ving been the slave of these men, he, in turn, will
enslave them. From having been the slave, he will become the master;
from having labored to enrich others, he will force others to labor to
enrich him. The laws of nature are inexorable, and this is one of
them. The white men of the South may turn pale with rage at this
aspect of the case, but it is written on the wall. Already I have seen
in the South the black and white farm laborer, working side by side
for a black landlord; already I have seen in the South a black and a
white brick-mason (and carpenters as well) working upon a building
side by side, under a colored contractor. And we are not yet two
decades from the surrender of Robert E. Lee and the manumission of the
black slave.

I have no disposition to infuriate any white man of the South, by
placing a red flag before him; we simply desire to accustom him to
look upon a picture which his grand-children will not, because of the
frequency of the occurrence, regard with anything more heart-rending
than complacent indifference. The world moves forward; and the white
man of the South could not stand still, if he so desired. Like the
black man, he must work, or perish; like the black man, he must submit
to the sharpest competition, and rise or fall, as the case may be. And
so it should be.

CHAPTER XIV

_Classes in the South_

Since the war the people of the South are, from a Northern standpoint,
very poor. There are very few millionaires among them. A man who has a
bank account of fifty thousand dollars is regarded as very rich. I am
reminded of an incident which shows that the Southern people fall down
and worship a golden calf the same as their deluded brothers of the
North and West.

A few years ago I was a resident of Jacksonville, the metropolis of
Florida. Florida is a great Winter resort. The wealthy people of the
country go there for a few months or weeks in the Winter. It is
fashionable to do so. A great many wealthy northern men have acquired
valuable landed interests in Jacksonville, among them the Astors of
New York, who have a knack for pinning their interests in the soil.
The people of Jacksonville were very proud to have as a resident and
property holder, Mr. Wm. B. Astor. And Mr. Astor appeared to enjoy
immensely the worship bestowed upon his money. He built one or two
very fine buildings there, which must net him a handsome return for
his investment by this time. Mr. Astor had with h