Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-06-03

who has been at fault No section is
more responsible than another for the
| introduction of the black race into this
| country. Ii is here and we must make
the most of il. Today, the Southern
states hold within their borders more
than eight million negroes The num-
| Der is constantly Increasing and the
| North cannot long be kept free from
| the black mans presence. 1t is there
| fore to our interest that a solution of
this problem be found before the black
population has become So great as to
-Xtend its deadening influence to the
| limit of our land.
Much of the misunderstanding of the
| past has been caused by the wrangles
OF men blinded by prejudice and abso-
luteiy unfit for intelligent discussion.
Most or our capable men have held
ai"oi from the active work of solution
| Many OF them even refuse to lend their
advice. Indeed they have seen fit to
leave the problem in the hands of po-
| htlcai demagogues and INSCRIPTIONS
| men seeking only their own personal
assrandlZement. This is a condition of
| aHalrS which we should not tolerate
we need our leaders in education and
| craftsmanship in the midst of the
| work, Tor ii is in their power alone to
| 40 IL properly. 1t is the manifest duty
| OF our educated men and women to
| take the initiative in this work for
as soon as they do it will reach too
| fish 4 claim for the man whose chief
| support Is found in the eStrangement
OF our common country. In Il recent
speech. President Roosevelt said that
1T is n problem demanding the best
| thought. the utmost patience, the most
| earnest effort. the broadcast charity of
statesman. Il student. the philanthro-
| l1st: of the leaders of thought in every
| branch of our national life
The millennium cannot be reached in
| Il day, but months, years, decades and
even generations may pass before the
best is actually accomplished 1t re-
| quir"s constant watchfuncss on the
| part of all concerned that no word NAV
be uttered and no act permitted to re-
| new the unpleasant features of the
past. We do not expect everything to
| be just as we could have il. but con-
slant patience and honest efforts will
| ut least contribute much to Il Satisfac-
| tory result.
|
and professions have done good service
by their sympathetic interest. but few
of them have thoroughly studied the
] Southern needs. The South wants
more than interest and sympathy. 1t
| wants action. When the educated men
of the North have become sufficiently
| interested to lend hand in the efforts
| the South is now making to educate
| tIr hn ln ~
gain a thorough knowledge of the So
| cial and economic conditions through
! cut the so-called 'I,lack Belt" With
| out such knowledge the man, be he ed
| ucated or not. who sits in his office
| and writes newspaper articles dealing
with the Negro Question is doing
worse than nothing. Almost invariably
| he misstates the case. and his conclu-
| sions are radically wrong and vicious.
The fair minded man must recognize
| the fact that the South is bearing a
double burden. Not only do thousands
| of white children have to be educated.
| but thousands of negro children too In
addition to the burden of educating his
own children the great burden of edu-
| eating the negro falls on the shoulders
| of the poor white Southern tax payer.
| 1 q leave tne WORK bi ms tlutiitibH en-
tirely to the negro would be to leave it
| to its doom. For this reason. rather
| than witress 4 decline in popular ne
| gro int lligcncp. the Southern people
have been staggering on heroically be
meath this double burden without
murmur. They have done exceptionally
| well in The midst of the condition un-
der which they have labored. When the
| e 1,.
| war h, found his slaves freed. They
had in many instances been his sol"
support so that without them he was
ruined His farm had been devast"f
and his family destroyed. 1t was ne
ccssary to start life anew. yet. in spite
of these difficulties. through all the pc
| riods of sectional feeling, the repre-
| sentltive men of the South have given
the best they have had to educate ana
10 elevate the negro. and they have Civ
en- checrfully and freely. But the work
is too great for them alone; they meet
1.-THE honest assistance and sympathy of
their Northern brother
| This country of ours should have no
section: it should be on" vast unit with
a single purpose, and that purpose th@
lnighCst political. social, ara moral we'll
| fare OF all. We Snouil an DF' broliiti -
with q common aim. And indeed our
country is tending toward this unifica-
ton with ever increasing success. Only
the controversy owe" III" negro pre-
vents the realization of this high ideal.
and just so soon as al parts of this
country are willing to forget the
troubles of the past; 10 make common
| concessions: to seek honestly and fear
| i..ssly To do the right. then the question
viii already ne half settled.
| A nGlf hundred leaders leave these
| coIlcge walls each yea: Il half hundred
| missionaries are scattered through all
| PARTS Of our country. Some go to the
| SoutE: some to the West: the rest re-
main in New England t.; mould public
opinion and to determine the futur"
policy of the North. Upon the conscicn-
ccs of these men must ever rest the bur-
oMlrn,a Inl lnncp