Reviews of Books

Reviews of BooksThe Slaveholding Indians. Volume I: As Slaveholder and Secessionist.By Annie Heloise Abel, Ph.D. The Arthur H. Clark Company, Cleveland, 1915. Pp. 394.This is the first of three volumes on the slaveholding Indians planned by the author. Volume II is to treat of the Indians as participants in the Civil War and Volume III on the Indian under Reconstruction.The present volume deals with a phase, as the author says, "of American Civil War history, which has heretofore been almost neglected, or where dealt with, either misunderstood or misinterpreted." It comes as a surprise to most of us that the Indian played a part of sufficient importance within the Union to have the right to have something to say about secession. Yet inconsistently enough he was considered so much a foreigner that both the South and the North, particularly the former, found it expedient to employ diplomacy in approaching him.The South, we are assured, found the attitude of the Indians toward secession of the greatest importance. Yet it was not the Indian owner so much as the Indian country that the Confederacy wanted to be sure of possessing, for Indian Territory occupied a position of strategic importance from both the economic and the military point of view. "The possession of it was absolutely necessary for the political and institutional consolidation of the South. Texas might well think of going her own way and of forming an independent republic once again, when between her and Arkansas lay the immense reservations of the great tribes. They were slave-holding tribes, too; yet were supposed by the United States government to have no interest whatsoever in a sectional conflict that involved the very existence of the 'peculiar institution,'"The above quotation is practically the intent of the book and the author has succeeded in carrying this out in four divisions entitled: I, "The General Situation in the Indian Country, 1830-1860." II, "Indian Territory in Its Relations with Texas and Arkansas." III, "The Confederacy in Negotiation with the Indian Tribes." IV, "The Indian Nations in Alliance with the Confederacy."The book is essentially a work by a scholar for scholars. It is certainly not for the laity. The facts are striking but well substantiated. There can be no doubt but that much time has been spent in its compilation. The style, however, is unusually dry. It has appendices, an invaluable bibliography, a carefully tabulated index, four maps, and three portraits of Indian leaders.It is interesting to note that the author is of British birth and ancestry and so presumably is free from sectional prejudice. Her book marks a distinct step forward, for those who are interested in Indian affairs.Jessie Fauset.The Political History of Slavery in the United States.By James Z. George, formerly Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi and later United States Senator from that State. The Neale Publishing Company, New York, 1915. Pp. xix, 342.This is a discussion as well as the history of slavery and Reconstruction from the time of the introduction of the slaves in 1619 to the break-up of the carpet-bagger governments. "Considering the jealousies and even animosities that are becoming more and more intensified between the North and South, as well as the disposition that is ever increasing in the stronger section to dominate the weaker," the author believes that "it is becoming necessary to think over calmly and seriously the causes that have produced these evils, and to ascertain, if we can, the remedy, if remedy there be."The work begins with a sketch of ancient slavery, showing that the introduction of the institution into the Southern States was not exceptional. He then gives an account of slavery in the colonies, and the efforts to suppress the slave trade. The connection of slavery with the War of 1812 and with the Hartford Convention is noted. He then takes up the Missouri Compromise with some detail, giving almost verbatim the proceedings of Congress relative thereto. In the same way he treats the "Repudiation of the Missouri Compromise," the Annexation of Texas, the Wilmot Proviso, the Kansas--Nebraska Affair, the Lincoln and Douglas Debates, John Brown's Invasion, Secession, the Civil War, and Reconstruction.Throughout this treatise, he carefully notes the "jealousy of sectional interest and power and the determination to maintainthis power even at a cost of a dissolution of the Union," In other words, the whole sectional struggle grew out of what he calls the effort to maintain the balance of power between two sections of the Union, with the slavery question contributing thereto. Facts set forth bring out very clearly that the South is not to be censured as being especially hostile to the Negro when on the statute books of the North there are found numerous laws to show that persons of color were not considered desirables in those States.He raises the question as to whether the South violated the Missouri Compromise and considers it a revolution that public functionaries disregarded the rights of the owners of slave property when the highest tribunal, the Supreme Court, had sanctioned these rights. The act of secession is palliated too on the ground that the South had developed under the influence of that peculiar political philosophy which produced there a race that could never sanction passive obedience. In seceding the South was not attempting to overturn the government of the United States. It was not contemplated to interfere with the States adhering to the Union. They sought merely to "withdraw themselves from subjection to a government which they were convinced intended to overthrow their institutions."The Civil War came in spite of the fact that the Convention that framed the Constitution negatived the proposition to confer on the Federal Government the authority to exert the force of the Union against a delinquent State. It was, therefore, a mere act of coercing a section preparing for self-defense. Reconstruction is treated very much in the same way. The laws under which it was effected were unjust, the men who executed them were harsh, and the weaker section had to pay the price.The book cannot be classed as scientific work. The topics discussed are not proportionately treated, the style is rendered dull by the incorporation of undigested material, and the emphasis is placed on the political and legal phases of history at the expense of the social and economic. In it we find very little that is new. It merely presents the well-known political theory of the Old South. The chief value of the work consists in its being an expression of the opinion of a distinguished man who participated in many of the events narrated.J. O. BURKE.The Constitutional Doctrines of Justice Harlan.By Floyd Barzilia Clark, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Political Science in Pennsylvania State College. Series XXXIII, No. 4, Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science under the direction of the Department of History, Political Economy, and Political Science. The Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, 1915.This work is a legal treatise consisting of a scholarly discussion of the doctrines advanced by Justice Harlan during his service as a member of the Supreme Court of the United States. The book opens with a brief biography of the jurist, emphasizing the important events of his career to furnish a basis for the study of his theories. The author then takes up such topics as the "Suability of States," the "Impairment of the Obligation Contracts," "Due Process of Law," "Interstate and Foreign Commerce," "Equal Protection of the Laws," the "Jurisdiction of Courts," "Miscellaneous Topics," and "Judicial Legislation."The author finds that in the treatment of these important legal questions Harlan measures up to the standard of an able jurist. Replying to those who have charged him with emphasizing too greatly the letter of the law, the writer says that such a contention is based on ignorance or prejudice. "No one who so interpreted the Eleventh Amendment," says the author, "as to maintain that a suit against the officer of a State in his official capacity was not a suit against a State could have held to the strict letter of the law." The author further contends that this criticism of the jurist arises from the fact that he did not believe in equivocation.The interpretation of the laws relating to the Negro, the point on which he dissented from the majority of the members of the court, should have been given more prominence in this discussion. The discriminations against the Negroes are treated in connection with the chapters on "Interstate and Foreign Commerce" and "Equal Protection of the Laws." The Fourteenth Amendment is treated along with such miscellaneous topics as "Direct Taxation," "Copyrights," "Insular Cases," "Interstate Comity," and "Labor Legislation." Stating Justice Harlan's theory as to the position the Negro should occupy in this country, however, the author writes very frankly. Harlan, he thought, believed that they should occupy the position that historically they were intended to occupy by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments. He believed that the law should be interpreted as it was meant and not as the courtthought expedient and wise. "Though it may be true that his relation to the negro in political matters may have made him more violent in his dissents, any one who will look fairly at the question must conclude that his doctrine was legally correct. And as time passes, and as both classes become better educated and broader in their views, it may be said that the tendency of the court is likely to be to interpret the laws largely as he thought they should have been interpreted, that is, as historically they were meant."C. B. WALTER.Reconstruction in Georgia, Economic, Social, Political, 1865--1872.By C. Mildred Thompson, Ph.D. Longmans, Green, and Company, New York, 1915. Pp. 418.The appearance of C. M. Thompson's Reconstruction in Georgia arouses further interest in the study of that period which has been attracting the attention of various investigators in the leading universities of the United States. These writers fall into different groups. Coming to the defense of a section shamed with crime, some have endeavored to justify the deeds of those who resorted to all sorts of schemes to rid the country of the "extravagant and corrupt Reconstruction governments." Lately, however, the tendency has been to get away from this position. Yet among these writers we still find varying types, many of whom have for several reasons failed to write real history. Some have not forsaken the controversial group, not a few have tried to explain away the truth, and others going to the past with their minds preoccupied have selected only those facts which support their contentions.What has this author in question done? In this readable and interesting work the writer has shown considerable improvement upon historical writing in this field. She has endeavored to deal not only with the political but also with the economic and social phases of the history of this period. One gets a glance