The Washington bee., 1897-06-26
PRESIDENT MCKINLEY.

y
considering the claims Of colored
men to official preferment, seems
to be exciting alarm among many
colored republicans. 1t is claim ed
that this caution on the part of the
President is altogether inconsist-
ent with the policy he has adopted
relative to the Appointment Of his
white a1he.ents and indicates an
indisposition to recognize the loyal
and patient colored ally. Many
would-be leaders, observing these
manifestations of unrest, are begin
ming to SOW the seeds of discord
and suspicion. Some of them have
tasted of the fruits of Office and
having been disappointed in their
expections of further recognition,
are secret and specious methods,
manufacturing sentiment against
the administration. They are even
setting their pegs to boom, new
aspirants for presidential honors
upon the plea that Maj. Mckinley
fails to appreciate the eminent SER
vices of colored voters during the
last campaign. They point to the
numerous offices which he has gsr gmsr
to white republicans, .,2ne s3s Of
which were held by CO, on
under the Harrison ;n;strotion'
They say if the P o'o'i ~'. 49,.
tnnes. time enough 2. et 16m. f5 the absorbing
. tariff bill, which he
! s =. j., a to the country as his
-. :, to make hundreds OF
.hat appointments, it is strange
a.. he cannot consume enough
ele to give colored claimants suf-
lcient consideration to justify
of colored appointments.
Such is in substance what we hear
rom a number of sources. The
reasons (?) for unrest above referred
to are not as cogent as one would
suppose at first thought. 1t must
be remembered that Maj. Mckinley
has been in Office less than four
months. He came into Office un-
der peculiar circumstances promis-
ing as his first great measure a
protective tariff through which the
avenues of business will be multi
piled and the prosperity of the
nation increased. He has been
compelled, during this time, to
adjust diplomatic relations which
had been sadly neglected by his
predecessor and to over come that
friction which executive indescre-
ton would only increase. 1t is
true that he has filled many offices,
but in the main they were such as
necessity required. He has also,
it is true given places which have
hitherto been held by colored men,
to white men, but that is no proof
of his indisposition to properly care
for the colored man.
On the contrary, the fact that he
has not set apart certain offices and
marked them "black" shows that
he is broad enough to regard all
republicans alike whether black or
white and is inclined to place the
deserving colored man in new and
untried offices in which he can dis
play his ability. We believe that
Major Mckinley is true man, a
true republican and true Christian
and that he would no more fail to
properly reward the colored man
for his fidelity to- him, than he
would to reward his white friends.
The secret of the unrest, if there
be any, is due partly to inexperience
and partly to the lmpatience Of the
colored people. When the Presi-
dent shall have received the pas
sage of his promised tariff bill or
when it has 80 far progressed that
he can find time to direct attention
to other matters, we predict that
he will bestow handsome recogni-
ton on the colored people and
aereeably surprise his impatient,