gro before the courts. All these things but indicate the
handicap which has to be overcome. Within the family there is often
great abuse on the part of the men. The result of it all is that many
Negroes do not know their own fathers and so little are the ties of
kinship' regarded that near relatives are often unknown, and if possible
less cared for. This may be substantiated by the records of any charity
society in the North which has sought to trace friends of its Negro
applicants. To attempt a quantitative estimate of the extent of sexual
immorality is useless. It is sufficient to realize that a different
standard prevails and one result today is a frightful prevalence of
venereal diseases to which any practising physician in the South can
bear witness. I am glad to say there are sections which have risen above
these conditions.

The transition from slavery to freedom set in operation the forces of
natural selection, which are sure and steadily working among the people
and are weeding out those who for any reason can not adapt themselves to
the new environment. Insanity, almost unknown in slavery times, has
appeared and has been increasing among the Negroes of the South at a
rate of about 100 per cent. a decade since 1860. Of course, the number
affected is still small, but the end is perhaps not reached. We have
witnessed also the development of the pauper and criminal classes. This
was to be expected. There is also some evidence of an increase in the
use of drugs, cocaine and the like. The point to be noted is that there
is taking place a steady division of the Negroes into various social
strata and in spite of race traits it is no longer to be considered as
on a level.

I have sought to represent the situation as it appears to me, neither
seeking to overemphasize the virtues or the vices of the race. It is
clear to me that in spite of the obvious progress the road ahead is long
and hard. While I do not anticipate any such acceleration of speed as
will immediately bring about an economic or social millenium I believe
that proper measures may be found, indeed, are already in use, which if
widely adopted will lead to better things. How many of the race will
fall by the way is, in one sense, a matter of indifference. In the long
run, for the whites as well as the blacks, they will survive who adapt
their social theories and, consequently, their modes of life to their
environments.

CHAPTER VI. THE OUTLOOK.