The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-07-24
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED.

We take the following extract from
letter contained in one of our exchanges:
"But the negro is ending out Slowly,
but surely, that he can never be recosn'@eu
as the equal of the white man. He is no
longer deceived by the llowery talk and
n hypocritical handshake. He Is beginning
TO realize that he must depend entirely
on his own hard work and conscientious
effort to improve his condition, ana that
even at best he can only attain limited
influence in the community
"Ho has, at last, got down to the real
meaning Of the word politics. and has
found out what use the politicians hDvs
for him. The white mans burden is
the colossal heap Of lies which he has told
to the negro so often. The white man
has taken advantage Of the ignorance and
innocence Of the negro; he has pretended
to be his friend and adviser only to make
n greater slave of him than ever.
''The labor market is glutted now with
white men who must have work. Nhere
is the negro to find employment? II our
merchants and manufacturers VIII not
employ him. what is he to do?
1--WE are responsible for the position the
negro is in. We have encouraged him to
educate himself with the notion that he
would thus be enabled to secure work IN
the more respectable and better paid lines
of industry. And what do we find? we
find that we have made promises that we
cannot fulfill We find that all our talk,
has amounted to nothing We find that
after ALL there Is natural law that rules
everywhere.
.'And this natural law Is stronger than
death. 1t raises a barrier between the
white man and the black man. Nature
never intended the black man to 1--we IN
the relation Of brother to the white man.
No matter how much sympathy we may
feel for the black man, we cannot accept
him as an equal in every way. No man
ever really meant to do so while In his
right mind"
If this should happen to catch the eye
of the editor of the New York Evening
Post he will doubtless put 1t aside IN
disgust and say that the southern people
are incorrigible. that they hate the negro
and will give him no chance to become
good and useful citizen. He will say that
the "nrejudice" of the southern people
is something past understanding by the
truly good men of the North, that the
slave idea has not yet persisted, that
the southern people are still disposed to
drawer Of water, and will keep him down
as we'll as they can.
But not so fast. We respectfully inform
the editor of our esteemed contemporary
that this letter did not appear In a
southern newspaper. but in a Republican
newspaper, published in the city of Phil
adelphia, that it is dated Philadelphia, and
we take it for granted that 1t was written
by citizen Of that city. It was doubt
less suggested by notable editorial ar
ticle contained In that paper, the Phila-
delphia Ledger, part of which was re-
produced in these columns several days
ago. This editorial article and this letter
grew out of a new situation in the city
of Philadelphia. Negroes have flocked
to Philadelphia atnd have become a factor
in the political and social affairs of the
City of Brotherly Love. Wherever there
Is a collection of negroes there Is negro
problem, and wherever there is q negro
problem, the whites deal with 1t in the
same way, whether they be citizens of
New Orleans or citizens of Philadelphia.