St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1899-10-21
IT WOULD NOT WORK
Bill ARP on the Proposition to De-
port the Negroes.
III lis an idle Dream-Ind0rses Views
of w. A. Council, nm Alabama
Negro and Presidentof
AdeI College.

of w. A. Council, nm Alabama
Negro and President of
AdeI College.
"Once more into the breach, good
| friends, once more
The negro question is now uppermost
in the minds of all the people of the
south, and write once more upon that
subject to modestly but confidently in
dorse the utterances of the Constitu-
ton in a recent issue. Their deporta-
| ton is a dream, an utterly imprac-
| ticable solution of the race problem.
Sixty years ago it was great under
| taking to remove $4,000 Indians from
north Georgia to the Indian territory
with their reluctant consent. Even
| then 1000 of them died on the way.
The Washington Post says there are
not enough transports III the world
that could be had or hired to move them
all in 20 years, and it would cost not
less than 500 head, which would
make thousand million dollars. The
| federal government would not vote a
dollar to begin the experiment. More
than this. the negro will not go. He
will not even go north to live with his
friends, his deliverers. A few hum
dred went to Kansas some years ago,
but they got homesick and came back.
I compared with Cobe about it, and he
said: We'll, major, to my opinion we
won't get rid of some of 'em. We mout
git up an excurshun train with few
carloads of watermillions in front and
toll 'em along as fur as Ohio and drap
EN-, but I'm iubus about gittin' 'em to
Africy."
There used to be colonization So
ciety that owned good ship named
Elizabeth, and they carried all the man
united slaves to Liberia free of
charge. Old Maj Waters, wealthy
gentleman of Gwinnett county, gave
81 of his slaves their freedom, and by
his will. made my father his executor
and directed him to provide clothing
for them and to take them to Savannah
and see them put on board the Eliza
beth and to pay over to William, his
faithful body servant, $1oo in gold for
each of the 81 slaves. This money was
to set them up in Africa. So my fa-
ther corresponded with the society, and
the good ship was sent to Savannah on
time, and the negroes were put on
| board. They wept and walled when they
fold father good-by. for they all knew
that he was their old masters friend.
About two years after that there was
a knock at fathers door cIe winter
night. Whensit was opened there stood
William and SIX others of the negroes
sent away. He reported all the Others
dead and that he and these six had Sc
ereted themselves in the hold of the
vessel by night and kept hidden until
they had been two days ut sea. for it
was against the rules of the society to
allow any freed men to return. They
were brought to Philadelphia, and there
got word to Howell Cobb and Alex
Stephens. in Washington. Those men
l.new William and his master and sent
him enough money to pay their way
home. They went into service of their
young master, Tom Waters-not rs
slaves, but as free men, and were happy
at escaping from Liberia. Here is Uncle
Sam, who works in my garden and
chops my wood and goes after ice on
Sunday. Tie has four grown children
who nre sorter married, and they hare
n lot of children. The old man owns
she humble home and is not going to
Africa or anywhere else, and the chill
;7ren viii not leave him. There would
be weeping and wailing worse than a
funeral. But suppose they all went.
Who IS going to pay them for their
property? The negroes pay taxes now
on $300.000.o00 of property, which is
Chiefly real estate. They own prob
ably goo homes In and aro.nd Carters-
villes and there would be no buyers. If
they were all deported, who would take
..!.-;r places? Who would do our cook
ing and washing? Who would nurse
our babies? Who would make our fires
| when the cold winter mornings come? :?
Who would pick our cotton? But the
fact remains that there are too many of
them, and they multiply too fast, and
this generation are indoient and need
tNeS HIai ~ slSoIOhS laws. 4IcIC -
= baseball game going on right now
while / write, and at least 200 yaga-
bond negroes have passed my house GO
ing TO it. The negro women are sup
porting them in idleness. John Ander-
son says he heard them singing at the
den the other day, and the chorus of
the song was:
No use in niger working very hard
When his nanny Is a cook In a white
mans yard
But enough of this. We have all read
much from the Yankees about the negro
andmuch from colored bishops and edu-
GATORS. and they all sing the same. tune
of stop the lynehings, but have never
yet seen anything so fair, SO truthful, SO
aptly spoken as the address recently de-
lisered at Bismarck Grove, in Kansas,
by an Alabama negro. He is the presi-
dent Of the Adeil college, at Normal.
Ala, and his name is VII. Council. /
copy from q paper published at Law
renee. kan. portiomof his address:
"Parden me fer any seeming harshness,
but do not fear southern oppression half
as much as dc the invasion of white
northern labor. which comes with IT'S Sc
.ial prejudice. which comes often pleading
It's coler as It's only mark of superiority.
The color lire was never carried upon
brick walls, to the carpenters berch, In
ali tile other Industries Of the south un-
til northern white labor carried II there.
The southern negro has far outstripped
the northern negro since emancipation
"a IL