The colored American., 1903-01-24

/ put 10 arouse the smouldering Co.
; OF decency that may lie latent % IL! !S
! bosom, and as kindly as nossibIo MS
discover whether he can be saved =. u
himself. More in pity than in oa1Ll u
| we are at intervals compelled 10 'II
attention to a few misguided indf,iI
uals, who insist upon going aronns
in search of trouble. Whether il Jnol
any good to direct the cudgeI of non,
lar contempt toward them is a nnas-
tion, for our clty's ruling characta~.
ist1c is her toleration of nuisancAs 49,
mischief-makers, who would net SnH
vive three months in the bustijn.r
centers of the South or West wbarso
| right-living and right-thinking are nra
| requisites not only to respect and con
fldence, but to an existence outside of
prison walls. For some reason o.
another, little coterie of self-seekars
and pestiferous cormorants, have con.
ceiVed the idea that it is smart -
sneer at the enterprising men and
women who come here to helm hniId
up the waste places, and dub them
"interloperS. To ferment strife and
stir up petty jealOusies, they play unon
the pardonable pride of native Wash
ingtonianS, and endeavor to array
worthy people against each other. sole
ly on the ground that the District of
Columbia and the fullness thereof is
the property in fee simple Of only
those who happen to be born therein
to the exclusion of all Outsiders"
This is a species of proyincialism un.
becoming Of men who pretend to
possess intelligence. Washington is
the capitalize estate in common of
every American citizen-let him hail
from the rock-bound coast of Maine or
from the cattle-lands of Texas The
country at large pays half the expenses
of the District, and the National Con-
gress, elected by all the states, has
complete control of her destiny.
Interlopersi God save the mark,
Every great government, city or insti-
tuition has been developed BY socalled
| interlopers." "Ol1 cts" as a rule, no
matter how well disposed get into a
rut from the natural feeling that they
| know everything and that what they
haven't done can't be done. A bran
new man, full of fresh ideas. bubbling
over with enthusiasm, jumps in, and
in jiffy has effected a revolution.
Why, bless your sodl, "inteTlopers"
built up the Roman Empire They
made England, France and Germany
the foremost agents of modern ciVili-
veloped and vitaliZed the American
Republic setting the pace for all the
world in commerce, manufactures and
popular sovereignty. Yes, we are
proud to be "interlopers"-to discount
and make ashamed the shiftless non
1escripts, that travel upon such hlmsy
credentials as nativity, and whose
sordid souls are gangrened with envy
over the achievements OF successlul
men, the latchels of whose shoes they
are not worthy to unloose.
We outsiders, who first saw the hghI
amid the fervid heart-beats OF grow
ing nation, far from the mlaslnatc
shores of the Potomac are 'interlopels
-interlopers" as Washington, Lincoln,
Grant, Mckinley and the matchiess
Roosevelt are "interlopers." Yes, JUST
rs the men whose bounty has wrousns
the prettiest capital on earth anu
whose gifts have made 1t the 're'''
voir of literature and learning:
But why multiply words? Inc Iea,
people of Washington are QUICK
welcome the stranger within ne
gates"-and equally prompt IN seIainS iio7
to the rear the moral lepers polislCaI
pirates and constituencies pretenuoii5. 3.
whose ability to handle sandpHs ne
their most effective passport 10 10,
society with which they mihe
AS to what may be said of US Ds ~
diyiduals whose very mediocrly
L. 4hox,, ;rorouno from DerSOnal HcH