New-York tribune., 1903-06-30
EDUCATORS IN ALBANY.
IN 1NNUAL CCNVOCATION
Regent c. Il. Gardner Says Edn-
cation Is the Key to Negro Problem.
ERr TELEGRAPH TO THE rRrBUNE.I ]


The forty-frst annual Convocation OF the UhlNeI''
Of the State, held under the auspices OF the o'e
Board OF. Regents. An address OF welcome ~ -
Right Rev. William CToswen Deane, anu an O. 1
dress on "A Constitutional and Educational 0o,u
sisn OF the Negro Problem. by Regent ChalteS
A Gardner. were the features Of the opeiiiis -
SION held tonight in the Senate CharnDei " 80
Capitol
Among the members Of the Board OF heseiI' q q
tending are Tice-C,hanceIlor Whitelaw heio, ne
gents Charles e Fitch William H Natsoh' D@Iiie'
Beach. r. Guilford Smith. Albert Faiioet van , -
rgsorlasa Hendrick. Robert c Pruyn ana nc onsi
S Francis Bishop Doane in his ADDRESS safU'-
TONIGHT and here we recognize that the niost
modern and the most material conception oI d
iy.;yersify has its full realization Is 1t bulla-
;nes7 Then we point with pride 10 the hlSh
schools and academies the colleges, universities;
fYr,faSsforaI and technical schools scattered
throughout this State. is IT apparatus IieI me,
--se4i the furnishings complete ana tnorouSI st
xrfiSf4 1,srne to so many Of them in large part
rom re University.
Is n libraries? our own unrivalled COLLECTION
II BOOKS (crying with a voice which ought 10 De
sfresis-stle for better housing( the constant IN
--eaze volumes in the libraries of the Varl-
sas n .tutions Of the University, ana the pIae-
1tcai Use tulness of system OF traVelilng lpl
rs4-s ~ore than make good this point is II
-apisse Surely the thousands Of boys and girls.
yolI,,.s men and young women, prepared for and
r7assfllg our Regents, examinations answer the
y~ast eSorbitart demands. Is il scientific re-
eearchg Nev-York. through the University Of
IN. state stands prominent in the character
-utation Of its attained results
lstructors? You who are here tonight,
you carrying with untiring devo-
p. j carrying out with acknowledged and
ability the intellectual guidance of the
you are letters of conlmendation;
our glory and our joy. And 1 may not
add that IL is the intention and desire
University of the State of New York
le the largest possible number of quail
lis in the arrangement for the distribu-
the money allotted by the legislature
resident tuition fees
aR. GARDINER'S ADDRESS.
70 - sdress OF Regent Gardiner on "A Constitu-
sr,r ID Educational Solution Of the Negro Prob
lowed, and was well received He said:
3, upreme glory of this republic is its con-
-sttDt nal government. For more than cen
Anro = constantly increasing and mighty people
hs7 ,Teated their constitutions, and gov
ernei themselves by their OWN laws The fact
stands unchallenged. that liberty and law and
s~4Sre ty and 81 other great forces of right have
az preva.fed in the conflicts of this republic and
have been embodied ultimately in the funda-
nzertsi laws Of the land. 1 maintain their SOW
ereigs efficiency. They are omnipotent 10 pro
tect every right of every citizen in our bodies
polite
So tonight I plead for constitutional solu-
fio1 of the negro problem. ] plead for the same
law for the negro for the white man There
must be some stage said the Supreme Court,
when the negro takes the rank of mere citi-
gen, snd ceases TO be the special favorite OF the
laws d09 L. S, 25) That stage is now
reached: and for the rights Of the eight million
Southern negroes, as mere citizens, 1 plead to-
night
plead also for the constitutional rights Of the
twenty million Southern whites. Behold them
staggering under grievous burden than
oppresses any other Anglo-Saxons on the globe;
yet rebuilding their shattered governments, re
constructing their ruined States. and heroically
struggling to uplift the negro to higher plane
Of humanity.
plead. moreover, for the sovereign rights Of
the old Slave States How few realize that their
IJcssscrc over the negro almost orlnipotent,
that their jurisdiction is practically absolute,
and thet with the States. therefore, rests the
primary responsibility of solving the negro
problerr
But tleir powers are not exclusive; they can
and sholld be supplemented by the nation. So
tonight plead also for a broad nor-sectional,
! non-par isan national solution; not Northern or
Southerl, not Republican Democratic. but
solution that shall embrace the whole American
people Slavery the crime of the nation, its
curse was on all the land. and by the eternal
laws of justice the whole nation must atone for
It. How to expiate that crime is the negro prob
lem And the atonement VIII not be by one
generation or two, nor even by us of the third
end Lcv tn, but long line of posterity, genera
tion upon generation, will continue TO expiate
the crs' es of our fathers, perpetrated in land
& Eber = and in the home Of constitutional gov
ernnerr
University Convocation than to blaze out
ar M constitutional and educational path along
w- NE teenling generations of the future
ri F. sS' to evolve the true solution of the
slk B yowERs OVER NEGRO PROBLEM
f. then. let us consider the powers and
dutiez df the States Most important Of these
ere The spowers TO protect the civil social and
polificai,rig of the negro.
a. CIVIL rights said Chief Justice Waite,
were otNcreated by the Constitution. That in
etrument assumes their existence, and simply
guarantees them against Congressional inter
fereace. For protection in their enjoyment
therefore. the people must look TO the States"
CO. L. s. 1922 Nor has the Fourteenth Amend
met altered this fundamental rule. Was il
the purpose of the Fourteenth Amendment" in
oUiyVs EIr. Justice Miller TO transfer the secur-
ly protection of all the civil rights from the
staitE . the Federal Government? We are con-
VIM hat no such results were intended" dc
wah.. ~
The social rights of the negro are also subject
10 State power so far they are under any gov
ernrnental centroI whatever. Commenting on this
subject the Court remarks: IF the two races
are 70 meet upon terms of social equality, il
must be tie result Of natural afinities a mutual
appreciation of each others merits and a volun-
fary consent Of individuals Legislation
Is poNerless 10 eradicate racial instincts TO
aboiisn distinctions based upon physical differ
ences If one race be inferior TO the
other secally. the Constitution of the United
Nststos cannot put them upon the same plane"
MS y s. 551)
Fs'.afv States possess almost absolute mower
tAt political rights Of the negro These are
'.- 10 vote hold office. and act as jurors
->Df are they rights even but mere privileges
lfee sTe not inalienable The Creator never en-
-o'Eec any one with them. The argument that q
fataScnian or Fiji Islander has a natural right
to vote in New York be President of the
Unired States equally as he has a natural right
70 live requires no refutation. Have the Goths
= ancals that inundate shores e natural
r1gnt 70 vote, and the forty million American
women citizens Of this Republic, such right ?
Never in the history Of this Republic has the
right TO vote been possessed by more than 90
per cent Of the people. Said Mr.. Justice Hunt:
The right of voting. or the privilege Of voting
is night or privilege arising under the Con-
stltIticn OF the State and not under the. Con-
stitation Of the United States. = II New
York should provide that no person should vote
until he had reached the age Of thirty years or
after he had reached the age Of fifty. or that no
person having gray hair, who had not the
use Of al his limbs should be entitled TO vote
do NOT see how it could be held to be a violation
Of any right derived or held under the ConstitIl-