The age-herald., 1899-08-01
RAGE QUESTION
 IN WASHINGTON Brought Prominently Before People Of
 the Capital City. CRIME AT TH' . VERY DOOR
 g. Scarcity ol Paps lrrency is Annoy- ing E . ary Gage.
CRIME AT TH' s- VERY DOOR
COVERS 2 ,HIP FOR CUBA
The Old Depaa tment of Justice Build- Ing is Being Torn Down, and New Marble Structure Will
 Be Erected Instead.

1 Washington, July 31.-(Special)-Th ne- l gro question has been brought prominently | before the people of Washington within the
 past week in a very forcible way and here at least criticism of the white people in the i far south has been silenced for while. 1 Hardly a day has passed in the past fort-
 night that the local papers in the capital have not had some account of an assault
 upon women within the immediate neigh
 borhood of the city. There have been
 number of brutal assaults in Maryland re- | gently, and the culprits flee to the capital
 of their country for protection. thinking l that here, at least, they will be safe from 1 mob violence During the past week the I capital has been shocked by a crime which hardly has its equal in the south. A re- spectable white woman while on her way home from circus was waylaid by ten negroes. Her companion was robbed and told that he would be drowned If he did not at once make off. The woman was dragged a little distance from the glare of the city's lamps, while the ten brutes struck down the woman and each assaulted her. The fact that she. in her shame and anguish, kept the matter quiet for two days before revealing the whole truth possibly saved the men from the mob. They have all been arrested and have confessed, and now their trials continuing with the dignity which surrounds the district courts.
 l That such crime should have been plan. ned and executed in the very shadow of the l dome of the capital, for the moon was just 1 rising and threw the shadow of the beauti- l full dome across the city and over the very spot of the outrage has shocked the citi- l zens of Washington as nothing else could l have done. There have been @ number of l assaults and murders In the outskirts of l the city by negroes within the past year or. 1 two, but this is the first case which has oc- cured in the limits of the city itself Mecca for Criminal Class It is not hard to find an explanation for the depredations of negroes about Washing ton. This Is the mecca not only for the ne- groes who hope to become a factor in the propaganda of their race, but for the crim- inal class as well. They have been led to believe that the capital affords them pro- tection which they can get no where else. The floating evil element in the states, both south and north of the District of Colum- bia, seek a hiding place in Washington. Here they predominate They are coming here in such numbers that It's a serious problem how they can be absorbed. There Is hardly city in the south that has as many worthless vagabond negroes as Washington. As one sees an endless num- Der of them swarming the streets on holi- days and pouring down Pennsylvania ave- nue in countless thousands, the question naturally arsies, What is to be ths end of it all?' It is impossible for them to De ab- sorbed in labor. How they live has long been wonder, but the problem is nothing to what 1t will be if the tide continues to pour into the capital with the regularity with which it is coming now.
 They swarm certain portions of the city like locusts. Wherever they settle the city ceases to grow in that section. A negro or school is enough to send property down to the lowest point. for they congregate around their meeting houses and churches and make day and night hideous with their clamor. The fact that they are dsfran- chised has done much to check them as a public nuisance, but they are becoming a dangerous element.
 It will doubtless be as surprising away from the here as it was to many here to
 
 in Washington; is not prohibited in Wash ington. Those who get in the govern ment service and feel their importance as- pire to follow the example set by Fred Douglass and marry white women. Within the past week two marriage licenses have been issued by the local government here between white and black couples. This is not near as uncommon as 1t once was and the question is becoming such serious one that in all probability, congress will pass national law on the subject. The agitation of such a law will not come from the southern members of congress. but form those of the north, who feel that they must protect their own people. for Washington is practically unknown in the south. Of late have heard a numeber of expression of opinoins from northern and western congressman advocating the pas sage of such law. The farther north one goes the more important seems to be some Legislation on the subject
 Scarcity of Paper Currency
 Secretary Gage is much annoyed at the scarcity of paper currency ie the nohth and is unable to help out the merchants and banks Tn that section. The demand for paper currency is extraordinary at this time. In speaking of the urgent demands which are coming from the north, Assist ant Secretary of the Treasury vanderlip said yesterday:
 The country has about all there is. There is about s2o.o0oOoo In greenbacks in the treasury. but we need that to do business
 Continued On Second Page).