The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1902-11-28
Washington, Nov. ~. 1909.

prominent citizen Of Charleston. 8. G.
"Personal.)
white House.
Washington, Nov. ~. 1909.
MY Dear Sir-I am in receipt OF your
letter of November 10. and OF one from
Mr.. under date of November II. In
reference to the appointment of DIT. Crum
as collector of the port Of Charleston.
I'm your letter. you make certain
specific charges against DR.. Crum tend
ing to show his unfitness in several
respects for the office sought. These
charges are entitled to the utmost con-
siderations from me and shall go over
them carefully before taking any action.
After making these charges. you ADJ
as a further reason for opposition to MIN
that he is a colored man, and, after re-
citing the misdeeds that followed carpet
bag rule and negro domination In South
Carolina, you say that we 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 IN
suit to the white blood And you add
that you understood me to say that
would never force o negro on such
community as yours.
Attitude Made Clear.
Mr.. - puts the objection Of color
first; saying that, first, Crum Is a colored
man. and that of itself ought to bar him
from the Office. In view of these last
statements. think l ought to make clear
to you why l am concerned and panied
by your making them and what my atti-
tude is as regards all such appointments
How any one could have gained the
idea that 1 had said would not appoint
reputable and upright colored men to Of
| fee when objection was made to them
solely on account of the color. i confess
am wholly unable to understand. At the
time of my visit to Charleston last spring,
| l 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 ex-
ample, 1 made one such appointment IN
Mississippi and another in Alabama
shortly before my visit to Charleston.
had at that time appointed two icolored
men as judicial magistrates in the Dis
trict of Columbia. l have recently an
nounced another such appointment for
New Orleans and have just made one
from Pennsylvania.
The great majority of my appoint
ments in every State have been of white
men. North and South alike, 1t has been
my endeavor to appoint only men of high
character and good capacity, whether
white or black But 1t has been my con-
sistent policy in every State where their
numbers warranted it to recognise colored
men of good repute and standing in max
ing appointments to offices.
Wants Only Good Men.
These appointments of colored men
have in no State made more than a small
proportion of the total number of appoint
ments. / am unable to see how l can
legitimately be asked to make an excep-
ton for South Carolina. In South
Carahna to the four most important posi-
ton In the State have appointed three
men and continued in, offioe a fourth, all
of them white men-three of them original
ly Gold Democrats-two of them as l am
Informed, the sons of Confederate sol
diers. l have been informed by the citi-
Aens Of Charleston whom have met that
these four men represent q high grade OF
public service.
Il do not intend to appoint any unfit
man to Office. So far as 1 legitimately
oan L shall endeavor to pay regard 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 opportunities to be shut
upon any man, no matter how worthy,
purely upon IHe GROUNDS Oh race ana
color. Such an attitude would, according
to my convictions, be fundamentally
wrong. If, as you hold, the great bulk
OF the colored people are not yet At in
point of character and influence to hold
such positions, 1t seems to me that 1t is
worth while putting premium on the
effort among them to achieve the char
acter and standing which will At them.
Mo "Negro Domination"
1.-THE question of negro domination
does not enter into the matter at all. 1t
might as well be asserted that when
was Governor OF New York l sought to
bring about negro domination in that
State because 1 appointed two colored
men of good character and standing to
responsible positions-one of them to a
Dc sition paying a salary twice as large
az that paid in the once now under con-
sideration--one of them as a director of
the Buffalo Exposition.
1.-THE question raised by you and Mr..
- in the statements to which I refer
is simply whether IT Is to he declared
that under no circumstances shall any
man of color. no matter how fair in his
dealings with all his fellows. be permit
ted to hold any efTice under our govern
ment. I certainly cannot assume such
an attitude. and you must permit me to
say that in my view 1t is an attitude no
man should assume. whether he looks at
It from the standpoint Of the true inter-
est 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.
1t seems to me that it is a good thing
from every standpoint to let the colored
man know that II he shows In marked
degree the qualities of good citizenship
aha Qualities which in a white man we
feel are entitled to reward-then he will
not be cut off from all hope Of similar
| reward
"wlthout any regard as TO what my
decision may he on the merits of this
particular applicant for this particular
mace. I feel that ought to let you know
clearly my attitude on the far broader
question raised by you and Mr. -