educated, so to speak, to a sense of duty and honor; and negroes of
his class have almost never been known to violate a trust. Of course
there are bad niggers, but as a rule such negroes have grown up
under conditions that would develop the evil in any race of men.

"During the Secession it was the most common thing for the men to go
to war and leave their defenseless women and children wholly in the
care of their slaves; and, even though the federal soldiers were
fighting to free the slaves and their masters to keep them in
slavery, rarely did a negro fail to remain faithful to his trust.
They hid from the northern soldiers the horses and mules, cotton and
corn, clothing and provisions, and all sorts of valuables; and in
most cases were ready to suffer themselves before they would reveal
the hidden property. To be sure there were masters who abused their
slaves, and some of these were naturally ready to desert at the
first opportunity; but in the main the slave owner was more kind to
his human property than the considerate soldier was to his horse,
and the negro as a race is appreciative of kindness."

"I suppose the depreciation in soil fertility and crop yields dates
largely from the freeing of the slaves does it not?" asked Percy.

"Well, that was one factor, but not the most potential factor. Much
land in the south had been abandoned agriculturally long before the
war, and much land in New York and New England has been abandoned
since the war. The freeing of the negroes produced much less effect
in the economic conditions of the south than many have supposed. The
great injury to the South from the war was due to the war itself and
not to the freeing of slaves. In the main it cost no more to hire
the negro after the war than it cost to feed and clothe him before;