A MACHINE-MADE SONG. The crush of the city is in my heart 'T is a fear of the end, of the flitting years, When my own spent eyes are a mist of tears, 'T is a dreary fight, 't is a fight to death, "Fight on!" The crush of the city is in my breast And how may the hope of an Afterland The crush of the city is hushed and still, With the flashing lights from a tireless mill, Toil on, you men, till the funeral toll Sounds the last cold knell of Fate! For we're all in the fight. 't is a fight to death, "Fight on!" DOWN WITH THE AUTOCRATS! Could I but have the hungry flesh-red lash That Cheops wielded from his pyramid, Eric Dale Could I but have the sinew and the brawn That stone might vaunt when Egypt's might were gone; Could I but have them all, just these,-ah then, Come! Drive the damned tyrants from their shade, Eric Dale. THE SLEEPING SLAVES. With silent stealth these hideous birds of power, With songs of tinseled lust they tone the hour, What are we men that on starvation feed Rend wing and wing these vultures and their like; Eric Dale. The Economic Aspects of the Negro Problem. race. I. The Negro Slave in Colonial Times. The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line, the relation of the darker to the lighter races, says Professor Du Bois, a prominent member of the colored While his descent must naturally influence the writer quoted to somewhat exaggerate the importance of the problem, and while we socialists will never be disposed to admit that any problem may overshadow in importance the problem of labor, yet the fact that some ten millions, or one eighth of our population, are at least likely to take the point of view of Professor Du Bois, and that these ten millions are mostly proletarians, and that to them this would be a true statement of fact, no matter what we think of it, must force us socialists to admit that there is at least a great deal of truth in this assertion. Curiously enough, this general recognition of the acuteness of the negro problem dates from the beginning of the current century. Since the now famous luncheon of President Roosevelt with Mr. Booker Washington, in the latter part of 1901, an incident trivial enough in itself, but characteristic for the unanimous cry of protest throughout the entire South, from Maryland to Florida, and from the shores of the Atlantic to the farthest Texas,—animated discussions were started not only in the North, but even in Europe, as to the future of the Negro Race in America. It is no less curious, that while it is generally understood that the vast majority of the negroes in this country belong to the proletarian class, nevertheless the party which claims to represent the interest of this class has troubled itself very little about the negro problem. A few articles in the pages of the International Socialist Review, and other Socialist publications, some quite sensible and some otherwise, was all that the socialists have contributed to the discussion of this grave problem, as if their assertion, often heard, that the negro problem was only one aspect of the labor problem, relieved them of the necessity of studying it, instead of making it their especial duty. It is not at all surprising therefore, to find a universal lack of understanding of the complicated aspects of this problem among the working socialists, coupled with a wide spread lack of interest anywhere outside of the southern socialist organizations. Instead of a painstaking study, and some well formed convictions and policies, we find only antiquated pre judices among some, and a purely platonic sympathy to the poor negroes among others. Do the Socialists of this country really expect to attract the ten million negro proletarians into. their ranks with such a policy of indifference? Or do they really think they can succeed in this country with these ten millions of proletarians left on the outside? Or do they simply sit and wait, until the International Socialist congress will take up this momentous question, just as they were willing to leave the entire question of immigration alone to be discussed by the comrades from the countries of Europe? The series of studies, of which this is the first installment, is not offered with the conceited notion, that it will entirely fill the existing gap. There is no pretense, that an absolutely correct answer will be given to the negro problem, which will be adopted as our plank by the time the next national convention meets for the selection of its candidates, and the formulation of its platform. Our purpose will be realized, if we shall succeed in showing some of the historical and economic aspects of this problem, and shall make the average socialist worker somewhat better acquainted with the nature of the problem, so as to give some solid foundation upon which to construct his theories and remedial proposals. Books there have been written many about the negro problem, but not only are the socialist writers conspicious by their absence in this literature, but very few efforts have ever been made, at least in this country, to apply the methods of economic interpretation to the past and the present of the negro's position in this country. For it is true, though scarcely flattering to our national conceit, that the few really scientific studies of the history of the negro race in this country have been contributed by German students, and I hope to do a useful service to the cause, if I do no more than acquaint the American socialists with the interesting results of these investigations. I have stated above that the beginning of the twentieth century has brought with it a marked aggravation of the negro problem. Still, it was evident to any painstaking observer of American life, that no sudden change in the relation of the races has taken place and that the seeming aggravation of the conditions was but a manifestion of effects which were gathering for a very long time. For no matter what the future may have in store for us, in the past the negro question, like the poor, we had with us always. And any serious discussion of the negro question is absolutely useless which does not take the historical conditions into thorough consideration. What is the negro problem? In other words, what facts of American life justify us in speaking of its existence? In brief, it is this: That ten millions of men and women of negro, or. semi-negro origin are forced, against their will, and much to their dissatisfaction, to live in exceptional legal as well as social conditions, that they are forced to suffer restrictions in their political and civil rights, as well as economic opportunities because of their racial origin. This is not intended as a criticism of the situation, but as a simple statement of facts, for at this stage we are only stating the problem which we intend to study. With the exception of one short period, where the legal, but not the actual standing of the negro was equalized with the rest of the population, the negro problem as defined above, has never ceased to exist since that fateful day when the first fourteen African negroes were brought to Virginia in a small Dutch vessel, in the year of our Lord 1619. Not only has the negro problem existed in this country since that day, but the presence of the negro has made a deep impression upon the economic, political and social development of this country, and the history of the Negro Problem is no more and no less than the History of the United States, of its politic, economic and social institutions. No effort will be made to embody the history of this great country in this short series of essays. Nevertheless, it cannot be stated too often, that without some historical study of the negro problem, its nature at the present cannot at all be understood. The proclamation of emancipation divides this history into two well defined epochs, that of slavery and that of negro freedom. The present negro problem is the problem of the free negro; but an understanding of the free negro, and his problem may only be found in the conditions of slavery, and any discussion of the negro problem, which presumes to begin after the emancipation, is worse than useless, it is misleading. It seems even strange that it should be necessary to emphasize this fact; but our young and energetic country lives fast, makes its history in a great hurry and therefore forgets as easily. It must always be remembered, therefore, that scarcely more than 40 years have passed since the liberation of the slaves. It follows that almost all the living negroes over forty years of age were born of parents who had been slaves. On the other hand, the white population of the South is no further removed from the institution of slave owning, than the negro is from conditions of previous servitude. The system of slavery is vivid in memories, as an awful nightmare for some, and as a vision of the paradise lost for others. Social relations are even more enduring than personal memories. Much will be cleared up in this tremendous and com |