The age-herald., 1897-09-22

| From the Washington Post.
 l The right of the president to appoint | to office wl1omsoever he pleases, subject | to the advice and consent of the senate, | is unquestioned. AS this consent is a = most invariably foregone conclusion, and as the advice suggested by the con stitution Is never asked, the president has practically an unlimited power in tEe selection of those persons whom he de- sinss to represent his administration.
 It so happens that the president has of late seen fit to exercise this preroga- tive in a manner distasteful to the citi- zens of a certain section of the Unitsft l States. He has appointed, .n more
 cases than cns, negroes to federal offices of trust and responsibility. We do not 1 for moment assert that the appointees
 are disqualified by reason of ignorance, 1 incapacity, or social position for the places which the president has asked them to occupy Surely if they had come within this category of unfitness
 ths president would not have selected
 them Even his natural desire to show
 marked appreciation of the colored race
 would not, we take it. have blinded him to faults which in an Ans,lo-Saxon would not have been pardoned.
 The fact remains, however, that these
 negroes are personally objectionable as office-holders in their localities by req son of their race and color. No other ob- | lection is alleged, and nona other, we
 naturally suppose, exists. As to the de- | gree with which this objection ought | to be regarded, opinions may and do diff er We cannot imagine, however, that any ona will attempt to condone attempt ed murder. will argue that premedi- 1 tated assassination is a cure for condi tions temporarily unpleasant Law and order must be respected. The negro has l the right, as a citizen of the United | States, to hold office, and when he has 1 been selected by the proper authorities l he is entitled to all the protection wihit h l rigorous and just laws afford If he does
 his duty he is a good citizen and a proper ofiiceholder; if he fai,s through
 negligence or dishonesty or through any 1 other lack of proper qualification, there l are legitimate and proper means to dis
 possess him of his position. The recent 1 mllrderous assault of certain citizens of I Hogansville, Ga, upon their negro post
 master therefore merits severest con- 1 demnation, and the perpetrators of the dastardly crime should be brought I speedily ito justice.
 At the same tin1e, while we do not ex- l cuse it, we can readily understand the 1 spirit of resentment which has culminat l ed in the assault upon Postmaster Lof-
 tim Whether the president cares to be l blindly indifferent or not, the anti-negro feeling in some portions of the south is l still quite bitter. The time when the | negro was a slave is not so remote that
 it has been forgotten, nor has the in- l culcated sentiment of almost a century l been dissipat=d by the passing of a few l years. There is no doubt that the con 1 dition of the negro in the south is and
 has been steadily improving. In his l efforts to secure education and a conse- l quently firmer footing in ths struggle l for advancement he has, in many south l ern states, been generously aided. He is I allowed full scope to succeed In the pro 1 fession of law or of medicine or in the 1 remunerative trades. It Is only when l he is placed in the position of authority | over the white man, it is when he comes
 in close personal contact with citizens,
 male and female, of all classes, in the
 daily distribution of mail, for instance,
 that the pride of race asserts itself and
 the deplorable events occur which we
 have occasion now to condemn.
 Whether the president would act wise ly in continuing to appoint negroes to
 office in the south is a serious question.
 So far the experiment has not been &C.,
 cepted kindly by the people placed under
 negro authority. We know that the
 colored brother comprises 90 per cent.
 perhaps. of the republican strength in
 the south. and we know that he has
 waited long and in vain for something
 to fall to him in the distribution of the
 loayes and fishes.1 That his patience
 ana rnrewarded devotion to his party
 is worthy of practical appreciation
 seems to be a self-answering proposition, land yet when his appointment to federal