Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1899-02-16

show little interest in the questions
of the day. This is not condition
that can last, Or one that is best fo1
the interest of any part of the country.
If One-Sided politics on a narrow
basis could help a section the South
ought to be contented. In eleven
southern states the legislatures are
composed of 1,419 democrats, 1O5 re-
publicans, and 73 populists. Both
houses of the Florida legislature are
SOlidly democratic The Georgia
and South Carolina legislatures con-
tain but one republican each. and
those of Texas and Arkansas but two
each. In congress the eleven states
are represented by eighty-four demo-
Gratis, five republicans, and one popu-
list, a difference of l. to l. This
almost solid body of southern demo-
cratic members is chosen by an
extraordinarily small aggregate of
votes. 1t is singular state of affairs.
In spite Of the southern SOlidity the
next congress will be republican in
both branches and the president is
also republican. In a national sense
the political solidity of the south is
Ineffective, and locally it is killing the
desire vote. The situation invites
the calm thought of the southern
people.
In this state some are talking of
making a law requiring all voters to
come up to certain standard of in
telligence, also a property qualifca-
ton. The state of Florida pays all
the public school teachers wages by
tax. The tax is light and they receive
SO little it necesSitates holding very
short term of school. Some of the
southern states propose to divide this
school money so that the colored men
shall receive for their schools only
what is collected from the cOlored tax
payer.
Under all these circumstances the
cOlOred man is. as patient as an OK and
turns his attention to his religion and
efforts to get an education for his
children and living for his family.
Sometimes there are agitators and
wOuld-be leaders among the cOlored
people who would encourage them to
take a course for which they are not
| yet prepared, and have addressed state
conventions without receiving the
response they expected, as may be
seen by the following:
At State convention of North
Carolina negroes the Rev. DR.. w. r.
Leak left the hall in anger because
the assembly refused to adopt a resolu-
tiOn advising negroes to emigrate in
case the democrats 'made their stay
in North Carolina intolerable." This
same Leak is one of the negro '1eaderS"
who are supporting the democrats in
| disfranchiSing the negro voters of
North Carolina.
Yet as they become educated the
spirit of restleSsness will crop out
here and there as is shown by the
following clippings:
| NEGRO COLONIZATION ASSOCIATION.
| An application was made Saturday
| by S. L. Hutchins, John E. Patton
and other leading cOlOred citizens of
Chattanooga for charter for the Ma
tiOnal American colonization aSSOcia-
tiOn, the object being to organize
branches in the southern states. The
association is formed with a view to
cOlOniZing negroes in the west and
securing from congress a concession
to allow the colonies so formed the
right of state government and repre-
sentatiOn in congress.
DR.. III. r. Butler, negro physician
of Atlanta, calls upon the colOred race
to appeal to the powers to interfere
with the United States in the inter-
ests of humanity and save the negro.
I asked an intelligent poor white
man, who was a native of Florida,
"DO the cOlored people educate their
children" He replied, Eyes SIR" The
cOlOred man will send his children to
school if he has to live on bread alone
and he will work for ten cents a day
before he will 90 without work. They
have cOlored teachers and their schools
are mostly kept in the churches fer
cOlOred people and they attend church
when they can, three days in the
week. Some Of their preachers are
smart and some are not, but if they
can only sing and holler that is all
right He said he had thirteen child
ren now living that his father raised
fifteen, that when he was young there
were no pubic schools in this state and
only the wealthy had private teachers.
| asked him if the cOlOred people
were increasing faster than the
whites. His reply was, Yes, two to
one" Not all the whites were raising
as large families as himself, He said
he did not like niger town because
they worked too cheap.
Under the old slavery system, when
a slave was worth five hundred to one
thousand dollars, they were raised
like cattle for the money they would
bring. Under such circumstances it
could not be expected that future
generations would develop at once a
very high standard Of morality.
[ overheard one colored man say to
another, II have got what little
have by learning to eat almost any
thing" AS to what the cOlored man
would do if the power was placed in
his hands has been well illustrated by
the experience of a conscientious
bishop of the NJ. E. Church in the
south, who, before the war, liberated
his slaves and sent them to Liberia
and gave them lands and money to
start with. A few years later he came