The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1902-12-05

mcn North and South alike, 1t has
been my sedulous endeavor to APP
point only men of high character and
good capacity, whether white or
black, but it has been my constant
policy, i'll every State where there are
numbers warranted, to recognize
colored men ofgood repute and stand
ing, in making appointments to office.
These appointments of colored men
have in no State made more than
small proportions Of the total num-
Der of appointments. am unable to
say how l can legitimately be asked
to make an exception for South Caro-
lima
81 do not intend to appoint any
unfit man to office. So far as legiti-
mately can l shall always endeavor
to pay regard to the wishes and feel
ings of the people ofeacl locality, but
l cannot consent to take the position
that the door of hope-door Of OPP
portunity-is to be shut upon any
man, no matter how worthy, purely
upon the grounds of race or color.
Such an attitude, according to my
convictions, would 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 l was Governor of New York l
sought to bring about negro domi-
nation in that State because l ap-
pointed two colored men of good
character and standing to responsible
positions \ 4. The question raised
by you and Mr.. -, in the statement
to which l refer, is simply whether it
is to be declared that under no cir
cumstances shall any man of color,
no matter how upright and honest;
no matter how good a citizen; no
matter how fair in his dealings with
all his fellows, be permitted to hold
any office under our Government.
81 certainly cannot assume such an
attitude and you must permit me to
say thatin 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 ofthe South,
or of the colored man of the South
not to speak of any other section Of
the Union. 1t seems to Inc that it is
a good thing from every standpoint
to let the colored man know that if
he shows in marked degree the quail
ties of good citizenship-that the
qualities which in white man we feel
are entitled to reward-then he will
not be cut off from all hope ofsimilar
reward.
Without any regard as to what
my decision may be on the merits of
this particular applicant for this par
ticular place, l feel that ought to let
you know clearly my attitude on the
far broader question raised by you
and Mr.. -, an attitude which |
have not varied during my term Of
Office"
THE PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.
Congress convened on Monday and
after the roll call and leave being
granted to introduce a number Of
bills, the session adjourned until
Tuesday, when President Roosevelt
transmitted his message. In one re-
spect, brevity, it is a commendable
document, and will doubtless receive
much more careful reading than if its
different paragraphs had been un-
necessarily strung out.
His Introductory sounds the key
note of his argument on the subject
Of trusts and tariff in which he says
it would be easy to destroy pros
perity by unwise legislation affecting
laws which reinstrumental in Great
ing this condition. On the subject
of prosperity, the President says that
we still continue in a period Of un-
bounded prosperity, which is not a
creature of the law, but undoubtedly
the laws under which we work, have
been instrumental in creating condi-
tions which made it possible. "There
will undoubtedly be periods of de-
preston, the wave will recede, but
the tide will advance, ~ Corpora
tions and especially combinations of
corporations should be managed
under public legislation. Our aim
is not to do away with corporations.
On the contrary, these big aggre-
cations are an inevitable develop
ment of modern industrialism :,
Publicity can do no harm to the
honest corporation and we need not
be overtender about sparing the dis.
honest corporation"
On the tariff revision the President
says: Zone proposition advocated
has been the reduction of the tariff.
Not merely would this be wholly in
effective, but the diversion of our
efforts in such direction would mean
the abandonment of all intelligent at
tempts to do away with the evils.
Many of the largest corporations,
many of those which should certainly
be included in any proper scheme of
regulation, would not be affected in
the slightest degree by change in