ich is certainly
not flattering to the Negro, a learned medical authority tells us: "I
might remark in passing that, notwithstanding the horrible crimes
perpetrated under the influence of the _furor sexualis_ by the Negro, I
believe that he compares quite favorably as regards sexual
impulses--taking all abnormalities into consideration--with the white
race. The more I see of white men in so-called refined society, the more
contempt have I for quite a large proportion of male humanity."[54]

To summarize the points of the argument, showing that rape is not
peculiarly characteristic of the Negro:

1. Rape has been practiced among all races and nations.

2. The committal of rape by white men is by no means an infrequent
occurrence. Two instances of white men committing heinous assaults upon
white children occurred in Washington during the preparation of this
article.

3. In Africa rape is so severely punished that it is comparatively
unknown.

4. In the British Islands and in South America where the Negroes live in
greatest relative abundance, the crime is unheard of.

5. When the care and safety of the white women of the South were
entrusted to the keeping of the slaves, they returned inviolable all
that had been entrusted to their hands.

6. Of the hundreds of lady missionaries of the North who have trusted
their lives and virtue to the emancipated race whom they came to uplift,
not a single case of violation has been reported to their friends at the
North.

SOCIAL MORALITY.

The present state of social morality is mirrored in the number of
illegitimate offsprings. The figures which show that the rate of
illegitimacy among Negroes in Washington has increased from 17.60 per
cent of total births in 1879 to 26.46 per cent in 1894 have been widely
quoted and remarked upon. These are facts of record and cannot be
gainsaid or denied. According to the opinion of medical men and others
in positions to observe, these figures if anything fall short of the
truth. It is also probable that the other large cities of the country,
if as closely studied, would make as startling a showing. The only
alarming feature of the situation is the constant _increase_ in the
illegitimate rates. That twenty-five per cent of the births among
Negroes are illegitimate will not alarm anyone where it is considered
that even this low moral status represents a gain of seventy-five per
cent over the conditions prevailing under slavery.

Mr.