Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-09-15
THE RACE PROBLEM
And Its Solution, as Viewed Through
a Pair of Southern Spectacles.
THE SOUTH HAS 1T TO SOLVE.
Some of the Ideas of Those in the North
Who Would Handle 1t.
THE COLOR LINE DRAWN VERY TAUI
CORRESPONDENCE OF THE p1spArcH.I

| COFFEYVILLE, MISS, september L.
Again the race problem agitates the publ,
mind, but it is one which the people of thu
South must work out for themselves. Will
the change in the administration came thu
renewal of the question as to equality o
rights" but if the problem receives jus
and methodical solution, it must be studied
from Southern standpoint and from South
ern associations. In the North, where nc
such danger as negro majority can be felt
the gravity of the situation is not appreci'
ated. Theory Is good, but the philanthropit
North is not yet ready to be dominated ovel
by the African as he is-then why theorizt
for the South?
The North is noted for its publicly ex.
pressed love for the black man-who does
| not live in the North-but when the appoint
ment of a negro postmaster was made in Ala
bama the sentiment of the press spoke the voice
of the people when it said, "All right, so long
as II is done in Alabama. White supremacy
| reigns here and by the eternal fitness of things
| we intend it shall continue prevailing"
If about one-half the negro population of the
| South could go up North, and an equal num-
| Der of whites take their places in the South it
would make such an equal division OF color
that the race problem" could be studied
| to good advantage by the Northern fanatic.
| The North would fight to the bitter end if COM
| PEELED to accept any other than white suprem-
| acy, yet are ever ready to talk of equal
| rights" and moralize over the oppression OF
the Southern negro. Under government like
| ours there can be no law against
THE LAW OF PUBLIC OPINION.
We refuse to receive the Chinaman, either
as serf or an equal, yet he is the representa-
tive of a powerful nation. In the redskin
whom we have dispossessed Of his original
rights, we recognize no equality, while the
descendant of the barbarous black, whose tribe
on the Golden Coast still trembles before
fetish, may now sit at the desk of Clay or Cal
hounl Truly. tine tangled threads of ethical
casuistry are hard to uIravel.
Within the past q years the North and the
South have together contributed $40 900 900 to
the education of the freedmen, yet the i'm
provement, except IN individual cases, is not
noticeable. Every Northern man who goes to
the South for other than political reasons
naturally comes to sympathize with the race
feeling of the native whites there. Every year
there arrives handful of men with a mission
a mission to keep other peoples conscieuces
often to the neglect OF that charity which be-
gins at home.
From the cargo of slaves from Afric's land.
the race has increased to millions and with the
rapidly increasing population the Southern
country has every reason to feel that the day
is not far distant when the bugbear of negro
domination must be met. The Southern
negro, depending upon the people of his coun-
try for his very daily sustenance has every
right to lend his vote to the interests of the
State, but ruled by the overtures of Northern
politicians, the great mass of colOred voters
stand by the party that gave them the ballot
and vote against the interests of those upon
whom he depends for bread and clothing The
advance agent of the Northern politician has
made OF the negro political sert. The gilt
tering display that the spoils seeker makes
his fawning, fattering words, his promises of
golden Gays, when the 40 acres and the MULE
are held out as deluslve temptations, have
made the negro break faith with his best
friend.
1t is a simple tale and PLAUSIBLE, too, but OH
the untold misery that follows It'll The poi
son has become thoroughly inoculated, and
there is little hope that the colored people will
ever recover from its effect. As race there
seems to be nothing in their present condition
to encourage even
THE FAINTEST HOPE
that they will ever adopt those habits of life
that lead to prosperity. While they may enjoy
a practical monopoly of farm labor on the best
lands of the States, they prove themselves
totally devoid of any characteristic that makes
good tenantry. 1t is frequently the case that
almost every farm hand in the neighborhood
will abandon his crop at the most critical time
to go on some excursion; his character is de-
void of reason and Judgment. Bis one thought
is for the present-sacrifcing anything for a
present desire.
An incident that occurred last year illustrates
the negro character faithfully. Late in the
an old negro went to town with
neither shoes nor socks. The sight
of the old mans bare feet so wrought
upon kind-hearted merchants feelings taht
he called him in and gave him a pair of brogans
and warm socks. In less than an hour the old
sinner sold both for a drink of whisky, and
wadedihome rich as Cresus. The negro's love
of festal time is proverbial; he has his corn
shuckings his log rolings, his quilting bees, and
every work is made to yield its element to
frolic. He is not ambitious. For days and
weeks he will live frugally on cornbread and
bacon, with an occasional 'possum caught in
the night hunt, when, all at once, his savings
will be spent In one evening in happy, care
less way; crowds of his dusky friends will
gather in, the music of the fiddle and the banjo
will be heard, the patting and the boxing and
the "hoe-down" convince that he is contented
and as well off as he would be anywhere else.
So we see he remains undisturbed by change of
condition, and little inclined TO push for more.
In one thing the "colored indivlduaP' of the
South has changed, and that is in his right to
swear aloud-a privilege that many freedmen
value next to liberty. Cries of the most pro-
fame character resound throughout the fields
as this Senegambian combats with some head
strong mule or some underling in the field
The moralist who anticipated that emancipa.
tion would bring in its train all the courtesies
with all the virtues, will of course be shocked,
The negro has his position in the South, and
receives
A CHARACTERISTIC KINDNESS
that he never meets with in the North. Not
one need go hungry-none cold. Charity sees
no one suffer. There are ties that are felt in a
hundred ways. Children love the old nurse:
that old butler is humored, and here and there
a sham invalid is INDUCED. The "color line"
is undoubtedly drawn, and necessarily, too, for
the negro is of another race, and since the days
of Ham has had his position in the wold's
history. The negro. too, is an aristocrat and
draws the "color line" at the poor white
trash of the South
The Quixotic idea of colonizing the negroes
in territory by themselves, just now revived
by w. P. Calhoun and approved by Senator
Hampton, is absurd The negro is the natural
laborer for the South, and while he needs
supervisor, is yet superior to the socialstic |
foreign labor that the North employs. That
the negro will be eventually elevated to the |
level of the Caucasian is believed by many |
educators, but in every age we have seen that |
the brains OF the Caucasian are practical |
necessity for the progression Of a govern |
ment. |
We, as nation, have already gwen the negro |
equal civil rights with the white man. Already |
millions have been expended in the freedman's |
cause, and many millions more must be before |
we see any shining results. 1t would be unrea- |
sonable to expect the offspring of slaves or |
heathens to develop in a short time all the |
thrift of a more favored humanity. If the |
wealth of the nation will educate them beyond |
the superstition and immortality of their pres
ent life. make them citizens worthy the high |
place the law has already given them, Chris