The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1899-05-12
BUTLER ON RACE QUESTION.
SAYS FALL IF THE NEGRO IN AMERICA
is SURE
WAITS to Keep tho Philippines aud Send
the Negro There. kemarks on
JynChing.

Gen. Nj. G. Butler, formerly nom.
Der Of the Cuban commission, who
was mustered out on April Is, was in
Augusta recently on route to Cuba,
whittier he is going on purely private
business.
1le WAS asked by Chronicle re-
porter for an opinion upon the Cuban
and Philippine questions, but he
professed to know nothing more Of
them than he saw in the newspapers.
But he was not reticent upon tho
recent lynching Of Sam Hose, and the
consequentqucstion. "Itwas," said he,
"a most regrettable affair." and brings
lis face to face with a question that
will not do"n--the ruco problem.
And for this very reason am an ar.
dent oxpansionist: tho Philippines
give II natural homo for the negro.
zone race is naturally opposed to
others. Why it should be SO in the
economy Of nature | cannot profess
to know But the fact romans. Just
as the Greeks, Cherokees, Chicasaws,
Choctaws and other Indian tribes
were forced from these Southern
States because Of racial antagonism,
SO, it seems to me, is tho negro des-
tined to be.
"Tho question simply will not
down. A co!ored preacher asked mo
if l thought there was any way to
stop lynchlngs and replied; Let
your pooplo stop thcir ferocities. AS
long as the latter contnne, SO will
the vengeance Of the white man, aud
no amount of Legislation can step
either
"Tno nntagonism is there and will
out no matter what means arc taken
to prevent it.
"Speaking, not in spirit Of hos
tility to the colorcd man, but because
l think it would be best for him, |
am Of the opinion that Congress
should provide means to get him out
of the country. I introduced a bill
when l was in tho Senate asking an
appropriation for this cnd of $0,O0O,-
600. OF course, that amount would
not have beon anything like adequate,
but it would havo been starter.
Today it would be cheap for the
country if congress would appropri-
ate SlO,OOO,00O to get the negro ont.
81 would not favor forcing him
out, but would make such INDUCE
m 'nts that the advantages of the
change would appeal to him at once.
"Of course, 1t would take time 1t
took 80 years to bring him here, and,
when it is considered that was in the
days of sailing vessels, it will bo seen
that it should not take longer now
whru steam is IN use.
''It is bound to como Abraham
Lincoln abolitionist as he was, foro-
saw that the two races could bo only
"antagonistic, and lie. Ell. sought to buy
an immense tract in South America
whereon to colonlze the negro.
"rodny the Philippines offer tho
best field. The Cuban's don't want
the negroes. They have enough of
their own. Now, ono Of the recoe-
nizrd principles of warfare is to at
tack the enemy at his most vulner-
able point. This is what Dewey did
in the Philippines. These, there.
fore, were lcgtmntoly acquired, and
should bo retained. Being il tho
tropics they make an ideal home for
tn" negro. For that is where nature
Intended him to live.
AN EXPANsIoNIsT.
"Somo of the arguments brought
ont against expansion arc really alb.
surd. There is nothing un.republi-
can in tho idea at all. While thero
is a certain parallel between tho
Fihppinos and tho Indians, no one
ever cont"nded in the days when the
latter were power in tho land, that
the white race should give up foot
hold required. There was tho spirit
of opposition existent thon that ex-
lists now. The temperate zones arc
the natural home Of tho white peo-
pies, and in their territory tho pres
ence Of largo numbers Of race in
digenous to tho tropics only results
in antagonism. That brings us back
to the negro again. But to keep on