The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-09-11
Call a Halt.


 A great deal Of unnecessary dlscussloh has been precipitated throughout the press of the country by the addresses or MT. John Temple Graves, of Georgia, at Chautauqua and elsewhere. proposing the deportation of the negroes of this coun- try as solution of the race question. Most particularly Is 1t unfortunate that, ahliing from the South, his utterances should be received as an indication or Southern sentiment on the subject NO one acquainted wita the South would pc justified in acccpti'.s this view. Ills ut- terances should be taken simply as tne expression of an individual treating ap, stractiy a subject which has no pracucal element in its favor, ana with no TOT lowing among the people for whom, from his local habitation, he may, by the un- thinking. be supposed to speak. Inese summer meetings are organized to draw a crowd and are always the centers from which sensational theories are promul- gated and schemes discussed without ref erence either to their practicablllty or being written and recrminatlons hurried from platform against MT Graves prop, osition, with the same earnestness ana heat as if the scheme were formally proposed by a Legislature or represent ative convention of all the Southern States.
 self and if such proposition were made | in seriousness by any representative body within or without the. South, 1t would find more united opposition in the latter section than any other. The Southern people understand the negro and his adaptability to the labor demands Of that region. and have had the stability of the | relations of the two races there too well tested. both in war and peace. to con sent to any such scheme as has been evolved from the brain of any mere sen | sational dreamer. Of course, the race problem is a serious one. It has been one | for nearer two centuries than one. But | the more serious the greater Is the ne cessity of its being calmly viewed and tranfa6 from h0tn Dractlcal ana DnllO- sophical heights, rather than thrust into heated debate with such crude and un- A greater mind than that of MT. Graves took up the discussion of this subject nearly a century and hall ago. | MT. Jefferson foresaw the complications which would arise from the presence of | the negro in America while Virginia was still colony. So also did wise men who | perceded him there make formal protest | to the British Government which mo- | nopolized the slave trade under bounty of ten pounds sterling head by the | terms of the treaty of Ryswick for each early day the introduction of negroes into | the South was through the slave dealers | of Boston, New Bedford and Newport.
 uBt the protest was in vain une of | member of the House of Burgesses was, | in 1769. to introduce an act for the eman- cipation of the negroes in Virginia. He | did about that time or a few years af- | forwards propose to transport them to | Africa or some other suitable country, | but his scheme was guarded by every | suggestion of enlightened humanity The | race had not then become knit into the
 bone and sinew of the country. and only numbered a few compared to the mil | lions with us now. Even to his far-reach-
 Ing mind the scheme was soon demon | strated to be unfeasible. and he then
 took part in the plan which so long en- | gagged the sympathy of MT. Clay and | other leading men of establishing a ne- | gro republic In Africa by voluntarily em,
 igration. The scheme. though supported | by phianthropists of zeal. failed half a | century ago. and the Republic of Libe- | ria is practically but memory.
 The race problem is indeed a serious | one and there are other serious problems
 for solution in this great and growing
 country. such as the relation of labor
 and capital, of the control of an istn.
 yet to arise. But the greater the com
 plexity involved, the more important that
 their consideration should be approached
 with corresponding sobriety, sound judg
 ment and elevated statesmanship. Theil
 solution is not to be looked for from tho
 lecturer platform or the ill-digesteC
 schemes of imprudent alarmists. Th'
 is equal to the solution of the negro ques
 ton upon lines of enlightened justice anC
 practical statesmanship. Our aim. ant
 we are sure it is the wish of the South
 should be to discOuntenance any sucl
 chimerlcal schemes and enlist in it's sou
 tion the best thought and wisest actiol
 of both sections. Transport the negr'
 might as well have suggested the plane
 Mars. and one scheme, except as caus
 ing a commotion in the press, is abou
 as practical and sensible as the other