The Washington bee., 1901-06-29

Ollal hospital. The other institutions
OI Color 10 get aid from the state this
2eaI are: The Home for Aged and Ir.
IIleG Women in Pittsburc, 5000.
! ne berean Manuel Training School
SSl2ooo' and the Home for Colored
Ohiidren at Allegheny, $4,000.
Mr.. William Leonard who was sum-
.loheq mere 10 the deathbed ofhis bro
tner' Fhy, returned to Philadelphia
Suhday night where he has been for
iouI years. Such mission is natual-
~ sad, yet Mr.. Leonard's mastery
impulse bore noble tendencies
throughout the whole ordeal. The
funeral, which was held at the resi-
IehCe, was extremely pathetic and
lowered overwhelming gloom upon
the snug little homestead. The de-
ceased was a young man of brilliant
attaInments and carried a demeanOr
synonomous with respect and dignity.
The strickened family has our sympa-
thy,
After all the Constitutional Congress
now in session at Richmond, Va, can
scarcely accomplish the proposed fact
il view. Perhaps no one knows if
better than the delegates, who already
show exhaustion from weeks of un-
successful procedure. The conven-
ton has advanced very few steps if
any toward the revision of the state
constitution, whose new purport will
be 10 eliminate the Colored man entire
ly from the right to vote. Considering
what has been said concerning the ne
gro South and knowing how badly il
would cripple the machinery of the
Grand Commonwealth, we would ra-
ther not comment, but watch the seat
Of contention with mOdestin difference
1t becomes our d ty, however, to sus-
tain the Northern Press, when it as
Serts that the American people will
not permit so useful a ratio of citizen
ship to be deprived Of its suffrage AS
far as modern civilization extends the
freedom of ballot seems the unit of
political evolution. These viceless
tribes Of the tropics, whose intense
hatred for the darker mankind could
be no bitter, forget that thirty FIVE
years ago the dusky light of humanity
illumined their homes and kept a mer-
ciless war then in progress from their
IreSldeS and families. Such is TO well
known. Is il once to be thought Il at
the wholesale disfranchisement as
planned by the Southern States will
be tolerated? No, God will forbid.
The reapportionment bill will quickly
outlive its present Intimacy and re-
Ceive fresh vitality during the next
session of Congress. Our fidelity in
the North is well merited and the de-
pendenCe thereupOn placed, amply
repays US, for our unCeaSing and fer
vent anxiety. The South's attempt
to re-organize the democratic par y,
through this illegal ballot system dC e
not only venomate a racial stigma too
offensive to inhale, but produces a so
Cial CanCOr so rank in method and so
caustic in result, that the fires of "Ha-
des" could hardly eXhume the Obtro-
perious oder therefrom gathered.
Living beneath the shadows of a
great city, there are multi vide awake
i lfuen ~es, reeking in the foul breath
Of criTe and debauchery, crushing
out the human essence of our flower
ing youth. Around us in the very
bosom Of dissipated night, chastiCy is
being robbed aud gagged in the hopcA
less gauntlet of vice. The midnight
supper, the early morning spree are
the usual provocations that entiCe the
heart and mind away from the path OF
reCtitude and evdeayOr. Indeed TO
visit certain sections of the city after
dark and see the couples coming and
going from the various resorts, uni
Versally known in the neighbOrhOOd,
would cause the very soul to harrow.
Heavily yelled, young women with
their male escorts frequent these
places and spend the evening to Il :
limit, what they term hlving a good
time. 1t is reputed that a majority of
these young girls hail from some of
the most refined families OF Washing
ton and while no names are given,
sufficient evidence is at hand TO know
that something is wrong and no stone
should be left unturned until these
midnight braWls are more literally
exposed.
Assuming what Judge William l..
Chambers of Alabama says is right re-
specting the destiny Of the Afro
American in politics, there is no Sd
preme reason why we should put his
remarks within the bounds of sound
judgement and feel superbly compli-
mented over a Southern mans verbose
opinion. From the off start the Judge
i; glaringly wrong when he declares
that if educational qualification be
made the basis of voting illeglbility
that nineteen twentieths of the negro
vote will be unfit for ballot. Surely
Mr.. Chambers loses sight of the VIZ
tue that the colleges and other lnStu-
tions of learning on the equatorial belt
are turning out each hundreds OF men
and women, holding in their possess
ion the best equipment life can give
and fully able TO compete with the
worlds best goods. Mr., Chambers
glcrifes the plan further with the hope
that our energy would be apparently
passive and that no ser.Ous harm could
arise from or seemingly weak condl-
ton. Because Mr.. Chambers IS to a j.
Iy unacquainted with the ignorance OF
his own people is mainly respol slole
for the position he takes IN this mat
ter. Of course the illiteracy of the
colored people South no doubt is
somewhat appalling but does notreach
bv long shot the prepoStreous calcu-
lation as credited TO the pen OF Judge
William l.. Chambers, EhKL