at the State before the war, the transition from slavery to freedom, the problems of labor and tenancy, the commercial revival, the social readjustment, political reorganization, military rule, State economy, reorganized Reconstruction, agriculture, education, the administration of justice, the Ku Klux disorder, and the restoration of home rule.This research leads the author to conclude that the seven years of the history of the State from 1865 to 1872 marked only the beginning of the social and economic transformation that has taken place since the war. This upheaval broke up the large plantationsystem, removed from power the "slave oligarchy," and exalted the yeomanry of moderate means, the uplanders now in control in the South. When the Democratic rule replaced Republicanism "one set of abnormal influences were put at rest," economic and social problems becoming the all-engrossing topics, and politics a diversion rather than a matter of self-preservation. The race problem then aroused began in another age, and not being settled, has been bequeathed to a later generation. Emancipation itself would have aroused racial antagonism but Republican Reconstruction increased it a hundred fold. This was the most enduring contribution of Congressional interference.Politically Reconstruction in Georgia was a failure. The greatest political achievement of the period was the enfranchisement of the Negro, but this was soon undone, the Southern white man having no freedom of choice--"he had to be a democrat, whether or no." Although establishing the Negro in freedom the government failed to establish him in political and social equality with the whites. "But still," says the author, "the race problem and the cry of Negro! Negro! the slogan of political demagogues who magnify and distort a very real difficulty in playing upon the passions of the less educated whites--rise to curtail freedom of thought and act."Out of this mass of material examined one would expect a more unbiased treatment. The work suffers from some of the defects of most Reconstruction writers, although the author has endeavored to write with restraint and care. One man is made almost a hero while another is found wanting. The white Southerner could not but be a Democrat but no excuse is made for the Negro who had no alternative but to ally himself with those who claimed to represent his emancipator. The State was at one time bordering on economic ruin because the Negroes became migratory and would not comply with their labor contracts. Little is said, however, about the evils arising from the attitude of Southern white men who have never liked to work and that of those who during this period, according to the author, formed roving bands for plundering and stealing. But we are too close to the history of Reconstruction to expect better treatment. We are just now reaching the period when we can tell the truth about the American Revolution. We must yet wait a century before we shall find ourselves far enough removed from the misfortunes and crimes of Reconstruction to set forth in an unbiased way the actual deeds of those who figured conspicuously in that awful drama.Notes"That the idea of a 'Secretary of Peace' for the United States is no new thing was brought out in the course of a paper by P. Lee Phillips, read by President Allen C. Clark before the Columbia Historical Society, which met at the Shoreham Hotel last night."In the course of the paper, entitled 'The Negro, Benjamin Banneker, Astronomer and Mathematician,' it was brought out that Banneker, who was a free Negro, friend of Washington and Jefferson, published a series of almanacs, unique in that they were his own work throughout. In the almanac for 1793 one of the articles from Banneker's pen was 'A Plan of Peace Office for the United States,' for promoting and preserving perpetual peace. This article was concise and well written, and contains most of the ideas set forth today by advocates of peace. Banneker took a 'crack' at European military ideas, and advocated the abolishment in the United States of military dress and titles and all militia laws. He laid down laws for the construction of a great temple of peace in which hymns were to be sung each day."Mr. Phillips's paper brought out that Banneker helped in one of the early surveys of the District of Columbia."--Washington Star.This dissertation will be brought out in the Annual Publication of the Columbia Historical Society.Professor Alain Leroy Locke, of Howard University, has published an interesting prospectus of his lectures on the race problem.Professor A. E. Jenks, of the University of Minnesota, has contributed to theAmerican Journal of Sociologyan elaborate paper on the legal status of the miscegenation of the white and black races in the various commonwealths.Miss L. E. Wilkes, of the Washington Public Schools, has been lecturing on "Missing Pages of American History."This is a summary of her work treating the Negro soldier from the Colonial Period through the War of 1812. The treatise will be published in the near future.In the Church Missionary Review has appeared "A Survey of Islam in Africa," by G. T. Manley.An article entitled "The Bantu Coast Tribes of East Africa Protectorate,"by A. Werner, has been published in theJournalof the Royal Anthropological Institute. In the sameJournalhas appeared also "The Organization and Laws of Some Bantu Tribes in East Africa."Ashanti Proverbs, translated by R. Sutherland Rattray, with a preface by Sir Hugh Clifford, has been published by Milford in London.A. Werner has published in London "The Language Families of Africa,"a concise and valuable textbook of the classification, philology, and grammar of the languages.The German African Empire, by A. F. Calvert, has appeared over the imprint of Werner Laurie.The History of South Africa from 1795 to 1872, by G. McCall Theal, has been published in London by Allen and Unwin. This is a fourth and revised edition of a work to be completed in five volumes."The Tropics,"by C. R. Enock, has been brought out by Grant Richards. This is a description of all tropical countries. It contains some valuable information but is chiefly concerned with advancing the theory that it is essential to study the capabilities of a country so as to develop all of its industries. The contention of the author is that the economic independence of each country is its safeguard from war and that commercialism is ruin.The Methodist Book Concern has announced"Pioneering on the Congo,"by John Springer.Hodder and Stoughton have published "Mary Slessor of Calabar: Pioneer Missionary." This is an account of a factory girl who distinguished herself as a missionary and was later appointed head of a native court.French Memories of Eighteenth Century America, by Charles H. Sherrill, has been published by Scribners. He failed to take into account the many references of French travelers to the Negroes and slavery.In the second number ofSmith College Studies in Historyappears Laura J. Webster'sOperations of the Freedmen's Bureau in South Carolina.About the middle of July the Neale Publishing Company will bring outThe New Negro, His Political, Civil and Mental Status, by Dean William Pickens, of Morgan College.Professor Sherwood, of La Crosse, Wisconsin, has for some time been making researches intoPaul Cuffee.AN INTERESTING COMMENTDear Sir:It was very good of you to mail me a copy of the Journal of Negro History. I had seen a copy of this publication, I believe, at the library of the Institute of Jamaica. The second number is certainly an impressive issue indicative of the changed point of view. The so-called literature on slavery and the negro is, in the main, rather a hindrance than a help. The expression of mere personal opinion is of exceedingly slight value in the furtherance of any good cause. What the world needs is not mere knowledge but a better understanding of the facts and experience already available. When a race has reached a point where it realizes its own place in history, and the value of a critical analysis of its historical experience, a measurable advance has been made towards the attainment of a genuine progress. All values are relative. True history concerns itself with any and all achievements and not merely with political changes or military events. Most of the so-called historical disquisitions delivered annually before the American Historical Association fall seriously short in this respect. Ever since Green wrote his first real history of the English people the old-time historian has lost caste among men who are seriously concerned with the urgent solution of present-day problems. Unquestionably, a true political history is of real value, but the social history of mankind is infinitely more important.The Journal of Negro History seems to meet the foregoing requirements for a social history of the negro race rather than a mere increase in the already voluminous so-called history of the political aspects of slavery reconstruction or reorganization during recent times. The article on the negro soldier in the American revolution is excellent. The prerequisite for a genuine race progress is race pride. For this reason the past achievements of the negro in this or any other country, individually or collectively, are of the utmost teaching value. It is a far cry, apparently, from the very recent high and well deserved promotion of a negro to a commanding position in the army, back to the days of the service rendered by negro soldiers in the Revolution, but in its final analysis it is all a chain of connected events. Where so much has been done and is being achieved the outlook for the future must needs be encouraging. Progress is only made by struggling, and the best results are those achieved against apparently insuperable difficulties. Race progress and race pride are practically equivalent terms. Individuals and races fail in proportion as they permit discouraging circumstances or conditions to control their destinies. A true philosophy of history never fails to bring home the conviction that lasting success is attained only through the ages by persistent effort in the right direction. The negro race has reason to be proud of its achievements, but I am sure that the future progress will rest largely upon a better understanding of the negro's place in history. Just as in the case of individuals, so in the case of races, it is, first and last, a question of finding our place in the world. Variation in type is absolutely essential to the highest development of the human species. It is not, therefore, the duty of any one race to follow blindly in the footsteps of another. It is for each race to seek for the best traits peculiarly its own, and to leave absolutely nothing undone, in season and out, to develop those particular traits to the highest possible degree. In other words, it is not for the negro to try to be as near as he can to a white man, even in his innermost thoughts and aspirations, but to interpret the lessons of his own life through the philosophy of negro history and to be true to the moral and spiritual ideals of his race and his ancestors, be they what they may.Very truly yours,F. L. Hoffman,Statistician.

