Waterbury Democrat., 1902-11-28
THE NEGRO PROBLEM.
South Carolinians Answered by the
 President

President.
 WASHINGTOA, .SoN. 2S.--The prcsi- daur has sent an important communi- cation to a prominent citizen of Charleston, s. O., the main features of
 which are as follows:
 My Dear Sir.-.I am in receipt of TOUT letter of Nov. 10 and of one from Air , under date of Nov II, in ref ereucc to tho appointment of Dr. Crum ss collector of tue port of Charleston. ' 'SIn your isttsr you make certain spe- tifC charges against Dr. Crum tending fc show his unfltneSS in several re- spects for the office sought These charges are entitled to the utmost con. sideration from me and shall go over then carefully before taking any ac- tion After making these charges you add As further reason Tor opposition to hin that he is colored man and after reciting the misdeeds chat fol- lowed :arpetbag rule and negro domi- nation III South Carolina you say that i've have sworn never again to submit to the rule of the African, and such an appointment as that of Dr Crum to any such office forces us to protest unanimously against this insult to the white blood,' and you add that you understood me to say that would new CT force negro on such community as yours. MT. - puts the objection of ccSr first, saying, First he is col ored man, and that of itself ought to bar him from the office Tn view of these last statements 1 think I ought to make clear to you why I am con- cerned and pained by your making them and what my attitude is as re- gards all such appointments. How any one could have gained the idea that l had said would not appoint reputable and upright colored men to office when objection was made to them solely on account of their color confess am wholly unable to understand. At the time of my visit to Charleston last spring had made, and since that time I have made, a number of such appoint ments from several states in which there is a considerable colored popula- tion. The great majority of my ap- pointments in every state have been of white men. North and south alike it has been my endeavor to appoint only men of high character and good capaci- ty, whether white or black. But 1t has been my consistent policy in every state where their numbers warranted it to recognize colored men of good re- ments to office.
 'These appointments of colored men have in no state made more than q small proportion of the total number of appointments. I am unable to see how I can legitimately be asked to make an exception for South Carolina. In South Carolina to the four most im- portant positions in the state have appointed three men and continued Tn office fourth, all of them white men, three of them originally Gold Demo crats, two of them, as am informed, the sons of Confederate soldiers. I have been informed by the citizens of Charleston whom I have met that these four men represent a high grade of public service.
 q do not intend to appoint any unit man to office. So far as l legitimately can shall always endeavor to pay re- gard to the wishes and feelings of the people of each locality, but cannot consent to take the position that the door of hope, the door of opportunity. is to be shut upon any man, no matter how worthy, purely upon the grounds of race or color. Such an attitude would, according to my convictions, be fundamentally wrong.
 "The question of negro domination does not enter into the matter at all. 1t might as we'll be asserted that when was governor of New York sought to bring about negro domination in that state because appointed two colored men of good character and standing to responsible positions, one of them to position paying salary twice as large as that paid in the office now under consideration. one of them as a director of the Buffalo exposition. The question raised by you and MT -. in the statements to which refer is simply whether 1t is to be declared that under no circumstances shall any man of color, no matter how upright and honest, no matter how good a citi- zen, no matter how fair in his dealings with all his fellows, be permitted ts hold any office under our government. I certainly cannot assume such an atti- tude, and you must permit ne to say that in my view it is an attitude no man should assume, whether he looks at it from the standpoint of the true interest of the white man of the south or of the colored man of the south, not to speak of any other section of the Union.
 "without any regard as to what my decision may be on the merits of this particular applicant for this particular place feel that I ought to let you know clearly my attitude on the far broader question raised by you and Mir. III, an attitude from which have not varied during my term of office" Nfr& Thres Boyp Drowned.