11
manufacturer, not one commission house, but one negro, to 87 white
druggists, and 5 negro, to 71 white carpenters ; yet, strange to say, 11
black to 23 white undertakers—5 negro, to 125 white, physicians, or
only about 4 per cent., and four negro, to 153 white, lawyers!—negroes
who, by the way, are so ignorant that not one of them can tell the
difference between debt, detinue and assumpsit, not one can draw a
declaration, or a demurrer, or write a bill of exceptions, can in fact
perform one function of a lawyer; negroes whose admission to the
bar is not only a shame and scandal to the judges who signed their
licences and an insult to the bar, but a direct injury to the colored
race, by enlarging their pretensions, and' to the whites by adding
that much to the difficulties that now surround them. As some of
Richmond's wealthiest and worthiest citizens are men of no early
advantages, who began life as overseers in tobacco factories, or in
some humbler capacity, one would have thought that among the
ten thousands of negroes who, since the war, have worked in such
factories, one of them, at least, would have become a manufacturer.
But there is not one. On the contrary, the post-bellum negroes are
not as efficient in the factories as the ante-bellum, though these
latter are few and aged. There is the same failure of progress in
all other employments. No colored ostler has yet set up a livery
stable, nor wheelwright, a wagon or coachmaker's shop, nor restau¬
rateur, a hotel. \
I have been curious to ascertain the "rating" of these people—
i. e., their credit in business; and, consulting Bradstreet, I find
that there are only 48 of the 432 registered at all. Of these, 33
have no rating. Of the other 15, only one rates higher than $1,000
to $2,000 as to means, and limited as to credit, being rated at less
than $500 to $1,000.
What is true of one city is true of all.
How has education affected
Their Criminal Record?
Omitting more than a bare allusion to their petty larcenies and
misdemeanors, which keep our municipal and county courts pretty
well employed, I show the felonies they have been convicted of
from 1871 to 1888, both inclusive, in the following table, prepared
for me by Mr., W W. Moses, the Superintendent of the Peni¬
tentiary :
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