The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1903-03-12
New York Journal.

| New York Journal
President Roosevelt's monopoly as
a player to the colored gallery has
been destroyed. Senator Hanna has
bounded onto the stage and demand
ed his share OF Afro-American atten-
tion and applause. 1t is fully under
stood by the whole white population
of the country that either gentleman
is willing to make any sacrifice of
dignity in return for Southern dele
gates to the next National Republi-
can Convention.
The contest between the two for the
favor of their fellow-citizens of Afri-
can descent has it's comic aspect, of
course, but only the light-minded will
care to dwell on the ludicrous side of
such a degrading tugof-war between
the President of the United States
and the leading Republican Senator,
his rival for the nomination in
1904.
Mr.. Roosevelt, protesting the very
noblest motives the while, appoints
negroes to office in the South and
takes every occasion to rebuke South
erners for not liking too intimate
personal contact with race whom
they, in common with Mr.. Roosevelt,
refuse to regard as their equals.
This policy appeals to the pride of
the blacks, and the President has cal
culated that in exchange for "recog-
milton" the negroes will flock to the
polls in his behalf when the time for
electing delegates arrives.
But now comes Senator Hanna
with a bill providing for the pension
ing of every ex-slave, measure that
would take hundreds of millions from
the Treasury were it to become a
law. Nobody better than Senator
Hanna knows that there is not the
remotest possibility of his bill ever
becoming a law. There is not the least
probability that it will ever be
brought to vote in this or any
other Congress. But that does not
concern Mr.. Hanna? What he is
after is popularity on the plantations
and in the black alleys of Southern
cities, where Mr.. Roosevelt of late has
been having it all his own way. The
poor black man may be grateful to
the President for giving collector
ship and a postotfice or two to col
ored citizens, but what is such recog-
milton, however fiattering, in COM
parison with the promise of Hanna
pension for himself or one of the
family?
The South is apart of our common
country as such as well entitled to
internal peace as is any other part.
For outside politicians to disturb
it's quiet and threaten it's safety in
order that they may further their
personal ends in a National Conven-
tion is simply infamous. Ii the
Chinese of the Pacific coast were fifty
times as numerous as they are, and
had votes, and Roosevelt and Hanna
for the sake OF delegates, should en-
deavor to arouse the yellow men
against the whites there, that would
be precise parallel to what ROOse-
velt and Hanna are doing in the
South
Every real friend of the negro,
every enemy of race hatred, every foe
OF sectiOnalism, and every citizen
who cares for the dignity of the
Presidential and Senatorial offices
must deplore the course of Mr..
Roosevelt and Mr.. Hanna. Their
rivalry as aspirants for the Presi-
dency has carried them beyond all
permissible bounds. While they
alarm and incense the South, they
humiliate the United States by de-
basing our politics to level that
puts us in shame before the civilized
world.
That is a sinister business. Not
only is it to the last degree discredit-
able to the President and the Sena-
tor as public men, but it is highly
dangerous-so dangerous that it be-
comes the duty of patriotic men
| throughout the Union, regardless OF