The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-02-19

"
 .The Color Line," by William Benja-
 min Smith. Published by Mcclure
 Phillips X Go.
 An unanswerable line of argument upon the negro question is followed in every possible point of attack in the work just from the press the current month by Prof. Smith of Tulane university en- titled "The Color Line" It subtitle, A
 Brief in Behalf of the Unborn, gives the real insight into the scope Of the work Most writers on this subject, es- pecally those of the north, have been blinded in their professed zeal for the negros advancement and progress and l have harped at intermlnable length upon l the one string that the negro must be , raised. The white man has been ignored l in the problem, for education and anal gamation were to effect the progress,
 and few have taken the foresight to con slider what amalgamation would do to the white race. In this volume Prof | Smith has dealt quite frankly with the l problem and does not hesitate to affirm
 that 1t is as mathematically inexorable
 as that ? and divided by 2 is only B. 1 In a recent volume of sociology entitled l My Neighbor" by Prof. Shaler-broad-
 minded thinker and philosopher that he
 is-a clear-sighted and unprejudiced state l ment is made by him to this effect: l In speaking of the vast influx of immi- l grafton of every conceivable degree and 1 quality into all parts of the United | States except the southern states, that
 1t is to the south that we must look
 for the preservation in its purity of the l Anglo Saxon race.
 That this purity must be preserved 1 is the burden of Prof. Smiths cry In
 his new volume just at hand, Nr he
 says:
 "Let not man join together what God | has put asunder.'
 | Prof Smith writes:
 What then, is the real point at is- ] sue. and what does the south stand for in this contention-stand alone, friend
 less dspised, with the head and heart, | the brain and brawn, the wealth and
 culture of the civilized world arrayed all most solldly against her"
 l The answer Is simrIa: r'She stands for l blood for the continuous germ ashma' l of the Caucasian race"
 l In his opening chapter Prof Smith ad- | mits that he feels strongly on the subject l and defends with a vast array of his- l torical data what some call race pref l udice and what he calls Trace instinct" l No other conceivable disaster that
 might befall the south could. for an in- stant compare with such miscegenation 1 within her borders Flood and fire. fever l and famine and the sword7-even irgonr- | ance, indoence and carpet -baggery-she | may endure and conquer while her blood
 remains pure; but once taint the we'll l spring of her life. and all Is lost-even
 honor itself. It Is this immediate jewel of her soul that the south watches with
 such a dragon eye, that she guards with l more than nestal vigilance. with circle
 of perpetual fire. The blood thereof is | the life thereof; and who would defie 1t | would stab her In ther heart of heart, | and sh. springs to repulse him with the | nercest instinct of preservation It | may not be that she is distinctly con
 scious of the immeasurable interests at
 stake or of the real grounds of her
 reused antagoni.m; but the instinct it,
 self Is none the less just and true and
 the natural bulwark of her life''P
 The question of the "inferority" of the
 negro he sets out pro and con at great
 length. and proves conclusively that infe- | riority by a very complete argument. | Yet a matter of fact Prof. Smith con
 siders the thing self-evident. Writing on | tnlS tnDugnt ne says
 'It seems Impossible to represent in
 human speech, or by any sym bols intel
 igible to the human mind. the variety
 and immensltv of this consentient testi- | mony of all historic time and place. Not to be overwhelmed and overawed. much | more convinced. by such prodigious | spectacle of evidence. is to gage at mid
 noon into the heavens. and cry out l " here is the snn?' For over against 4t-- !. l has the West African to set? What art ? ] What science? What relieion? What
 morality? What philosophy? What his l tory? What even one single aspect of
 civilization or culture or higher human | ity?"
 It may be hare on the negro, but Prof
 Smiths theme as well as his arguments and defenses are unanswerable. - l We quote another characteristic pas- 1 sage.
 Why does the south If she be right
 in this matter. find the virtue and intel l ligence of the world arrayed against l her? We answer, tho overmass of ad- | verse authority is indeed immense, but | l. is weightless The testimony of the
 north and of Europe Is hardly more
 relevant than would be that of the Mar tians. For In neither has the race ques- | ton yet presented itself as a serious. 1 l Peril has no existence. Hence their treat ment of the subject is merely accademlc and sentimental They have generous | ethical ideas. respectable but well-worn
 and overworked maxims. high humanl-
 tarian principles, and these they ride | horseback. For them the negro is a | black swan. a curious and fnterestlng specimen In natural history; and they 1 have no hesitancy in extending their
 sympathy. their hospitality. and their CO., | operation But the practical problem never confronts them in its nnrelieved | difficulties and dangers. The possibility i of race contamination Is not suggested | to them, or, at least. 1t never comes | home to them, and they yield freely to | their philanthropic impulses. not think l ing whither these would lead them. not seeing the end from the beginning. South I ern hearts are not less benevolent than
 northern. but southern eyes arei of neces- | sity in this matter wide open. while most | others are shut" feT Hs 4 The negro during all the ages has done
 nothing for himself is proof conclusive, | says Prof Smtn. that the root of the ter fa not fr1 him. And inst here the