Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1900-12-07
A WISE NEGRO.
(Richmond Times, Indpendcnt) }


highly intelligent and appreciated
minister in the Presbyterian Church
He is a negro and, as the name of his
paper indicates, it is negro's paper
We take from the issue sent us,
published in October, 1900, an arti-
Gle headed "Such a Sentiment Will
Not VIM" which will be found in
another column. The editor of this
paper, named E. w. Williams, and
Booker Washington have got more
sense than all the other negroes put
together who have figured in any
way before the public. What he
says III the article which we quote is
full of the soundest sense, and if all
the negroes in the South would
model their conduct upon what this
negro commends to them, all APP
pearance of race antagonism would
depart, aud it would be infinitely
better for the negroes.
And what is to be the final out
come of his wretched business? So
long as the 10Th amendment remains
a part of the Constitution of the
United States there will be recurring
attempts TO carry elections by the
solid negro vote, and whenever one of
these attempts is made the white
people will reply in kind by showing
a united front in opposition to the
solid body of negroes, and then we
shall have an election controlled by
violence, or, what is worse, corrupted
by fraud.
Why cannot the people of the
North see that this is the inevitable
result of the 18th amendment, and
why have they not the manliness to
come up to the scratch, acknowledge
that they made q fearful blunder IN
adopting the 18th amendment, and
act like men by repeating it and
leaving suffrage where it should be,
under the control of each State? If
this were done the individual negroes
would be given the right to vote in
every Southern State as fast as they
qualified themselves to exercise the
right intelligently, and in this way
the negroes would get all that they
are entitled to, and the South would
become an orderly, peaceful and
happy land.
Northern men generally admit
now that they made blunder in
conferring wholesale suffrage upon
the negro. Have they not manliness
enough to march up to the rack and
undo wrong that they admit to be
a wrong?
Here is the article which the Times
refers to:
SUCH SENTIMENT WILL NOT WIN.
(From The Ethiopian.)
Prominent colored citizens of New
York held great mass-meeting at
Cooper Union October Sd, and said
that negro disfranchisement was the
issue. They passed reso-
lutions protesting in Southern States;
on Congress to reduce the
representation of such States in pro-
portion to votes cast; asking Con-
gress to pass laws for the enforce
ment of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth
and Fifteenth Amendments to the
Constitution, and force bill if
necessary, protesting against lynch
ing; asking the President to use
force to prevent lynching;
pledging the meeting to oppose the
election of Mr.. Bryan and favoring
the election of Mr.. Mckinley.
The above is taken from one of
our exchanges, the Star of Zion, a
paper that has a wide circulation
and many intelligent readers among
the colored people of the South. II
is for this reason that we feel called
upon to express our dissent from the
sentiment set forth in this meeting
of prominent negro citizens of New
York. First, while we are perfectly
willing to concede that these colored
citizens of New York were actuated
by the very best motives, at least
most of them, their zeal is according
to knowledge. We cannot longer
allow such sentiments to 60 forth to
our people unchallenged. They are
sentiments which have done, and if
allowed to 60 unchallenged will con-
tinue to do, great harm to the colored
people of the South.
We think that we have lived long
enough to know that great mass.
meetings held by colored citizens of
New York, however prominent they
may be, to protest against the dis
franchisement of the colored people
of the South, mean absolutely moth
ing but trouble for the negroes of
the South. The colored people of