Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1885-06-10
ToOMBs ON THE NEGRO PROBLEM.

is eagerly sought by all, not 50 hlucn
from its intrinsic worth as from the fact
that he remains unreconstructed and APP
parentlv unreconstructable. He is the
embodiment of the Southern sentiment
of ante-bellum days. In those days he
was an oracle to whom all listened with
interest, although his prophetic say
ings have not been fulfilled. Of late
there has been much discussion as to the
future of the negro in the United States,
and the views expressed have been as
diverse as the temperaments Of those who
have spoken. Only recently Mr.. Toombs
has given expression as to his views on
what is now termed the negro problem.
He gave them in an interview with a
representative of the Atlanta EreniRg
Journal, on the Sd instant. He said that
his views to-day were the same as they
were when he delivered his speech on
slavery in the fremont Temple, Boston.
That speech was delivered near thirty
years since, its date being January oath,
1856. What changes have our country
seen since then! A long and bloody
war has been fought, the Union saved
and the slave made free and a citizen.
But time has made no change in Robert
Toombs, in his thought or in feeling. Let
us see what were the views he expressed
in that famous fremont Temple lecture.
He submitted considerations and re-
Elections upon two points, this being the
second:
''2d. The influence of Slavery as it
exists in the United States upon the
Slave and Society" At the very outset
of his lecture he addressed himself to
the consideration of this point. On this
point he said:
"On the second point, | maintain that
so long as the African and Caucasian
races co-exist in the same society, that
the subordination of the African is its
normal, necessary and proper condition,
and that such subordination is the con-
dition best calculated to promote the high
est interest and the greatest happiness Of
both races, and consequently of the
whole society. = \ \ They rest on
the truth that the white is the superior
race and the black the inferior, and that
Subordination, with or without law, will
be the status of the African in this mixed
society, and, therefore, it is the interest
of both, and especially of the black race,
and of the whole society, that this status
should be fixed, controlled, and protected
by law"
1t is the old argument that was, heard in
every discussion concerning theretention
or abolition Of slavery in the days when
that question was the one which agitated
the entire country. Near the close of his
lecture, Mr. Toombs gave other reasons
why the institution OF slavery should be
retained, and advanced this argument:
''Its permanence is based upon the
idea of the superiority of the white race
over the African; that this superiority is
not transient and artificial, but perma-
nent and natural; that the same
power which made his skin
unchangeably black, made him
inferior, intellectually, to the white race,
and incapable of an equal struggle with
him in the career of progress. and civili-
zation; that it is necessary for his pres
ervation in this struggle, and for his own
interest as well as that of the society of
which he is a member, that he should be
a servant and not freeman in the COM
monwealth." The sentiment of the
American people was against this view,
and the institution of slavery was abol-
ished. The problem of slavery is forever
settled in America, but there remains
the problem Of this new condition. 1t is !
the problem of two separate races living |
side by side in one country and under one !
government and both politically equal.
What will be the destiny of the African
race socially, morally and intellectually,
is the grave question of the hour. Twenty |
years of freedom are not enough to saw
what are the capabilities of race that for
centuries has been in bondage, without
to develop its better instincts
and show whether those instincts will
lead that race to the higher plane
of the white mans civilization. In the
discussion now being carried on in the
Century various views of this problem
are put forth. Mr.. Cable holds that there
will be an amalgamation OF the races.
and an elevation of the lower, or African.
race to the level of the higher, or eau
casian, race. This view is combatted bv
Mr.. Grady, of Georgia, in the April Cen
t1Tg, who holds that the tendency
in everything is 10 complete
separation of the races, in schools,
in churches, in railways and elsewhere,
and that this separation is tending to
create much better feeling between the
whites and blacks, and that through it
each has more respect and consideration
.or the other. In the June Century, the
Rev. I. U. Dudley, of Kentucky, dis
;usses the problem, but does not sub
scribe to either of the above views. I
Doubtless it was this discussion that
brought Robert Toombs from his hiding {
place, and caused him to give his views ,
IN the negro problem to the world. He |
iays he does not think the negro can be
'ducated, in which he is certainly J
wrong as regards some notable men of |
he negro race. He further says that ed i