The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1889-10-06
loWLANo FOLKS.

had two stores, blacksmith shop, q school
house and very plain church, and the
postoflce was kept I'm the rear of one of
the stores. In the evening most Of the
population eslthered I'm the school house.
fosr or five tallow dips were lighted and
ono OF tins audience announced object
/ nod over my part OF IL as rapidly and n.
gracefully M possible, and was succeeded
g . c, ..ss IN ~1 the " ierislSsure. He M"s a
large ~slaveholder before the war, and had
nos yet become r~,concilcd to the new
sat neal me. and / noticed that he cxhihr
iscd much interest in the mceting;,
~. my s. frssn Sx co sn,% ans '" q. "in * H .e
orter discuss the problem which to-day
concerns the very existence of the south.
eer? That's the question which we meet
up with at every turn. It's D great prob
whats the matter with the Niger ?'
inquired the blacksmith as The judge
paused for a moment.
replied the judge. "In the furst place, he
never Ortcr been sot free. He doon' know
. mutt e. M !, k ssry Fl hi."eHIf; 4: a His mature" Sanpx
onless he's got u master. just look around
You and see the effects of scttin' the mig
srty; the suffering I b dczrcdashun-th
.. "say So sud sssm i%%,srr%p's sS, the , S,soh n;.ss4.
around yser,e amt happy cause nobody
.Of course lam. They can't he. It's
jist rs natural fur the nigRer to be owned
6y a white t;,s maj ais 1t is fur water to run
81 go fur to dispute that qualincashun.'
.omewhat mixed In his excitement.
nieacr 90 years ole. and cali for his opin-
ker to be owned by a white man
"No. Mars Higgins" promptly replied
the veteran.
"And how about the poverty and degra
you mention ono niRger around yere,
I'm mcnshun forty who hev got ahead of
"Are you a-sidin' with the niRRcr?' de-
mnnded the Judge.
ain't nc u.e in .seppin' on him cause he'.
black. Niggers has rights"
III I CANE he permitted to speak with,
she Judge, and down he sat.
He was followed to the platform by a
IN one OF the stores. / had heard hin,
referrcd to during the day as a rising poll
sMy fricnds,'' he said in a very gentle
voice, 'tit il true that the niRger question
is the great problem. What shall we do
"Wha shall the Niger do with us p"
growled the blacksmith.
'Fellow citizens,'' continued the gentle
political, and a military measure. Being
such a long time has elapsed, and being
amt likely that he will ever he returned
may therefore be considered a dead issue.
The d;hasssaae ~ n;,m nov ~ "ri"e"' how shall we
.sThat's ali wind.'' put in the blacksmith.
m nivas riR h have we. 20" v TO dispose : s,o OF tine
holder, and has all the rights a white man
has; How are you irvine to run him Of, 2"
the young man. sswhen the question of
the survival OF the httest comes up the
S.s1 sen %' sse 60 to and de hi :"t Black The sr 1aS.s.
must follow him. de-"
., moh, r.: s., a. to Ths sm, il,sen an and iS wnS
s 70 s Sn sse .aH Of ~h assE foik.." "R''" ''"'"
the si . %ssiEs :" without s;sE: s"S Ssss'ns BRIGHTNESS sns insss.
ruption, '.that I am not personally OPP
posed to niFRers, There has got 70 be
dams and nieRer.. believe 2 Niger has
o right to live and get along. He shouldn't
made him to serve the white man. AS
long as he remembers this, and acts ac-
SordinRiy, l nave nothing against him:
someone else who has given this subject
deeper thought"
who must have been 65 years old, and
who chewed plug tobacco like n threshinR
machine, was invited to address the meet
"i've. owned niRgers and I know all
about 'cm. Some IL ornery and some
amt. Some il lazy and some amt. i
don't reckon they'll ever be put i'm slavery
again, but they ought to take of their hats
20 white folks and give most OF the road.
I'm no speaker. I amt spoke aforc for 20
years. As I said afore, some ni99ers Is all
right and some ain't."
There was n call for others, but as no
one responded, the blacksmith arose and
said:
'I amt gwine to lose any sleep over
trying to solve any race problem. IL we
don't crowd the ni9Rer he ain't gwine ter
crowd us. and thar's heaps o. room left In
this country. As fur his helm n Niger, he
can't help that. He was horn that way
Az fur his bein' over yere, he amt ter
blame. He was brunR against his Wishes.
And he didn't say nuthin' bout Rittin hi,
freedom. He was a-workin' away and
a-doin' his best when the union sot him free
He wasn't saying he wanted to vote hut the
fool to-. The niggcr. hain't crowd
i'm anybody. He's a-mindin' his own big
ness bout as well as white folks. He,
a-gettin' bout as many hogs and mule,
together as many of us white folks. ana
he's suckin' i'm the cddecashun like IA Dir.
sponge: Niggers will steal, hut sc
vim white folks: Nissers will lie
inclined to be lazy. but =! kin
name several white men i'm this 'ers
room who Amt done an honest day,