The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1905-05-06
VARDAMAN OF MISSISSIPPI.
By EMERSON HOUGH.
Author of 1.-THE Law of the Land"

to the constitution. That amend
ment, he has said, is sure to come,
and he believes that it may come
with a rush at any time. This is
the idea of Gov. Vardaman of Mis-
sissippi.
Vardaman was elected on the plat
form, in part, of mo race equality"
u;o p,. He fought the ex-
No Race Equality s peh emoeev Of fl, the
education of the negro, and declared
he considered that undertaking a
hopeless one. His opponents said he
would drive every negro from the
state; that the planters would be
left without laborers. In reply Var
daman continued to tell them what
they all knew to be true, that black
was not white. His argument was
scientific, not political. The North
joined in calling Vardaman a negro
halter; it held up Mississippi as a
relic of the dark ages. Needing
friends in his political campaign,
Vardaman nevertheless pledged him
self to none, and went into office alb
solutely without strings attached to
him in any way. His opponents pre-
dicted that after his election there
would ensue a reign Of terror, an out
break of lynchings and an exodus of
the black race from Mississippi.
None Of these things happened.
Vardaman proved not so sensational
and cratic, after all.
President Roosevelt has declared
his intention of upholding the law
Square Deal for and of giving every
man a square deal.
livery NAN Singularly enough,
that was precisely the platform on
which Vardaman stood after his
election as governor. Whitecap out
RACES broke out in Lincoln county.
There are nine men today serving
p%enitentiary sentences for those out
RACES. Prosecution was kept at work
under the eye of the new governor.
Compare that record with Indiana
and Illinois in similar cases in the
last four years. In Franklin coun-
ty, Mississippi, some lawless whites
undertook to take the law into their
own hands. They, too, are repent
ing IN sackcloth and ashes today.
In spite of his pronounced belief in
regard to the negro, the negro has
been safer in the hands of this So
called negro-hater than he has ever
been in Mississippi before. This So
called violent and eccentric man has
enforced the law more sternly than
any Of his predecessors, and he has
let the weight of the law fall upon
white and black alike.
1t is quite probable that James X.
Nardaman, softened and tempered by
He Nav Go to the years IN office in
his own state, will
o0"o'0 in time, be seen on
the floor of the Senate of the United
States. He will then be, perhaps,
better understood than he is today.
He will then present upon the floor
Of the American congress the same
idea which he has the courage open
ly to advocate today. What will he
do then? He will do what no South
ern representative has yet done. He
will tell the truth He will cease to
deny the stutfing Of the ballot boxes,
the intimidation of black voters, the
deliberate intent to overset the black
franchise. Southern congressman
have lied nobly in regard to this,
thinking that the necessity might
justify a. falsehood. Vardaman will
tell the truth. He will say: 1--WE
have driven the negroes from the
polls, and we always will. We have
counted them out and always will
if need be. We have intimidated the
black vote, and we always will. We
have made a state constitution with
the express purpose of casting out
the black vote, and we will always
stand by that constitution We have
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