to the Allies." But His Excellency had not a word of encouragement
for the 200,000 subterranean heroes who by day and by night,
for a mere pittance, lay down their limbs and their lives
to the familiar "fall of rock" and who, at deep levels ranging from
1,000 feet to 1,000 yards in the bowels of the earth, sacrifice their lungs
to the rock dust which develops miners' phthisis and pneumonia --
poor reward, but a sacrifice that enables the world's richest gold mines,
in the Johannesburg area alone, to maintain the credit of the Empire
with a weekly output of 750,000 Pounds worth of raw gold.
Surely the appeal of chattels who render service of such great value
deserves the attention of the British people.

Finally, I would say as Professor Du Bois says in his book
`The Souls of Black Folk', on the relations between
the sons of master and man, "I have not glossed over matters
for policy's sake, for I fear we have already gone too far
in that sort of thing. On the other hand I have sincerely sought
to let no unfair exaggerations creep in. I do not doubt
that in some communities conditions are better than those I have indicated;
while I am no less certain that in other communities they are far worse."




Chapter I A Retrospect

I am Black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar,
as the curtains of Solomon.
Look not upon me because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me:
my mother's children were angry with me; they made me