The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1901-11-03
An Inferior May Not Rule a
Superior Race.
SUFFRAGE FIRST RESTRICTED NORTH
The Former Slave-Owners Have at
Their Own Expense Been Educating
the Former. / Slaves Social Lines
Not Inconsistent With Universal
Brotherhood.
(The Conmoner, Nov. ~

NV AAOVA0 AoVSAS " AoAAf
Brotherhood.
(The Commoner, Nov. ID
The acton of President Roosevelt in
I inviting frof Booker T.. Washington
to dine at The White House was unfort-
nna.e, to say the least. 1t will give
depth and acrimony to race feeling al
ready strained to the uttermost. The
race question, so far as it concerns our
colored population, presents itself in
four phases: first, the legal rights of the
black man second, his educational OPP
portunities; third. his political privi-
leges, and, fourth, his social status. Il
AS to the first there can be no ques-
ton The negro is citizen, and as
citizen is entitled to all, the guarantees
Of the Federal and State constitutions.
He has freedom to speak and to write;
freedom of conscience and the right Ito
life. liberty and the pursuit of happi-
ness In these respects there Is no dis
tinction between him and the white
man. The Republicans, when challenged
to defend imperialism, are In the habit
of referring to the suffrage amendments
adopted in some of the Southern States,
as ii the black man of the South and
the brown man of the Orient were be-
ing similarly treated. The fact is, how
ever. that In none of the Southern States
I has an attempt been made to take from
the negro the guarantees enumerated
in our Constitution and in the Bill of
Rights: whereas the Filipino in the
Orient and the Porto Rican in the West
Indies. are denied the protection of the
Constitution In the South the negro is
still a citizen and entitled to the consid
Grafton due citizen. Under Republic
can rule in Porto Rica and the Philip
pines, however, the inhabitants are sub
jects and suffer the common lot of those
who live under arbitrary power.
In the matter of education the negro
is entitled to all the opportunities Of
: fered to the white man. The negro
must be educated: no community can
afford to permit any portion Of it's popu-
lation to remain ignorant or to become
imbruted. The whites, for their own
welfare as we'll as for the good of the
negroes. must see to it that the free
4 school is open to every child, white and
black
The negro has already made great
progress in intellectual development.
and this, .oo largely through the aid
of The white people of the South. The
former slave owners have at their own
expense been educating the former
slaves. while the more partisan Repub
licans. some of them holding office by
the aid of negro votes, have been incit-
ing the negro to oppose everything adj
vocated by the Southern whites, re-
CARELESS of the merits of the PROPOSE
ton under consideration.
The political rights of the negro have
for quarter Of a century been the sub
ject of public discussion.
The Republican party did not urge
emancipation in the beginning: Lin
coin, the head of that party expressly
declared that he had no intention of in
terfering with slavery in the States in
which it then existed. but emancipation
followed as result of the war and now
no one in all the land would advocate a
reinstatement of the system of slavery.
The franchise was conferred upon the
negro soon after the war by the Re-
publican party but during the past few
years that party has shown less and less
interest in the political status of the col
ored man.
In some of the Southern States edu-
cational qualifications have been pre-
scribed with a view to securing white
supremacy in the State and local gov
ernments
While universal suffrage is the ideal
condition toward which the world is
moving, and while it is matter to be
regretted that even educational quail
ficationS are ever found necessary, it
must be admitted that such qualifica
tons have been prescribed and are still
in existence in some Northern as we'll
as in some Southern States.
These qualifications are defended,
where they exist, not on the ground that
the Declaration of Independence is
wrong, not on the ground that all men
are rot created equal or that they are
not Endowed with inalienable rights,
nor yet on the ground that governments
do rot derive their just powers from
the consent Of the governed, but upon
the theory that when races of different
degrees of civilization are thrown to-
gether and must necessarily live to-
gethcr under the same government
when, in other words, it is simply a
question as to which race shall exert
controlling influence-then the more adj
vanced race has always exercised the
right TO impose conditions upon these
less advanced.
Every race is capable of self govern
ment-it would be an insult to the
Creator to assume that He brought into
existence race of people Incapable of
self government and entirely depend
emit upon some other race for govern
mcnt--but while every race is capable
of f-govcrnment, a race may not be
capable OF sharing upon equal terms
in the control of a government whose
blessings are enjoyed by, and whose
burdens arc imposed upon, several races
differing in their advancement. No ar