The age-herald., 1901-08-11

With ten millions of people furnishing no person has yet dared to suggest, that part of the Hon Wayne MaeVeagh's Phi Beta Kappa oration at the recent liar yard commencement. dealing with the ne- gro problem seems to me to be worthy of more consideration than it has yet re- ceived MT MacVeagh does not offer a solution, but to one who has been striv- ing to bring a matter of such importance to the attention of our people, 1t is re- freshing to have the case stated on such an occasion in such a decisive language and by such a learned gentleman.
 There Is great problem" he says, which we are refusing to consider, and by which refusal the ethical ideal of law is also being destroyed. It is the problem presented by our negro population, now approaching ten millions of souls We gave them the suffrage and we have al- lowed some of them to be killed for pos sessing it. We appointed some Of them to office, and have stood meel1ly by when they were shot for having our commission in their hand. They are being burned be- fore our eyes without even a pretense of a trial
 We are allowing state after state openly, even oontemptously, to nulify a solemn amendment of the consultation enacted for their protection, to secure which we poured out our treasure with out limit and shed the blood of our sons like water. All of us, whether in public office or private station, now concur in NI Al aR a<y such problem at our doors, while laugh ing like the Roman augurs. in each oth- CTS faces we indulge in self congratuia- tions about the blessings we are carrying to another ten millions of dark-skinned races in far-distant lands"
 No better illustration could have been selected by Mir. Macyeagh for an oration on The Value of Ethical Ideals in Ameri- can Politics." My experience has been that, except when he Is being strung up to tree or burned at the stake, the ne- gro Is today almost as much a creature of commerce as he was in the days before the war.
 we ought in the North, as in the South. to face our responsibilities toward the defendants of a people we brought here against their will and sorely for our own profit, and we ought to seriously dis cuss and determine, in Congress and out Ol It, WAdt l5 lllo UcSb pObblDio iCaAttoktS to be established between them and us; and then we ought to havo the courage to give that relation the sanction Of law. and to see that such law is respected and obeyed. Such treatment of this problem would be a far greater security for our future peace than many new regiments and many new ships of war. At present the condition of the whole subject Is law lessness, and such a condition Is disgrace f,,It tN, oil ax,d t. fx-nvt t0f1f xUff Ia rious dangers which lawlessness always brings In its train-as the exact opposite of the ethical idea of law"
 So says MT. MacVeagh in an oration be- fore college men. But how is this matter looked upon by the men at the head of the great political parties of this coun- try? I have had occasion to discuss 1t with them, and my experience has been a trying one, especially when Southern representatives have been concern. Edu- cate. uplift the negro; help him to under stand. Discuss the matter in Congress" President Mckinley has discussed 1t until now he simply calls attention to what he has said on the subject in former mes- sages. When I discussed the question with him at the White House, he asked. like Mir. Macveagh, What can we do?'' Even Senator Hanna, notwithstanding the fact that he Is perhaps the greatest representative of the idea in politics of a commercial age, is willing to give time and consideration to such a problem, but the Senator from the South at his elbow is very different.
 Why should we bother about the ne- gro?" he exclaims, his anger passing all bounds at the idea of anybody spending time discussing the present or the future of the colored race Why should we bother about the negro? We can buy them when we want them. We can pur- chase their votes at a paltry price" Dec larations which even the Senator from Ohio refused to sanction.
 With this spirit dominant, with these