The Savannah morning news., 1903-01-31
THE CRUM APPOINTMENT.

/
1t is not at all surprising that the
| nomination of DIR. Crum, the nominee
| for collector of customs at Charleston,
/ stands very good chance Of being
| held up" by the Commerce Commit
tee of the Senate. Three Of the Re-
publican members of the committee
have expressed themselves as being de-
cidedly opposed to the nomination, and
it seems to be the understanding that
several other Republican members Of
the committee are not at all enthusi-
astic in regard to il. There appears to
be ground for saying that many Of the
Republican senators are of the opinion
that the President made a mistake
when he nominated DR.. Crum and they
hope that he will see the situation as
they do, and withdraw the nominal
ton.
The President is getting a broader
view of the race problem than he had
when he entered the White House. He
is finding that race prejudice is not
confined to the South-that it is more
noticeable in the South only because
of the vastly greater negro population
there. He had his own ideas about
the negro, and he thought he would
carry them out, whether they were sat
isfactory to the people most concerned
or not. The probability is he will not
be permitted to have his way in the
matter. In fact, he may be willing to
modify his negro policy now that he
sees that it is not popular in either
the North or the South.
If he should persist in his policy,
and there should follow an outbreak of
bad feeling between the races if there
should be assaults upon white women,
followed by lynchings, the responsibility
for such an unhappy condition of af-
fairs would be placed upon him.
There is no doubt that the speech of
Hayes, the negro lawyer from Virginia
at the Afro-American League in Wash
ington the other day, was one of the
results of the Presidents policy rela-
tive to appointments in the South. The
speech was a violent one and opened
the eyes of the President and some of
the other Republican leaders to the
kind of feeling they are encouraging.
The sentiments to which Hayes gave
expression will cause the negroes to
assume an aggressive attitude towards
the whites. 1t is no doubt near the
truth to say that while President
Roosevelt may not have appointed as
many negroes to office as some of his
Ia..o III
negro question and some of the things
he has done that bear upon that ques-
ton, have had the effect of greatly in
creasing the difficulty of preserving
harmonious relations between the
races.
1t is noticeable that the newspapers
of the North are not giving the Presi-
dent encouragement in the course he
marked out for himself in dealing
with the negro. The reason is that
they are beginning to understand that
the race question is not confined to
North only in a less degree. They are
reminded that it has not been so very
long since Congress was forced to
Shut Cinnamon out of the country
because of the prejudice against them.
There are many Cinnamon in Califor-
MIA now, but the President doesn't APP
point any of them postmasters or col
lectors of customs. AS a matter of fact
he doesn't appoint negroes to important
federal offices in the North.
If the President is wise he will not
insist upon the course in regard to
the negro he started to follow. The
check the Senate Committee on Com
merce has given him is a warning he
give satisfaction to the great majority
of the people.