The Saint Paul globe., 1897-09-27
A CASE OF NOTES AND BEAMS.

The president appointed Loftin,
negro, postmaster for HogansvIlle, in
the state of Georgia. The whites were
indignant No one would rent him
building for an Office and the incum-
bert held over while the appolnteA was
seeking a location. At last the latter
was shot and wounded by some one,
presumably some of the whites. Tney
vo.v no negro shall ever hold The CT"
flee and handle their mail. While The
violence that showed in the shooting
is generally deprecated, the common
sentiment over the South is that II
Hogansville, of hostility to having ne
groes for public servants. The presi-
dent is as we'll aware as any one of
the existence and strength of the feel
ing, and surely his party has expert
mented sufficiently with it in its eff
forts to overcome it and force official
equality at least, to kn W the fut.Ity
of such attempts There is no more
use 10 argue or reason with suca
prejudice than with any other, 1ur
prejudice is never amenable to reason
anywhere. 1t exists, and it is always
wise to show a certain amount of def
erence
But the incident is made much of by
some of our Republican contenpo-
raries; more than is warranted by Re
publican treatment of negroes resident
in the North. Barring the assault, the
case can be paralleled in many North
ern states, in which Republican whites
have shown the same repugnance to
official equality of negroes that the in
habitants of Hogansville are exhibit
ing. The Milwaukee Sentinel quotes
Gov Atkinsons interview as being "a
clear annunciation of the doctrine Of
race prejudice in the South. The gov
ernor makes it plain that certain con-
ditions are regarded as unbearable by
a large element of Southern people.
They have made up their minds not
to tolerate negro office holding" Ard
it says that, however Southern people
may dislike negro office holding, they
are not likely to convince the world at
large that mans color is a valid OBJ
lection to his holding Office
We beg leave to suggest to the SEN
tinel, and those Republicans who share
its virtuOus Indignation over the iio-
gansville case and the feeling it dis
closes, that their party is not in posi-
tion to make faces 1t is only five
years since a negro of this city, like
the Hogansville postmaster an edTcat-
ed man, of good character. Il lawyer in
good standing, was forced off the Re-
publican state ticket as a presidential
elector. because he was a negro and
for no other reason. We ask to re-
mind it and them of the negro 7vho
was elected member of the governor S
council in Massachusetts last year and
of the strenuous efforts made to get
him to decline the office, the efforts
even going as far as TO offer MIN a
large sum of money to decline it. We
would call attention to the agitation
now going on in New York city among
the Republican negroes because they
have received no recognition from their
white fellow partisans. The Rev. ].
Harris Accroe complains in the Brook
lyn Eagle that, ''of the $500 appoint
ments in that city, the colorad brother
has received but one fair one, and
that after two years waiting We
might refer the Sentinel to the oppo-
sition in the Grand Army to the ad-
mission of negroes to posts and of me-
gro posts to the organization and to
the fact that at Buffalo, only this year
the negro veterans were relegated to
a position where their presence would
not offend their white brothers. We
need not, in this case, add that the
Grand Army is notoriously a Republic
can institution and practically an an
mex to the party organization. If the
Sentinel doubts tie existence and
strength of this prejudice in its own
city, let it induce the president to ap-
point a negro, however we'll educated
and respectable, to the postoff1ce there.
We do not make these comments be-
cause we share or sympathize with the
prejudice wherever it may exist. We
look upon it as ignoring the vital fac