The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1903-03-05
RACE QUESTION
DispassionafeIy Discussed by
Senator TiIIman.
Attitude of the South Toward the
Negro-There is Just as nuch Race
Prejudice in the North as in the
South, Declared the Speaker-The
Ballot in the Hands of the Negro a
rlenace to Good Government.

In the United States Senate Feb
23rd, taking the Indianola postoffice
affair as text, Senator Tillmar
spoke on the race problem. A Wash
ington dispatch to the Raleigh Post
says:
Mr.. Tillman then resumed his re-
marks, begun yesterday, on the race
problem. He said it might be profit,
able to follow up the suggestion that
a desire to please the negro vote il
the North was the low purpose O
this newborn zeal; this cold -blOoded
calculating, advisedly taken act. >
He read the census figures of negro
population in the States bordering
on the Mason and Dixon line, and de-
clared that it was the influence and
coercion of this fraction of the race
about SOO,OOO-that appeared to be
behind this policy. "In other words, >
he said, 100000 negroes, if there
are SO many, are coercing the So,
100000 white men in the North to
deal with the 100000 white men
in the South in the interest of S,OOO,,
900 black people down there. Idon't
want to ask whether blood is thicker
than water, but | should like to ask
when the evil is to terminate; or is it
terminated now. Slavery is gone
forever; / know of no white man in
the South who would restore slavery
if he could. But reflect upon the
millions of whites in the South who
must face the constitutional amend
ments which resulted from the unfOr-
tunate fratricidal strife of forty years
ago. They are AnglO-Saxon like
yourselves, and are face to face with
a condition but paralleled in our his
tory where minority of white men
are confronted with the danger of
domination by the black people,"
The three race problems in the
country's history were compared by
Mr.. Tillman. He referred to the old
saying that there was no good In
dian but a dead one, and told how
they had been obliterated Then he
spoke of the exclusion of the Chinese
when they came into injurious con
tact with the whites, though the Chi
nese, he said, were in every way SUI
perior to the negro. II ask you to
meet me on the same plane of race
pride and patriotism in discussing
this awful problem" he said, "and
not fall into the pitiful cesspoOl OF
partizan politics. / want to discuss
this thing impartially, as though l
were myself before the bar of God"
President Roosevelt's letter to two
Charleston men relative to the ap-
pointment of DIR. Crum and other ne
grOes to office was read by Mr.. Till
man. Glow superficial is the view,' -
he exclaimed. How little and small
and infinitesimal is the knowledge
behind such a view'
Mr.. Tillman said there was Just as
much race prejudice in the North as
in the South, except that the white
people did not come into contact
with negroes to such an extent. "You
have no more use for a negro than |
have" he said with Il scowl. He read
instances of discrimination against
negroes in Pennsylvania, Connecticut
and other States. ''The more the
Northern people learn about the
negro the less use they have for him, -
said Mr.. Tillman. ''They love him
in proportion to the square of the
distance.
eve have right in this district the
evidence of the calm and deliberate
Judgment of the Republican leaders
that the ballot in the hands of the
negro is a menace to good govern
ment." He alluded to the repeal OF
the giving the ballot to white and
negro voters in the District of Column
bia. "We have now a government
in the district that is as autOcratic
as that of China or Russia
Referring to the law making the
negro a voter; Mr.. Tillman said ii
was a blunder, or a mistake ap.
preaching a crime, to give him q
vote at the time and under the cir
cumstances it has been given. The
most striking phrase of the Presi
dents message, he said, was that
which said he would not shut the
door of hope and opportunity i'll the
face of the black man. Every mar
of decency and breadth of soul would
agree to that, said Mr. Tillman, but
did it ever occur to the President
that, in opening the door to The
black man, he might shut it in the
face of the white man?
"We lived with the doors shut il
our faces for eight years." said Mr.
Tillman-"shut with bayonets, while
every form of rapine and riot anC
blood-shed flourished in the Palmetto
State, We pried the door open-ws
had to do it-but even now, in The
light of Gods blue sky, is the shadow
OF the negro with a ballot in hi:
hands,
Mr.. Tillman said that with the in
crease of education among the ne
groes the preponderance of their mum
bers would sometime give them dom
ination. Then how about the dool
OF hope?" he shouted. Take it home
sleep on it, and then give me YOU
answer.
This city of Washington has beel
the very hotbed, the hothouse, wher
the effort to elevate the negro, t.
civilize him, to Christianize him ha
had it's greatest opportunity. Unde
the aegis OF the capitol the effort t.
raise the negro has gone on, AM
| what is the result?
Il shall stand forever opposed t,
any political or social equality wit
| the black man." was Mr.. Tillman
summing up after a long recital {
the degeneracy OF the negro OF th
District of Columbia and elsewhere
''It is not in our blood to accep
negro dominion or to admit ther
as equals he said. IF you persis
in forcing upon us your mistake
the 18th amendment and rpmors.