The Slaveholding Indians. Volume I: As Slaveholder and Secessionist.By Annie Heloise Abel, Ph.D. The Arthur H. Clark Company, Cleveland, 1915. Pp. 394.This is the first of three volumes on the slaveholding Indians planned by the author. Volume II is to treat of the Indians as participants in the Civil War and Volume III on the Indian under Reconstruction.The present volume deals with a phase, as the author says, "of American Civil War history, which has heretofore been almost neglected, or where dealt with, either misunderstood or misinterpreted." It comes as a surprise to most of us that the Indian played a part of sufficient importance within the Union to have the right to have something to say about secession. Yet inconsistently enough he was considered so much a foreigner that both the South and the North, particularly the former, found it expedient to employ diplomacy in approaching him.The South, we are assured, found the attitude of the Indians toward secession of the greatest importance. Yet it was not the Indian owner so much as the Indian country that the Confederacy wanted to be sure of possessing, for Indian Territory occupied a position of strategic importance from both the economic and the military point of view. "The possession of it was absolutely necessary for the political and institutional consolidation of the South. Texas might well think of going her own way and of forming an independent republic once again, when between her and Arkansas lay the immense reservations of the great tribes. They were slave-holding tribes, too; yet were supposed by the United States government to have no interest whatsoever in a sectional conflict that involved the very existence of the 'peculiar institution,'"The above quotation is practically the intent of the book and the author has succeeded in carrying this out in four divisions entitled: I, "The General Situation in the Indian Country, 1830-1860." II, "Indian Territory in Its Relations with Texas and Arkansas." III, "The Confederacy in Negotiation with the Indian Tribes." IV, "The Indian Nations in Alliance with the Confederacy."The book is essentially a work by a scholar for scholars. It is certainly not for the laity. The facts are striking but well substantiated. There can be no doubt but that much time has been spent in its compilation. The style, however, is unusually dry. It has appendices, an invaluable bibliography, a carefully tabulated index, four maps, and three portraits of Indian leaders.It is interesting to note that the author is of British birth and ancestry and so presumably is free from sectional prejudice. Her book marks a distinct step forward, for those who are interested in Indian affairs.Jessie Fauset.

The Slaveholding Indians. Volume I: As Slaveholder and Secessionist.By Annie Heloise Abel, Ph.D. The Arthur H. Clark Company, Cleveland, 1915. Pp. 394.

This is the first of three volumes on the slaveholding Indians planned by the author. Volume II is to treat of the Indians as participants in the Civil War and Volume III on the Indian under Reconstruction.

The present volume deals with a phase, as the author says, "of American Civil War history, which has heretofore been almost neglected, or where dealt with, either misunderstood or misinterpreted." It comes as a surprise to most of us that the Indian played a part of sufficient importance within the Union to have the right to have something to say about secession. Yet inconsistently enough he was considered so much a foreigner that both the South and the North, particularly the former, found it expedient to employ diplomacy in approaching him.

