Evening star., 1901-08-24
Four Difficult Ones Confront Us in
the New Century.
ANSWERS AFFECT ALL RANKS OF LIFE
Mean as Much to the Poor as the
Rich Man.
QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS

piooiciuS 10 Soite.
l. Popular. representative government.
with justice to all races Of men in the
United States and its dependencies.
2. Cheap. swift, safe and convenient
| transportation.
3. The production and distribution or
wealth.
4. The security Of life and property by
the maintenance of law and order.
The Spanish war added new difficulties to
the first problem, one already exceedingly
difficult. The race question, with u.s. is as
old as the thirteen states with which the
Union began, for in 1776 there were free
negroes in every state, and In one southern
state North Carolina). and three northern
Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New
Jersey they had the constitutional right
to vote. Vermont granted the right; New
York also, under property qualification,
and Tennessee for over thirty years suf-
fered them to vote, withdrawing the priv
ilege in 1884, as did North Carolina in 1888.
Thus matters stood till 1S67-S when Con-
greSS, by the reconstruction acts, gave the
negro the suffrage in the late confederate
states and admitted Nebraska uS5) on
condition that it's constitution should allow
the negro to vote. Three years later 1S1o)
the fifteenth amendment was adopted,
making it unlawful for the United States
or any state to deny the right to vote on
account of race, color or previous condition
states, by the letter Of their constitutions,
had suffered the negro to vote. but had by
revision made the exercise of the privilege
the exclusive right of white men. New
Jersey did the same. In every other state,
except New Hampshire, Massa achuseIts,
Vermont and New York the negro was eX-
cluded from voting, and New York in 1876
and again in 1868 refused to admit him to
the suffrage on the same terms as the
white man. The negro was enfranchised in
1868 by act Of Congress, In the late con-
federate states. and, with other races was
included under the fifteenth amendment. a
national act, in 1870. The right to vote is
a right conferred exclusively by a state.
The Constitution of the United States for
bids discrimination on account of race,
color previous condition of servitude.
Since 1890, more or less successful eff
fort has been made by the people of Mis-
sissippi 1s9o), South Carolina Qs95), Louis
lana QS9S) and North Carolina $500 to
restrict negro suffrage, and a like effort is
at present making in Alabama and VIr-
gfnta. Thus the problem of negro suffrage
is portentous at the opening Of the new
century. Its solution, with the open pur-
pose Of restriction of the right of the ne
gro to vote, is likely tesbe7 attempted by
other southern states having a large negro
population. The problem is national, and
has been essentially national from the first
1t must be solved a national problem.
Congress, in 1S67-S, conferred the suffrage
on the negro 'as an act of Justice and mill
tary necessity" 1t acted under the pow
ers conferred by the Constitution, with the
assured purpose of applying the fundamental
principles Of the republic. The exercise Of
the suffrage by the negro, like its exercise
by the white man, was and Is only means
to an end-familiar to all Americans In the
language of the comprehensive preamble
to our national Constitution-the brief
clear and expressive embodiment of our
system of government. The so-called
right to vote" is only high privilege
granted-not natural born" right. There
fore it's exercise may be limited by the
Tka Il 3a,.lfx IT,, rNIxr L.,
tion of the race problem Is the greater
because, though national problem, it Is
not apportioned evenly over the country
The northern states are practically mere
onlookerS, excepting as their interests are
affected by congressional legislation. If the
negro vote be eliminated at the south. the
basis of southern representation in Con-
gress will be proportionately modified. so
that a comparatively small white popula-
tion at the south will have as great or
greater representation in Congress than
an equal, or larger, population at the north.
BY the terms south and north" used in
this sense, must be understood states
which did or did not succeed In excluding
or practically eliminating the negro vote
Justice to the negro, If it means his treat
ment a voter, means equal political
treatment with the white race, unless the
American people purpose to abandon the
fundamental doctrine of equal rights for
all men, Every state has the right and the
power to fix the conditions on which the
suffrage may be exercised. The great suf-
frage (raciaD problem with us Is to confer
the privilege of voting so that neither the
state nor the nation shall suffer. This may
mean a limited or universal suffrage. The
amount or extent of the right to vote at
any time is the problem which, in one form
or another. has confronted the American
people since 1178. 1t remains our most
difficult problem.
Cheap and Rapid Transit.
The problem of cheap, swift. safe and
fra tat of
things might seem, at first thought, already
solved by as people. for as nation
we glory In our triumphs with the econo-
mics Of trade and travel. But every pro-
ducer knows that the problem has been
only partially solved. In the distribution
of our various productions the factor of
transportation Is yet paramount. There Is
a market at every mans door. The pro-
ducer wants to reach that market. The
network of trolley lines now being woven
over the country gives hint Of further So
luton of the problem Briefly expressed,
the problem is to acquire the use of cheap
and cheaper motive power by land and
water. This Is one OF the great economic
problems Of the new century. Our immense
national domain offers home for several
hundred million souls. At the rate Of decen-
NAL increase made during the nineteenth
century the population Of the United States
and its dependencies will be at least five
hundred millions by 1850. This means the
use of systems of transportation of the
highest efficiency, or an economic condi-
ton approaching that of China. The out
look today Is not that of another east here
in the west. No present day problem is re-
ceiving profounder study than that of
transportation-cheap,s SAFE convenient and
swift.
5. The incentive to the production OF /
wealth is a passion permanent in the hui
man heart The great problem is now not Of
production, but Of distribution. This means
the social problem. At present, as in the
past, the so-called wealth of the world is
in the hands Of the few. While the aggre-
gate wealth of the many is very great it's
effectiveness as factor in society is in |
comparably less than the effectiveness OF
the aggregate wealth of the few. The prob |
lem is not one Of even distribution per
capita. 1t Is not that every human being
shall have just as much and no more than
every other human being. The problem is
one of an unrestricted current OF wealth. |
free flow of opportunities and uses. This
may sound a little vague. The problem
Is part Of several other problems; some
economic. for instance. transportation;
some political, as the franchise or taxa
tion But whatever the setting of the |
problem. it is one of the chief ones, per-
haps the chiefest one, in the lives Of most |
men. Because of IT'S magnitude and COM
prehension it becomes a public problem |
and. therefore, a question involving the |
public buSineSS-Which is another name for 4