The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1902-04-13
ne South's - - -
!, = - Great Problem.

>~~Oo~~~ N~D~~O~~~~~~ ~oN~~~~~&
wear ago the prediction made in these
3lsr r. Picbard Henry Stoddard, the book reviewer
- I .t N,il and Express, that the negro problem
NJ bsg;n to occupy the minds Of our novelists
tt Nv ~ The niammies and aunties OF the writer's
ss tsfore the war are becoming literary tradi-
Sp . =, urn from time to time in search OF never
..rre but the South today faces serious ques-
n y 's.srds solution that can not be found
NJ ,;ons led us at the time to heed with some
~ ossibity OF the appearance OF a writer from
rH - &. colored Americans themselves to grapple
4 rs ys.m-Charles w Chesp0tt. at least. has given
Y W, than once OF his appreciation Of its social
M, as well its literary Importance; but as it
~ so,theruer who is most vitality concerned. it
~ 49, natural that from him should come the note
" =. sssrd and needed Mr.. Dixon. whose The Leo
1 ~ N i, reviewed in these columns today, gives us
4 I.r's standpoint in a novel made up OF South
rce Appouiattox recent events and fancy lie
t,,ded partisan reconstruction stu rankes in his
q. ofers no solution of the probem-who can?
\ ,.rv he insists more than any one else on its
II. and gives us warning moreover, that the edu-
81, negro, even along the lines laid down by
4 7 Washington. will do nothing TO ameliorate con
n =, Iii rather render them more dangerous since
lc,ion the negro will advance IN political power.
ii, vo.bern point OF view is found in Aliens, by Mrs
IN ,bo Is an impartial observer not headlong parti-
4 -l,-,iore her confederation OF Mr.. Dixon in so
s+,i, gives further importance to his book"
= Il
H., 5sno,ire OF "The Leopard's Spots" by calling
Tving burning book etching upon the consciousness
@ that bite deep the story Of the racial struggle
(. soun,ry" Mr. Soddard takes up aliens Mrs. Mary
WEIGHTS novel and reviews it follows:
~. south furnishes not only the background but the
q, second Southern novel OF the season Mrs
H., Aliens which may well be read in connection with
F.ps npassi1ued story, because. the work OF keen
iuaica and impartial Northern observer it corroho
tn in many things. The Northerner is alien in
kr,h stranger in a strange land. He finds a hearty
Isir willingness to accept him surpassed nowhere
4, yorld but he must think these Romans think {;
upienee thirty years of poverty in isolation have
,ssir own ways OF living and thinking, their own
H., Of their own problems so much part OF their
tss they unaware that there can be any good in
,i,r viewpoint. They are delightful people-Mrs.
Ia makes US feel their charm-but many years behind
Eonb in general progress and with their easy ways
Ned and Indifference other manners, somewhat diff
10 understand by who has not the gift OF adapta-
10 surroundings Underlying it all may be found
tfsssnte OF the negro.
M Wrights heroine is daughter of New England
atusd flower Of historic college town. She comes,
hi activity and meets Incidence she brings with her
freedom Of movement of her native surroundings and
|oi all finds the Southern gentlemen concerned about
|aabe into the country unattended and unprotected
Wright barely touches the the white
u Of the South but the horror Of it is sufficiently
u with the aid Of the readers knowledge and memory
II is the white Southerner rather than the negro with
this book is concerned Its is small Southern
BE tow, OF those vegetating decayng little spots
tkh the South does not have a monopoly. Such towns
found in New England too their life departed their in
lIn existing aimlessy from day to day. But the small
ia, fuiay the uselessness of it all is impressed upon
Fseme by the racial divergence between her and the
, negro problem winds in and out of the plot of this
as II must do Of necessity in all tales OF Southern
The author makes US understand the harm done by
pen enthusiasts, who, anxious to help the blacks live
TEN and make them their social equals, thereby in
y ''haslsm from their The ever-present
r az outbreak is wildly impressed upon the reader
fh Tie negroes, turned sullen and ugly and mpudent,
aTss'i gay and eNtravagantly courteous he sees,
p'n BY the numerically inferior superior to pre-
ne outbreak Then the danger past the school house
I Northern enthusiast is burned.
pNaes being social and political study of rare dis
rsnt and nterpretative power Aliens is good novel
strong plot 1t is book which, while entertaining,
y aIge Of their fellow-countrymen in certain sec
her problems and of their ways of dealing with
Aliens It has been written that there is nothing
r@ spout IT, idea of instruction OF serving any
III that is claimed for it is that it is Just plain
% unusually interesting bit of contemporary Amer-
Nes incidentally brings home the real troubles Of
a mere are no terrible tales of and lyuching
~ O many kinds included in the narrative such as
-hon gives US in The Leopard's Spots" Its people
se'sa to be people OF today yet the atmosphere in
|. Sv move is by no means the general atmosphere
4 sou'A It's scene is negotiating, decayng" little
's'a' the South is stirring, growing section. MI.
- sesn unable 10 get this side of the reconstruction
!. wy MIS- Wright has failed to get a glimpse of
4. 'oI'n She would have us believe that Incidence
u the true Souhron, oblivious OF the fact that
:. busiest mortal on the face of the globe today. In
j, Aliens though pleasing story, is too purely
'su life - =" ''1S'' -