The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-02-11


ready there is Il feeling cropping out
everywhere. showing itself in The news
papers. in speeches made by the high
est officers of the arny in declarations
made by the highest officers OF the navy
in a subseryiency. if | may be pernntt ,
10 use that word, shown in Congress t
the will OF the executiye--m every wax
there is 4 disposition 10 relax chat cen
slant vigilance which is said To be tn
price Of liberty, and in few years
il is TO be determined whether we have
solved the question or not. whether we
are capable of self-govcrnment, or
whether we shall 30 the way Of all other
nations that valued freedom and indie
pendcnce as much as we have and that
have failed. But that disposition OF
power to slip from the hands OF the
many to the hands of the few is always
operating among men, as silently, as
powerfully as the attraction Of grayita-
tion itself And now in tniS struggle
10 maintain the right of Self-govelnment
why should anybody insist that amy
part of this Union, il otherwise it can
be peacefully and conStitutionally pre-
vented, should inject intro the body poll
tic a devitalizing blood to render ii
still more incapable of government?
1T gives me no pleasure to depreciate
the African. | know that under GER
tain conditions he has attained GER
tain degree of civilization. bnt it has
never occurred anywhere on this globe
except under the h0t-hOuse influence
of European or American civilization,
AID it has always happened. unfortu-
nately, that whenever the sustaining
hand of white civilization has been
withdrawn he has rapidly reverted to
his original sayagpry. That is Il weight
that is continually and necessarily draw
ing us down; and if any State by con
stitutional methods can relieve itself Of
this incubus. nobody, in my opinion. who
values the prosperity of this country
and the performance of free institutions
should make objection.
Mr.. President we know the history
Of the African at home and in the oldest
colonies in the world. We know what
he has done under Spanish. English
Dutch. and French domination We
know today where the most intelligent.
black people in the world are found.
where their conditions are best. They
are those who have been emancpated
from slavery i'll the United States aud
in the English, the Spanish. the French
and the Dutch West Indies. where they
have been sustained like ships floating
upon the tide Of white civilizations: and
when that is withdrawn they immediate
~ sink into the mud.
THE HISTORY OF HAITI.
| would not particularly recite the his
tory Of the Haiti but that Mr.. Douglass,
the great orator Of the colored race. de-
clared that he looked with anxiety to
the fate of Haiti, because that was to
decide the Negroes capacity of self-goy-
eminent. What has been the history
of Haiti. the most beautiful island III
the world. with the most fertile soil
and delightful climate. and where grow
the most precious woods? The French
brought to them the blessings of the
Christian religion, paved Roman roads.
docks. forts, country houses. mills; and
in a spaSm Of generosity the French,
when "E@alite, fraternite, libcrte,' was
the slogan. the Intoxicating watchword
of the French Revolution, handed it all
over to the negroes free gift.
What is their condition today? Those
are the people we are to look tn aS the
example Of the capacity Of the colored
race for lf-govcrnment. When their
cities were burned. as they have been.
in the numerous revolutions believe
there have been twelve constitutions in
the island in about forty years-they
were never rebuilt Whenever a road
was worn ont it was never repaired;
whenever a mill or n plantation went
down it was never rehabiIitated When
the rice fields were OvergroWn With
weeds. breeding Presidential fevers they
were never reclaimed. The coffee planta
tons have been neglected.
Their trade has materially declined.
Not only that, but they have arrived
at that condition When the Christian
religion has been in part rejected; they
have returned to fetichism and voodoo-
ism, to a belief i'm snake-charmers, and
TO cannibaliSm III some places. These
are unpleasant facts. but they are true
and are taken from the records of the
courts of that island. from the reports
of conSulS and ministers; they are found
in the secular and religious press of thar
island and today the man who is the
hero Of Haiti. the man who has his
day. on the 1St of January, as we have
the birthday of George Washington OH
the Odd of February, is DeSsaiines. Des>
salines was such monster that his own
pe0ple said. He never spared man in
his anger nor woman in his lust lie
was the man who ordered the massacre
of the mulattoes in the island, who plum
dered the treasury, and murdered and
robbed every one of his political oppo-
nents.
Toussaint L'Ouverture, the only black
man who ever became n great man IN
that country, who was the greatest OF
them all. is absolutely neglected, ana
nobody speaks of him. Why? He was
a humane man, man of brains and
of character He did not impress him.
self upon his own people. and they
speak of the great man DeSsallneS.
man who slaughters his political oppo-
nents and winds up every revolution
with a massacre, who plumbers both
public and private property on the ISL
and. as "a strong man." That is nom
;lally repuhlic-a personal despotlsm--
which has existed there through all
these years.
This account was not written by
man who was an enemy of those pco-
pe. 1t was written by one Of the most
distinguished men of the British En-
pire, by man who was there sixteen