The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1877-04-26
ghe 1]iaoilg A'rgenls,
ROCK NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
What VIII BECOME of the Negro when
the Republicans Abandon Hisna
From the Church Journal,

NEW ORLEANS. April I've ara, in
Louisiana, surrounded with semi-heathen-
ism. rapidly. relapsing into a total one,
And this heathenism has been seized for
political purposes by that vile development
OF natural selection, the American poll
tlcian, and has been insidiously taught to
suspect aud distrust any white iafuenc,
upon it except it be political
The standing problem in Louisiana, In
South Carolina, and some other states, is
the negro problem. Since emancipation.
aud the committal of the negro to the law
of supply and demand" natural selec-
ton, and the survival of the fttest," the
race has sadly deteriJrated. They have
been arrayed by politicians against the
white people, and encouraged to consider
them their natural enemies. They are rap
idly relapsing into barbarism, and are the
c'ass of criminals. petty thieves, house
breakers and the rest in our cities and
country neighborhoods. Unless some
thing be done for them aud with them, they
are doomed to extinction. The circumstan-
ces which have made them OF interest so
far are temporary and political. The cir
cunstances are rapidly changing, indeed
have almost passed.away: and the outlook
torbearance of the southern people, after
having been debauched and rendered
worthless by low politicians, is not very
promising.
More and more white labor is taking the
place OF black. The planting class and all
employing labor are encouraging the in-
coming of white men, naturally and pro-
perry, too, and the negro, dropped by the
politician when he has no further use for
him, will be driven to the wall by the mere
laws OF business and industry. The race
has some excellent qualities, but in THE
struggle for existence" it must be crowded
out by the Anglo Saxon, who is never very
conslderate to weaker races, except when
he is far away from them. But here, for
the present, is the negro, and now that the
politicians are about dropping him as a
factor in the making of presidents, it re-
mains to be seen whether Christianity will
take him up. | confess for myselfa great
interest in him. He is capable of creating
strong attachments. He has strong
attachments himself. But [ cannot
help forebodings Cur treatment of interi-
or races has been blunder always. We
have mercilessly exterminated the Indians,
and justice or forbearance for the poor re-
mains OF his tribes is scarcely procurable
Our kindness is nearly as disastrous as
our cruelty. We insist on it that all races
are capable of the same condition as our
own. In freeing the negro as we did, we
did good thing for his owner. We did
an equally good thing for him had he been
an enterprlsing, ambitious Yankee. But
not being an enterprising or ambitious
Yankee, but an INDECENT, ignorant, and
semi civilized negro, we cast him loose 10
sink or swim, survive or perish" in a
social life where ignorance, laziness, lack of
self-assertion aud self-control stand nc
chance in the competition for the means of
life. He is his own master now and he
must prosper accordingly. But not con
| tent with thus turning him loose to live OF
die, we encouraged set of disreputahle
politicians to ALLEVIATE him, for the sake OF
his vote, from the white men that must
employ him, and live with him, and help
him if he is to be helped, until he stands as
an alien and an enemy in the place of hi.
| birth These last creatures, having got
through with him, are now leaving him.