The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1905-02-14

of any man who, against crushing
disadvantages, has by his own indus
try. energy, ~self-respect. and perse
%verance struggled upward to a po-
sition which would enritle him to
the respect of his fellows, if only his
skin were of a different hue.
Every generous impulse in us re
volts at the thought of thrustfng
down instead of helping up such a
man. To deny any man the fair
treatment granted to others no better
than he is to commit a wrong upon
him-a wrong sure to react in the
long run upon those guilty of such de-
NAL. The only safe principle upon
which Americans can act is that of
"all men up" not that of some men
down" If in n community the lev
ell of intelligence, morality. and thrift
among the colored men can be ais
ed. it is humanity speaking. sure that
the same level among the whites will
be raised to an even higher degree;
N it is no less sure thai the debase-
ment of the blacks will in the end car
ry with it an attendant debasement
of the whites.
The problem is so t o adjust the re-
lations between two races of differ
ent ethnic type that the rights of
neither to be abridged nor ~ieoparded;
hat the backward race be trained so
that it may enter into the possession
of true freedom. while the forward
race is enabled to preserve unframed
the high civilizations wrought out by
this problem Il necessarily be
slow; it is not possible in offhand
fashion to obtain or to confer the
priceless boons of freedom, industrial
efficiency, political capacity, and do
nestle morality. Nor is it only neces
sary to train the colored man; it is
quite as necessary to train the white
man, for on his shoulders rests a
sponsibility. 1t is a problem demand
ing the best thought, the utmost pa
tience, the most earnest effort, the
broadcast charity, of the statesman,
the student. the philanthropist; of
the leaders of thought in every de
partment of our national life. The
church can be a most important fac
tor in solving it Alright. But above
luton the sober, kindly, .steadfast, I'm
selfish performance of duty by the
average plain citizen in his everyday
dealings with his fellows.
The ideal of elemental justice met
ed out to every man is the ideal we
should keep ever before us. 1t will
be many a long day before we attain
to it, and unless we show not only
devotion to it, but also wisdom and
self-restraint in the exhibition of
that devotion, we shall defer the time
striving to attain to so much of it as
dealing with men of differ
colors, we must remember two
things.
In the first place, it is true Of the
colored man, as it is true of III
man, that in the long run his
fate must depend far more upon his
own effort than upon the efforts of
any outside friend. Every vicious, We
nal. or ignorant colored man is an
even greater foe to his own ace
than to the community as a whole.
The colored mans ~self-respect emit
ties him to do thai share in the DO
work of the country which is
warranted by his individual ability
and integrity and the position he has
for himself. But the prime requi
site of the race is moral and indus
trial uplifting.
Laziness and shiftlessness, these,
and above all. vice and criminality of
every kind. are evils more potent for
harm to the black race than all acts
of oppression of white men put uogeth
er. The colored mar who fails to con
dcmn crime in another colored nan
who fails to cooperate in all lawful
in hrineino cnlnrad criminals