The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1902-12-02
tie House, Washington, D. c.,

N'o oCH NAO ~
a prominent citizen Of Charleston, S. c.:
Personal.
White House. Washington, D.. c.,
November 26. 1902.
My Dear Sir:-I am in receipt of your
letter of November 10th, and one from
Mr.. --, under date of November II,
in reference to the appointment of DR..
| Crum as collector of the port Of Char
lesion.
In your letter you make certain specific
charges against Mr.. Crum. tending to
show his unftness in several respects
for the office sought. These charges are
entitled to the utmost consideration
from me and l shall go over them care
fully before taking any action. After
making these charges you add, as a
further reason for opposition to him,
that he IS q colored man, and reciting the
misdeedS that followed carpct-bag rule
and negro domination in South Carolina,
you say that eve 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 pro-
test unanimously against this insult to
the white Blood" and you add that you
understood me to say that l would never
force a negro on such a community as
yours.
Mr.. - puts the objection Of color
first, saying: First, he is a colored
man and that of itself ought to bar him
from the Office In view Of these last
| statements l think ought to make
| clear to you why | am concerned and
panied by your making them, and what
ny attitude is as regards all such ap-
pointments. How any one could have
4 gained the idea that bod sold would
not appoint reputable and upright col
ored men to office, when objection was
made to them solely on account of their
color, l confess / am wholly unable to
understand. At the time of my visit to
Charleston last spring 1 had made, and
since that time l have made. a number
Of such appointments from several States
IN which there is a considerable colored
population. For example, l made one
such appointment in Mississippi and
another in Alabama, shortly before my
visit to Charleston. l had at that time
appointed two colored men as judicial
magistrates in the District of Columbia.
| have recently announced another such
appointment for New Orleans, and have
just made one from Pennsylvania. The
great majority of my appointments in
every State have been of white men.
- ohu IL lin 1 has Dctu lily
sedulous endeavor to appoint only men
of high character and good capacity,
whether white or black. But it has been
my consistent policy in every State
where their numbers warranted it to
recognize colored men of good repute and
standing in making appointment to office.
These appointments Of colored men have
IN no State made more than a small pro-
portion OF the total number Of appoint
ments. | am unable to see how | can
legitimately be asked to make an eycep-
ton for South Carolina. In South Car
olina to the four most important posi-
tions in the State l have appointed three
men and continued in office a fourth,
all of them white men-three of them
originally Gold Democrats-two of them,
as | am Informed, the sons of COnfed-
crate soldiers. 1 nave been informed by
the citizens of Charleston, whom l have
met that these four men represent a high
grade of public service.
1 do not intend to appoint any unfit
men to office. So far as I legitimateIy
can, l shall always endeavor TO pay re-
gard to the wishes and feelings of the
people of each locality, but | cannot con-
sent to take the position that the door
OF hope-the door of Opportunity-is to be
smut upon any man, no matter how W0r-
thy, purely upon the grounds Of race or
color. Such an attitude would, accord
ing to my convictions, be fundamentally
wrong. II, as you hold, the great bulk
OF the colored people are not yet fit in
point of character and influence to hold
such Positions, it seems to me that il
is worth while putting a premium upon
the effort among them to achieve the
character and standing which will fit
them.
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
tabout negro domination in that State
because l appointed two colored men OF
good standing and character to RESPONSE
bic poSitiOns-One of them to a position
~lraying a salary twice as large IS that
paid in the office now under considera-
tion-one Of them a director Of the Buff
falo Exposition. The question raised by
Won and Mr.. - in the statements tC
which l refer, is simply whether it is &c
z be declared that under no circumstance
I shall any man Of color, no matter how
bright and honest, no matter how gooC
a citizen, no matter how fair in his
dealings with all his fellows, be permit
/ | ted to hold office under our government
5 certainly cannot assume such an att
tude. and you must permit me to say
5 that in my view 1t is an attitude no maj
should assume, whether he looks at /
from the standpoint Of the true inter
ost Of the white man of the South or 0
the colored man of the South-not II
sneak of any other section of the Union
If seems to me that it is a good thin
from every standpoint t. let the colore'
S man know that if he shows in marke'
- = ~o~J I
1.-THE qualities which in a white man w