The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1905-08-19
VESPASlAN WARNER,
Commissioner Of Pensions and His
Antecedents and Few Other
Facts.

Facts.
1t was in the year 1858. several
years before Lincoln's procla mation
had been issued and at a time when
the race needed friends, that the Re-
publicans of Illinois wished to place
their candidate and champion Abra-
ham Lincoln squarely before the peo-
pie on the issues that ultimately
meant so much to the Afro-American
people.
A successor to Senator Stephen A.
Douglass was to be elected by the
legislature and at the Republican
state convention held in June of that
year, the abolitionists, the Republicans
and other friends of Mr.. Lincoln in
sisted upon his candidacy. Politics
was at a fever heat and upon the ban
ners carried in the Douglass process
sions were inscribed such sentiments
as Fathers protect US from Negro
husbands" "This is white mans
government mo Negro Equality
and other Inscriptions calculated to in
fame the rabble, while on the other
hand the Lincoln followers carried
banners with the words: Cali men are
created equal ''No more slave terri
tory" mo more compromise" etc.
Among the brave and sturdy follow
ers Of Lincoln were such men as Owen
Lovejoy, Richard Yates, Lyman Trum-
bull, Shelby M. CullOm, Lawrence
Weldon, o. M. Browning and William
Pitt Kellogg, men who helped to mold
sentiment that was destined to
free four million slaves and cause the
greatest upheaval this country ever
experienced in the religious, social
political and industrial arenas Among
them, too, was John Warner, the
father Of Major Vespasian Warner,
the present Commissioner of Pen
sions, about whom the Afro-American
press Of the country is just now rails
ing a hue and cry merely because
there happened to be no Afro-Ameri-
can included in the recent promotions
at the Pension Bureau.
Born and raised amid favorable en-
vlrOnnc1nts, educated with care and
by those who taught the fatherh0od Of
God and the brotherhood of man,
wounded at the Battle Of Shiloh while
fighting for the perpetuity of the
Union and the downfall of slavery
Commissioner Warner has a nature
free from those little prejudices 50
often found in those whose training
has been different. The inspired arti-
cles now being syndicated are consid-
cred by the Afro-Americans of Illinois
who know and have high regard for
Major Warner, as premature and un-
just. -
On the field of battle and in Con-
gress; on the stump and in the courts
his voice. his acts and sympathy have
always been clear and we'll defined.
He knows no man by his nativity Or
color and is firm believer in the
doctrine OF square deal for every
one. s.. J.. H..
Those of us who are familiar with
mis- record cannot forget how he
bought a house and for years paid the
taxes for an INDECENT AfrO-Ame1ican
family in his home town Of Clinton,
Illinois, and we all know his present
business partnership with Mr.. John
Mccoy, the most prosperous Afro
American farmer in the great corn
belt of central Illinois. r. -
Ia making the recent promotions.
the Commissioner doubtless acted
upon the recommendations of his
numerous division chiefs who appar-
emily did not suggest the appointment
of any Afro-Americans ..z15 .-.,ss
Major Warner is a fine gentleman
racial distinctions do not appeal to
him He does not care whether a
man is white. black. brown or yellow
and it is unfortunate that such harsh
criticisms have been made. It will
doubtless be discovered before long
that the Commissioner does not play
favorites. 81
81 Charles e. Hall.
Washington, 7. g, Aug. 10.