The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1898-04-01

Mr. DLniver is one of McKinley's per-
scnal friends. In reply to an inquiry, he
said: while he does not want war,
he anticipates it, and is preparing for 1t.
He will intervene in Cuban affairs re-
CARELESS of what may be the outcome
of the Maine disaster Whether or not
there shall be war must be decided in
Madrid, and not in Washington. The
American people expect the president
to take proper steps to bring to a close
the barbarous conduct of affairs in
Cuba, and the people will not be disap-
pointed in their president in this mat
ter. The congress merely reflected the
popular will when it placed $50, 000 600
at the disposal Of the president for the
national defense"
Changes i'm Political Conditions.
The death of Blanche K Bruce, the
only colored man who ever served a
full term in the United States senate,
and one of the only two of his race
who ever entered that body as sem
ator, must recall the swift changes in
political conditions which made the
slave Of 1866 eligible to the highest po-
litical honors of the republic. 1t is
worthy of note also that Mississippi
the home of Jefferson Davis, who was
president of the Southern Confederacy,
was the only state to call the negro to
senatorial honors.
The country was startled in Febru-
airy, 1870, five years after the close of
the war, by the announcement that
Hiram X. Revels, a full-blooded negro
had been elected by the Mississippi
legislature to serve an unexpired term
as United States senator. 1t greatly
convulsed political circles generally
and even the Republican leaders of
that day who had led the nation into
the flame of battle for the freedom and
enfranchisement of the colored race,
shuddered at the advent of the black
man in the first legislative tribunal of
the nation. When Senator Revels ap-
peared at the door of the senate on the
25th of February, 1870, he was admitted
and qualified without dispute, and he
served until the expiration Of the term
being a little more than a year.
Senator Revels was born a slave in
North Carolina, and obtaining his free
dom in early life, he went to Indiana to
obtain the educational advantages
which were denied his race in his ma
tive state, and later entered the Meth
odist ministry.
Located in Mississippi.
After the war he. located in Missis-
sippi. being officially connected with
the management of the Freedmens
bureau, and at the time of his election
to the senate was Methodist presiding
elder of the Natchez district. He was
altogether the best representative of
the race that has ever yet appeared in
either branch of congress, as he was
not only man of education but his
ability was much above mediocrity and
his integrity unblemished. After re-
firing from the senate he became presi-
dent Of an educational institution in
Mississippi for the higher education of
the colored people and the state aided
him by generous appropriations even
after 1t had come under Democratic
rule.
The sensitiveness of the public mind
in 1870. even in the strongest Repub-
lican communities, as to the elevation
of the negro, may be understood when
it is stated that Senator Revels, soon
after his admission to the senate. was
invited to deliver a lecture in this city,
and he was refused admission into the
Academy OF Music. DUNBAR.