The South, we are assured, found the attitude of the Indians toward secession of the greatest importance. Yet it was not the Indian owner so much as the Indian country that the Confederacy wanted to be sure of possessing, for Indian Territory occupied a position of strategic importance from both the economic and the military point of view. "The possession of it was absolutely necessary for the political and institutional consolidation of the South. Texas might well think of going her own way and of forming an independent republic once again, when between her and Arkansas lay the immense reservations of the great tribes. They were slave-holding tribes, too; yet were supposed by the United States government to have no interest whatsoever in a sectional conflict that involved the very existence of the 'peculiar institution,'"

The above quotation is practically the intent of the book and the author has succeeded in carrying this out in four divisions entitled: I, "The General Situation in the Indian Country, 1830-1860." II, "Indian Territory in Its Relations with Texas and Arkansas." III, "The Confederacy in Negotiation with the Indian Tribes." IV, "The Indian Nations in Alliance with the Confederacy."

The book is essentially a work by a scholar for scholars. It is certainly not for the laity. The facts are striking but well substantiated. There can be no doubt but that much time has been spent in its compilation. The style, however, is unusually dry. It has appendices, an invaluable bibliography, a carefully tabulated index, four maps, and three portraits of Indian leaders.

It is interesting to note that the author is of British birth and ancestry and so presumably is free from sectional prejudice. Her book marks a distinct step forward, for those who are interested in Indian affairs.

Jessie Fauset.

The Political History of Slavery in the United States.By James Z. George, formerly Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi and later United States Senator from that State. The Neale Publishing Company, New York, 1915. Pp. xix, 342.This is a discussion as well as the history of slavery and Reconstruction from the time of the introduction of the slaves in 1619 to the break-up of the carpet-bagger governments. "Considering the jealousies and even animosities that are becoming more and more intensified between the North and South, as well as the disposition that is ever increasing in the stronger section to dominate the weaker," the author believes that "it is becoming necessary to think over calmly and seriously the causes that have produced these evils, and to ascertain, if we can, the remedy, if remedy there be."The work begins with a sketch of ancient slavery, showing that the introduction of the institution into the Southern States was not exceptional. He then gives an account of slavery in the colonies, and the efforts to suppress the slave trade. The connection of slavery with the War of 1812 and with the Hartford Convention is noted. He then takes up the Missouri Compromise with some detail, giving almost verbatim the proceedings of Congress relative thereto. In the same way he treats the "Repudiation of the Missouri Compromise," the Annexation of Texas, the Wilmot Proviso, the Kansas--Nebraska Affair, the Lincoln and Douglas Debates, John Brown's Invasion, Secession, the Civil War, and Reconstruction.Throughout this treatise, he carefully notes the "jealousy of sectional interest and power and the determination to maintainthis power even at a cost of a dissolution of the Union," In other words, the whole sectional struggle grew out of what he calls the effort to maintain the balance of power between two sections of the Union, with the slavery question contributing thereto. Facts set forth bring out very clearly that the South is not to be censured as being especially hostile to the Negro when on the statute books of the North there are found numerous laws to show that persons of color were not considered desirables in those States.He raises the question as to whether the South violated the Missouri Compromise and considers it a revolution that public functionaries disregarded the rights of the owners of slave property when the highest tribunal, the Supreme Court, had sanctioned these rights. The act of secession is palliated too on the ground that the South had developed under the influence of that peculiar political philosophy which produced there a race that could never sanction passive obedience. In seceding the South was not attempting to overturn the government of the United States. It was not contemplated to interfere with the States adhering to the Union. They sought merely to "withdraw themselves from subjection to a government which they were convinced intended to overthrow their institutions."The Civil War came in spite of the fact that the Convention that framed the Constitution negatived the proposition to confer on the Federal Government the authority to exert the force of the Union against a delinquent State. It was, therefore, a mere act of coercing a section preparing for self-defense. Reconstruction is treated very much in the same way. The laws under which it was effected were unjust, the men who executed them were harsh, and the weaker section had to pay the price.The book cannot be classed as scientific work. The topics discussed are not proportionately treated, the style is rendered dull by the incorporation of undigested material, and the emphasis is placed on the political and legal phases of history at the expense of the social and economic. In it we find very little that is new. It merely presents the well-known political theory of the Old South. The chief value of the work consists in its being an expression of the opinion of a distinguished man who participated in many of the events narrated.J. O. BURKE.

This is a discussion as well as the history of slavery and Reconstruction from the time of the introduction of the slaves in 1619 to the break-up of the carpet-bagger governments. "Considering the jealousies and even animosities that are becoming more and more intensified between the North and South, as well as the disposition that is ever increasing in the stronger section to dominate the weaker," the author believes that "it is becoming necessary to think over calmly and seriously the causes that have produced these evils, and to ascertain, if we can, the remedy, if remedy there be."

The work begins with a sketch of ancient slavery, showing that the introduction of the institution into the Southern States was not exceptional. He then gives an account of slavery in the colonies, and the efforts to suppress the slave trade. The connection of slavery with the War of 1812 and with the Hartford Convention is noted. He then takes up the Missouri Compromise with some detail, giving almost verbatim the proceedings of Congress relative thereto. In the same way he treats the "Repudiation of the Missouri Compromise," the Annexation of Texas, the Wilmot Proviso, the Kansas--Nebraska Affair, the Lincoln and Douglas Debates, John Brown's Invasion, Secession, the Civil War, and Reconstruction.

Throughout this treatise, he carefully notes the "jealousy of sectional interest and power and the determination to maintainthis power even at a cost of a dissolution of the Union," In other words, the whole sectional struggle grew out of what he calls the effort to maintain the balance of power between two sections of the Union, with the slavery question contributing thereto. Facts set forth bring out very clearly that the South is not to be censured as being especially hostile to the Negro when on the statute books of the North there are found numerous laws to show that persons of color were not considered desirables in those States.

He raises the question as to whether the South violated the Missouri Compromise and considers it a revolution that public functionaries disregarded the rights of the owners of slave property when the highest tribunal, the Supreme Court, had sanctioned these rights. The act of secession is palliated too on the ground that the South had developed under the influence of that peculiar political philosophy which produced there a race that could never sanction passive obedience. In seceding the South was not attempting to overturn the government of the United States. It was not contemplated to interfere with the States adhering to the Union. They sought merely to "withdraw themselves from subjection to a government which they were convinced intended to overthrow their institutions."

The Civil War came in spite of the fact that the Convention that framed the Constitution negatived the proposition to confer on the Federal Government the authority to exert the force of the Union against a delinquent State. It was, therefore, a mere act of coercing a section preparing for self-defense. Reconstruction is treated very much in the same way. The laws under which it was effected were unjust, the men who executed them were harsh, and the weaker section had to pay the price.

