The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1903-03-18
DEFENDS SOUTHERN POLICY
President Writes a Letter Defining
Position He viii Maintain.
HIS APPOINTMENTS. OF NEGROES
Roosevelt Says He "cSanot Treat Mere
Color % Q Bar 70 Omos"-WhIIs Sur.
prissd and Panied at the Ineomprshen.
,ibis Outnry" In the South. He Will
NOT swsrve o Hairs Breadth.

hble Outnry" In the south, He Will
Not Swsrve . Hairs Breadth.
Atlanta, Ga.-Following are extracts
from a letter from President Roosevelt
to Clarke Howell. editor Of The Consti.
tuition. in reply to a request for an ex.
position concerning a recent letter from
Harry Stlllwell Edwards. Of Macon,
with reference to the matter Of Fed.
eral appointments In the South:
IN making appointments I have
sought to consider the feelings OF the
people Of each territory so far as I
could consistently do so without sacri.
fcing principle. The prime tests I
have applied have been those Of char.
acter. fitness and ability. and when I
have been dissatisfied with what has
been offered In my W party lines I
have without hesitation gone to the op-
posite party-and you are. Of course.
aware that I have repeatedly done this
In your W State Of Georgia.
II certainly cannot treat mere color
as a bar to holding office any more
than I could SO treat creed or BIRTH
place-always providing that in other
respects the applicant OF incumbent IL
n worthy and well-behaved American
citizen. Just as little will I treat 1t rs
comforting a right to hold Office. I
ask you to judge not by what I say.
but by what during the last seventeen
months I have a. :ually done.
I'm South Carolina I have appointed
a white postmaster to succeed a col
Ored postmaster. Again In South Car.
olina I have nominated a colored man
to fill a vacancy In the position of Col
as In Georgia I have reappointed the
colored man who Is now serving rs
colored Collector Of the Port Of Savan.
nah. Both are fit men. Why the ap-
pointment Of one should cause any
more excitement than the appointment
Of the other I am wholly at a loss to
imagine
las I am writing to n man Of keen
and trained intelligence. I need hardly
say that to connect either If these up
polntments. or any or all my other up.
pointments or my actions In unfolding
the law ut Indianola with such ques.
lions as social equality and negro
domination Is as absurd as to connect
them with the nebular hypothesis or
the theory Of atoms. I have consulted
freely with your own Senators and
Congressman as to the character and
capacity Of any appointee In Georgia
concerning whom there was question.
My party advisers In the State have
been Major Hanson. OF Macon: Mr.
Walter Johnson, of Atlanta-both OF
them former Confederate soldlers-and
Mr.. Harry Stillwell Edwards. also of
Macon. A large percentage Of the in.
cumbents of Federal offices In Georgia
under ME are. rs I understand 1t. OF
your own political faith.
This Is true Of your own State. and
by applying to Mr. Thomas Nelson
Page. Of Virginia; to General Basil
Duke. of Kentucky: to Mr.. George
Crawford. of Tennessee: to Mr.. John
McIlhenny. Of Louisiana: to Judge
Jones. Of Alabama. and Mr.. Edgar 8.
Wilson. Of Mississippi. all OF them
Democrats. and all of them men OF the
ulSutSl SlduuluS III tuciE EcSpcCttSc
communities. you will find that what
have done in Georgia stands not as
the exception but as the rule for what
I have done throughout the South. I
may add that the proportion Of colored
men among the new appointees Is only
about one In q hundred.
I'm view Of all these facts I have
been surprised and somewhat panied
at what seems to me the lnconpre.
henslble outcry In the South about my
actions-an outcry apparently started
In New York for reasons wholly uncon.
nected with the question lominally Mt
Issue. I am concerned at the attitude
thus taken by SC many Of the Southern
people. but I an not In the least angry:
and still less will this attitude have the
effect Of making me swerve n hairs
breadth to n side or the other from
the course I have marked out-the
course I have consistently followed In
the past and shall consistently follow
In the future"