Total It is possible that the States of Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia may be considered quite representative of the entire South. The Negroes are believed to be as well off in these States as in any others. The four States contain 2,686,859 Negroes, which is 30.39 per cent. of the entire Negro population of the whole United States, and the statistics show that this 30.39 per cent. of the entire Negro population own now, in real and personal property listed for taxation, only $53,797,845, which is but $20.02 per capita. The assessed[Pg 70] value of property in the Southern States may be stated to be generally, at least, three-quarters of the actual value. [Pg 70] In the interesting and valuable statistics as to “The Negro Farmer,” compiled by Prof. W. E. B. Du Bois, of Atlanta University, we find a great many interesting facts: PROPORTION OF SLAVE OWNERS AND OF SLAVES IN THE POPULATION OF THE SOUTH, 1850 AND 1860. “These figures show that the slaves formed about one-third of the total population of that section, but that the owners of these slaves formed only between 5 and 6 per cent. of the white population and between 3 and 4 per cent. of the total population, the proportion being even lower in 1860 than in 1850. “In 1900 there were 187,799 farms owned by Negroes, which was 25.2 per cent. of all[Pg 71] farms operated by Negroes. In 1900 Negro farmers who owned all of the land they cultivated formed 83.3 per cent. of all Negro owners. [Pg 71] “If an estimate of the probable total farm wealth of the Negro farmers, June 1, 1900, be desired, the value of the live stock on rented farms, of which a large share generally belongs to the tenants, should be added. That value for the colored tenants was $57,167,206. Adding this sum to the preceding total, it appears the value, June 1, 1900, of the farm property belonging to Negroes was approximately $200,000,000, or a little less than $300 for each Negro farmer. “This estimate, however, takes no account of property owned by Negroes and rented out to either Negroes or whites.... Therefore, we are probably justified in adding 15 per cent. to the above estimated value of property owned by Negro farmers in continental United States, thus bringing the total up to $230,000,000. “The value of the land in farms of all
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