New Iberia enterprise and independent observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, 1903-03-14
LET THE SOUTH ALONE, MR. ROOSE-
WELT,

President Roosevelt has sue.
ceedrd III exciting the whole South.
Bv his o<tensihlr attempts to bridge
the cha>m which separates the
whites and black here hr has ":Iv
wIdrn,I it,
Was that his lutrIilion9 a pol
itirlan caring ryrrvthlng for negrn
delegates to the National Rrpuhli
can tunvrlliurr aud nothing for H.,
peace and progress of the South
would not sciuple to Inclte race
antagonism in order to accomplish
his purpnSe A statesman sin
cerelv desirou> Of furthrring the
welfare Of both the. whites and
blacks, or one especially anxious
to advance the interests of the
| blacks. would not set about his
work by infarning each ractagainSt
the other.
Intentionally or otherwise, that
l. precisely what President Roo>e-
welt has done Processing The
u"ll'>r motives, !ic has started Il
I ire w'r">" heat i now being felt
by y" whole country.
Pr"clainIlng that The door of
hope and opportunity shall be
closed to no man on account Of his
color, the President chose to open
IA door which has led not to hope
and opportunity, but to bitterness
and strife.
Mr.. Roosevelt's theory is exalted
of course, but why did he lay his
opening hand on a door in a Sec
tion of the country where, as he
must have known, benefit to the
negroes could not attend his act,
however fruitful it might be in
delegates?
Conditions as we'll as theories
have to be kept in mind. When
theories are applied without regard
to consequences, the consequences
are invariably disastrous.
The Government ascertains the
quality Of kerosene by means of
the flash test. Would Mr.. Roose-
welt think it wise to have the flash
testing done in apowder magazinel
He favors target practice for our
soldiers, but he hardly would ap.
prove the setting up Of the butts in
a crowded city.
If President Roosevelt is not
simply playing politics with refer
ence to the Presidential nomination
in 1904, and honestly wants to
open the door of hope and oppor-
unity to the negro by giving him
Office, he can do it without insulting
and agitating the entire white
population Of the South.
DR.. Crum is not the only edu-
Gated and reputable black man in
the United States nor is Charles
ton the only city where negroes
who are his equals in ability and
character can be found.
Boston has Custom House as
we'll as Charleston. If, in order
to assert the equality of the races,
a black must be made Collector
of the Port somewhere, why not
select Boston instead of Charleston
for the honori
Moreover, there is no law to pre-
vent Mr.. Roosevelt from opening
the door of hope and opportunity
III Washington aud admitting some
cOlored citizen of distinction to the
Cabinet. There is no law to re-
strain him, either, from surround
ing himself with negro secretaries
and clerks.
Such support as the President
receives iu his efforts to thrust col
ored officehoiders upon the whites
of the South comes, of course,
nearly altogether from the North,
and when sincere and dissociated
from mere political partisanship is
accorded by men so constituted
that when their minds give hospi
tality to fne-sounding general
principle they have no room left
for facts which counsel against the
enforcement of the principle in
human affairs at any given time or
place.
"The door Of hope and oppor-
tunity must not be closed against
any man on account of his color ;
therefore negroes must be given
Office -. So runs the logic,
but we do not observe that the
men who assent most enthusiastic
cally to the argument are at all
eager to give it reality near at
home. Boston's officials are not
dark complexioned. Massachus-
etts's Governor is a white man, and
Negroes are not elected to seats in
any of the Legislatures of the New
u ~