St. Paul daily globe., 1890-07-12
THE RACE PROBLEM.
Educational Qualifications Re
stricting Negro Suffrage.

EuuCdCIOI1dI (JudlIllCdGlOuS NC.
stricting Negro Suffrage.
hon. A. A. Gunby, of Louisiana.
made the most brilliant and eloquent
address of the session in presenting the
Grace Problem.' After briet intro
ductiOn he said:
Let me state in the outset that there
is-a Southern prOblem-a serious, press
ing problem which clamors for solu-
ton. But let me state also that this
problem concerns the North as well as
the South; it concerns every section
and every class of people in this great
country, and it is not only the
right, but the solemn duty of
every portion of the people to take
an active interest in its solution. / call
it Southern problem because its domi-
cile is in the South. But in truth and
in fact, it is as much your problem as it
is ours, and neither the bigotry which
would claim the exclusive privilege of
solving it nor the cowardice which
would shirk the responsibility for its
solution can be tolerated in the tribunal
of patriotism and pure reason.
think | may say that the Importance
of this question is fully appreciated in.
the North. intend no sarcasm when
say that the condition of Southern
negroes eXcites more interest in the
the globe. The horrors of Siberia,
tins of incredible tortures, Ireland
struggling bravely but painfully against
the fearful odds of oppression and fam
inc, Australia, where the English Shep-
herd shoots the bushman ON sight as in
differently as he shoots rabbit; Africa,
where enslavement and oppression of
the blacks continue unabated, and the
Germans work them to death in their
march from Zanzibar to the lakes; or,
coming nearer home. the bloody aSsaS-
sination of homeless Cinnamon in the
West, and the barbarous treatment of
the Indians of North America, which
has been aptly called "a century of dis
honor"-these,a all these tales OF ''wrong
and outrage done by man to man," grow
dim and insipid beside the reported
wrongs of the Southern negroes. | do
not blame the precedence given to this
question. 1t has a just basis. We did
not bring the Indians nor the Cinnamon
to this country. We did not and conld
not civilize them. From past history,
from character and from numbers, the
negroes have greater influence OH the
alien race can ever have. When we re-
fleet that the presence of the negro
changed the face of our institution and
drew lines across our political geOg-
raphy, that he was the bone of conten-
tion that shook the republic for fifty
years, and that at length he had the
power to embrOil the whites in civil
strife and bloodShed; when we consider
what his freedom has meant for him
and meant for us, we are bound to
acknowledge that too much Importance
has not been and cannot anywhere be
attached to the just and proper settle
ment of all questions bearing on the
rights and duties and the destiny of the
negro race in America.
The condition of the colOred people in
the South and their relations to the
Whites, constituting the real problem,
was detailed at length, with the depre-
cation of any Iaissez faire policy in Its
solution. He showed the utter absurd
ity of the solution by amalgamation,
first, that the Anglo-SaXon race never
amalgamateS, and second, that to- both
races is completely repugnant any such
idea.. The deportation of the negro was
also shown to be cut of the question. as
cruel, inhuman and unsatisfactory. The
speaker showed the absence of race pre-
judice in the South, saying:
There has never been any such feel
ing between the races. The negroes
reciprocate the kind feelings of the
whites. 1t is only the grossly ignorant
negro who is suspicious of his white
neighbor l have never known a fairly
bright negro. uninfluenced by design
ing aliens, that did not have more con-
fidence in the kindness and justice of
Southern white men than in anybody
else in the world. They show this con-
tidence in spite of all our political
trouble, year in and year out. They
show their trust in the Southern whites
by their lhbor and devotion, by their
happiness and content. Why. the ne
groes are the happiest peasantry in the
world. They never know what it is to
want work, the bitterest want that man
can feel. Better clothed, better
fed, better housed, better paid
than the white laborers in England OF
Pennsylvania. they have right to be
satisfied with their lot so far as the
present is concerned. | wish | could
show you one of the plantations of
Richardson, the largest cotton planter
in the South. A white cottage with
three rooms. neatly ceiled, we'll venti-