The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-04-24
THE DEVIL OF A MONK"

In the Populist State convention.
after declining to make the amend
ment "a party question" and express
ly stating that it must be determin-
ed by the Judgment and conscience OF
each individual voter" the bosses
managed to slip in a provision Offer
| ing to vote for a Constitutional
Amendment that would disqualify
from holding office ''all negroes and
all persons of negro descent to the
third generation inclusive.' This be-
| lated utterance recalls the old verse
| ''When the devil was sick the devil a
When the devil was web the devil of
monk was he"
So far as the honest Populists are
| concerned. we have never believed
| that they approved of the action OF
| their leaders, in voting for negro
door-keeper of the House of Represen-
tatives over a one armed eX-Confet.-
crate soldier; of putting 1000 negro
magistrates in office in North Caro-
lima; of turning Swinson out of office
because he refused to put negroes to
work in his office with white ladies':
of securing the election of the negro
White 10 Congress: of making negro
Assistant Principal Clerk of the State
Senate; of negroizing Newbern, Will
<~f
negro rule in force in North Carolira
| from the mountains to the sea: ana
| of voting for negroes to places OF
| trust. The vote of 1898 shows that
most of the honest Populists, when
these things become fully known to
them, refused to again vote for the
men who We're responsible for them.
| These same men, with others who die
not see the situation clearly in 1898,
are, determined to vote for the
amendment as the only means of pre-
venting a return to Negro Rule. See
ing this, the Populist bosses, who are
| the agents of the Republican party
and i'm their pay either directly or
through offices procured by negro
votes, are making a desperate plea TO
these mcn who were Populists, before
| Populsm in North Carolina was sold
out to the negro party, to vote against
| the amendment and to advocate an
amendment to disqualify negroes
| from holding office. They think-do
| these pie-eating negropholist office
| holders-that they can fool honest
| voters by this transparent pretence.
| Does anybody suppose that Butler
| Thompson, Aver, Worth, Peace, .ICa-
| llins and the rest who owe their daily
bread to the solid negro vote wish
| to be rid of the negro? Do men de-
strOy the vessel on which they are
sailing? Does a man cut off the limb
on which he is sitting? Not until
these things come to pass will Pop,;-
list office-holders. who got in office by
the negro vote, advocate anything to
take the negro out of politics. If
| these fellows were in favor of not al
lowing negroes to hold office, wig
didn't they submit their proposed
amendment when the Fusionists we've
in power? Instead of doing that, the>
busted themselves putting over one
| thousand negroes in office. Why did
they do that? In order to get the
solid negro vote for themselves. AnG
yet now they pretend to want the
negro excluded from office, reser,-
ing the substances and juices 10
| themselves.
Suppose the negro was excluded
from holding State office by Con-
stitutional Amendment, what wouid
happen? The Republicans and Popu-
lists would give the negroes more
Federal offices, and would make
trades TIC give parts of their salaries
to negro leaders who would dictate
government in North Carolina again
as they did in 1896 9S. What relief
would the people have from bad gov
eminent? The Mayor and Chief of
Police of Wilmington We're white men
but they were dominated by the mass
of negro voters. The only way to be
rid of negro rule is to cut off the
great mass of unfit negroes from the
ballot just as the way to cut off the
tail of bad dog is to cut it off just
behind the ears. This is the way to cut
the negro off from ofticeholding and
from debating government in an.5
town on city or county in North Car
DINA. That's the only sure remed. Z.
and evidences multiply that most OF
the Populists will not be misled Ly
the new scheme to keep them tied on
i 70, ha I.fx Of npOrn rule