People's party paper. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1891-1898, 1892-09-16

L
hint "Negro rule": and the white
farmer and laborer of the South had
to choke down his grievance and
march under Tammany's orders.
Reverse the statement, and we have
the method by which the black man
was managed by the Republicans.
Reminded constantly that the
North had emancipated him; that
the North had given him the ballot !;
that the North had upheld him in
citizenship; that the South was his
enemy, and meant to deprive him of
his suffrage and put him "back into
slavery" it is no wonder he has
played as nicely into the hands of the
Republicans as his former owner has
played into the hands of the North
ern Democrats.
Now consider: here were two dis
tinct races dwelling together, with
political equality established between
them by law. They lived in the
same. section; won their livelihood
by the same pursuits; enjoyed to-
gether the bounties of a generous
climate ; suffered together the rigors
of cruelty unjust laws; spoke the
same language; bought and sold in
the same markets; classified them
selves into churches under the same
denominational teachings; neither
race antagonizing the other in any
branch of industry; each absolutely
dependent on the other in all the
avenues Of labor and employment !;
and yet, instead Of beng allies, as
every dictate Of reason, and prudence,
and self-interest, and justice, said
they should be, they were kept apart,
in dangerous hostility, that the sordid
aims of partisan politics might be
served
SO completely has this scheme
succeeded that the Southern black
man almost instinctively supports
any measure the Southern white man
condemns, while the latter almost
universally antagonizes any PROPOSE
ton suggested by Northern Repub-
lican. We have, then, solid South
as opposed to a solid North ; and in
the South itself, a solid black vote
against the solid white.
That such a condition is most
ominous to both sections and both
races is apparent to all.
If we were dealing with a few
tribes Of red men, or a few sporadic
Chinese, the question would be easily
disposed of. The Anglo-Saxon
wonld probably do just as he pleased,
whether right or wrong and the
weaker man would go under.
But the Negroes number 100000.
They are interviewer with our bust
ness, political and labor systems.
They assimilate with our customs,
our religion, our civilization. They
meet us at every turn,-in the fields,
the shops, the mines. They are a
part of our system, and they are
here to stay.
Those writers who tediously wade
through census reports to prove that
the Negro is disappearing, are the
most absured mortals extant. The
Negro is not disappearing. A South
ern man who looks about him and who
sees how rapidly the colored people
increase, how cheaply they can live
and how readily they learn, has no
patience whatever with those statisti-
cal lunatics who figure out the final
disappears nee of the Negro one hun
dred years hence. The truth is, that
the "black belts'' in the South are
getting blacker. The race is mixing
less than it ever did. Mulattoes are
less common Gin proportion) than
during the times of slavery. Mis-
cegenation is further off (thank Cod
than ever. Neither the blacks nor
the whites have any relish for it.
Both have pride of race which is
commendable, and which, properly
directed, will lead to the best results
for both. The home of the colored
man is chiefly with us in the South,
and there he will remain. It is there
he is founding churches opening
schools, maintaining newspapers,
entering the professions, serving on
juries, deciding doubtful elections,
drilling as a volunteer soldier, and
piling up cotton crop which amazes
the world.
II.
This preliminary statement is made