The book cannot be classed as scientific work. The topics discussed are not proportionately treated, the style is rendered dull by the incorporation of undigested material, and the emphasis is placed on the political and legal phases of history at the expense of the social and economic. In it we find very little that is new. It merely presents the well-known political theory of the Old South. The chief value of the work consists in its being an expression of the opinion of a distinguished man who participated in many of the events narrated.

J. O. BURKE.

The Constitutional Doctrines of Justice Harlan.By Floyd Barzilia Clark, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Political Science in Pennsylvania State College. Series XXXIII, No. 4, Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science under the direction of the Department of History, Political Economy, and Political Science. The Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, 1915.This work is a legal treatise consisting of a scholarly discussion of the doctrines advanced by Justice Harlan during his service as a member of the Supreme Court of the United States. The book opens with a brief biography of the jurist, emphasizing the important events of his career to furnish a basis for the study of his theories. The author then takes up such topics as the "Suability of States," the "Impairment of the Obligation Contracts," "Due Process of Law," "Interstate and Foreign Commerce," "Equal Protection of the Laws," the "Jurisdiction of Courts," "Miscellaneous Topics," and "Judicial Legislation."The author finds that in the treatment of these important legal questions Harlan measures up to the standard of an able jurist. Replying to those who have charged him with emphasizing too greatly the letter of the law, the writer says that such a contention is based on ignorance or prejudice. "No one who so interpreted the Eleventh Amendment," says the author, "as to maintain that a suit against the officer of a State in his official capacity was not a suit against a State could have held to the strict letter of the law." The author further contends that this criticism of the jurist arises from the fact that he did not believe in equivocation.The interpretation of the laws relating to the Negro, the point on which he dissented from the majority of the members of the court, should have been given more prominence in this discussion. The discriminations against the Negroes are treated in connection with the chapters on "Interstate and Foreign Commerce" and "Equal Protection of the Laws." The Fourteenth Amendment is treated along with such miscellaneous topics as "Direct Taxation," "Copyrights," "Insular Cases," "Interstate Comity," and "Labor Legislation." Stating Justice Harlan's theory as to the position the Negro should occupy in this country, however, the author writes very frankly. Harlan, he thought, believed that they should occupy the position that historically they were intended to occupy by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments. He believed that the law should be interpreted as it was meant and not as the courtthought expedient and wise. "Though it may be true that his relation to the negro in political matters may have made him more violent in his dissents, any one who will look fairly at the question must conclude that his doctrine was legally correct. And as time passes, and as both classes become better educated and broader in their views, it may be said that the tendency of the court is likely to be to interpret the laws largely as he thought they should have been interpreted, that is, as historically they were meant."C. B. WALTER.

This work is a legal treatise consisting of a scholarly discussion of the doctrines advanced by Justice Harlan during his service as a member of the Supreme Court of the United States. The book opens with a brief biography of the jurist, emphasizing the important events of his career to furnish a basis for the study of his theories. The author then takes up such topics as the "Suability of States," the "Impairment of the Obligation Contracts," "Due Process of Law," "Interstate and Foreign Commerce," "Equal Protection of the Laws," the "Jurisdiction of Courts," "Miscellaneous Topics," and "Judicial Legislation."

The author finds that in the treatment of these important legal questions Harlan measures up to the standard of an able jurist. Replying to those who have charged him with emphasizing too greatly the letter of the law, the writer says that such a contention is based on ignorance or prejudice. "No one who so interpreted the Eleventh Amendment," says the author, "as to maintain that a suit against the officer of a State in his official capacity was not a suit against a State could have held to the strict letter of the law." The author further contends that this criticism of the jurist arises from the fact that he did not believe in equivocation.

The interpretation of the laws relating to the Negro, the point on which he dissented from the majority of the members of the court, should have been given more prominence in this discussion. The discriminations against the Negroes are treated in connection with the chapters on "Interstate and Foreign Commerce" and "Equal Protection of the Laws." The Fourteenth Amendment is treated along with such miscellaneous topics as "Direct Taxation," "Copyrights," "Insular Cases," "Interstate Comity," and "Labor Legislation." Stating Justice Harlan's theory as to the position the Negro should occupy in this country, however, the author writes very frankly. Harlan, he thought, believed that they should occupy the position that historically they were intended to occupy by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments. He believed that the law should be interpreted as it was meant and not as the courtthought expedient and wise. "Though it may be true that his relation to the negro in political matters may have made him more violent in his dissents, any one who will look fairly at the question must conclude that his doctrine was legally correct. And as time passes, and as both classes become better educated and broader in their views, it may be said that the tendency of the court is likely to be to interpret the laws largely as he thought they should have been interpreted, that is, as historically they were meant."

C. B. WALTER.

Reconstruction in Georgia, Economic, Social, Political, 1865--1872.By C. Mildred Thompson, Ph.D. Longmans, Green, and Company, New York, 1915. Pp. 418.The appearance of C. M. Thompson's Reconstruction in Georgia arouses further interest in the study of that period which has been attracting the attention of various investigators in the leading universities of the United States. These writers fall into different groups. Coming to the defense of a section shamed with crime, some have endeavored to justify the deeds of those who resorted to all sorts of schemes to rid the country of the "extravagant and corrupt Reconstruction governments." Lately, however, the tendency has been to get away from this position. Yet among these writers we still find varying types, many of whom have for several reasons failed to write real history. Some have not forsaken the controversial group, not a few have tried to explain away the truth, and others going to the past with their minds preoccupied have selected only those facts which support their contentions.What has this author in question done? In this readable and interesting work the writer has shown considerable improvement upon historical writing in this field. She has endeavored to deal not only with the political but also with the economic and social phases of the history of this period. One gets a glance at the State before the war, the transition from slavery to freedom, the problems of labor and tenancy, the commercial revival, the social readjustment, political reorganization, military rule, State economy, reorganized Reconstruction, agriculture, education, the administration of justice, the Ku Klux disorder, and the restoration of home rule.This research leads the author to conclude that the seven years of the history of the State from 1865 to 1872 marked only the beginning of the social and economic transformation that has taken place since the war. This upheaval broke up the large plantationsystem, removed from power the "slave oligarchy," and exalted the yeomanry of moderate means, the uplanders now in control in the South. When the Democratic rule replaced Republicanism "one set of abnormal influences were put at rest," economic and social problems becoming the all-engrossing topics, and politics a diversion rather than a matter of self-preservation. The race problem then aroused began in another age, and not being settled, has been bequeathed to a later generation. Emancipation itself would have aroused racial antagonism but Republican Reconstruction increased it a hundred fold. This was the most enduring contribution of Congressional interference.Politically Reconstruction in Georgia was a failure. The greatest political achievement of the period was the enfranchisement of the Negro, but this was soon undone, the Southern white man having no freedom of choice--"he had to be a democrat, whether or no." Although establishing the Negro in freedom the government failed to establish him in political and social equality with the whites. "But still," says the author, "the race problem and the cry of Negro! Negro! the slogan of political demagogues who magnify and distort a very real difficulty in playing upon the passions of the less educated whites--rise to curtail freedom of thought and act."Out of this mass of material examined one would expect a more unbiased treatment. The work suffers from some of the defects of most Reconstruction writers, although the author has endeavored to write with restraint and care. One man is made almost a hero while another is found wanting. The white Southerner could not but be a Democrat but no excuse is made for the Negro who had no alternative but to ally himself with those who claimed to represent his emancipator. The State was at one time bordering on economic ruin because the Negroes became migratory and would not comply with their labor contracts. Little is said, however, about the evils arising from the attitude of Southern white men who have never liked to work and that of those who during this period, according to the author, formed roving bands for plundering and stealing. But we are too close to the history of Reconstruction to expect better treatment. We are just now reaching the period when we can tell the truth about the American Revolution. We must yet wait a century before we shall find ourselves far enough removed from the misfortunes and crimes of Reconstruction to set forth in an unbiased way the actual deeds of those who figured conspicuously in that awful drama.

