The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-12-13
THE BASsET RESIGNATION /"

The Literary Digest prints an article on
The Bassett Resignation in which it
bitterly assails Southern people and South
e1n newspapers because they resented
| Professor Bassett's blasphemous associa-
| ton Of Booker Washington's name with
| that of General Lee as the two greatest
men the South has produced. The Di-
| gest quotes number of Northern news
papers which have written on the same
line with itself, and we are accused of
| intolerance, narrpwness, provincialism
and all the kindred sins. The ST. Louis
| Globe Democrat is quoted as editorially
alludlng to whine in one of the New
| Orleans and also in one of the Richmond
papers about the drifting of the South's
keenest, most talented and most ambi-
tious men to the Northwest The Bas-
sett incident is cited by the st. Louis pa
per as an illustration of one of the reasons
for 1.-The hegira."
| The North, we regret to say, never has
succeeded in producing a man who could
be compared to General Lee in any re-
spect. Consequently there is no man in
that section for whom the people have
the feeling the Southern people have for
| General Lee. We despair. therefore. of
trying to make the Literary Digest or any
other Northern authority understand the
/ solemn, passionate reverence we Of the
South have for that majestic name and
the horror caused by comparison OF Cen
eral Lee with person very little above
| the ordinary, and that person a represen-
tative of another race But, putting that
special matter aside, we may as well say
| frankly that progressive thought and ut
| terance in the South which think and
speak, or write to the social equality of
the races will not be tolerated here and
should not be. We have here some lines
of decency and safety which our instinct
and reason alike impel us to establish
and respect. The Literary Digest, the
Springfield Republican. the st. Louis
Globe Democrat, the New York Evening
Post and the rest of them may be able
to consider calmly and discuss philosoph-
ically the prospect of probability of social
equality between the races Of having
negro men intermarry with their female
| relatives and their own young men lead
| to the altar and establish in their draw
| ing-ro e1s black or yellow women; but
here in the South we cannot do it.
We have observed that in the North
when a citizen of progressive, advanced
| thought like Herr Most, advances In pub
| lie speech or in his newspaper the sug-
gestion of using dynamite as a means to-
ward social reform and the establishment
| OF the rights of man, the progressive cit
| izen is put in jail and his newspaper is
/ suppressed by the police. The Post, the
| Sprinfield Republican, the Literary Di-
gest and the other apostles of the trans
cendental and dilettante consider with
calm horror the course of Southern news
papers and people in ostracising and ban
ishng preachers of social equality Their
high soul sickens at the thought of covet-
BUSINESS melting conquests in the Pacific
islands. But the whey in their veins cur
dies, and almost reddens at the suggestion
Of the destruction of property and values
Immediately about them or in which they
may be interested. Probably they lack
the enterprise and virility to participate
in a lynching; but all of them stand back
and clap their hands and squeak applause
when the police go in and under high
lynch law break up an anarchist or So
cialist meeting
We here in the South are broad enough
to realize the limitations and conditions
of these our brethren at the North. Al
though we have little to lose by compar-
ison in a material way. we can share their
hatred and fear of anarchy and violent
socialism and can Join with them in
unlawful required to stamp out those
horrors Although we cannot quite share
we can appreciate the extreme reverence
OF our transcendental and dilettante fell
ow-citizens for the dollar and everything
that represents it. And we think we
have e right to ask that they be broad
minded as we are and try to appreciate
our sensltlveness concerning such things
as race purity, the preservation of clean
strains of blood. the maintenance of
racial, personal and family dignity and
honor and of noble traditions.
We have not put the police after Pro-
fessor Bassett nor have we melted any
body to lynch him. Our position has been
that man who believes in the present
or future association of the races on
terms of social equality is not proper
teacher for our sons. That seems to be
moderate and conservative, and really we
can see no narrowness in it. We have
cases on record at the North where emf
nent theologians have been deposed from
their seats for teaching such things as the
accuracy of the doctrine of evolution and
that the question of everlasting punish
ment and infant damnation are at last
open for debate. We have seen secular
professors deposed because their teach
ings favored the political doctri2e of free
silver coinage.
Would the Literarl Digest the Evening
Post, or the Springfield Republican or
their more rowdy associate in st. Louis
contend that Herr Most, if he was a pro-
lessor in Columbia College and announced
his dynamite doctrine there. should be
retained in the interest of free thought
and speech and Of the progress of the hui
man intellect? DO THEY CONCEIVE
THAT DYNAMITE UNDER A sky
IsCRAPER IS MORE HORRIBLE THAN
FUSION OF NEGRO BLOOD AND COW
PANlONSHIP IN WHITE SOUTHERN
SOCIETY?