It was God's greatest blessing to the negros who were brought back to the States and sold into slavery, notwithstanding those proponents of the theory that the native African's case is identically the same as the American Indian's case. I was employed as a steamship engineer for years and have been in all the larger ports of the world. Visited Africa a number of times and I shipped up the Congo River twice. There I saw the negro in his native state which was mostly disease and squalor due to their ignorance of hygiene and everything educational. There is disease and squalor in this country, but it is no respecter of persons or color. Those with enough ambition can escape it by improving their personal station in life. There are few who never have this opportunity and there may have been negros in Africa who were better off than those brought to America, but I doubt it. At least, I have never seen anything to substantiate it. Our government passed laws prohibiting inhumane treatment from abusive slave owners. Another fact that protected the negroes was that the prospective slave purchasers wouldn't even consider buying scarred negroes because the scars would indicate an unruly negro, or one who had tried to escape. Slaves usually had a cabin for each family and were given a portion of what was raised on the place. A plantation usually made its own shoes, clothes, grew its own food, cured its meat; and built its houses, barns, cabins and sheds from the timber on the place. Most plantations allowed Saturday afternoons and Sundays off and built churches for them to worship in. Some imported ordained ministers once a month to teach the most apt slave to read the Bible and preach. They possessed small musical instruments to produce their music and they had religious songs. Parties were allowed every Saturday night on either our place or some neighboring place and the fun would continue far into the night. There were jigging contests, singing and dancing. Sometimes the whites would participate because a few of the slaves were highly talented.

Since Emancipation I have seen newspapers produced by negroes, negro theatrical productions, negro lawyers, dentists, policemen, postmen, and one negro Congressman. They have their own residential and business districts along with anything that science can produce and they can purchase. I occasionally read of some negro employee being retired from some concern with a good pension for the balance of his life. What else can be said along this line? These are all personal experiences and observations and not the result of some one else's experience and opinion. I don't want to give you the wrong impression about my refusal to give you my story. I need more money than you can give me for such material. I want enough money to live like an old man should live for the balance of my life. Because I have traveled all my life, I have lost all contact with anyone who can prove my exact age. Others have died and I have tried both Tennessee and Texas for an Old Age Pension. You will have to be satisfied with this.