Reconstruction in Georgia, Economic, Social, Political, 1865--1872.By C. Mildred Thompson, Ph.D. Longmans, Green, and Company, New York, 1915. Pp. 418.

The appearance of C. M. Thompson's Reconstruction in Georgia arouses further interest in the study of that period which has been attracting the attention of various investigators in the leading universities of the United States. These writers fall into different groups. Coming to the defense of a section shamed with crime, some have endeavored to justify the deeds of those who resorted to all sorts of schemes to rid the country of the "extravagant and corrupt Reconstruction governments." Lately, however, the tendency has been to get away from this position. Yet among these writers we still find varying types, many of whom have for several reasons failed to write real history. Some have not forsaken the controversial group, not a few have tried to explain away the truth, and others going to the past with their minds preoccupied have selected only those facts which support their contentions.

What has this author in question done? In this readable and interesting work the writer has shown considerable improvement upon historical writing in this field. She has endeavored to deal not only with the political but also with the economic and social phases of the history of this period. One gets a glance at the State before the war, the transition from slavery to freedom, the problems of labor and tenancy, the commercial revival, the social readjustment, political reorganization, military rule, State economy, reorganized Reconstruction, agriculture, education, the administration of justice, the Ku Klux disorder, and the restoration of home rule.

This research leads the author to conclude that the seven years of the history of the State from 1865 to 1872 marked only the beginning of the social and economic transformation that has taken place since the war. This upheaval broke up the large plantationsystem, removed from power the "slave oligarchy," and exalted the yeomanry of moderate means, the uplanders now in control in the South. When the Democratic rule replaced Republicanism "one set of abnormal influences were put at rest," economic and social problems becoming the all-engrossing topics, and politics a diversion rather than a matter of self-preservation. The race problem then aroused began in another age, and not being settled, has been bequeathed to a later generation. Emancipation itself would have aroused racial antagonism but Republican Reconstruction increased it a hundred fold. This was the most enduring contribution of Congressional interference.

Politically Reconstruction in Georgia was a failure. The greatest political achievement of the period was the enfranchisement of the Negro, but this was soon undone, the Southern white man having no freedom of choice--"he had to be a democrat, whether or no." Although establishing the Negro in freedom the government failed to establish him in political and social equality with the whites. "But still," says the author, "the race problem and the cry of Negro! Negro! the slogan of political demagogues who magnify and distort a very real difficulty in playing upon the passions of the less educated whites--rise to curtail freedom of thought and act."

Out of this mass of material examined one would expect a more unbiased treatment. The work suffers from some of the defects of most Reconstruction writers, although the author has endeavored to write with restraint and care. One man is made almost a hero while another is found wanting. The white Southerner could not but be a Democrat but no excuse is made for the Negro who had no alternative but to ally himself with those who claimed to represent his emancipator. The State was at one time bordering on economic ruin because the Negroes became migratory and would not comply with their labor contracts. Little is said, however, about the evils arising from the attitude of Southern white men who have never liked to work and that of those who during this period, according to the author, formed roving bands for plundering and stealing. But we are too close to the history of Reconstruction to expect better treatment. We are just now reaching the period when we can tell the truth about the American Revolution. We must yet wait a century before we shall find ourselves far enough removed from the misfortunes and crimes of Reconstruction to set forth in an unbiased way the actual deeds of those who figured conspicuously in that awful drama.

