The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-12-07
Reason and Experience Oppose It.

New York Times.
 Reason and the teachings of experi- ence stand opposed to the theories by which President Roosevelt attempts to justify his appointment of a colored man as collector of the port of Charleston. Manffestly it cannot be for the good of the customs service that the office of collector at that port should be held by a man whose appointment Is distasteful and offensive to ninety -hundredths of persons having business to do at the custom house. 1t Is equally manifest that there is no advantage for the admins embitters an entire community against the President. Plainest and clearest of all, the colored race, either individually or as whole, has nothing to gain by obstinate persistence in policy which intensifies race feeling and confirms the resolve of the whites of the South to re- sist by every means in their power the political advancement of the blacks.
 The President might disregard all these things; he might take the risk and incur the inconvenience of bitter feeling and intensified race prejudice, if only he were convinced that by continuing the policy of appointing blacks to office lit- tie by little prejudice would wear away, opposition diminish, and time at length come when the appointment of black man in South Carolina would attract no more attention than it would in Massa- chusetts. He might furthermore feel
 didL thC pOhCy was II u W do really helpful to the colored people. if through political recognition they were elevated mentally, morally and as men. and were making visible progress toward but the facts of forty years experience confute 1t. He is trying by use of power of appointment to efface the distinction between the whites of the South and a race which they universally regard as in ferior. In this attempt the administration is dashing it's head against granite wall.
 When Mir. Roosevelt declares that 1t has been his constant policy in every State where their numbers warranted it to recognize colored men of good repite and standing in making appointments to office, he shows that the controlling idea in his mind is not for the good of the service, but some notion of political or party prac- tice. If there were but one colored man in all South Carolina. and he were the best man in the State for collector of Charleston, his appointment would have better warrant than the appointment of Dr. Crum, one of many thousand colored men, who it cannot be supposed Is the best man in the State for the place. The idea of numbers suggests at once the consideration of proportional representa- tion. That is clearly a party matter.
 Mir Booker Washington in his letter to The Birmingham Age-Herald makes. though probably without intending it, a mogt effective reply to the President 8 argument: My Ire WorK IS the pTOnlOllOIt of the education of my race. It Is well known that have always advised my people that 1t is of supreme importance, at this period of their development, that they should concentrate their thought and energy on the securing of homes. the cultivation of habits of thrift. economy, skill, intelligence. high moral character, and the gaining of the respect and conf dence of their neighbors, white and black both in the South and North. From such teaching and counsel no influence can ever divert ne. At every proper opportunity say 70 the youth of our peo- ple that they will make a mistake if they seek to succeed in life by mere political activity in the hope of holding political office"
 The teaching and the example. of MT Washington will help his race to show what capacity for advancement there Is in them, it will help them to make the best use of their opportunities. The Presi- dent, by appointing colored men to offices in communities where the appointments excite only indignation and bitterness: simply blocks the colored mans path of progress.