites, while in those States which he classes as Border 

 States they have relatively decreased. ' This massing of the 

 negroes in what may, for convenience, be denominated the 

 cotton States, coupled with the steady sharpening of the line 

 of separation between the two races — a line which, as the 

 author claims, becomes more and more accentuated as the in- 

 ferior race increases in numbers and advances in education — 

 will lead to inevitable conflict between the two races. As the 

 negro becomes numerically the stronger, and, through educa- 

 tion, appreciates more fully his present position, he will com- 

 mence a struggle for the mastery, and then the days of the Ku 

 Klux will be eclipsed in blood and slaughter. Such is the 

 condition to which these ill-fated States are hurrying. To 

 ward off" this impending evil Judge Tourgee urges upon the 

 general government the work of educating the blacks. Such, 

 in brief is the ' Appeal to Caesar.' * * * * 



:K >K :^c ;[; ^ ^ ^ ^ 



" It may, in passing, be suggested that a careful revision 

 of his figures will show many important arithmetical errors, 

 which may modify very .sensibly some of his conclusions. It 

 is unnecessary to follow his methods of reasoning, as the truth 

 regarding the questions at issue can be arrived at much more 

 directly. The fact is, that the negro is not migrating south- 

 ward. There is no massing of the colored people in the cotton 

 States. In i860 the colored element of these States formed 66 

 per cent, of the colored element of the country. In 1880 it 

 formed precisely the same proportion. Between i860 and 1880 

 the colored element of the country increased 48 per cent. The 

 same element of the cotton States increased, in this interval. 



