The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1903-03-06
mir. ROOSEVELT
STANDS PAT
President Writes Letter on the
Question of Southern
Appointments.
HE DEFENDS HIS ouRsE
Hints at the Impression That thu
ciamor of Opposition Comes, Not
From the South, but From
New York Influences.

Atlanta, Ga, March 3.-The follow
the editor of the Constitution in reply te
a request for an expression concerning
the recent letter from Harry stillwell
Edwards Of Macon, in which Mr.. Ed
wards made a statement of the presi-
dents position in the matter of fed
eral appointments in the south, holding
that the president had been misunder-
stood.
The president writes:
white House, Washington, Feb. Is,
1903.-Hon. Clark Howell, Editor of the
Constitution, Atlanta.-Dear Mr.. How.
ell: AS to federal appointments in the
south, frankly, 1t seems to me that my
appointments speak for themselves. So
far fromfee1ing that they need justifca-
ton, my position is that l have the right
to claim support Of all good citizens who
wish not only a high standard of SER
vice, blu equitable dealing to south
as we'll as north, and justice and good
will toward all men. I have sought to
consider the feeling Of each locality.
The prime tests I ave applied have
been those of character, fitness and
ability, and when dissatisfied with what
has been offered within my own party
I have gone to the opposite party-re-
peatedly, in your wv Georgia. I GER
tainly cannot treat color a bar to hold
ing Office, any more than creed or
birthplace-provided in other respects
the applicant is a worthy n well be-
haved American.
Just as little will I treat 1t as comforting
! a right to hold office. I have scant sym
pathy with the man who refuses to face
faet ast but on t DC motto gsa not t1 shin me1 it u.s. is sa ratnd #
than on that of Some men down?"
Should Judge by Acts.
I ask you to Judge by what during th~
last seventeen months I have done. In
Georgia you are competent to judge from
I have reappointed President McKinley's
appointees: The changes I have made
were, I think. changes for the better. I
colored man as postmaster at Athens, and
a surveyor at Atlanta. In South Carolina
1 V similarly appointed a white post
master to succeed a colored postmaster.
Again, in South Carolina I have nomi-
mated a colored man to fill a vacancy Of
collector of Charleston, as in Georgia I
serving as collector Of Savannah. Both
are fit. Why appointment Of one shuld
p%ointment of the other I am at a loss to
imagine. I need hardly say that to con-
meet either of these appointments, or any
or all my other appointments, or my ac-
lions in upholding the law at Indianola,
with such questions as social equality
and /" negro domination" is as absurd as
OIL. " OIIlGC rlIsStu- Will lllG IlSDuldI
esis or the theory of atoms.
Ishave consulted your own senators and
congressman as to the character of any
appointee concerning whom there was
question: My party advisers have been
Major Hanson of Macon, Walter John
son of A~tlanta-both of them ex-confed-
wards, also of Macon. I believe in no
state would it be possible to find gentle
men ADLER and better qualified to fill the
positions.
Large Percentage Are Democrats.
In every instance these gentlemen have
united I have been able to follow their
advice. Am I not right in saying that the
federal e o tfrel1s whom !, rave APP p
high efficiency, and integrity? II you
know of any federal o~ficeholder in Georgia
know at once: / viii Welcome Il testimony
from any reputable citizen which will
show that a public officer is unworthy:
l may mention that a large percentage OF
gia are of your political faith. But they
are supported by me as long as they
render faithful service.
This is true of your own state; and by
applying to Thomas Nelson Page OF
Virginia; to General Basil Duke of Ken.
nessee; to John Mc1lheney Of Louis.
lana, to Judge Jones of Alabama. and Ed.
gar s. Wilson Of Mississippi, all demo:
find Georgia the rule for what I have
done throughout the south. I believe my
%appointees represent an Improvement
upon those whose places they took.
may add that the proportion of colorec
ncn is only about one in a hundred. p
), In view of all these facts I nave beer
surprised and panied at the incompre.
hensible cutlery about my actions-an out,
cry apparently started in New York fol
J reasons wholly unconnected with thu
question at issue. | am concerned at the
attitude of the southern people; but I an
not in the least angry; and still less viii
this attitude make me swerve from thu
| nOnrCa marked 01lt-fhp nnITSa T h yya fol
: lowed in the past and shall follow in thu
t future. With regard, sincerely yours,
Theodore Roosevelt.