The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-08-16

Washington. Aug Especial )-Twice within a few days has President Roose- welt again come to the front straining points in behalf of the negro and by the maner of his demonstration lessening the
 black brothers chances for happiness Tn The first occasion of sugared accentua-- ton of affection for the negro occurred man, Mrs. Charlotte Smith, thinking of some enterprise for the pleasure of the children of poor white people of tho city, sought and obtained permission for them to have a day to play and tumble on the soft grass of the broad rolling sward south of the White House. Everything was ready for the childrens day or inno- cent jollfty when suddenly word came from Oyster Bay that the permission had been rescinded. IL was because the fun did not include the negro children of the city. In other words, the Presidents po- sition was that if white children were al- lowed to play in his back yard. negro children must play there too. A nobler appeal to the susceptibilities of colored voters has rarely been made even by Roosevelt Mrs. Smith gave over the mo- ton of her little white friends gambolling the day dancing % and froiicking on plain unfenced public grounds. But not note of disappointment from the little pale faced kids. .Blithesome and cumberless" breeding booger of a race question, they enjoyed themselves just as much as 1T the President cut no figure in their games. while the little negro children, In whose behalf he had stood forth and shined his teeth at the white folks, were quite as innocent of the deep significance of the
 others who thought and talked of the affair in way scarcely propitious to
 race harmony. But the. President was only consistent. He had declared for the open door for the black man and for the black woman he had himself let both
 in and received them sweetly, why, open
 the gate to the white child and shut It Just now you will hear Washington people generally talking about how ev:: cry time they begin to be hopeful Of annoying negro problem talk, something | inspires President RoosfEelt to cut loose | and agEravate the sltua@bn. A
 His latest deliveranceY has been espe- | cialy obnoxious and lamented as unfortu-
 nate by people who really long to see amity andspeace grown between the races. | This was his letter to Governor Durbin, | of Indiana, lauding the State executive chief for his stand on the lynching ques- tion and elaborating the Presidents objec- | tions to lawlessness. mob rule. murder 1 and and criminal hideousness generally. It is not a little interesting to note the variety of views elicited by the Presi-
 dents letter. Those who are best inform ed on race differences. the Southern resi- dents of Washington, most decidedly and | unfeignedly speak their regrets that
 
 | ing occasion in the Hoosier State another of his opportunities to make votes at the expense of the mutual welfare of white and negro people of the country. Hardly short of incendiarism seems to them the following expression in the Durbin let | ter:
 "All thoughtful men must feel the gravest alarm over the growth of lynch ing in this country, and especially over | the peculiarly hideous form so often taken hxy UfnInnnn " n the victims-on which occasions the mob seems to lay most weight, not on the
 crime, but on the color of the criminal" The color of the criminali Southern people here who know something of the | negro character are wondering vexediy | how 1t could ever have happened that | they should regard the color of the crimi- nal so far as to forget the nature of the brute! This latest deliverance by MT. Roosevelt is regarded by the sincerest we'll wishers of the negro here as foolish | and mischievous, to put it most mildly. 1 Already since President Roosevelt has 1 found the world awry on the negro ques- | tion and has employed his high office to set right there has been an enormous | and unprecedented increase of irritation, | friction and crime between the. two
 races, which would De absolutely nnacf countable upon any other hypOthesiS but
 that something and somebody have made | the criminally disposed negro less fearful | of the consequences of crime. Since this | excessive increase of crime and lawless- ness has occurred in greatest proportion
 during the period beginning with the 1 Booker Washington Roosevelt dinner. the Indianola postoffice affair, the negro Crum collector of customs incident and l other negro-involved affairs in which he
 has said and done things is it possible that Roosevelt will not be held accounta-
 ble? This friction irritation and violence
 between the races have been more pro-
 nounced since the beginning of the Roose-