The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-05-20
GEN. CARR'S LETTER
TO EX-CONFEDERATES
Continued From First Page.)


country or their race could use the negro
as the balance of power. evil came upon
the land. The negro was not slow to de-
mand price that must have appalled,
the very authors of his political power.
In a short time over a thousand office
holders of his race were found in Eastern
North Carolina our seaport towns were
suffering from his misrule; women were
unsafe with negro police, or even hui
inflated by negro school committeeman;
and the only negro representative in the
United States Congress took his seat from
district, whose convention was so over
whelmingly negro, as to eject unceremoni-
oIsly the white men who had out Heroded
Hercd in surrendering their pride of race
in the mad thirst for place
The negro, unfortunately is less fitted
for suffrage and office today than he was
generation ago. The old instruction and
discipline Of the master has vanished; the
negro father, busy in making his living
at the BEST and often given up to vice,
usually fails in moral training for his
offspring, and we have a vast body of the
race, diverging into idleness, dissipation,
vice and crime. There is now universal
complaint of the scarcity of reliable labor.
Far be it from me to stir up unworthy
prejudice against the negro, because he
is not a white man. He was loyal and
faithful during the war; and there are
set old friends among his race, whom |
shall honor for one. all the days CT their
lives. And there are men of the race, OF
virtue and intelligence, and interested in
the security of property and wise admin
istration. These men will suffer nothing
by The Amendment
And more, because in my make up,
Providence has so constituted me, that
by nature, ] am for the under dog in the
fight, for the weak as against the strong.
l have always cherished kindly interest
for the colored race, so much so, that
sometimes. | have perhaps, with good
reason given my white friends just cause
for criticism, and yet | make no apologies.
] am proud to believe that the colored man
in the South regards me as his friend.
and am glad to be in position to state
that l enjoy their confidence to that ex-
tent. that, perhaps no man in the South
receives so much correspondence from
the negro race, as | do, and yet / have
never failed to advise them that when
they conceive that their interest leads
them to think and act, contrary to the
best interest Of the white race in the
Southern States they were only turning
their faces toward the setting SUM- of
their people. l am yet their friend. and
profess to feel a peculiar interest in their
welfare.
But on the whole, the negro is a child
and like child, loves to play with fire.
We cannot risk the safety of the house
hold longer. We will guard and protect
his interests safely, but we will govern,
according to the will of the Creator who
made the diverse races, as we honestly
believe.
Nowhere else on the globe does the
Anglo-SaXon race permit the possible
turning of the house upside down by
negro balance Of power ever white civil
zation. Hayt and Liberia are object les
sons for mankind. Few are the negroes
from this country who reach either with
out longing to get away.
Nor is there any State of this Union
from Maine to Oregon, that would sub
nit to the introduction of the negro ele-
ment in sufficient number to control its
government and fill it's offices, break up
its established polity, and imperil its
financial safety. Self preservation, in the
last analysis. would command 1.-The sur
vival of the fittest.'
1t is therefore sheer ignorance, or ar
rant hypocrisy that would cry out against
the adoption of the Constitutional Amend
ment On our part. For we will not submit
to a great upheaval of society to preserve
our civilization, the honor of our fire
sides and the prospects OF our children.
at every recurring election. We are tired
of the insolent boasts of the negro Con-
gresham who has himself drawn the
color line in his own party convention,
Official appointments and outrageous Ian
guage, even toward his white Republican
allies.
Nor will we longer bear this burden
which is hideous mockery OF represen-
tatiye freedom child without judg
ment knowledge or discretion. cannot be
suffered longer to be led by demagogues
to use the brute strength CT votes shift
cd en- masse by trickery or petty corrup-
ton. We will not long hang the promise
Of suffrage before his eyes and fitch it
away, nor drive him by force from the
polls. But we will protect the purity of
suffrage, as Massachusetts and other
States have done. through educational or
ether requirements, and when he is fit
TO exercise the privilege and not before,
will we consent. There are no evasions
to make-no concealments to effective
are determined to demand and to secure
white supremacy.
Will the adoption of the Amendment
effect the result desired? Let US reply
in the language again of Senator Nc
Emery:
'Urder white rule the State recovered
rapidly. Levees were rebuilt; bonds have
gone above par. The State Treasury is
full. Schools are prosperous fO- white
and colcred. Peace prevails everywhere.
The whites and negroes are on cordial
terms. Crime has decreased: the courts
impartally administer justice. White
immigrants from the West have come to
Louisiana in large numbers, where only
the corrupt carpet Dagger ventured be-
fore. Annul the legislation of
the State which has for it's sole object the
advancement of both races, and the tragic
period of 1875 would be re-enacted. The
white Republicans make no complaint
against the provisions of the present con-
stitution regarding suffrage. The more
intelligent negroes accept it as a wise
settlement of the question of suffrage
The ignorant of the negro race are in