Notes"That the idea of a 'Secretary of Peace' for the United States is no new thing was brought out in the course of a paper by P. Lee Phillips, read by President Allen C. Clark before the Columbia Historical Society, which met at the Shoreham Hotel last night."In the course of the paper, entitled 'The Negro, Benjamin Banneker, Astronomer and Mathematician,' it was brought out that Banneker, who was a free Negro, friend of Washington and Jefferson, published a series of almanacs, unique in that they were his own work throughout. In the almanac for 1793 one of the articles from Banneker's pen was 'A Plan of Peace Office for the United States,' for promoting and preserving perpetual peace. This article was concise and well written, and contains most of the ideas set forth today by advocates of peace. Banneker took a 'crack' at European military ideas, and advocated the abolishment in the United States of military dress and titles and all militia laws. He laid down laws for the construction of a great temple of peace in which hymns were to be sung each day."Mr. Phillips's paper brought out that Banneker helped in one of the early surveys of the District of Columbia."--Washington Star.This dissertation will be brought out in the Annual Publication of the Columbia Historical Society.Professor Alain Leroy Locke, of Howard University, has published an interesting prospectus of his lectures on the race problem.Professor A. E. Jenks, of the University of Minnesota, has contributed to theAmerican Journal of Sociologyan elaborate paper on the legal status of the miscegenation of the white and black races in the various commonwealths.Miss L. E. Wilkes, of the Washington Public Schools, has been lecturing on "Missing Pages of American History."This is a summary of her work treating the Negro soldier from the Colonial Period through the War of 1812. The treatise will be published in the near future.In the Church Missionary Review has appeared "A Survey of Islam in Africa," by G. T. Manley.An article entitled "The Bantu Coast Tribes of East Africa Protectorate,"by A. Werner, has been published in theJournalof the Royal Anthropological Institute. In the sameJournalhas appeared also "The Organization and Laws of Some Bantu Tribes in East Africa."Ashanti Proverbs, translated by R. Sutherland Rattray, with a preface by Sir Hugh Clifford, has been published by Milford in London.A. Werner has published in London "The Language Families of Africa,"a concise and valuable textbook of the classification, philology, and grammar of the languages.The German African Empire, by A. F. Calvert, has appeared over the imprint of Werner Laurie.The History of South Africa from 1795 to 1872, by G. McCall Theal, has been published in London by Allen and Unwin. This is a fourth and revised edition of a work to be completed in five volumes."The Tropics,"by C. R. Enock, has been brought out by Grant Richards. This is a description of all tropical countries. It contains some valuable information but is chiefly concerned with advancing the theory that it is essential to study the capabilities of a country so as to develop all of its industries. The contention of the author is that the economic independence of each country is its safeguard from war and that commercialism is ruin.The Methodist Book Concern has announced"Pioneering on the Congo,"by John Springer.Hodder and Stoughton have published "Mary Slessor of Calabar: Pioneer Missionary." This is an account of a factory girl who distinguished herself as a missionary and was later appointed head of a native court.French Memories of Eighteenth Century America, by Charles H. Sherrill, has been published by Scribners. He failed to take into account the many references of French travelers to the Negroes and slavery.In the second number ofSmith College Studies in Historyappears Laura J. Webster'sOperations of the Freedmen's Bureau in South Carolina.About the middle of July the Neale Publishing Company will bring outThe New Negro, His Political, Civil and Mental Status, by Dean William Pickens, of Morgan College.Professor Sherwood, of La Crosse, Wisconsin, has for some time been making researches intoPaul Cuffee.AN INTERESTING COMMENTDear Sir:It was very good of you to mail me a copy of the Journal of Negro History. I had seen a copy of this publication, I believe, at the library of the Institute of Jamaica. The second number is certainly an impressive issue indicative of the changed point of view. The so-called literature on slavery and the negro is, in the main, rather a hindrance than a help. The expression of mere personal opinion is of exceedingly slight value in the furtherance of any good cause. What the world needs is not mere knowledge but a better understanding of the facts and experience already available. When a race has reached a point where it realizes its own place in history, and the value of a critical analysis of its historical experience, a measurable advance has been made towards the attainment of a genuine progress. All values are relative. True history concerns itself with any and all achievements and not merely with political changes or military events. Most of the so-called historical disquisitions delivered annually before the American Historical Association fall seriously short in this respect. Ever since Green wrote his first real history of the English people the old-time historian has lost caste among men who are seriously concerned with the urgent solution of present-day problems. Unquestionably, a true political history is of real value, but the social history of mankind is infinitely more important.The Journal of Negro History seems to meet the foregoing requirements for a social history of the negro race rather than a mere increase in the already voluminous so-called history of the political aspects of slavery reconstruction or reorganization during recent times. The article on the negro soldier in the American revolution is excellent. The prerequisite for a genuine race progress is race pride. For this reason the past achievements of the negro in this or any other country, individually or collectively, are of the utmost teaching value. It is a far cry, apparently, from the very recent high and well deserved promotion of a negro to a commanding position in the army, back to the days of the service rendered by negro soldiers in the Revolution, but in its final analysis it is all a chain of connected events. Where so much has been done and is being achieved the outlook for the future must needs be encouraging. Progress is only made by struggling, and the best results are those achieved against apparently insuperable difficulties. Race progress and race pride are practically equivalent terms. Individuals and races fail in proportion as they permit discouraging circumstances or conditions to control their destinies. A true philosophy of history never fails to bring home the conviction that lasting success is attained only through the ages by persistent effort in the right direction. The negro race has reason to be proud of its achievements, but I am sure that the future progress will rest largely upon a better understanding of the negro's place in history. Just as in the case of individuals, so in the case of races, it is, first and last, a question of finding our place in the world. Variation in type is absolutely essential to the highest development of the human species. It is not, therefore, the duty of any one race to follow blindly in the footsteps of another. It is for each race to seek for the best traits peculiarly its own, and to leave absolutely nothing undone, in season and out, to develop those particular traits to the highest possible degree. In other words, it is not for the negro to try to be as near as he can to a white man, even in his innermost thoughts and aspirations, but to interpret the lessons of his own life through the philosophy of negro history and to be true to the moral and spiritual ideals of his race and his ancestors, be they what they may.Very truly yours,F. L. Hoffman,Statistician.

"That the idea of a 'Secretary of Peace' for the United States is no new thing was brought out in the course of a paper by P. Lee Phillips, read by President Allen C. Clark before the Columbia Historical Society, which met at the Shoreham Hotel last night.

"In the course of the paper, entitled 'The Negro, Benjamin Banneker, Astronomer and Mathematician,' it was brought out that Banneker, who was a free Negro, friend of Washington and Jefferson, published a series of almanacs, unique in that they were his own work throughout. In the almanac for 1793 one of the articles from Banneker's pen was 'A Plan of Peace Office for the United States,' for promoting and preserving perpetual peace. This article was concise and well written, and contains most of the ideas set forth today by advocates of peace. Banneker took a 'crack' at European military ideas, and advocated the abolishment in the United States of military dress and titles and all militia laws. He laid down laws for the construction of a great temple of peace in which hymns were to be sung each day.

"Mr. Phillips's paper brought out that Banneker helped in one of the early surveys of the District of Columbia."--Washington Star.

This dissertation will be brought out in the Annual Publication of the Columbia Historical Society.

Professor Alain Leroy Locke, of Howard University, has published an interesting prospectus of his lectures on the race problem.

Professor A. E. Jenks, of the University of Minnesota, has contributed to theAmerican Journal of Sociologyan elaborate paper on the legal status of the miscegenation of the white and black races in the various commonwealths.

Miss L. E. Wilkes, of the Washington Public Schools, has been lecturing on "Missing Pages of American History."This is a summary of her work treating the Negro soldier from the Colonial Period through the War of 1812. The treatise will be published in the near future.

In the Church Missionary Review has appeared "A Survey of Islam in Africa," by G. T. Manley.

An article entitled "The Bantu Coast Tribes of East Africa Protectorate,"by A. Werner, has been published in theJournalof the Royal Anthropological Institute. In the sameJournalhas appeared also "The Organization and Laws of Some Bantu Tribes in East Africa."

Ashanti Proverbs, translated by R. Sutherland Rattray, with a preface by Sir Hugh Clifford, has been published by Milford in London.

A. Werner has published in London "The Language Families of Africa,"a concise and valuable textbook of the classification, philology, and grammar of the languages.

The German African Empire, by A. F. Calvert, has appeared over the imprint of Werner Laurie.

The History of South Africa from 1795 to 1872, by G. McCall Theal, has been published in London by Allen and Unwin. This is a fourth and revised edition of a work to be completed in five volumes.

