New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-02-06

II Is scarcely worth while 10 attempt serious
refutstion of Governor Vardaman's article in
opposition to negro education I'm the current
number Of "Leslie's Weekly" The article itself
is its own best refutation. When the Governor
Of a great commonwealth. man posing as en-
enlightened statesman i'm this fourth year OF
the twentieth century. displays with set pur
pose 10 be offensive the manners OF a besotted,
whipcTackng slave overseer, he requires moth
ing but exhibition. A single extract from Gov
ernor vardaman's article sufficiently indicates
his spirit. lie declares:
am opposed to the nigger's voting. It matters
not what his advertised moral and mental quail
lcations NAV be. I am just as much opposed
10 Booker Washington's. with all his Anglo
Saxon reinforcements. voting as am 10 voting
by the cocoanut headed. chocolate coored. typi
cal little coon Andy Dotson. who blacks my
shoes every morning Neither one is 1T TO per-
form the supreme functions OF citizenship.
II IS reGssuring to know that Governor Varda-
man has his boots BACKED every morning and
is able to find niger who will do the work.
1t might be expected that the man who depends
on "coons" for personal service. and speaks Of
Booker Washington as n Tiger and thinks
him unfit to vote. would SJcG his trousers in
his boots and never black them. Governor
Vardaman admits that his view OF Booker
Washington's unftness TO vote may be mere
say that TO it we are indebted for the purity
Of the Anglo-Saxon race. "The absolute domi-
nation OF the white race means race purity"
This is interesting. in view of the results Of
two centuries OF slavery. Race pride kept the
whites dominant, but It did not keep the races
as much apart as the self-respectful teaching
OF men Ike Booker Washington tends 20 do.
Booker Washington does far more TO preserve
tie purity Of both races than does Governor
Vardamans preaching that the niger" is an
inferior creature whose only function is TO per-
form servile labor for the white man. Has the
attitude toward the negro which Governor
Nardaman represents ever done anything 10
prevent degrading contact between the races
Has il not concerned itself merely with pre-
venting any other?
No friend Of civilization can look with favor
on any step toward race amalgamation The
surest way 20 guard against it IS not 10 make
q degraded and ignorant population, from which
a mixed race is sure to spring, but TO train the
negroes TO take pride in their own race, TO strive
10 be black men and women worthy of respect
for their honor. their industry and their pros
perity, instead OF being content TO be "coons"
and ''niggers" all alike whether they are Booker
Washingtons helping the German Empire with
advice in solving its colonial problems. or cocoa
nut headed Andy Dotsons permitted to veneer
with the varnish of civilized apparel the bour-
bon barbarism of a Vardaman. What q con-
trast does the Mississippi Of to-day present
under such leadership with the State which
sent out as her spokesman Lhcus Q. c. Lamar,
10 proclaim the doctrine that moral worth in
teliigence and industry were the proper founda-
ton Of political privileges. ard faithfully prom
Using to secure to the black man those privileges
by training him TO fitness for their exercise!