The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-08-07


Every once in while a colcred man o.
| some prominence comes forward with
scheme to colonize the colored people Of thli
| country in Liberia, There have been hV'
| of such schemes since the close OF the ciVl
war, and not one Of them has been IN any
degree successful. The purpose OF the pro
moters of about all Of them has been &c
! make money out Of the colored people A
few colored people have emigrated 20 LII
IBERIA, and those who have returned nome
| have reported that those remaining were III a
wretched condition and would gladly come
back if they could get money enough TO
| do So
Tho man who is now eudeavoring TO pro-
mote emigration to Liberia ls benjamin
Castor. who IS reported TO be native OF
.his z,s+e He is shrewd sort of q man,
and has enlisted in his scheme an English
,te,mship company whose vessels ply be-
| tween Liverpool and African ports. This
companv would like to have Its lands in
Tiberla settled so that it would have
profitable business with that country.
CASTOR has led the English company to
believe that it would not be a difficult mat
ter to get 100000 colored people from the
southern states to go TO Liberia. He knows,
of course, that the colored people who
would be likely to emigrate haven't any
money with which to pay their passage,
and it is certain that the English company
isn't going to carry them for nothing. The
company expects TO make money by taking
them TO Liberia.
But where is the money TO come FRONT
Evidently Castor expects to get congress to
appropriate it on the plea that tine surest
way to solve the race problem is to send the
colored people out of the country. But
CASTOR will not find congress willing to
help him with his scheme. In the last con-
gress a bill was introduced providing for
an appropriation of Sl000O,000 to send
such of the colored people to Liberia as
wanted to go. Influential colored men
went before the committee TO which the
bill was referred and stated that the col
ored people did not want to leave this
country and that if any did go to Liberia
the government would probably be ap-
pealed 10 to appropriate money 10 bring them
back Nothing more was ever heard of
that bill.
The colored people who have the means
to 60 to Liberia are not going there. They
are satisfied to remain where they are, and
those who are too poor to go know they are
better off here than they would be there.
They are sure of living here without very
hard work, and they are not likely to leave
certainty for an uncertainty. CASTOR
and his steamship company might, of
course, get a few immigrants, but not
enough to make them feel greatly elated
with their scheme.
1t would be proftless to discuss the ques-
ton of the effect the wholesale emigration
of the colored people would have in settling
the race issue before there was any proba-
bility of such emigration. 1t will be time
enough to discuss it VIXEN it becomes ap-
parent that any considerable number OF
them think seriously of going to Liberia,
but if several million of them should decide
to 60 no obstacles would be placed in their
way. If colored people should go white
people would come and the latter would do
much more toward building up the country
than the colored are doing.