The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-04-13

olina since the democratic party abol-
ished II under the leadership OF that
true hearted and great North Carroll
| nian, Governor David S. Reid. gov
ernment by free-holders. for this act
distinctly provides that the two addi-
tional commissioners shall only be ap-
pointed upon the application of 200 cit
izens. 100 of whom shall be freehold
ers. The republicans and populists
themselves thereby to some extent re-
stricted suffrage to those who owned
land in order to escape from the un-
bearable burden of negro rule in the
eastern counties. Is there any repub-
lican, Is there any populist who viii
deny that this provision was put in the
statute as a safe guard against the
| evil of negro suffrage; will any of them
pretend that any such provision would
ever have been made IL only white
| men could vote? They thereby con-
fess, and they have put this confes-
sion in the form of a statute and writ
| ten 1T in the law books Of North Caro-
lima forever, that the negro where he
| predominates in numbers cannot be
| trusted to govern. They themselves
| declared his unfitness and published
| his incapacity
Again in 1897 there came into the
| Executive chair in North Carolina
man, who in a public speech had de-
| clared that he was not a friend of the
white man nor friend of the negro,
| but a friend of man. With his advent
I to power the negro naturally forgot
| the days when he was regarded as
| savage and with expectant joy listen
ed to the inaugural address which was
| to usher in that new and glorious day
| of political equality, but before that
| address closed we hear this friend of
man warning the legislature not to
| turn the cities of the state over to
\ "iQn0ranf a.
| mentS," and thereby this friend of man
| declared that fond as he was of uni
| versal mankind he realized that the
negro is incapable of governing the
| cities in which he predominates, for
surely it will not be contended by any
body that Governor Russell had other
| reference than to the negroes when he
| spoke of the ignorant and property
| less elements And the legislature
| of 1897, violent as it was, determined
| as it showed itself to be to break all
ties with the past and to repeal all
democratic legislation, followed the ad
| vice of the governor to the extent OF
providing for the appointment by the
governor in the cities of New Bern and
Wilmington additional aldermen to
those selected by the people. This act
| of the legislature and this idea Of Gov
ernor Russell came before the SUI
preme court of North Carolina in the
4
Wilmington, and that body sustained
the legislation and recognized alike the
unfitness OF the negro to rule and the
right of the state to protect itsel
| against hrs incompetency. Every judg,
on that bench knew that as a matter
of fact that legislation was passed t.
| discriminate against the incapacity
of the negro and yet the opinion of th'
court does not mention the 18th amend
, ment nor declare the act unconstitu
tional. So I may be permitted to OBJ
serve in passing that the court know
many things as facts which it can new
er know judicially. Further confir
nation of ;he unfitness of the negr
to govern may be found in the opel
; letter which Senator Butler addresSe
to the people of North Carolina jus
, before the election in 1898, in whic
/ he pledged the populist candidates fo
. | the legislature to introduce bills pro
| viding a special form of county gov
ernment for certain eastern countie
where necessary.
T | In what eastern counties did Sena
= tor Butler suppose a special form o
2 | county government was neccessar
: and why was it necessary? Plainl
he meant in those eastern countie
| where the negro predominated and be
2 | cause of the unfitnesS of the negro I
. ! rule. A more recent and convincin
5 evidence can be offered. Senate
e Pritchard in his speech delivered i
t the United States senate on Januar
| %. 1900 uses this language: In tn
t very nature of things it (negro domi
! | nation) cannot be. From the earlies
}. | dawn of civilization to this good hou
t the great white race has given to tn
e world its history, it's philosophy, it
e flaws, its government, and its Christi
anity, and it will continue to do SO.
: In recent speech delivered in Colds
e boro by Major H. L. Grant before tn
= republican convention of Wayne count
f | he declared that the negro could nc
: longer hold office and that for twent
v years he had fought to put down tn
n | idea of negro supremacy; that Will
the negro under the constitution ha
= | a right to hold office public sentimer
= was stronger than law, and Dubli
sentiment was opposed to the negr
: holding office" Indeed it has becom
the fashion among republicans IA.
!. | populists to assert the unfitness of tn
negro to rule, but when they use tn
word rule, they confine it to holdin
: office; when we say that the negro
unfit to rule we carry it one step ful
ther and convey the correct idea whe
: we declare that he is unfit to vote.
The causes which have brough
: about this consensus of opinion hav
h in large measure forced themselves o.
6 public attention within the last fey
: years. We have had but two period
. of republican rule in North Carolina
:, I from 1868 to 1870, and from 1896 t
|. 1898. That party contains a larg
a number of respectable white men, bu
9 the negro constitutes over twO-third
. of it's voting strength. Government
= can never be better nor wiser tina
= the average Of the virtue and inteIli
= gence Of the party that governs. TIL
3 republicans insist that we have neve
!. had negro rule in North Carolina
that the republican party elects whit
: men to office and that this fact give
L us a government by white men. Gov
= ernor Russell in his message to th
y last legislature vindicates himse
: against the charge of appointing ne
groes to offfoe and proudly boasts tha
o out Of S18 appointments made by hir
e not more than eight were negroes. Il
: misses the point which we made an
r make against him and his party; 1t
not alone that Governor Russell pu
+ the eight negroes in Office and hi
e tparty a thousand more, but that tn
e 125. 900 negroes put him In Office owe