The Opelousas courier. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1852-1910, 1889-06-29
'EIae Great Problem.
Some Opinions Upon the Race Question


From the Marion lark Reform.
Mai. T. b. Edgington, of Memphis. was Sc
lccted to deliver the Grafton at the Ghttonal
Cemetery in Memphis on last Sunday, at the
decoration of the graves of the Federal dead.
In his address he discussed the race problem.
lie certainly furnished food for thought, and
all thinking men ought to thank Maj Edging-
ton for it without regard to color, Tor no one
is, or onght to be, more interested III having II
clear understanding OF this race question than
the negro ; and all good men ought to unite il
trying to adjust it with as little friction as pos
sible, for it is a question we have to meet soon
er or later and there is no use of MS shutting
our eyes to this fact; but let us think of asd
discuss it i'll dispassionate way. ok at 1t i'll
a light of reason and Justice, and aa3pt some
plan that will insure nssace and tranquility to
our country
From the Macon tGa.l News,
Mai T. B. Edgington delivered an Grafton
at the National Cemetery in Memphis on Dec
Grafton Day, which the Memphis Avalanche
says will give him national reputation. Maj.
Edgington is a member of the Grand Army of
the Republic and "a gallant soldier.
The speech is nearly four columns in length,
which the Avalanche published in full, and
deals principally with the race question.
He compared the growth of the negro race
in the United States with that of the rabbits
in Australia and the English sparrows in
Memphis He showed that the multiplication
of one had been hardly less rapid than the
other, the negro population growing from 20
slaves in 1920 to nearly 100000 in a single
century, and he asked the grave question :
Was the result of the war in which his COM
rades spilled their blood to be the domination
of their descendants by the black majority
By race untitled to govern themselyes2 I"
From the Lauderdale Miss Enterprise.
The add.ess of Maj I. B. Edgington on the
occasion of decorating the graves of the fede
raj soldiers at the National Cemetery last Sun
day, is one of the most remarkable speeches
ever delivered in this country, and should
have the widest possible circulation. AS was
we'll said by the Avalanch,s 81 it was remark
able, in the first place, as coming from mem
Der of the G. A. R., a gallant Union soldier Ii
was remarkable for its boldness, and it was a:
profound and as eloquent and scholarly as i
was bold"
From the Pittsburg Post.
The opening of the speech was devoted t.
an array of figures from the census of 1880
from which Col. Edgingtou concludes tha
the negroes are multiplying like English spar
rows or Australian rabbits 1t is ON 1i1is con
clusien that Col. Edgington 'Sases his othe
conclusions. All his arguments tend only t
this end-that the negro, if he insists on re
. naming in the South and multiplying, wi
enslaye the South-if he is not exterminatet
We don't believe in this. The negroes ar
! not outgrowing the whites, save in II fe'
, States, or sections of States, where there is
drift Of negro immigration. But this Gran
Army view is interesting because it show
they are commencing to think, as it were, o
!, the edge OF the question.
D From the Chicago Inter Ocean.
The negro, as a negro, cannot be deprive
a of the right to vote by any act of any Stat
: Many negroes might be deprived of the rigi
to vote by the passage of laws requiring a
:, educational, property or taxpaying test; b.
Q the passage of such laws would work again
a whites as well as the negroes.
o Charlottesville tVa,l Chronicle.
! The NEGRO problem" is far more intrica
a than most intelligent and fair-minded outsi
ers can appreciate. They all seem to thit
; that when the negro is educated the pro
n lem I" will be solved. But if every negro
O. the South was an A. M. of the University5
Q Virginia, they would still be distinct and
70 some very important respects hostile fact
)r in Southern politics. When tue Mort
rt through it's hatred of the Southern peop
In precipitated emancipation without any pl
i vision for the future settlement and status
! the negro it inflicted problem upon t
&c country, North as we'll as South, which "
IS. return to plague generations yet unborn