The Grenada sentinel., 1903-04-04

uAA"o A1OO A0OO u 1910. 1G was only
by great sacrifices that We restored
peace between the races on the basis
OF a promise on our part to protect
the negro in his civil rights as a citi-
men. Every State Democratic plat
form since 1858 has promised It.
Lamar, George and Walthal have all
promised it in the U. s. senate. Our
senator's and congressman have boast
ed OF our educational work for the
negro in answer to the charges OF our
Republican enemies. The white con-
stitutional convention of 1890 put free
schools in the State constitution and
left the word white" outof it. The
negro is a citizen OF Mississippi and
the United States, and unless there is
a power among us able to thrash the
United States citizen he will remain.
II we wish to deprive him OF zeduca-
tion the free school Of the white must
go also. =-~~
Under the act Of congress Of
March, 1870, under which we were
admitted into the Union, the condi-
tiOn was imposed that we should
maintain four months schools at least,
for all the children of the State We
have very properly by indirect meth
ods, nullified the fifteenth anaendment
aud deprived the negro at Suffrage
under the forms OF the State and Fed
cral constitutions. He has not kicked.
We have put him off the jury and he
has not complained. Now they are
raising an excitement and stirring up
the animosity OF the negro about his
little ''picayune" free schools. What
for? Just for votes. A base imitation
OF Roosevelt. Roosevelt can appoint
pOstmaSters and make them stick il
he wants to. but there is no power to
deprive the negro Of his schools. You
can excite him, make him mad. and
perhaps get the votes OF a few preju-
dice people, but his schools and citi-
zenship remain as long as white schools
and white citizenship exist and as
long as it is impossible to wage war
successfully against the American
people. = = =
''Greenw<,od and Yazoo City owe
their fine houses and property to cot
ton made by negro labor principally,
now quiet and submissive, by an at
tack on all they have left to form a
basis OF hope? Suppose the negroes
were to conclude to hunt a place,
Louisiana. Arkansas or Texas, where
their educational privileges are not
called in question, and should aban-
don YaZoo and LeflOre? How the peo-
pie, poor and rich, would howl with
rage and get out their guns to stop
them; and yet that is the logical result
of all such wild talk. How different
such talk from the statesman-like
orations of George, Walthall and La
mar in the United States senate! II
Vardaman is right, these statesmen,
in stating the friendship OF Southern
people to the negro and his education,
were ignorent of the sentiment OF
their constituents or misrepresent
them, and when George advocated the
principal of the Blair educational bill,
intended to give money out of the
United States treasury for Southern
education for white and black alike;
he did not know what he was doing,
IL Vardaman is right. :.
| He must have known less when
i'm the constitutional convention OF
1890 he, with others, agreed to exempt
the negro from his 500 poll tax and
keep up his schools II he would let the
ballot box alone. / suppose these
white Democrats who made this trade
with the negro without consulting
the negro at all, were demagogues
hunting negro votes, under the pres
ent theory. s
It is dangerous to tamper with
the peace Of the State for votes just
as 1t is dangerous to smoke q cigar Id
q powder magazine. 2