Daily new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1897-1906, 1903-03-02
white House,


white House,
Washington, Feb. "a, 1903.
Hon. Clark Howell, Editor of the
Constitution, Atlanta, Ga:
Dear Mr.. Howell--As to federal ap
pointments in the south, frankly, 1t
seems to me that my appointments
speak for themselves and that my
policy is self-explanatory In making
appointments | have sought to con-
slider the feeling of the people of each
locality, so far as | could consistently
do so, without sacrificing principle.
The firm tests | have applied have
been those OF character, fitness and
ability, and when | have been dissat-
isfied with what has been Offered
within my own party lines have.
without hesitation, gone to the oppo-
site party, and you are, of course,
aware that | have repeatedly done
this in your own state of Georgia. |
certainly cannot treat mere color as
a permanent bar to holding office any
more than could treat creed or birth
place, always provided that in other
respects the applicant or incumbent is
worthy and well-behaved American
! citizen Just as little will | treat it
as comforting a right to hold Office. /
have seant sympathy with the man
of mere theory who refuses to face
facts, but do you not think that in
the long run it is safer for everybody
if we act on the motto all men up
rather than on that Of some men
DOWN.
Il ask you to judge not by what l
say, but what during the last IL
months | have actually done. In your
own state of Georgia you are compe-
tent to judge from your own expert
ence In the great bulk of the cases
have reappointed President McKin-
ley's appointees. The changes | have
made were, as | think you will agree,
changes for the better and not for
the worse 1t happens I have appoint
ed a white man to succeed colored
man as postmaster at Athens and sur
veyor at Atlanta. In South Carolina
have similarly appointed white
postmaster TO succeed colored post
master. Again in South Carolina
have nominated a colored man to fill
a vacancy in the position of collector
Of the port of Charleston, just as in
! Georgia | have reappointed the col
ored man, who is now serving as col
lector of the port of Savannah. Both
are fit men. Why the appointment Of
one should cause any more excite
ment than the appointment of the
other | am wholly at a loss to i'm
agine.
Am l not right in saying that the
federal officeholders whom | have ap-
pointed throughout your state are, as
a body, men and women of high
order of efficiency and integrity? If
you know Of any federal officeho1der
il Georgia of whom this is not true
pray let me know at once. | will well
G. he testimony from you or from any
| other reputable citizen which will tend
to show that a given public officer is
unworthy, and most emphatically
/ short will be the shrift of any one
whose lack of worth is proved.
81 have good reason to believe that
my appointees in the south at large
represent not merely an Improvement
upon those whose places they took,
but upon the whole a higher standard
OF federal service than has hitherto
been attained in the communities in
question. | may add that the proper
ton of colored men among these new
appointees is only about one in hun
dred.
In view of all these facts | have
been surprised and somewhat panied
at what seems to me the incompre-
hensible outcry in the south about my
actions, an cutlery apparently started
in New York for reasons wholly uneon-
neeted with the question nominally at
issue. | am concerned at the attitude
thus taken by SO many of the south
ern people, but | am not in the least
angry, and still less will this attitude
have the effect Of making me swerve
one hairs breadth to one side or the
other from the course | have marked
out, the course I have consistently
followed in the past and shall con
sistently follow in the future. With
regard. sincerely yours,
Theodore Roosevelt"