Q. No white man inquires whether he can work by himself or is to work in company with a negro?  Do they exhibit any reluctance to work in company with the negro?  —­A.  The class of white people that work in our country for wages comes from Ohio, and Missouri, and Indiana, and that section of country, and I find there is some prejudice among that class of people sometimes, but still there are instances—­as I say, I have men from Indiana now myself hired working right in a gang with negroes.

Q. There is no strong tendency in that way, I suppose?  —­A.  No strong tendency in that way.  There are no white laborers from the South proper; at least the number we can hire for wages is so small that it is not sufficient to call it a class.

Q. In the Southern States proper about two thirds of the population is white, is it not?  —­A.  I do not recollect.  According to the census returns I think there are about seven millions of negroes.  The census would give the exact statement.

Q. Not far from two thirds of the population, I think, is white.  In the Gulf States proper at least one half the population must be white.  In what way is the white laboring population of the South employed?  —­A.  They are employed as small farmers nearly almost entirely.

Q. Not to as great extent as mechanics and artisans?  —­A.  I suppose there is a liberal proportion of them to the population; we have to have our artisans and mechanics; but as a rule the white population of the South are small farmers, either owners of the land themselves or tenants.

Q. How as to their material prosperity and thrift and saving?  —­A.  It varies very much.  For instance, take the State of Georgia—­and I believe it is admitted that Georgia is one of the most thrifty and prosperous of all the Southern States—­I think the small farmers are generally self-sustaining; they raise their own supplies.

Q. Do these small white farmers employ negro help to any extent?  —­A.  To a certain extent.  If a man has more land than his family can work he will hire a negro laborer.  There is no prejudice against his doing so either on the part of the farmer hiring him or the negro hired.

     Q. He may hire some white and other colored laborers, I
     suppose? 
     —­A.  Yes, sir.

     Q. Do they work together? 
     —­A.  Yes, sir.

Q. How in regard to the value of the hill lands you have spoken of in the State of Arkansas; as compared with the alluvial, what is the difference in value?  —­A.  It is very great.  There are farms in Arkansas that can be bought, partially cleared up, and with some improvements upon them, for from $5 to $20 an acre, less than the rent of fair lands on the river.  There is no finer section of country in the world—­I say that unhesitatingly—­for a foreign immigrant, or the immigrant from the