The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1901-11-14
The Negro Question.


he dcUlOn oI GreSluenU hOOSe-
welt in inviting Prof. Booker T.
Washington to dine at the White
house was unfortunate, to say the
least. 1t will give depth and
acrimony to race feeling already
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 opportun-
tiles; third, his political privileges
and fourth, his social status.
AS to the first there can be no
question. The negro is citizen,
and as a citizen is entitled to all
the guarantees of the federal and
state constitutions. He has free
dom to speak and to write; free
dom of conscience and the right
"to life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness" In these respects
there is no distinction 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 if the black
man of the south and the brown
man of the orient were being sim
ilarly treated. The fact is, how
ever, that in none Of the southern
states has an attempt been made
to take from the negro the guar
antees enumerated in our consti-
tuition 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 citizen and en-
titled to the consideration due "a
citizen. Under republican rule in
Porto Rico and the Philippines,
however, the inhabitants are sub
iects and suffer the common lot Of
those who live under arbitrary
power.
In the matter of education the
negro is entitled to all the oppor-
tunities offered to the white man.
The negro must be educated; no
community can afford to permit
any portion Of it's population to
remain ignorant or to become i'm
bruted. The whites, for their
own welfare as we'll as for the
good of the negros, must see to it
that the free school is open to
every child, white and black.
The negro has already made
great progress in intellectual de-
velopment, and this, too, largely
through the aid of the white
people of the south. The former
slave-owners have at their own ex-
pense been educating the former
slaves, while the more partisan re-
publicans, some of them holding
office by the aid of negro votes,
have been melting the negro to op-
pose every ything advocated by the
southern whites, regardless of the
merits of the proposition under
consideration.
The political rights of the negro
have for a quarter of century
been the subject of public discus
sion.
The republican party did not
urge emancipation in the begin
ming; Lincoln, the head of that
party, expressly declared that he
had no intention of interfering
with slavery IN the states in which
it then existed, but emancipation
followed as a result of the war and
now no one in all the land would
advocate reinstatement of the
system of slavery.
The franchise was conferred up
on the negro soon after the war by
the republican party, but during
the past few years that party has
shown less and less interest in the
political status of the colored man
In some of the southern states
educational qualifications have
been prescribed with view to Sc
| curing white SUPREMACY in the