Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-02-05
but cur inrormation is that these are

but cur Information IL that these are
only exceptions to a general rule.
''The danger OF negro rule" as we see
Il now. "a not that the negroes would be
able 10 elect members of their own race
TO high places but that by combining
with fraction OF the white vote they
MIGHT become a most potent factor In
southern politics II the time ever came
In Virginia. for instance. when the whites
were anything like equally divided be-
tween the Republicans and the Demo-
Gratis. then the negro would hold the
balance of power. wouldn't he rule then?
In that event we might well imagine that
he would demand good many of the
Offices for himself And being in official
position, would he not insist that tina,
position entitled him to social courtesies
which be could not otherwise expect? So
we think. the danger OF negro rule after
all IS not a Pigment OF the imagination
Whether the negro has made wonder
ful strides" in recent years depends upon
the point of view. or course one has to
consider that many OF the ancestors OF
our negroes were slaves in their own
land. and the race continued in slavery
here for two and a half centuries, and il
Is not reasonable to suppose that thirty
years Of freedom would bring them to
the scale of civilization which the white
man has only reached after many CEN
turtles. That they have made progress
we conceje but we cannot 80 as far as
Mr. Dawson does In asserting that they
have seized upon every opportunity TO
better their condition" SO. also, must
we dissent from his conclusion that their
moral and intellectual improvement has
been little less than marvellous" While
hundreds of negroes now can read where
OF old only one could read, we entertain
much fear that the cold. naked truth is
that this educational development has not
been paralleled by their moral develop
ment SO far from it. there is one great
crime that has been the outgrowth or
incident as 1t were, Of freedom, and all
other crimes among the negroes have in
creased many fold. At best it can only
be pleaded that this condition is not
because Of the education that they
have had, but in spite of it. And 1t
IS true also that the jails and peniten-
tiary are filed. not with the old. untU-
tored generation of negroes, but with
youths who have had, or could have had,
school advantages.
We must, therefore, challenge Mr.. Daw-
sons assertion that their moral and intel
lectual Improvement sis unprecedented in
the history of any people,"
So, too, we think Mr.. Dawson over
states the case when he says that the
''time has passed for them to ever again
become the mere tools of INSCRIPTIONS
and designing office-seekers. Nothing that
we saw in the last elections in this
State has made any such impression upon
our mind. Let a sharp political issue arise
in Virginia tomorrow let one-tenth OF
the Democrats withdraw from their party
ana set up an independent party and make
"a redhot canvass" Upon election-day
where will the colored voters be found?
With absolute certainty we could count
upon finding at least ninety-fve per cent.
OF them with the opposition. Can this be
successfully disputed? We think not. II so.
how idle, then it is to say the time has
passed for them to ever again consent
TO become the mere tools of INSCRIPTIONS
and designing ofiice-seekers," or to ina
CINE that the negroes carefully and con-
scientiously study the issues which are in
volved in every political canvass and in
many instances thoroughly understand
them"
Looking at the situation from his point
of view, in which he sees the southern
negro marvellously improved, morally and
intellectually, Mr.. Dawson expects TO see
the color-line in politics disappear, to be
followed by divisions among voters upon
the lines of conscience and seif-interest.
But we think he takes a much too opti-
mistic view of the situation. His eX-
pectations outrun ours by a great dis
lance 1t may be that in the far off years
what he hopes for will come to pass, but
there are many difficulties in the way!
Yes, many.