The Booker T. Washington Papers, Vol.6, page 73, Mar. 1901, U. of Illinois Press

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MARCH · ~ 90 ~ women, ant! says, when speaking of the whole race: ''It is correct to say that fully ninety per cent. of the freedmen are reasonably lawabiding, and, apart from an instinct for petty pilfering, are fairly honest in deportment. They have the confidence and support of orderly white society, and are rarely molested by its lawless class.'' In another case he says: ''For instance, the negro's ethical code sternly reprobates dancing, theater attendance, and all social games of chance.'' A few pages further on he forgets this statement, and adds: ''It is as much a quest for physical excitement as the promise for pecuniary gain which impels the negro to indulge in petty gambling, and makes him the chief 'policy player' of the community, in every city, North and South.'' In another instance he states that the high death-rate and low birth-rate of the negro people shuts out any possibility of their attaining formidable proportions in this country. A little further along in the book he speaks of the ''ever-increasing millions of negro citizens.'' In still another statement he speaks of the South being overrun with incompetent, illiterate doctors, among other classes of professional men. Now, what are the facts? In Alabama, for example, no man, black or white, can enter the medical profession without passing a very severe examination. Perhaps with the exception of the State of Virginia, the examination in Alabama is more severe than that of any other State in the Union. In that State a diploma from no college is accepted. No one can enter the medical profession without taking the regular State examination, and it is very rare that any man can pass this examination inside of ten days. The code of medical ethics in the South perhaps is higher than it is in the North; no man of any race would, for a single day, be tolerated in the profession of medicine who did not lead a correct, moral life and was not well prepared professionally for his work. In Alabama there are about twenty-five negro physicians, and we have facts that warrant us in saying that, almost without a single exception, these men are highly educated, are successful in their practice, are respected by their white brother physicians, and have high moral and business standing in their communities. There are nearly seven hundred thousand negroes in Alabama, and it is bordering on the ridiculous to speak, for example, of that State being overrun with negro physicians, when there are only twenty-five to practice among 73