Evening star., 1901-10-22
MIR. WATTERSON'S COMMENT.
Kentucky Editor Discusses the Booker
Washington Dinner


| The Louisville Courier Journal of TODAY.
in an editorial by Henry Watterson, COM
menting on the dinner given by President
! Roosevelt to Booker T. Washington, says:
1T was a sensation Already it rises to
| the dignity of Cause celebre' Presently
| we shall begin to speak of the Booker
| Washington incident One does not know
! precisely whether to laugh or to whistle
Assuredly, it is the part of wisdom in DEM
! ocrats to say nothing and saw wood
Each American, whether native of Afri-
| can descent, has the right to pick his COM
| pany, to sit at table with whomsoever
| he will, and. If it pleases the President to
dine one or dozen gentlemen of color at
the White House-'unofficialy mind you
that is nobOdyS business. Nevertheless
and at the same time, there are certain
cOnventionS-call them prejudices, If you
! like-it were well for all men, and par
ticularly for great public eXemplars, to
consider in their migrationS between the
drawing room and the dining room Even
as blunder is held in politics and diplom-
acy to be worse than crime, so in So
ciety-particularly in those homes of lux
ury and almony which give the word and
set the pace to the four hundred-it is
safer to commit sin than to be detected
in solecism.
The President need not be reminded of
this. He knows 1t well. Nobody knows
it better. But he is exceptional. Born
with a ruff1e around his neck and a gold
spoon in his mouth. he grew up to filch
from among his playthings a ticket call
ing for the capital prize in the lottery of
life. Such man is tempted to defy
usage. He gets to be a law unto himself
Having arrived upon the scene to regen-
crate mankind and reform the world, may
be not, shall he not, clasp the man and
brother to his BOSOM take counsels of
him, and, by these tokens, vindicate the
gospel Of the fathers in Israel? Why, look
you. masters, this be very Daniel come
to judgment.
Yea: and he carrieth along with him
his scriptural warrant Hath It not been
written, Out Of the mouths of babes and
sucklings-even colored babes are suck
lings-'hast thou ordained strength'-the
old free soil litany-that thou might still
the enemy and the ayenger? In this case
| the enemy is race hatred. Why may not
the 'avenger' be the states lately in re-
bellion?
He is an undoubting as well as a lin
cal descendant Of Wendell Phillips and
Lloyd Garrison. wearing the mantle of
Theodore Parker and brandishing the
sword Of Joshua Giddings. At least no
| old-time republican will venture to chide
| him for teaching by example what they
| were able to teach only by precept In a
word. Mr., Roosevelt Is true to his political
religion.
| -''rhe foundation stone Of that religion
was, and Is. and ever will be. the equality
| of man. To free the negro: to educate
| and elevate the negro; to seat the negro
| in the high places Of the land. AS head
| even OF the Kitchen cabinet he Is to he
| pitied; red rag to racial prejudice: an
| object Of envy to those blacks who ara
Intelligent enough to differentiate; an Of
fense to white republicans; a menace to
! white democrats at the south.
| Looking at 1t from q partisan point ~
view, democrats may take not q littIe
! comfort to themselves. Whatever han
] pens, this Is not our funeral Out in tha
| cold as We may be-shivering as we are
] and hungry. yea, verify, and thirsty--yet
as we stand around the White House and
| look in through the windows and see
| Teddy and Booker hobnobbing over thsir
| possum and potatoes. not one of us is dis.
| posed to envy either of them, or to aY-
claim to either Wouldn't 1t be bully 70
| be him.? We prefer to take our chancas
| of the future. We had rather wait III,
our time comes. Somehow, the look abaaa
does not seem so hopeless nor the '5is
| lance so long We democrats have he,
1 to get together and keep our powder dr.,
| to carry all before three years hence
| because this young man is q bronco.hms'
ter and he Is going to raise more Of that
stuff from the very hot place with the
| very short name TO the square inch thar
| was ever raised before in that particular
neck of the woods. Sursum cDrdas There :
q good time coming. boys Wait q little
longer"