The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-02-10
DISTINGUISHING Oklahoma Negroes

Guthrie, o. T. Feb. 9.-The Oklahoma
legislature is not very friendly to the
negro. Its intention is to disfranchise
about 5000 of them, according 10 the Dill
! introducer last Saturday. making a severe
e1ucat ionaI test for voters. The Demo
Pops will rot deny but what the object OF
the bill is the disfrarchisement Of the re-
gro fer the purpose CT nakirg the vote OF
the territory more safely against the Re
publicans The Democrats of Oklahoma
are very much pcajudiced against the ne
groes There IS a southern flavor about the
way they speak to and about the coiored
| man that Is very noticeable. IL IS nos
| in good taste to in any manner indicate an
| inclination 10 accept the constitutional
| theory that negro is as good as white
nan before the daw, to say nothing OF him
| being as good as white man socially. Ot
course II is too early yet to accept the dec
| trine OF social equality and the negroes
] themselves are not surprised at that fact,
| Dor are they pushing IL. but il is a pity that
| the broad-minded people of Oklahoma can
not see their way clear to accept the doc
| trine of the political equality Of the coiored
race.
The men who made them free have been
been built to perpetuate their memory. The
emancipation proclamation is regarded as a
sacred document. The cause which result
| ed in the freedom of the black man is ac-
| knowledged as a righteous one by the en-
/ tire world ard yet this same blackman is
| denied mis- rights by a great portion of this
| rat which wants the world TO believe 1t
| to be the foremost exponent of the doctrine
| of human liberty and human rights. And
| the youngest commonwealth of this same
ration is now considering a law to disfran-
| cr.ise the negroes by imposing upon them
an educational test which a great many of
J them cannot stand, through no fault of
/ their own, but through the fault of that
| system of slavery revered exclusively by
| the men who want TO impose the last re-
| ferred to. All this is a preface to the re-
| mark that a colored man has been the most
| valuable promoter of an Oklahoma indus
| try. 1t was a negro who introduced cot
4 ton culture, as an industry, In Oklahoma,
| and it was he who first demonstrated its
success in the territory. The first cotton
grown in the present limits OF the territory
| had its birthplace in Cleveland county. This
| was the very year of the opening. Since
| then cotton culture has steadily advanced
| rorthward until It now reaches almost to
| the line of Kansas, and there is some hops
| expressed that it will invade that state be-
fore long. The outlook is more encouraging
now than ever, since the other southern
| Observation-Disclosures colonels-has been so
successful there recently. The chief hope
| of Oklahoma is cotton and the results justi-
| fly that hope.
Guthrie is as much Of cotton market,
! comparatively speaking, as Nashville or
| Faducah. Thousands of bales of it have
been shipped from here this year as well
as from other territorial points. In this
| city alone there are eight gins and dozen
| buyers. The streets are crowded every day,
| during two Of the later months of the year.
| with wagons loaded with cotton. II brings
| ready money and at a time OF the year
when money is needed for the demands OF
the winter months. A farmer in Kansas
| puts sixty bushels of wheat into his agon
| and brings it to town and sells il for so.
IN Oklahoma farmer brings in a load OF
| cotton and sells 1t for 800 In the case of
| the Kansas wheat farmer the cost of pro-
| Guction is high, but in the case OF the Okla
homa cotton farmer the cost of production
is low, for the reason that he utilizes labor
that costs him practically nothing The
| labor of every man, woman and child OF
1 years VI dSe OF over III q ldInliy tdU De
| utilized In cotton field. There are several
| patches of cotton within the city limits OF
| Guthrie and especially in that part of the
town where the negroes live. Cotton
| patches are as common as cabbage gar
| dens in a northern town. Very few OF these
| Patches will produce more than bale OF
| cotton and the average patch viii not pro-
| duce half bale. Even il il only produces
| the latter amount the man who owns IL
can purchase enough money with il 10 buy
| the winter shoes for his family and that
means a great deal The half bale OF cot
! ton costs him nothing for his wife and
| children do all the work necessary TO its
| production. And speaking about cotton
| patches il must be said that nobody should
| have more than a patch. 1t is only in
| patches that cotton growing in Oklahoma
| can be made profitable. The best authori-
| ties say that no farmer should have more
| than ten acres in cotton.
| If ne has more it cannot be tended prop