progress he can gather hope and inspiring example in his struggle for an equal chance in life.... It is not an uncommon thing to hear men say—‘Let the negro alone; he makes a good peasant class; he is the best laborer we can get for the cotton fields, etc.’ Do not all such forget that there is no such thing as a peasant class under our form of government? Do they not forget that the Negro is a free American citizen, entitled by virtue of his citizenship, if on no other account, to equality before the law with the foremost citizens of the land, equality of opportunity, equality of rights.... Is it not about time, Mr. President that the thinking men of this country, men who have some concern for the future of coming generations as well as the temporary triumph of party should meet upon the common plane of the general good and dispose of this question fairly and humanely?... I should welcome such a day as a new era in our history, from which to date new hopes for the perpetuity of a constitutional republic.”[231] It is hardly necessary to state that the bill did not pass. With the exception of his colleague, Senator Hampton, and Senator Vest, of Missouri, it scarcely received any support, and yet these Southern men recognized, more than thirty years ago, what is only now forcing itself upon the consciousness of the North, because the Negroes themselves have at last perceived the necessity of it. But what do the prosperous think of? At this time little or nothing was known of the two little white republics, the Transvaal and the Orange River Free State, except that they maintained themselves without assistance in the heart of South Africa, surrounded by millions of warlike African savages. To the author of this work it seemed in 1890 worth while for the Northern statesmen and the Northern public to inform themselves of the views and policies of these people, before they legislated for the South on matters pertaining to the Race Problem. These little peoples had had no contact with Southern men. They came from a different nationality. Would it not be well for our Northern brethren to study their methods before legislating for the South? The suggestion was presented to _The New York World_, then calling for ideas. But that great paper, under Mr. Pulitzer, could not see the value. Later, although conquered, as the South was, the Boers have made their views felt in the world. Was not an opportunity missed for obtaining helpful information in advance of Bigelow’s White Man’s Africa? Was not his book an indication of an unexplored field? Did it not influence opinion in the north of the United States? FOOTNOTES: [178] Compendium of the U. S. Census 1870, p. 14. [179] List of Taxpayers, Charleston, S. C. 1859. [180] _Charleston Courier_, April 7, 1865. [181] Ibid. [182] Ibid. May 26, 1865. [183] Ibid. Dec. 27, 1865. [184] Dunning, Reconstruction, Political and Economic, p. 30.