New Iberia enterprise and independent observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, 1903-01-03
Subscription, $1.5O per Annnn
A SOUTHERNER ON THE RACE
PROBLEM.

cussion of the race problem in tn
South more suggestive, fair, fore
BILE or Illuminating than the ad
dress Of Hon. Emory Speer, judg
Of the United States Court for tn
Southern District of Georgia, be
fore the independent Club of Bnf
falo Friday night. This addres
was published in the Democrat ant
Chronicle Saturday, and it ough
to be generally circulated and rea'
in both the North and the South.
Judge Speer speaks to SOM
extent from the Southern point o
view and with some of his con
clusions we may not agree; bu
his general position is that of al
American rather than that of ,
Southerncr, aud Il settlement OF
the whole problem on the basis
proposed by him, with concessions
of opinion aud predjudices by
both sides, would be of inestim
able value to the entire country.
AT the outset Judge Speer said
that "it is undeniably true that the
political attitude Of the Southern
people toward the government is
directly ascribable to the swif'
bestowal by the reconstruction acts
Of unlimited manhood suffrage
upon the members Of the African
race" which he asserted, was nc
part Of Lincoln's plan for the
Union. As an explanation Of the
Southern attitude towards the Re
publican party even now, years
after the reconstruction, laws have
been nullified and no longer
threaten any Southern interest
that statement is undoubtedly cor
rect. The partisan solidity Of the
South to-day is almost exclusively
based upon conditions which have
ceased to exist, and is due to &
sentimental survival Of grievances
which, at present, are Of no prac
tical account.
Judge Speer says: "The history
Of reconstruction has left an in
dellible impression upon the minds
of the Southern people. The
words negro domination can invoke
a hideous spectre which will moi
down. That it is only spectral
merely has made little difference
We are now and have been for
years politically in as little danger
from the negro as we are from the
subjects Of the Imam Of Muscat OF
the Ahkomid Of Swat. Negro
domination is the monotonous
slogan, and, Notwithstanding the
widely varying views of our people
on the great questions Of the day,
we behold the solid South
The significance Of that state
ment, considering both the high
character Of it's author and his
Southern relationships, must be
obvious to all intelligent readers.
Continuing his address, Judge
Speer shows how solid the con
gressional representation from the
South is against "those measure.
of tho government through which
the people Of the United Statel
have attained q plane of prosperit,
unexampled, and the country itself
the attitude Of a world power, al
once SO squable and 20 irresistible
that the authoritative expression
Of the peoples will seems to have
the force and effect ofinternationa
law" And yet, while thus polit
ically arrayed against the nations
progress, it is shown that multi
tudes Of Southerners are in ful
accord with the policies which arr
carrying the republic forward il
its development.
It is not strange that this anam
alous condition is deplored by en-
lghtened and patriotic Southerners
1t must be inexpressibly humiliat
ing to them to acknowledge that
politically, they have had no share
in and are entitled to no credi: fol
the splendid era Of national ex
pansion and progress comprised
within the past few years.
The educated young men Of th,
South, as Judge Speer shows, ar
conscious Of the handicap imposed
upon their political future by th'
palsying influence Of thssentimen
which isolates, to . large degree
that section fromthe administrative
work Of the government. II pray,
says Judge Spser, "to see tho i'm
putatiou Of . sullen and immovabl
resentfulness toward the govern
ment and ito snnobling purpose
removed from my section.
Judge Spser's suggestion for th
correction Of the evil il the enact
mont Of impartial laws, for whit