The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-12-31
CHEWING NEAR THEM.

out of the settlement or larSe nu.aDe.s OA negroes in this and other Nortnern cities. In this case the police seem es usual to have sided with men of their own color. and, without waiting to asce.- tain the right or wrong of their action' to have clubbed the negroes wherever found. Fortunately, they did not com init such great excesses as disgraceo tne fierce in the riots of August 10, lSN' though A tendency to undue violence was certainly manifested, if the press ac- counts are to be trusted. But the dangers arising out of the coionlxauoh of many negroes in this city are not con fined, to friction with their white fel- low citizens or with the police. Herded together as they are in overcrowded tene- ments. there Is very little incentive either in themselves or In their surround ings, to live other than a demoranzeo and degraded life, so that their settle ments menace the health and the morals of the city, Since there is no possibility of excluding them. even If it were morally proper to do so, the Northern citles ai- fected must, sooner or later. grappie vigorously and scientifically with the problem of their presence. Some few public-spirited men and women have already begun the work of education by founding kindergartens, but the neeos or the situation are so great as to make it seem extraordinary that the many generous New Workers interested in negro education at the South have never paused to consider the problem at their own doors.
 It is every day becoming more and more apparent to unprejudiced observers in all sections that Anglo-Saxon human nature is largely the same in different sections. and it is none the less apparent that the thinking people of the North are becoming better acquainted with the con- ditions as they exist in the South, and better able to appreciate the difficulties caused by those conditions.
 When The Post alludes to ''the grow ing danger arising out of the settlement of large numbers of negroes in this and other Northern clties," 1t refers to a danger which is always present in the South, but which most Northern people take no thought of until 1t is brought home to them by some such occurrence as that at Harlem. Yet the same thing occurs in all portions of the North under the same circumstances. In Kansas, Indiana. Illinois. Ohio and Pennsylvania. as in New York, any considerable addi- tion to the negro population. especially if they form q settlement of their own, almost invariably causes trouble, sOme- times leading to bloody race riots, such as rarely occur in the South.
 There is no lack of criticism of South ern affairs from those who have had no means of forming opinions from actual experience .and they talk very glibly ot what Southern people do, as well as ot
 what they should and should not do, yet as soon as they find themselves confront. ed at home with a race question of their l own the Anglo-Saxon determination tc rule asserts itself and is at once acted on. The American white man will not admit the equality of the black man
 either in Alabama, or at the North, and | they show it whenever circumstances de. mand. There are many people in the North, and doubtless there are many good men and women among them. who severely criticise what they are fond of
 calling "the inhuman treatment of tho
 negroes in the South," but much of thi. 1 NAAoSASAh PACSSO0p. AAOAAA AaSA OA
 observation and experience. When thes, are supplied the same white nature 1. ! displayed.
 ''Herded together as they are in over | crowded tenements," is, in the opinion of The Post, one of the causes of the trouble in Harlem and New York and | that paper should remember that the same cause exists in most Southern cities and in many parts of the country. In their nature and habits the negroes are as gregarious as black birds, and the congestion of colored people in Southern cities is a matter of concern which is ever present and is one of the most diff ficult problems to deal with which con fronts our people. They flock to the cities in such numbers that it is im- or comfortably by honest means. and the inevitable result is that many of them live in squalidness and misery, ready for any crime and ripe for any mischief.
 The Post is doubtless correct in it's prediction that the North must grapple N45OAOu1Ay anu WALh lHS problem of their presence" and 1t should bear in mind that the Northern people are responsible for that problem. The negroes hear and read so much of what certan Northern people have to say about them and their supposed mistreat- ment that they are filled with the con viction that nothing is necessary to ensure life of ease and plenty. but to go North. They are led to believe that whenever they get beyond Mason and Dixon's line they will get into @ land where they will be received with open arms and where they will not be required to exert themselves to live on the best.
 The Southern people, who are the only true friends the negroes have. know that none of their bright anticipations will ever be realized up North, but their counsel Is unheeded and the negroes go there only to find themselves undesired and uncared for, even if they are not treated with positive hostility. And The Post is correct in its expression of sur prise that New Workers apparently take