Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1903-08-05
WE MUSE AIL LIVE TocETHgR.

birth, Of ancestral residence, or contri-
button according TO ability to material
welfare, Of proved Willingness TO die for
Ii, this Ia their fatherland.
The negroes cannot go away If they
would. Millions of whites, perhaps a
majority, weuld not have them go if1
they could They are too useful. Again,
they are human beings and cannot be
destroyed. They belong here, and 40 a
race they mnst and win stay here,
These elementary facts are stated be-
cause that section where negroes chiefly
live proves by its acts thst its white
men presistentiy shut their eyes to them.
And. influenced by this wilfuIl blind
ness of the South. white men ali over
the country seem TO be shutting their
eyes to them j
What Is the South's fundamental in
Justice to the negrog 1t is not the de
NAL Of social equality. That Is not ac-
corded anywhere on the ground Of equal.
humanity. It IL not the denial of politi-
cal equality. The suffrage Is not a right
but . privilege, to be given or withheld
as those responsible for the common
welfare deem wise.
The fundamental injustice Of the
South to the negro is the refusal of an
apparent maiority Of its whites to live
with the negro upon the plane Of equaI
humanity ~ refusal to live with the
negro on these terms on which men
must live together in civilized society4
the renial to the negro Of the inherent
right OF manhood TO better its condl-
lions. material, political, social or spis
itual-the denia, OF the right to rise.
The view Of the South IL that The
black race can never under any circnm-
stances become worthy Of treatment
upon an equality Of any kind or nature
with the white race Theoretically tfb|
South admits that the negro il q man
and has q soul, bnt practically it corr
dennis him eternally to the stains Of 4
domesticated brute s4
This attitude was clearly shown BIZ
Senator Tillmanis remark at MadisorB
Wis, the other day. That iiliterate ne
gfoes I'D illiterate white men as well
may justly be deprived of political priv
ileges none can deny. That no man
should be excluded from the hope Of
proving himself worthy of such prfvii
leges would seem s~elg-eyIdent. 70 deny
any man that hope is 10 treat him not
as q man with q soul, but as a brute
Yet said Tiliman IF TIE negroes Id
educate themselves we win keep them
from voting. n
out of the S0nth blindness to the
black races equal humanityou cf the
Southss resolution to hold the Negro I'M
careble Of being anything but a beast
of borden-has arisen that fever of law
lesal aas that Iynching mania, which
now tn satens the lives of men. black
or white, with whose conduct their
neighbors happen % be aispleased, and
which By destroying law threatens to
destroy liberty and order, ma
The South has plesded for years 70 bs
let alone 10 solve The problem Of the rs
~lations OF the two races The more the
south has been LET alone the worse kss
been It's failure. The only solution it
offers Is the impossible one that negroes
human beings with souls shal be
content forever 10 be treated as beasts
of burden.
In view Of the manifest failure of the
South. and in view of the disease Of
lawlessness with which that failure Is
poisoning the nation it ii high time fla
the nation al q whole TO address Itself.
to this problem and to solve 1t Ia the
only way in which il AN be- solved
That way Il that all white men rnust
face the elementary facts that the ne
groea are human beings, that they have
the right 70 be here. that they will stay.
here, that they have the right TO rise
mentally. morally, politically and So
cially, and that under these conditions
the two races must manage TO live to-
gether. Chicago Inter cean