"The Tropics,"by C. R. Enock, has been brought out by Grant Richards. This is a description of all tropical countries. It contains some valuable information but is chiefly concerned with advancing the theory that it is essential to study the capabilities of a country so as to develop all of its industries. The contention of the author is that the economic independence of each country is its safeguard from war and that commercialism is ruin.

The Methodist Book Concern has announced"Pioneering on the Congo,"by John Springer.

Hodder and Stoughton have published "Mary Slessor of Calabar: Pioneer Missionary." This is an account of a factory girl who distinguished herself as a missionary and was later appointed head of a native court.

French Memories of Eighteenth Century America, by Charles H. Sherrill, has been published by Scribners. He failed to take into account the many references of French travelers to the Negroes and slavery.

In the second number ofSmith College Studies in Historyappears Laura J. Webster'sOperations of the Freedmen's Bureau in South Carolina.

About the middle of July the Neale Publishing Company will bring outThe New Negro, His Political, Civil and Mental Status, by Dean William Pickens, of Morgan College.

Professor Sherwood, of La Crosse, Wisconsin, has for some time been making researches intoPaul Cuffee.

AN INTERESTING COMMENTDear Sir:It was very good of you to mail me a copy of the Journal of Negro History. I had seen a copy of this publication, I believe, at the library of the Institute of Jamaica. The second number is certainly an impressive issue indicative of the changed point of view. The so-called literature on slavery and the negro is, in the main, rather a hindrance than a help. The expression of mere personal opinion is of exceedingly slight value in the furtherance of any good cause. What the world needs is not mere knowledge but a better understanding of the facts and experience already available. When a race has reached a point where it realizes its own place in history, and the value of a critical analysis of its historical experience, a measurable advance has been made towards the attainment of a genuine progress. All values are relative. True history concerns itself with any and all achievements and not merely with political changes or military events. Most of the so-called historical disquisitions delivered annually before the American Historical Association fall seriously short in this respect. Ever since Green wrote his first real history of the English people the old-time historian has lost caste among men who are seriously concerned with the urgent solution of present-day problems. Unquestionably, a true political history is of real value, but the social history of mankind is infinitely more important.The Journal of Negro History seems to meet the foregoing requirements for a social history of the negro race rather than a mere increase in the already voluminous so-called history of the political aspects of slavery reconstruction or reorganization during recent times. The article on the negro soldier in the American revolution is excellent. The prerequisite for a genuine race progress is race pride. For this reason the past achievements of the negro in this or any other country, individually or collectively, are of the utmost teaching value. It is a far cry, apparently, from the very recent high and well deserved promotion of a negro to a commanding position in the army, back to the days of the service rendered by negro soldiers in the Revolution, but in its final analysis it is all a chain of connected events. Where so much has been done and is being achieved the outlook for the future must needs be encouraging. Progress is only made by struggling, and the best results are those achieved against apparently insuperable difficulties. Race progress and race pride are practically equivalent terms. Individuals and races fail in proportion as they permit discouraging circumstances or conditions to control their destinies. A true philosophy of history never fails to bring home the conviction that lasting success is attained only through the ages by persistent effort in the right direction. The negro race has reason to be proud of its achievements, but I am sure that the future progress will rest largely upon a better understanding of the negro's place in history. Just as in the case of individuals, so in the case of races, it is, first and last, a question of finding our place in the world. Variation in type is absolutely essential to the highest development of the human species. It is not, therefore, the duty of any one race to follow blindly in the footsteps of another. It is for each race to seek for the best traits peculiarly its own, and to leave absolutely nothing undone, in season and out, to develop those particular traits to the highest possible degree. In other words, it is not for the negro to try to be as near as he can to a white man, even in his innermost thoughts and aspirations, but to interpret the lessons of his own life through the philosophy of negro history and to be true to the moral and spiritual ideals of his race and his ancestors, be they what they may.Very truly yours,F. L. Hoffman,Statistician.

Dear Sir:

It was very good of you to mail me a copy of the Journal of Negro History. I had seen a copy of this publication, I believe, at the library of the Institute of Jamaica. The second number is certainly an impressive issue indicative of the changed point of view. The so-called literature on slavery and the negro is, in the main, rather a hindrance than a help. The expression of mere personal opinion is of exceedingly slight value in the furtherance of any good cause. What the world needs is not mere knowledge but a better understanding of the facts and experience already available. When a race has reached a point where it realizes its own place in history, and the value of a critical analysis of its historical experience, a measurable advance has been made towards the attainment of a genuine progress. All values are relative. True history concerns itself with any and all achievements and not merely with political changes or military events. Most of the so-called historical disquisitions delivered annually before the American Historical Association fall seriously short in this respect. Ever since Green wrote his first real history of the English people the old-time historian has lost caste among men who are seriously concerned with the urgent solution of present-day problems. Unquestionably, a true political history is of real value, but the social history of mankind is infinitely more important.

The Journal of Negro History seems to meet the foregoing requirements for a social history of the negro race rather than a mere increase in the already voluminous so-called history of the political aspects of slavery reconstruction or reorganization during recent times. The article on the negro soldier in the American revolution is excellent. The prerequisite for a genuine race progress is race pride. For this reason the past achievements of the negro in this or any other country, individually or collectively, are of the utmost teaching value. It is a far cry, apparently, from the very recent high and well deserved promotion of a negro to a commanding position in the army, back to the days of the service rendered by negro soldiers in the Revolution, but in its final analysis it is all a chain of connected events. Where so much has been done and is being achieved the outlook for the future must needs be encouraging. Progress is only made by struggling, and the best results are those achieved against apparently insuperable difficulties. Race progress and race pride are practically equivalent terms. Individuals and races fail in proportion as they permit discouraging circumstances or conditions to control their destinies. A true philosophy of history never fails to bring home the conviction that lasting success is attained only through the ages by persistent effort in the right direction. The negro race has reason to be proud of its achievements, but I am sure that the future progress will rest largely upon a better understanding of the negro's place in history. Just as in the case of individuals, so in the case of races, it is, first and last, a question of finding our place in the world. Variation in type is absolutely essential to the highest development of the human species. It is not, therefore, the duty of any one race to follow blindly in the footsteps of another. It is for each race to seek for the best traits peculiarly its own, and to leave absolutely nothing undone, in season and out, to develop those particular traits to the highest possible degree. In other words, it is not for the negro to try to be as near as he can to a white man, even in his innermost thoughts and aspirations, but to interpret the lessons of his own life through the philosophy of negro history and to be true to the moral and spiritual ideals of his race and his ancestors, be they what they may.

Very truly yours,

F. L. Hoffman,Statistician.

Back to Index Next