be understood as saying that this action is anything but the great exception, but there are dishonest men everywhere who are ready to take advantage' of their weaker fellows and the negro suffers as a result, just as the ignorant foreigner does in the cities. of the North. The interest may also be reckoned into the face of the mortgage. In any case it begins the day the paper is signed, although the money or its equivalent is only received at intervals and a full year's interest is paid, often on the face of the mortgage, even if only two thirds of it has actually been advanced to the negro, no matter when the account is settled. The helplessness of the negro who finds himself in the hands of a sharper is obvious when that sharper has practical control of the situation. In many and curious ways the landlord seeks to hold his tenants. He is expected to stand by them in time of trouble, to protect them against the aggressions of other blacks and of whites as well. This paternalism is often carried to surprising lengths.1 The size of a man's family is known and the riders see to it that he keeps all the working hands in the field. If the riders have any trouble with a negro they are apt to take it out in physical punishment, to "wear him out," as the phrase goes. Thus resentment is seldom harbored against a negro and there are many who claim that this physical discipline is far better than any prison régime in its effects upon the negro. In spite 1 Some change for the better has probably taken place since the above was written, as the following extract indicates. — ED. Two decades ago the common way the merchant or landlord secured himself against losses was by taking a lien on the crops. The lien entitled the landlord to hold in possession all or part of a renter's crop until all claims were paid. The lien was not only upon growing crops, but often upon unplanted crops as well. If through the crop lien the landlord's claim was not settled in one season, it was continued into the next. The old crop lien system with all its force and meaning has apparently changed in meaning and form in some indescribable ways, and since the renter has gradually come into possession of personal property, money is secured for farming by making notes and mortgages on that property. All these may have some features of the crop lien system, but do not have the name.... It is as much the de sire, and as much to the advantage, of the landlord to get rent or interest on the money involved in land with least trouble, as it is the renter's desire to advance himself, and enjoy the privilege of managing his affairs. The present trend of renting conditions - conditions which relieve the landlord of responsibilities and which put upon the renter more responsibilities— is in this direction. -THOMAS B. EDWARDS (Supervisor of Colored Public Schools. Tallapoosa County, Alabama), "The Tenant System and Some Changes since Emancipation," Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, September, 1913, P. 45. of all that is done it is claimed that the negroes are getting less reliable and that the chief dependence is now in the older men, the women and the children. One remark, made by a planter's wife, which impressed me as having a good deal of significance, was, "the negroes do not sing as much now as formerly." To get at anything like an accurate statement of the income and expenses of a negro family is a difficult matter. The following account of three families will give a fair idea of their budget for part of the year at least. Family No. 1 consists of five adults (over 14) and one child. They live in a two-roomed cabin and own one mule, two horses, two cows. Their account with the landlord for the years 1900 Their credit for 1901 was $103.92, thus leaving a deficit for the beginning of the next year. As the advances stop in August or September, and the balance of the purchases are for cash and maybe at other stores, there is no way of getting at them. In 1900 the family paid $201 toward the 85 acres they are purchasing, part of this sum probably coming from the crop of 1899, and in 1901 they made a further payment of $34. This family is doing much better than the average. It may be interesting to see a copy of his account for the year 1901 taken from the ledger of the planter, Jan. 19. Feb. 2. Cash for tax, $1.43; recording fee, $1; cash, $13.25. $15.21 14.20 15.68 4.90 bacon, 48 cents Feb. 2. 23.5 bu. corn, $14.94; cash, 79 cents; shoes, $1.50; Mar. 15. 15 yd. drilling, $1.20; 15 yd. check, 75 cents; 4.5 lb. $17-43 2.43 Apr. 6. 10 bu. corn, $7; 5 bu. cotton seed, $1.75; 4.5 lb. bacon, 9.28 Apr. 12. May 1. Bu. meal, 65 cents; spool cotton, 5 cents; tobacco, 10 5.11 May 1. June 8. 30 lb. bacon, $3.45; (25) 30 lb. bacon, $3.30; sack meal, 7.15 8.10 2-3 bu. oats, 35 cents; 1-3 bu. corn, 25 cents; bu. meal, 3.80 June 14. Sack meal, $1.35; 12 lb. bacon, $1.32; cash, $1; (22) 12 lb. bacon, $1.38. 5.05 June 22. July 18. Sack meal, $1.35; sack feed, $2.50; plow sweep, 35 cents; 4.20 5.54 4.42 Aug. 6. Half bu. meal, 50 cents; 4 lb. bacon, 46 cents; cash, The second family consists of three adults and three children. They have three one-roomed cabins, own one mule and two cows, and are leasing fifty acres of land, the effort to buy it having proved too much. Their account for 1900 and 1901 was as follows: The debit for 1900 was all paid by November first, and by November first, 1901, $58.40 of the charge for that year had been paid. In 1900 the man paid $94.61 towards his land but has since been leasing. The third family consists of two adults and three children. They live in a board cabin of two rooms, have one mule, one cow and one horse. They are purchasing 50 acres of land. Their accounts for 1900 and 1901 stand between the two already given. By November 30, 1901, they had paid $79.13 of their account. In 1900 they paid $180 towards their land and $29.60 in 1901. All of these families are a little above the average. The income is supplemented by the sale of chickens, eggs, and occasionally butter. In hard years when the crops are poor the men and older boys seek service in the mines of north Alabama or on the railroads during the summer before cotton picking begins, and again during the winter. The outfit of the average farmer is very inexpensive and is somewhat as follows: Harness, $1.50; pony plow, $3; extra point, 25 cents $4.75 1.75 2 hoes, 80 cents; blacksmith (yearly average), 50 cents Total 1.30 $7.80 A cow costs $25, pigs $2 to $2.50, wagon (seldom owned) $45. A mule now costs from $100 to $150, but may be rented 1 A sweep is a form of cultivator used in cleaning grass and weeds from the rows of cotton. 2 A scooter, or "bull-tongue," is a strip of iron used in opening the furrow for the cotton seed. by the year for $20 or $25. Owners claim there is no profit in letting them at this price and the negroes assert that if one dies the owner often claims that it had been sold and proceeds to collect the value thereof. From either point of view the plan seems to meet with but little favor. The following table will give some idea of the condition and personal property of a number of families in Lowndes County: 69. THE ECONOMIC FUTURE OF THE NEGRO AMERICAN.1 What are the questions in the present problem of the economic status of the negro American? They may be summed up in four groups: 1. The relation of the negro to city and country. 2. The relation of the negro to group and national economy. 3. The influence of race prejudice. 4. The question of efficiency. 1 From The Negro American Artisan. Edited by W. E. B. DuBois and A. G. Dill, Atlanta University Publications No. 17 (1912), pp. 127-142. HORSES OXEN Cows PIGS DOGS |