especially
those who are to do farm work. Thus far, but very little general good
has been accomplished by these schools. The reason is that the farmers,
those who till the soil, have not had access to these schools and those
who attend are not the farming class, and do not take to farming as
their life's work. The man who works the soil must be taught how to
farm. We have in this state nine purely agricultural schools, each of
which is a white institution. It is true that some agricultural training
is given for Negroes at Normal, Montgomery and Tuskegee, but these are
not purely agricultural schools and the great mass of Negro farmers
cannot hope to attend them.

If the Negro is to remain the farming class in the Black Belt of the
South, then he must be taught at least the rudiments of the modern
methods of improved farming. He must have agricultural schools and must
be encouraged to attend them. The loss of the fertility of the soil is
the greatest menace of the South. How can we regain this lost fertility,
is the greatest question of the hour.

CHAPTER 15.

THE NEGRO EXODUS.

The Negro has remained in the South almost as a solid mass since his
emancipation. This, in itself shows that he loves the South, and if he
is now migrating to the East, North and West by the hundreds and
thousands, there must be a cause for it.

We should do our best to find out these causes and at least suggest the
remedy, if we cannot accomplish it. The time has come for plain speaking
on the part of us all. It will do us no good to try to hide the facts,
because "truth crushed to earth will rise again."

In the first place, the Negro in this country is oppressed. This
oppression is greatest where the Negro population is greatest. The Negro
population happens to be greater in the South than in the North,
therefore, he is more oppressed in the South than in the North.

Take the counties in our own state. Some are known as white counties and
others as black counties. In the white counties the Negro is given
better educational opportunities than in the black counties. I have in
mind one Black Belt county where the white child is given fifteen
dollars a year for his education and the Negro child thirty cents a
year. See the late Dr. Booker T. Washington's article, "Is the Negro
Having a Fair Chance?" Now these facts are generally known throughout
this State by both white and black. And we all know that this is unjust.
It is oppres