Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1890-01-30
THE RACE PROBLEM.
FIVE SOLUTIONS OFFERED BY SEM
ATOR INGALLS,.

On the threshold of our second century, we
are confronted with the most formidable and
portentous problem ever submitted to free
people for solution-complex, unprecedented,
involving social, moral and political consid-
erations, party supremacy, and in the esti-
nation of many Though not in my own the
existence OF our system Of government. Its
solution will demand all the resources and
statesinanship of the present and of the
future, to prevent crisis that may become
catastrophe. IL should be approached
with candor, with solemnity, With patriotic
purpose, with fearless scrutiny, without sub
terfuge, and without reserve. 1t state
it in the language of one Of the most brill
liant, the most impassioned and powerful Of
all the orators of the south-now unfor-
tunately no more When Henry w. Grady
died,
Luminous Meteor Disappeared
from the southern armament
Mr.. ingalls, thereupon sent to the clerks
desk and had read an extract from Mr..
Grady's Grafton before the Boston Chamber
of Commerce. and then went ON to say:
Let me state the arithmetic of this prob
lem In 1860 there were in the United
States 4, 440.0O0 negroes, slaves and free In
1870 there were 4, $50 600; in 1880, $50 900 an
increase which, | say in passing, can only bs
accounted for on the principle of premedi-
tated and Intentional fraud ON the census.
AT the close of this century probably there
will not be less than 5,OO0,OO0 OF the black
and eolored race ON this continent The
problem is still further complicated by the
fact that they are gragarious. They in
stinctively separate themselves into their
own communities, with their own habits,
their own customs, their own methods OF
life They are taught separately.
The line Of cleavage between white
and blacks is becoming constantly
more distinct and perceptble There
is neither amalgamation nor assimilation
Politically they are affiliated with the vic
tors in the late civil wars Socially and By
locality and residence they are associated
with the vanquished.
VIII the Experiment That Has Failed
Elsewhere sacceed Here?
Cannot the black race exist as citizens Of
the United States on terms of political
equality with the Caucasian racel And if
not why noti Fred Douglass, the most il
lustrious living representative of tho
negro race greater, | think, by his eau
causian reinforcement than by his African
blood once said TO me that he thought, as
prejudice and social and political antago-
nism disappeared, the races would blend,
coalesce and become homogeneous. / do not
agree with him. There is no natural affinity
between the races. This solution Of the prob
lem is impossible The relations between
the sexes in the time of slavery were com
pulsory The hybrid was the product
of relations between white fathers
and black mothers and never be-
htanlr fof nj rxrhffsa
And the inference from that result lethro-
is the conclusion of that ques-
tion Such solution, in my Judgment,
would perpetuate the vices of both races and
the virtues of neither. There is no blood
poison as fatal as adulteration of race. The
colored people, he continued, are here. They
are natives They are citizens. Man for
man, they our political equals They came
here. Involuntary, as prisoners Of war.
captured in fight. They are of ancient line
age, genuine F. +. VS.. [Laughter.l
Mr. Ingalls, went on to speak of the deter
OF the south to eliminate the negro
as a factor from its political and social his
tory, and quoted evidence ON that point
from Democratic newspapers and Demo-
cratic politicians. He sent TO the clerks
desk and had read extracts from The Jack
son Miss Clarion, just before the election
seventeen DAYS ago. IN which the interroga-
ton: "Who caresl The Bolton BOYS will b.
here Monday; there will be fair election
was repeated a dozen times the only differ
ence being the name OF the companies 10 be
there was changed.
When the last interrogatory was read, Mr..
ingalls, said.
They Were All There"
amid much laughter. Mr. Ingalls, then read
the statement Of the correspondent that the
election at jackson was the most outrageous
he had ever seen, and the town had been
taken possession of "by toughs with Winches-
ter rifles and held throughout the day. In
this extract, it was said that Senator Georges
SON was one of the riAemen.
In conclusion. Mr.. Ingalls, said that race
applied only to the colored man
in the south when he desired to vote the Re
publican ticket. If the colored men there
were all Democrats, the race question would
be over. For solution of the problem (he
saidD had been suggested emigration, ex-
absorption, and dsfranchise-
ment. but there was still a fifth solution
which had never been tried, and that solu-
tion was justice. appeal to the south the
to
Try the Experiment of Justice.
Stack your guns. Open your ballot boxes.
Register your voters, black and white. And
il, after the experiment has been fairly and
honestly tried, it appears that the African
race is incapable Of civilization, viii pledge
myself 20 consult with you about some
measure Of solving the race problem. But,
until then, nothing can be done. The citizen
ship OF the negro must be absolutely recog-
nized HIS right to vote must be admitted
counted
These are the essential preliminaries, the
conditions precedent 10 any consideration q
he Interior and fundamental questions of
race supremacy or race equality in the
United States, north or south.
Without attempting any other business,
The senate adjourned till Monday