The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1904-12-07
TIE SOUTH STILL s0l|1
SAYS TILLMAN.
Interesting interview With the
Senior Senator.
By ". n. McCaw..

DarS3culariy sgooQ Sp9rltS auo xcidseeo
Z nseasantly and entersainingly concern
Ing the lessonstaught by the results OF
The national election and the political
future of the South. Though when
he touched on certain phases OF the
negro question the corners OF MS
mouth went down promptly and with
marked energy, his eyes flashed and
Bis voice deepened into that tone OF
Intense sarnsstness for which he is so
Tzmogs.
Asked what he thought OF the
sssoIid south y and whether he saw any
immediate hope of breaking it, Sena-
for Tsnman declared with emphasis
shat the solid south would never De
broken as long as the FlIGeentn
amenimens is allowed to stand.
me south is soIid1y democraeic
not in the broader sense that the sern
democracy is understood IN sne pol-
tics af the whole country, he salo,
asnut In the narrow sense that the An
srlo-saxon intelligence Of the South
solidly and always unyieldingiy STANDS
FOR white supremacy. OF course this
sitnation is unfortunate, inasmuch as
sthe results are intellectually sitting
n the discussion of and contention
for the broader principles OF govern
ment and of civilized life. But there
q no Immediate hope OF changing
these conditions. Every effort put
forth by the misguided phllantnro-
pists and vicions politicians OF the
North with their impracticable no.
lions about the equality Of man, to
hraak the solid south, only seals
that bond of union as with hoops OF
steel, and the problem VIII never oe
solved until the North let's the Soatn
alone to solve it.
~ IF these dreamers Of the North.
wnrking in conjunction with their
greedy political brethren, don { stop
meddling in this matter there Will De
race war and terrible massacre. For
political equality means social equal
sI5y. and social equality means mlsce-
rsnasion and the mongrelizlng OF the
DeonIe of the South, with the result
Thaf Che white intelligence OF the
South will degenerate to the level OF
thase South American republics whose
hissory has shown them to be wholly
and invariably incapable not only OF
-seIf-rnyernment but of acquiring
property, the Distinguishing charac-
teristic of the white man. and unwli-
ingness to respect law and live IN
Cuiet and orderly manner.
Once let the wedge be driven IN
inst the least bit, once recognize the
political equality OF the negro ana So
cal equality will inevitably follow
and the races will merge by marriage
between the better class OF negroes
snd the lower class Of whites. Inose
scoundrelly, trifing white men VINO
have lost all seH-respect will not
scruple to marry the daughters OF ne
pro men who have acquired property.
Then viii the sluice gates be opened
and there will be no stopping the
mongrelizing of the white intelligence
OF the South. This is an unthinkable
condition, an impossible consuma-
zion. -
There is only one solution OF the
negro problem, he continued, only
one pay of eliminating the crime OF
rape and freeing the land OF the re-
suItant crime of lynching-the com
nlete subsection of the negro under
stringent laws and police regulations.
AS long as he is allowed by Law TO
vote and run about the country with
cut restraint there is no checking the
crimes which he commits And the
North is gradually coming to that view
OF the matter.
s In this connection Senator Trllman
teId Of his experience in campaigning
in the West and mentioned Dumoer
of Illinois and Indiana towrs which
will nos allow the negro to live IN
them.
s'The North is grsdually getting
educated on the negro question;
She little TASTE these people have had
of Cuify has made them less tolerant
sos his weaknesses than ehe people OF
the South even. The patriotic intel
ligence Of the North recognizes that
the South has great problem on its
hands and is willing to let the South
solve it -
The Overwhelming defeat Of the
nasional democracy does not in the
slightest degree, in Senator Tillman's
opinion, reject the Eorth's agreement
with President Roosevelt's negro
policy. He attributes the Republican
success to the general prosperity OF
the country and the personal popular
isy of Mr.. Roosevels.
Senator Tillman is not feeling blne
about the reduction OF Southern re-
presentation. He said:
tsI have talked to many of the
brightest and nost capable newspaper
correspondents at Washington, and
they all pooh-pc III the idea, and from
many of the leaders of the republican
party Z learn that it is not the inten-
zion to attempt any such thing. Those
greedy Yankees who want to reduce
the South's representation in order to
decrease our power and influence and
increase their own, forget, in their
ss.sishress, in arguing for representa-
ton in proportion to voting strength
and the number Of people participant
ing in government that their own re-
presentation is based largely on herds
of foreigners who are constantly pour
ing into the North, who know nothing
OF cur history or institutions and
1o,e opDotlo ~ CONGO of