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Show NKGBO MORTALITY. A Ntw York exchange; referring to tbe Biutietica of tbe comparative death rates of blackB and whites in the southern cities, commends to the attention of philanthropies and students of Bocial acienoe, the faota that the mortality among ' negroes ia much greater than that ! which prtivaila among white persons. Especially is this the case in the ' cities, and the Charleston News and Courier asserts that a like mortality prevails in the country diatrictB. The journal mentioned is probably in error, as it furnishes no statistics to prove its allegation. The Btatemenl may represent an honest conviction, but it cannot be accepted an fact. In the country the negroes have advantages advan-tages of. pure air and other sanitary conditions equal to those enjoyed by the whites. They do not observe with bo much care and scrupulousness scrupulous-ness the laws of health, particularly! those requiring cleanliness, 83 the Caucasian; uor do theii constitutions demanc iiie same degree ot neatnesc in ordtr to keep ud their physical i condition. However, tho negro mortality in the cities iB excessive and unnatural, and should excite attention tiud action, if tbe purpose is to continue the blacks on the high Bocial and political plane to which they have been elevated in this country. coun-try. Inferior by nature and kept back in whatever progress they would have made in the ordinary advance of mankind, they are yet citizens ol the republic, occupying the name privileges, advantagea and protection vouchBaied to their more enlightened fellow-beings, with whom they are in every particular equal under the law. They form a part and portion of the commonwealth of the Union, and as such are valuable, not aai chattels, but as citizens and in the rights" they possess. Then it is tbe duty of every good man to help them in their struggle for life and for the improvement of their mental, moral and physical condition. Tho opposite oppo-site course would be brutally iuhu man and beneath the generosity aod justice of the American people. It is not difficult to discover the cause of the increased negro mortality, how ever hard it may be to apply the remedy. When the blacks became free the restless among them, tbe lazy and tho didcoutented, and those with tastta tending to debauchery, crowded into the cities. The same general characteristic displays itself among whites as well as blacks. The negro's course oflile in the city, freed as he was from restraint and bjt-rounded bjt-rounded by temptations, very naturally natur-ally led to disease and death. These " are the blacks who have contributed so much to swell the death lists. Ab a race they are uncleanly in their habits and reckless of health. Their poverty, us well, perhaps, as their inclinations, lead them to crowd to pettier in ucfit hovels in bad quar tere, where they live in a fetid atmosphere at-mosphere and eat unwholesome food. Their mode of life inviteB disease, and having contracted it they have neither the money nor tbe knowledge to employ skilled physicians, but entrust themselves to the care of quacks and ignorance. Whites similarly placed, and with tbe same degree of ignorance as the negroes possess, would Boon become extinct When we rrflect upon tbe sudden change that has been made from tho active, healthful outdoor out-door life of the plantationa to the cramped and diseased quarters of a city we can only wonder thct the death rate h:9 not been even greater. The fact that so many of them are still alive tells well for the hardy constitutions con-stitutions of the blacks. The remedy for the evil lies ia educating tho negro, not more from books than in the practical rules of life. They must be taught habits o cleanliness, sober ness, thrift. It may be questioned whether this can be done in time to be of value to the present generation; and in view of the fact that1 no particular philanthropic love fur I ho uegro is generally felt throughout the republic, it may be doubted whether the remedy will ever be applied except in isolated cases. But it is certain ih t until the negroi'3 are taught huw to live wholesome live , to love neatness and oleanlineef, and to understand tbe risks they art mm i-g in huddling themselves together m the cities, and to appreciate the advsntiges of re maining in the country, working on firms and plantations, the mortality reports will coutinue to show long lists of m'liroeti r9 cnmp'irrd to white?. |