The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-08-25
Negro Deportation
Washington POst)

OF all the wild schemes that were
ever Matched in the human mind, the
widest is hat Of settling race trou-
bles in the United States by deporting
the negroes. 1t seems strange that SO
utterly absurd a proposition should ev-
er nave been made by intelligent men;
stranger still that, in spite OF its fan
tastic a~bsurdity, it has lived along,
year after year, and been brought out
as a rational remedy for race troubles
| whenever those infelicities have been
prominent in public discussions.
There are at this time some 5000, 600
: of colOred Americans, constituting
about one-ninth Of the population Of
the United States. The great majority
of them are in the south. The president
of an agricultural society in a southern
state, a man Of influence and, presum-
ably, Of intelligence, is one Of the lat
est and loudest advocates Of the depor-
tatiOn plan. There are a few cOlOred
men of more or less prominence who
agree with this distinguished agricul-
turist. Taking the whites who want
the blacks e n out Of the country, and
who appear to regard the project as
feasible, and the blacks who agree with
| them, we have a somewhat formidable
showing. It seems pertinent, therefore,
to PROFOUND a few in~terrogations with
a view to getting information as to
some things to which these people
| should, and doubtless have, given seri-
| GUS consideration.
To what part of the world are these
5000, 900 negroes to be shipped? Is there
any vacant place on the globe waiting
to be occupied by so numerous a COM
pany? Is there any government that
wants them? If SO, what are their
chances for making a living there?
J How many ships will be required to
transport the 5000, 00c, and who is going
to furnish them? Are there transports
enough in existence to carry off a num-
Der equal to the natural increase Of
| these 5000, 900? Surprising there are,
n supposing you get them, how will
| you get the other ships, several thou
sands Of them, capable Of taking off the
| remainder, the main body of the
blacks? Supposing that you have the
| place selected, which is impossible; that
| you have provided some of h COM
forts Of life in the new home and a
chance for the immigrants to make a
living, also impossible; %supposing you
have your ships, another impossibility,
what next? Do you look for a grand
rush for a simultaneous movement of
| all h Afro-Americans to get out of
| a Int that is just as much their
| rightful abiding place as it is yours?
| Do you not know that, with very few
exceptions, the black Americans are as
much attached to home n country as
the whites? Do you propose to use
force to compel them to go hence?
/ Would not that bring On a race conflict
! a million times worse than the trou-
| bleS now confronting us? And how
! about labor in the south when the
| blacks are gone? Could their place be
easily filled? And if not, if millions did
! not at once push in to fill the void, how
would the south, how would such states
| as South Carolina, Mississippi, and
| Louisiana like to have their political
| power, their representation in the ma
tional house OF representatives and the
! electrocal college, cut down to lawful,
| fair, and just proportions?
When the advocates of the deporta-
| ton scheme shall have answered these
] simple questions The Post will have
I another batch or hand ready for
launching.