Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-03-13
An advoca,, os Exoau..

LIBERIA FAVORED As THE POINT OF SETTLEMENT
hosE-coLoKED VIEW OF THE LrBERrAN SITUATION.
To STAR reporter who asked his views on the
exodus Of the colored race from the south Mr.. r. g.
Tharfn, OF South Carolina, who has expressed him
self from time to time on the subject, answered:
"As 10 the exodus OF one or the other of the two
races now competing for the daily loaf In the
southern states there can be no rational doubt.
Inc very corcitlon now existing was foreseep and
opposed by all the military strength OF the seces-
o o,Unists ana 80 much was squandered for the
pended for the pound OF cure
-, lne real objects OF philanthropic sympathy are
tne eA-non-slaveholdtng white masses. Redun-
laht ex-slaVe population Is political dynamite TO
the peace and prosperity Of the vast majority OF
tne southern whites, VINO must earn before they
can eat their daily bread, and whose daily wage Is
leuuGeo 10 the minimum by the Juxtaposition OF
Serslle competitors therefor.
las TO the direction OF the exodus, give prefer
cnce 10 Liberia, where ;ee-smpe titles 10 20 acres
1or the married and 10 acres Tor the single bona
hue eligrant, await the arrival of the Alro-Ameri
can ex-siave In q black mans republic, ahording
al the Iac1ntleS for the attainment or the maxi
mum possibility OF the negro IN commerce. CIVIL
zati9n, and prosperity. For this end would be
glad 20 see an AFRO American steamship line hber-
ally subsidized by Government. To ciLzens OF Afrl-
can descent, prefeTrinC 10 remain would not re-
fuse the right 20 settle on the pubic domain or 10
accept any Inducements offered BY the southern
States TO reclaim their swamp lands as homesteads
Tor themselves aud their posterlty.
This Is a burning question: oyershad0winS all
others, which VIII not be ignored III the coming
presidential campaign. surplus population Is the
srdFest evil tnat can Deiall any country, anu ul-
American methods can no longer DC utilized to
suppress IL By extra police or eXterfninate IL by
war. Remuneratiye employment or exodus, one
or the other, must be the unresisted semedy. The
alternative OF miScegenation Is as abh0rrenJ 10
decency as that OF lut-rnecine determination Is
dlsgracefultO stateSmanship Starvation or both
the competitive races may suit the resident minor
Ivy. who rejoice IN the perpetuated system or
colonial psoPEietorship; but both races h We rea-
son 10 remember their selfish inpOlicy in the past
and 10 depiOre their ruinous course at present
.'Not the status. out the presence OF the seryile
minimum wage-worker, before and since the war
has been the fruitful source OF all our woe The
fact Is urgent that exodus must be provided for or
worse will follow. Should the population OF South
America willingly receive our Impoverished eN-
slaves it would be less desirable than the L1beriaa
exodus, which brings foreign relations out OF do
nestle complications, Restores carrying trade and
commerce TO us, justice to Africa and "a new era
have spoken. OF course, OF the toiling masses OF
the black race not or the minority OF cOlored ctt
zens who are oIlically, professionally and other
wise provided for, and many OF whom are
too remotely related by blood to the negroes to
have any normal voice In the matter in which
they are so little concerned. Men who have
disconnected themselves from their race
are no longer entitled to advise on matters so
much beneath. above or beyond their reach Exc
dus Is to be altogether voluntary and must not be
enforced or suppressed. Liberia has been mis-
managed by certain ecclectics who have sought 10
colonize her with half-ftedged politicians. What
she wants is ulturists-and TO
each she proffers, together with freedom and
equality. homestead beyond malaria. N a health
ful pine-iand. less than 80 miles from Aonrovla,
the capital, with its churches schools and organ
lied republican government ready TO be, under a
peaceful American prntectOrate, extended TO the
heart or the most pTo.inc continent on earth.
Thither all eyes are now turned, ana all other
nations striving 10 prepar. themselves for the
rush after her iron and her coffee, her cotton and
her sugars, her gold and her gems, which, through
the subsidized Afro-A merican emigrant this coun-
try should hasten 10 appropriate"