The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-02-15
NEGRO IN THE NORTH
WHITES UP THERE ARE SICK
 OF THE BLACKS.
Experience Shows the Fallacy of Theories-Backward in Educa- tion, but Prominent in
 Crime.


 The most attractive spot in America for criminals. because of the splendid transportation facilities. Chicago long ago became the dumping grounds for the trashiest of Southern negroes, and the bad blacks from Indiana, Ohio and Michi- gan have turned their faces in this di- rection and made haste for the negro's paradise, says a special from that city to The New Orleans Times-Democrat- Chicago has only IS per cent. negro pop ulation, and already the decent people of the city begin to feel that they have a problem to soon solve, a problem which must be met promptly and firmly, though they know not how to do 1t.
 While President Roosevelt is building Presidential fences from negro material he Is meeting with a new obstacle and one which the political workers and thinkers, and not the theorists, are able to see. The white people of the North, Demo crats and Republican, are deeply sick of the negro proposition, and the black man and the yellow in the Middle Northern States finds little sympathy or encour- agement The Republican press will not express the best thought of the people, or offer the suggestions impelled by their own ears in dealing with this sombre subject. Political prudence stills the cry of disgust and the vigorous effort Is given to saving the negro vote to the party for one more election. In Indiana the Demo- cratic, as well as the independent, press speaks out and protests against the pan dering of officers to the scum of the black race. But the people of the North un- derstand the negro question pretty we'll by this time, and they can be trusted to 1a ov-yxv 1on ,aA vI,os, the true. pinch comes. No matter what the Northern editor may fail to say upon the subject, he knows that the people are alive to conditions and will deal vigorous ly when the moment arrives.
 It. is to the cities the negroes are fiocking The small towns and the farms possess little attraction for them, and 1t is to the greater market for the negros only permanent commodity-hfs vote-he hur- ries, and there remains as long as the po- lice will permit him. They come to Chi cago because here they are "recognized' as race. No office was ever given to negro in the North purely upon his merit as a man or as a citizen. He was elevated to a position of some respect be- cause he was a negro, and in exchange for certain nominations on the party ticket he could deliver so many votes. It
 
 saction. based upon the number of votes to be delivered, and the identity of the nominee is generally left entirely with the negroes. The whites do not usually say whom the blacks shall offer, and the grades and shades of the darker posses Sors of public trusts are quick changing.
 Political Situation.
 The negro's jealousy of one another is ever present, and none of their number must taste too much of the fruits of Re- publican victory. Yet some negro legis- lators have been sent back a number of times E. H. Morris. the present member from the black belt, Is an unique example of the negro's chances in politics. Twelve years ago he was sent to the Legislature. and at times since then he has been re- turned. At the first he betrayed many of the characteristics of his race. But he has studied hard and repressed the thirst for oratorical glory many times. He Is the principal attorney for the Chicago gamblers, white and black, and has amassed a great deal of money. There is no more modest member of the Legisla- lure today than Morris. During the pres ent session thus far his voice has not been heard, and he seems to sincerely de- sire to keep in the background. He is a vast improvement over Indignation" Jones, his law partner, who served in the last Legislature and introduced more bills than any other member of the lower house. Indignation" was effervescent and irrepressible. and the hint was quiet ly dropped to the Chicago negroes to pick some other person fer their legislative honors. if they would.
 While Morris may be the attorney of the habitues of the "tenderloin,' he man. ifests peculiar delicacy at Springfield, and plays entirely to the respectable ele- ment. He is to be the Chairman of the Elections Committee of the House
 J. w. 10. Thomas, of Chicago, was an- other negro legislator who showed an fn- clination for the cleaner methods. Major buckner, sable-hued solon of dress pa rade instincts, and quoted recently as one of the negroes whom the North had hon ored," was at the head of a negro mill tary organization in Chicago. During courtm~rtial proceedings against him he was permitted to resign flor the good of the party
 Under the minority and majority rule of electing members of the Illinois Leg islature, it Is practically impossible to defeat nominee of one of the leading parties in most districts Three members Of the lower house are elected from each district, and each suffragist is entitled to three votes to dispose of as he pleases. He can cast three votes for one man. or one and a half votes each for two men. or one vote each for three men. The dom lnant party generally nominates two men and the minority party one man. Thus none can be beaten. If there should be one white and one negro candidate in a negro district, the chances are that the negro voters would plump" or cast the entire three votes for the negro and let the white Republican shift for himself.
 In Cook County 1t Is an old rule among the Republicans to nominate one negro among the fifteen noinlnees for County and frequently the black candidate will ride to victory upon the tide of Republican success. He seems satisfied now with that portion of the political pie apportioned to him, but in the usual negro voter insists up- on fixed price at election time.
 A Burden to the Party.
 The white Republican of Chicago is like the white Republican of every other city the writer visited. The negro is burden to the party in many ways. and a menace to continued political success because of the possibility of the decent element aris- Ing and driving out of political power the party which may be held responsible for the tolerant treatment of the negro's  The holdups here are generally by me- groes. The criminal assaults are almost entirely confined to the black scoundrels. | There are few burglars now who are not negroes The insolence shown by the | black people as they walk along the streets is becoming continually worse | And of the scores upon scores of intiu- | mi m