Evening star., 1899-04-14
row of the difficulty. In this letter Mr..
Washington says:


Washington says:
II have been asking myself lately some
rather serious questions. and l. want to put
one or two of them to you. Is there anyrea-
son why the negroes in the south should con-
tinue to oppose the southern white man and
his politics? Is this not the source of near
ly all our troubles? Unconsciously we seem
to have gotten the idea into our blood and
bones that we are only acting In manly
way when We oppose southern white men
with our votes. In some way. by some
method, We must bring the race to the
point where it will cease to feel that the
only way for 1t to succeed is to oppose
everything suggested or put forth by the
southern white men,"
There is the suggestion here that IL the
negro would retain his suffrage in those
southern states where he has not yet been
deprived of 1t. or regain it In those states
where he has been deprived Of 1t, he must
make up his mind to vote his more pow
erful white neighbor directs. That would
not solve the problem. The democrats of
the south are not asking the negro to vote
with them. They stand in no need of his
vote to control the local situation. If
those state laws now in existence, and the
others in contemplation of a like nature,
barring the negro from the polls were all
to be declared unconstitutional by the Su-
preme Court. the democrats of the southern
states would still find and exercise other
means of mast ership.
Besides, IL the negro Is thus to confess
that the white man knows best about pub
lie questions. why should he trouble him
self about suffrage at all? Why should he
care to go to the polls? Why not leave
the matter wholly in the hands of the white
man? Suffrage is of no individual benefit,
and confers no privilege in which a man
may take pride, unless it is exercised with
out restraint
1t is very difficult problem. OF course
We all know that the negro since he was
first invested with the right of suffrage has
been voting his sympathies. He was made
free man and a voter by the republican
party, and he has stood by that party
whenever he has been allowed a voice in
elections. His politics have become a sort
of religion with him. 1t is worthy of
note, too, one of the paradoxes of
the times that this vote, 50 generally de-
creed throughout the south as unprepared,
would. had it been admitted to the ballot
box and counted as cast under its accepted
leadership, have been on the side of what
has been decreed as the national welfare.
ID Free trade found it's chief support in
the south. The democratic leadership of
that section elected Mr.. Carlisle Speaker of
the House, and afterwards wrote the Cor
man. Wilson tariff bill. The negro vote
would have been cast for protection and
the south would thus have been shorn of
this power.
CD The democracy of the south saddled
Mr.. Cleveland on the country, The negro
vote would have been thrown for Mr..
Blaine. and would have elected him
CD The south in 1896 was the stronghold
of free silver. 1t nominated Mr. Bryan and
wrote the Chicago platform. The negro
Vote would have been cast for sound
money.
There have been times therefore when the
negro would not have served either his own
or the country's interests by following in
national matters the dominant local leader
ship