The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-12-06
THE PRESIDENT AND THE LILY
 WHITEH

the Republican papers. whlte ana olach- in order to get at the sentiment of dif- ferent members of the party on a mat ter which has caused s great deal of com ment. First is a paragraph from The New York Age. one of the recognized organs of the colored wing of the party. It says:
 The fact that President Roosevelt thinks that e black man is as good as a white man, all things being equal, and that he entertained a black man st his table as an ordinary citizen as well as when Gov United States. will be remembered against him by the Southern white people as long as he lives. But while the Southern white people condemn the President for people of the North and the West ap- prove it and applaud him. The provin- cialism of the Southern white people, and their inability to learn or forget any thing on the race question, are among the most discouraging things in American life.
 Then The Mobile Press, another colored organ says:
 That buldozing assembly in Birming- ham. in which negroes were turned down by Bingham, Hughes and others. mostly men holding negroes proxies, will not be in the next national convention and if they have common sense they will not be at it. The President has spoken for the Republican party and the Alabama dele- gation will not be white or black. but men who believe in Republican principles.
 Next we have this from The Huntsville Tribune. one of the most earnest advo- cates and opponents of the lily white movement, and The Birmingham Times practically agrees with it. The Tribune says:
 Now when Mir. Roosevelt can make water run up hill of its own volition cause the laws of gravitation to pull the wrong way, then and then only can he subordinate the superior to the inferior, right to wrong. If he has any sense at Friday Ciarkson has pulled the wrong string and has created enemies instead of making friends. If the Republicans Of Alabama have the true manly ring about them if they are honest and brave, and they will be brave if they are honest, MT. Roosevelt will be running the back track in less than six months.
 These are fairly representative express sions from the two sides of the question, and if they prove anything they prove that the President will not approve or pardon any movement looking to the elim- nation of negroes from participation in Republican politics, and that those who favor such movement in Alabama intend to stick to it. This may mean the loss of Alabama and of some other Southern States to the President in the national convention, but he doubtless thinks him. self sure of the nomination without the votes of these States, and will stick to his colored friends. The Age, it will be observed. makes Roosevelt entirely oblivi- ous of the color line, either in public or private life, which deduction may or may not be entirely correct
 Whether the President will find it safe to alienate the controlling element of his party in any of the Southern States re- mains to be seen. One thing in his favor is the belief that the Republicans of the North will not recognize the white move ment when the convention meets. In other words, if there is a delegation from the white wing of the party in Alabama, for example, and another from the black and tans, the convention would seat the latter and defy the lily whites. knowing that no electoral votes are to be expected from this section in any event.
 We really believe that many of the most influential Republican leaders of the North would endorse and encourage the white movement if they were not afraid The delegations from this section to their conventions have always been a source of worry and uncertainty. Those delega- tions have largely been composed of mer- cenaries in the strictest sense of the term. A majority of the delegates have been purchased, and the candidate for whom they were instructed always Knew that he could count on their fealty only in case another man didn't offer them a better price. In short, most of the South ern delegates to Republican national con- ventions were for sale to the highest bid der
 This condition has been so notorious, so disreputable and so full of uncertainties that the better elements among the Re- publican leaders in the North would gladly abandon the colored contingent entirely If they were not afraid, and the fear arises from two causes. They know that such a course would bring them un- der the ban of the Presidents displeasure, and they know too well their dependence on his favors to willingly risk offending him. The hand that dispenses favors must not be turned against those who are or desire to be the recipients of favors.
 The other cause of fear is the large and ever increasing colored vote in the North. According to the last census the seven States of Illinois, Indiana, Kansas New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania have a colored vote of 200, 600 and the mum Der is continually increasing. The aliena- tion of that vote, which is practically solidly Republican, might mean the loss l of States and Congressional Districts. The Republican leaders know this, and they know that if they join the white leaders in the South they can no longer count
 with. any certainty on the negro vote in | the North.
 infer that the President and his friends
 will frown down the lily white movement if possible, and why we predict that the Southern delegates to the next national Republican convention will be of the same old variety. It may be true, as