The Grenada sentinel., 1904-01-23


found in the black belt-Louisiana.
Mississippi and South Carolina-there
1t is sixty-f1ve and seven-tenths per
cent And yet the negro in New Eng
land is four and one-half times more
criminal, hundred for hundred, than
ne is in the black belt. In the South,
mississippi particularly. l know he il
growing worse every year. You can
scarcely pick up newspaper whose
pages are not blackened with the &C.
count of an unmentionable crime CON-
mdtted by a negro brute, and this
crime, l want to impress upon you, IL
but the manifestation Of the negro's
aspiration for social equality, encour-
aged largely by the character of free
education in vogue, which the State
Is levying tribute upon the white pee
pie to maintain. The better class Of
negroes are not responsible for this
terrible condition, or for the criminal
tendency OF their race. Nor do wish
to bo understood as censuring them
Tor 1t, l am not censuring anybody,
nor am l inspired by i'll will for the
negro. but l am simply calling atten-
ton to most unfortunate and unen-
durable condition of affairs. What
shall be done about it? Surely some
thing must be done. The white people
OF Mississippi cannot sit idly by with
out making an effort at least to arrest
this destructive tendency. The State,
Tor many years, at great expense to
the tax payers, has maintained sys-
tenn of negro education, which has pro-
duced disappointing results, and l am
opposed to the perpetuation of that
system. My own idea is that the char
acter of education for the negro ought
to be changed. If, after forty years of
earnest effort and the expenditure OF
fabulous sums of money to educate his
head, we have only succeeded in max
ing a criminal out of him and impair
ing his usefulness and efficiency as
laborer, wisdom would suggest that we
make another experiment, and see If
We cannot improve him by educating
his hand and his heart. There must
be moral substratum upon which to
build, or you cannot make a desirable
citizen. The negro as a race is devoid
OF that element. He has never felt
the guilt of sin; the restraining influ-
ence of moral scruples or the goading
OF an outraged conscience are un-
known to the real negro. Slavery is
the only process by which he has ever
been partially civilized. God Al
mighty created the negro for a me-
nial; he is essentially a servant. In
every age of the worlds history, it has
been shown that his civilization will
last only SO lo1g as he is under con-
troll of the superior race that fncul-
Gated it. When left to himself, he has
universally gone back to the barbar-
ism of his native jungles. While q
few mixed breeds and freaks of the
race may possess qualities which JUS
tify them to aspire above that station,
the fact still remains that the race is
fit for that and nothing more. At any
rate. that is al he will ever accom-
plish in Mississippi. and as it is in
Mississippi so will it be in all of the
States where the negro lives in large
numbers. The white man will not,
and should not, share sovereignty and
dominion with him. l will be par
doned, in this connection, for quoting
the following wise words spoken by
Abraham Lincoln, September Is, 1858.
He said:
Il am not. nor ever have been in
favor of bringing about in any way
the social and political equality OF the
white and black races; l am not, nor
ever have been, in favor of making v0t-
ers or jurors of negroes, nor OF quail:
flying them to hold office, nor to inter:
marry with the white people: and
will say, in addition to this, that there
is a physical difference between the
white and black races which l bel;eve
will forever forbid the two races liv-
ing together on terms OF social and
political equality And inasmuch as
they cannot so live, while they remain
together, there must be the position
of superior and inferior, and as much
as any other man am in favor of hav-
ing the superior position assigned to
the white race
If these words were true when
spoken by Mr.. Lincoln, they are true
today, and will be true to the end of
time. Now this may sound little
harsh to those unfamiliar with the
facts in the case, but by every intelli.
gent white man and thoughtful negro
in Mississippi it will be accepted as
absolutely true. however much the
question may be gilded with co1serva'
tism or be clouded by discrimination
The time has come when the truth
should be told about this matter; il
matters not how disagreeable it may
be to hear it. The first step towards
changing the educational system OF
the State, so as to meet the demands
of both races, it occurs to me, is fQr
the legislature TO submit to the pep.
pie proposition to amend the constt
tuition, so as to give the legislature ua.
restricted authority in dealing with tue
public school question. Surely the
legislature, elected every four years
by the people. can be relied upon to
do the proper thing in this matter
without constitutional prescription
1t Is quite certain that little can be
done to relieve the present most un
desirable condition of things, while
the constitution remains as it is.
The matter of school books calls fol
consideration at the hands of the leg
islature. The purchase of books has
become an oppressive burden upon the
poor. The great number and variety
of books demanded in our latter day
common school curriculum indicates
that we are proceeding upon the the