Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 12.djvu/363

Rh Thinking men knew that while he was not expected, owing to his unfortunate past, to be able to fight the battles of life with the superior race, still it was disappointing, as shown by the statistics, that the masses have been but little advanced in the acquisition of property and education. He is inclined to be wasteful and improvident; inclined to spend his money in baubles rather than in surrounding himself with comforts. It cannot be denied that he has improved in many ways, educationally, materially and morally, but as yet the signs are not of the most encouraging character that he will ever be successful in the great competition in life, which he will necessarily encounter side by side with the white man.

I hardly think it can be denied that prejudice exists against him as a race, both North and South. In his work he cannot compete with the white man in quality or amount. It is also evident that in all lines of employment except agriculture, he is steadily disappearing in numbers at the North, as compared with his hold in those employments years ago, when there was a sentiment in his favor. He is being more and more restricted in all the avenues of the various industries affording a living to workers. The places are being filled more and more by white employes. He is constantly failing in his ability to keep abreast of the white man in the struggle for employment. He is being pushed aside as the white man needs work and tries to get it, to such an extent that at the North he has but few lines of employment now left. Labor unions are discriminating against him in all mechanical trades, and in fact in all lines of work controlled by guilds, and this discrimination also exists where there are no labor unions. For a long time and until recently this feeling did not pervade the South, but it is growing, and where many negro mechanics got work for a long time, white mechanics are now strongly competing and demanding preference, and as they generally give better work, they are getting it more and more