The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-01-08
THE PRESIDENTS BAD ADVISERS.

/ terday it was stated that some of the
/ resentatives think the President is pur-
/ suing a policy that is calculated to
undo all the good that Mckinley did
in the direction of crushing out sec
tiondlism. These senators and repre-
sentatives are right.
The President has some bad advisers.
( one Of them appears to be Gen. James
5. Garrison. of the New York Custom
House. and another is Postmaster Cen
eral Payne. They are supposed to be
the men who have charge Of the Presi-
dents political fortunes. They are
charged with the responsibility Of get
ting Nj. Roosevelt nominated and
elected President. Their idea is that
in order to be successful he must re-
tain the good opinion Of the colored
voters of the doubtful states.
1t follows therefore that the South
ern people must submit to having their
postoffices and custom houses run by
negroes in order that Mr.. Roosevelt's
chances for being chosen President
may be increased. 1t is game of pol
itics in which the South is being used
to accomplish certain ends AS
far as can be seen the President is
controlled by purely selfish motives in
appointing negroes to Office in the
South. He doesn't put negroes at the
mead of postoflices and custom houses
in the North for the reason that If ne
did so he would make himself unpop-
the electoral votes Of states that are
necessary to his success. 1t is a mat
ter of no consequence from a. political
point of view, how unpopular he may
be in the South. He doesn't expect to
get any electoral votes from the South.
But he can use the South to increase
mis- chances of getting the electoral
votes of the doubtful states. Mr.
Roosevelt may be showing himself to
be shfewd politician but he is not
adding anything to his reputation for
craftsmanship.
1t seems that the administration has
decided that it will not for the pres
ent, reopen the Indianola postoffice.
II will stand by the action it has
taken-that is, it will punish the whole
community for the acts of the few
who were instrumental in inducing the
negro postmaster to resign. 1t would
seem as if the proper course for the
government to pursue would be to
hunt out the offenders, If there are
any, and hold them responsible. As
a matter of fact, however, the post
master was neither threatened with
violence nor the victim of violence.
According to all accounts she was
requested to resign. 1t may be true
that she feared violence, but that is
a matter for the Department of Justice
to inquire into.
The truth is, the President is play
ing politics in putting negroes into Of
flee in the South. He understands
very well that he is not doing the me-
groes a real service by giving them
office. He has been told as much by
Booker Washington. On the contrary,
he knows he is doing them HARM be-
And he is also reviving sectional feel
ing, and all because his advisers tell
him that the policy he is pursuing is
necessary if he wants to be nominated
and elected President. If DR.. Crum
had not been backed by the negro
political organizations of the doubt
full Northern states he would not have
been nominated collector of customs at
Charleston.
The President knows that white peo-
pie control the South, and that nine
tenths of the matter that passes
through Southern postoffices is either
contributed or is received by white
people. There is no excuse there
fore for appointing negro postmasters
if the white people are against them.
The appointment of Democrats to the
misunderstanding is not asked. There
are white Republicans. Partisan de-
mands therefore could be satisfied
without going counter to the senti-
ment of the white people. There is,
however, no occasion for arguing the
matter. 1t is well understood that
negroes are appointed mainly for the
purpose of increasing Mr.. Roosevelt's
chances for being elected President.
-s-~-e
At the Seamen's Hospital in London
a new fever microbe has been discovA
cred. It is believed to produce certain
chronic tropical fevers that are ac-