The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-07-23
TIE SOUTHERN SITUATION.
Admissions of tho Failure OF the white
Somth to SOLVE the Knca Prnblem.

months by the responsible leaders Of the white
South. This failure has not been admitted in
specific terms. but by such conduct as to leave
no doubt OF the desperate straits to which they
find thems selves reduced.
when Senator Ben Tlllman declared in Rich
mond last October that the only way the Dem
ocrats could beat the Republicans In North
Carolina was at the muzzle OF Winchester
rifles he was taken at his word. and the cleo
ton was won in that way. The slaughter OF
defenccess black Republicans in New Hanover
and Craven counties In November and the yio-
lent usurpation Of the municipal govern
ment OF Wilmington. with Congressman
elect WaGdelI us the chief hrcbrand in
the situation. were distinct admissions that the
Democracy OF North Carolina. the white men
who Vaunt themselves to be the custodinns OF
constitutional liberty In that State. had failed
in the most vital principle Of government. The
whole State Of North Carolina was turned into
an armed camp OF white men when there was
nowhere in the State any needIfor such u violent
demonstration, as North Car DINA everywhere
was regarded rs one OF the most law abiding
and progressive States in the South But
fictitious white minority determined that it
would no longer tolerate majority rule and
subyertcd 1t By violence that amounted to
wholesale murdc: ~ those who were butch
cred upon the specious plea of white supremacy
were unarmed. unsuspecting and unofending
people. except in the sense that they were black
Republicans. Fully 90 per cent. of the officials
Of New Hanover county were white Republic
cans. Only here and there did black
Republican hold an office. and then for the
most part in subordinate capacity. But the
Democracy wanted the offices Of the county u
New Hanover and the city Of Wilmington a. "A
preliminary to capturing the State in 1900. and
the only way to do 1t was to terrorize tho black
Republicans so that they would give no sup
port to their white allies. The white Demo-
Gratis accomplished their purpose but in doing
gave notice that the state was to be ruled by
shotgun and not constitutional methods-a
principle nowhere recognized as inherent In
the State.
But Senator Timan. who is undoubtedly the
arch demagogue OF Southern politics and typi-
cal OF his tribe spoke not only for the Demo-
Gratis Of North Carolina In his incendary out
giving at Richmond. but as well for the whole
South. whose governments are the product OF
violence and are maintained by such methods.
and could not exist without them.
South Carolina. Louisiana and Mississippi
have undertaken. by constitutional enactment.
TO dsfranchise and brutalDo the Republican
black majority OF their citizenship. but tho
rule in those States Is just as much matter Of
armed force as It is In Georgia. Alabama. and
other Southern States. which have no such
Constitutions. The militia OF every Southern
state holds itself in readiness to back up exist
Ing Democratic rule and to perpetuate it. 1t
never has been turned against the Democratic
party CRU Democrat since It was created, No
black Repu blican Is allowed to Join this militia.
few States, such as Nirgl mia. South Carolina
Georgia and Alabama. made pretence of do
Ing SO before the Spanish war; hut even the
pretence was swept away during the progress
OF that war Georgia has arhtrar,ly mustered
risen to the dignity OF regiment in times
ofpcace; and are not and have not been called
riot To Keen down The os Gr s
| to make sure Of Democratic rule in the Sou h
ern states, and ofdomnating influence in the
de@th have Teinsgd to be sedqeei ON the H"-
r u,tj faith Mr Charles b spsahr' in The
thoughtful article. on The Negro as a Citizen
for Exam
Pie TOY! me that ono OF his friends WE had
nwafsa n tb e'u m OF nnta e-
votion by saying that the only return he
,sat @1 eE sh%n
! faithfully to DO it. and when election day came
steadily more dcyected ana his steps NOR"
hating, until. finally, when they came in sight
Just can't go with YOU in, that place, i
will do anything e-e for you. in, the world. but
personal obligations. indifference to repeated
pledges. Indifference, TO the character and
culture OF inc chtlullhltS. may All De Hull 10
have been inyolved, in this refusal; but here
was aso loyalty. infexi bic. unbrihahle loynlty
a 9 h" s fyyp hm Whit En his 1Rc
world. liberty Had he not felt as he did. lie
would have been less Of man
black Republican admit thin so. Every black
| Republican vote suppressed in the South. how
ever suppresscd-and at least one million such
| votes ar" suppressed .neutraliZc white Re.
publican vote N the North in the selection OF
may be no present remedy Tor it, but it remains
| n bald fact all the same and no one recognizes
| il more thoroughly than the managers Of tho
| National Democratic party. and no one ignoieS
i more systematiGally than the managers so, OF
| sUldincation Of Democratic maJurites in the
southern States has kept pace with the pro-
grcssve disfranchsemmrntN Of the Atro-Ameri:
the South does not dIsintegrate with tho, pass
ing Of the years it is more W solid nov than it
crn States happens to go Republican. as in the
case OF North Carolina, no time is lost in shoot
| Ing II back into the Dam ocratic party.
But DISTINGUISHING black Republicans is not
the only o9St # by the onth
ton Of slovery, Everywhere a votelrss eli zen
dGfem5"ioss StizSn i he h3s not tie nul,
no protection. But the objective point Of ro-
Iltcal murder and dlstranchi sement and mob
car laws In the Southern States was never
stated with more ,directness and brutality than
e os Of the Mssssnp rotten T' horoMen ' OF
7O,545 votes cast and counted for the Democ
racy. in voting population OF 2Il $50, in
| lS1-ns reported in The Sun of July 8. as
| follows:
| advancing the negro race by education. The
negro race is not permitted to advance and his
education simply spois u good field hand and
makes shyst"r lawyer or fourth rate school
teacher. 1t II simply money thrown away.
| Booker Washingtou's school is no better thnn
| the others. 1t would be oil right in = nation OF
| negroes. but II l. useless In the South There
is no field Of usefulness for its graduates. We
might as well look the matter SQuarely in tho
face. 1t is futile to attempt to elevate the negro.
| The education OF the race would boa dir
| couraginE task under any conditions. Under
J those that exist and will continue - cXist IN
| Mississippi ii Is simply prepOstrrpus. Tho
! final OutrOm" of the negro question in the
| South il the scattering Of tho negroes, so that
| they will either cease to cut any figure in
economic conditions. or their reduction to
| state of pcOnaGc.'
| Nardaman is more honest than his fellows.
| He hlahs out what he thinks or has learned by
association with ADLER and crattlcr men than
! himself What he wants. and what the South
crn white men hay" Systematically aimed At in
! the shaping of their laws ever since 1910, is.
first, to dis franchise the Afro American citZcn