The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-03-05
The South and the Negro.

Portland Oregonian.
 The pressing question concerning the negro Is as to the success of the program that has been adopted with practical uni ton was to coerce the South into full recognition of the negro's rights. That Jailed. and the next ulspositiOn, acQules- Ced In by discerning Northern sentiment. was to let the South handle the problem to suit Itself. Evidence accumulates, however, to cast doubt upon the end of the way upon which We have entered active south and passive North.
 White supremacy will be maintained. Negro domination wilt never be tolerated, so long as the brains and character of the South reside in the Caucasian popula- ton. But the question remains how that white supremacy shall be enforced and to what extent negro subserVtence shall be carried. Take away the ballot from the vicious and ignorant black-well and good. But must We also take it away from the educated and thrifty black? Is competence or culture no mitigation of color? Is the door of political opportuni- ty to be relentlessly closed on men like lJr. Crum and women like the Indianola postmistress?
 Not only that. Is every other prlvi- Iege that makes life worth living to De taken away from Inc coIored man along with the ballot? It appears from current discussion that politics is not the only Held that is closed to the Southern darky He Is barred from society, from affairs from industrial promotion. That is the apparent purpose Is not only to dispose the black iIt the present inferior and hopeless condition where he finds him. self, but to take every precaution that he shall remain there
 This will conduce, temporarily at least to Caucasian content. But this Is not the whole problem. It is going to make a great deal of difference what effect the arrangement has upon the black himself Nothing Is to be gained. obviously, by pefpetuatlng the negro as a sullen crim- nal; but little else can be expected if he Is debarred from affairs and from gain tul occupations. The negro can be lifted up, measurably at least, if he Is permit ted some such liberty of action as we ex- tend to Europeans on a similar plane of cultivation. But if he is vigorously re- pressed. II will not be strange if he re- mains the terror and the problem he is today.
 It is prOfitess to speculate as yet upon Federal interference, whose accomplish ment is as doubtful as its effect. But it Is at least pertinent to remind the South that her negro population is increasing ana that Its peril grows greater every time IL Is pushed back into the depths of sullen rage. It Is certain that from pal pable Injustice no good issue can be ex- pected to come. It is certain that un- reasoning race animosity and class hat red will bring no harvest of peace and order. It is certain that burnngs at the stake do not promote obedience to law whether they occur in Mississippi or Kansas.
 Is it not possible that the wide differ ence between our respectful, well-trained Northern negro barber or railway porter and the insolent. rascally, passionate Southern darky Is something due to the difference in the treatment he receives at the hands of the dominant race? It seems to us that the South must ask itself earnestly whether it is doing as much to regenerate the negro from his lust and thleyery as 1t is doing to keep him down in the chains of ignorance and crime The South must settle this problem-cer- tainly. But 1t will get no lasting satis- faction or peace until that settlement in cludes justice and excludes race hate and industrial as well as political proscrip- tion.