The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-01-24
NEGRO pRoBLAM.
A Montgomery Citizens Reply to
 MT. Felix Adler.

MT. Felix Adler.
 To the Editor of The New York Times: I listened to the lecture by Dr. Felix
 Adler at Carnegie Hall yesterday on the
 subject of The Negro Problem in the
 United States" hoping to get some new
 ideas. but listened in vain. For my
 pains I had set before me lot of oft thrashed-out straw. Ills contention, in
 brief. was what we have had from other
 minds frequently in the last, few years. His solution narrowed down to about
 this: 1, Education; ?. justice; 3. true Democracy.
 We'll, now, all that is being done all over these United States. The negro
 child, along with the Italian. German. Irish. Jewish, and every other race or
 nationality under the sun, Is being edu-
 cated. The negro child in every State l of this Union is enjoying precisely with every other child equal benefits in the
 common school funds. So this part of
 Dr. Adlers solution has long ago
 been solved. To emphasize this bare
 statement of fact let me illustrate with my own State of Alabama. Here the l white and colored population are about
 equal in numbers Every dollar of school
 money in Alabama is equally divided be- | tween the white and colored children.
 Besides. Alabama gives Booker T. Wash | ington's school at Tuskegee several thou ! sand dollars annually to help the color
 ed people along.
 Take Dr. Adlers second part of his
 solution-that of equitable administration of justice to the colored people: also insist upon hurling a large fact over
 against this belated suggestion. The
 fact is, all over this country of ours
 the colored citizen gets the same amount
 and quality of justice as is meted out to
 all other citizens Dr. Adler assumes
 something to be true which does not ex-
 ist. There Is nowhere to be found an
 negotiable administration of justice along
 racial lines in these United States. This
 is purely man of straw which Dr. Ad-
 Ter stands upon the stage and asks
 New York audience to hear him pre-
 scribe for.
 Having been born and reared in Ala
 bama, where I have practiced law for
 many years, I claim to know the real
 situation there. I know positively that
 justice in the Alabama courts is "equi-
 tably administered'' to the ,colored citi-
 zen. Our judges and juries deal with causes with an eye single to justice and equity. utterly regardless of the color of the litigants. The color feature posi-
 lively does not even occur to bench or jury box. If Dr. Adler could come to Montgomery, Ala. and sit through one session of our court, where colored peo- pie often appear he would return to New York constrained to give the same testimony I am here recording. namely, that justice in the South at least is be- ing "equitably administered"-that is, so far as any race question is concerned Therefore. contend that the second po- sition of Dr. Adlers solution is untena- ble-indeed. is wholly without existence
 This brings me to Dr. Adler's third suggestion of his solution of the negro problem in the. United States. He said: Lastly and most vital of all we must rise to higher conception of Demo- cracy." This Is one of those glittering generalities, which is easily said, jin- gles well. bit platitudinous, and would be more at home in some dry didactio school of philosophy, serving as a test text for an essay on a Republican form of government But nevertheless. I will try to treat 1t as living. present day suggestion for the solution of the so- called negro problem in these United States" Let us take a look at that word Democracy. Let us see just what it means. and then we can the better dis cuss the doctors intended aphorism- We must rise to higher conception Of Democracy" Democracy comes from the two Greek words demos,s the people, and kratein, the rule. This was the concep- ton of the founders of our government. The people were to rule. No aristocracy, no divine right of Kings. nor anything akin thereunto was permitted to seep into our Magma Charta. It was all, root and branch, by the people and for the people. The people continue to rule. Whence cometh then this 'must?" 'We must rise to a higher conception of Dem ocracy? It comes from the brain of these modern logicians, who persist in forming syllogisms with false premises.
 In this last position of Dr. Adler he upon a false assumption, in that he assumes the American people enter tain a low Conception of the doctrine of Democracy. Such is not the true stat us of the case. Our people have always had true conception of this doctrine. That conception never shone brighter than at this very moment It Is the one bright sheen of glory that attracts the downtrodden and oppressed from every corner of the earth. Dr. Adler, then, req soning from this false premise, can nev- CT reach a true conclusion.
 A wise people will safeguard it's life, This all will admit. Ignorance is a dead ly menace to Democracy. This also all must admit. The people have the inher- ent right to set the grade of intelligence when it comes to saying who shall rule them, and who shall choose such rulers. l think no thoughtful man will deny this This results in the uplift and protection of the weak and 'inef- fcient.' For only the strong can lift Aup the weak. the good improve the bad. the intelligent instruct the ignorant; thus nat urally keeping the door of hope" wide open to the man at the bottom to come up higher. And this Is the solution of the negro problem already being utilized by every State in the AmeriASn Union.
 Geo. w. Townsend,
 New York. Jan. -, 1904.