Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-09-24
A NEGRO REPUBLIC.
John r. Graves would Have No White
Man Vote There.


Man vote There.
In an address on "rhe Problem of the
Races" before the 4sth convocation Of
the University Of Chicago on the I'd inst,
John Temple Graves of Atlanta, Ga.
advocated as n solution of the race prob
lem the establishment in the philippines
of negro state, whore no white man
shoul hc allowed to vote. lie said in part:
The races arc wider apart and more
antagonistc than they wero i'm 1860. There
IS less of sympathy, and moro Of tension
than the races have known since the ter
ribc days Of reconstruction made chaos
in the South. -Four decades after his
emancipation the negro is in point Of
fact less a freeman and infinitely less
citizen than he was in 1858
a Chinese wall of prciucc shuts out
the South Oh this question from tho sym
pHthy of the American people. and al
though fratcrnal platitudcs may cross it,
ana political affiliations may scale it, and
commercial Interchange may run its cleo
trio wires under and above it, and al
though but recently military loyalty has
seemed to shattor it, this wall stands. in
tn" sight of God and of nations and
hedges in tho South as separate and
peculiar people. hndorcd with misapprc-
henson. held aloof in prejudice, and
frcttcd by criticism which, If sometimes
founded in philanthropy, is too often OK
terncss.
And 50 long as tho problem stands tho
old slave states Of tho South. unwilling
lY. protcstngly, dcspairngly and yet
inevitably must be and will he the CON
tinuinE gap in the magnificent line Of
our national unity.
II is problem of moral decay. 1t de-
mcralizcs politics. Wherever a black SUI
prcmacy is Threatened through ~ black
majority tn" black ballot is stranGled
without reserve in the black hands that
hold IT against the safety of the state.
This is wrong It is Illegal 1t is mon
strous But it is true.
Never, never in thousand years viii
the negro. North or South. he allowed to
govern in this republic. even where his
maiOritics are plain. We might as well
fix that fact in our minds to stay. No
statute can eradicate, no public opinion
can rcmovc. no armed force can over
throw Tho inherent. invincibe indestruct-
ihlc. auC. IT, YOU will, the interruptions
capacity ana denomination Of the Anglo
Saxon race to rule.
II land Of light and liberty. in an ago
Of enlightenment and law, the women If
the South are prisoners to danger and to
fear While your women may walk from
suburb to suburb and from township to
township without escort and without
alarm. there is not q woman OF the South.
wife or daughter. who would be permitted
or who would dare to walk at twilight
unEuardcd through the residence streets
of populous town or to ride the outside
highways at midday.
Here. then, the issues-unity Of tho re-
public. material development. purity Of
politics, political independence, respect
for the ballot. reNer"nc" for the conSii-
tuition. the safety of our homes, the sane
ttN of our women the supremacy Of law.
tn" Sacr'dn"Ss OF Justice, tn" integrity Of
race" ana III" unity Of tho church.
Thor" b" stands that helpless and UNI
fortuuat" inferior For his sake the one
difference has widened between the Soc
lions OF our common country. over his
black BODY we have shed rivers of blood
and troaSur" to emphasize our separate
c"n' lotions of his destiny.