Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1889-12-20

HENRY A. SCoMr closes an article IN the
Forum with tho remark President
Grant ctgcrnrss to purchase san Domin-
go as a kind Of asylum for the negroes and
as aifording a safety-valye for ourselves
was undoubtedly based on the true politi-
cal wisdom and on the sound statesman
ship of humanity. Shall we not renew the
effort? ?" Most certainly not. Mr.. Scomp
would solve the race difficulty by an ex-
puIsion of oneof the races. Lord Sails
bury would solve The worklngmen's dis
tress in England by sending laborers out
of the country. This is neither statesman
ship nor humanity. The deportation Of
negroes would be a confession that the
black man is too much for our republican
institutions. The South needs black
labor, An economy of nature hts tn" No
gro for toll under i southern sun; even It
small negro exodus from one southern
state to another, North Carolina to Mis-
sissippi for instance, causes great alarm
among the white planters. The read just
ment of race relations from those of mas
ter and slave to the political equality de
creed hy the constitution is progressing
quite as rapidly as could be expected under
the circumstances A South Carolina
negro cannot sit beside white passenger
on railroad train without creating a
eommotion and vet he sits beside white
senators and representatives in the state
legislature The South is not asked to
fraternize, hut ciyihzc on the race issue.
San Domingo under an American flag at
all events would settle nothing.
THE Minneapolis Tribune speaking of
dangers to which railroad employees are
subjected. SAYS We know that railway
employees are exposed to great and extra
ordinary dangers; hut probably only a few
of us hnve ever stopped to reflect that APP
piled to this class of fellow citizens the
term lighting the battle of life is not
only an appropriate figure of speech but
literally a true statement of cold hard
fact. Railroad accidents resulting in the
death or manning of employees are of such
common occurrence that we may grow
callous and Indifferent But when the
causualtieS of the year are summed up and
the record shows a list Of 1000 killed and
more than 20 0o0 wounded. even the dull
est mind must stagger at the fearfully
large number of victims sacrificed to the
juggernaut of the iron horse. The risk
assumed 10y yitrdmeu and hrakemen Is
really a. great rs that of a soldier engaged
in bloody hattie The literary gem of
President Harrrison'S message is the
truly eloquent sentence in which he en-
phasizes this very point. Everybody must
admit that it Is reproach to our civil
ization that amy class of American work
men should be subjected to peril of life
and limb as great rs that of n soldier In
time of war This sentence will live
when perhaps the rest of the document Is
buried in dusty archives, and it viii not
give the national conscience rest until
the proper reforms shall have been adopted
Railroad accidents need not be more FIRE
QueilJ III tHtS country liltlt III EuiNNt
Uniformity in construction of cars, auto
matte brakes and couplers on freight ears
better system of heating cars and I'M
proved safety appliances in general, would
have the effect Of reducing accidents to
minimum, and greatly lesSening the peril
to which employees are subjected. Tht
President is of the opinion that congress
should take action in the matter. and tha
a beginning should be made at once Tn,
President is right, eminently right. w,
have seen how exceedingly slow the rail
roads are to move in this matter. On,
road is waiting for another to make be
ginning, and meanwhile employees ar
manned by the thousands. Prompt an,
judicious action by congress would have
wonderful effect in quici 'ag their sens
of duty