The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-04-11
To Win Back the Negroes


 character that she naturally concludes that it is education which has made the mass of black people so despair ingly unlike their gentle, responsible parents.
 She does not look deep enough to discover the true cause. Education never hurt any man. It Is the out side influence, the withdrawal of the Bible, the removal from the personal influence of those ladies and gentie- men who loved and understood the me- gro best, the being made a pet Of by l the North, which have worked such havoc with the hitherto trustful and tractable race.
 To win the negroes and to insure their future safety and our own we must throughout this whole broad Southland constitute ourselves leaders | ia the negro churches, the negro sun day schools. the negro public schools and take their children into our homes to train them for house service. ana leave no stone unturned to eradicate all the unfortunate dislike and dis trust which they now entertain to- wards us, their real and only true friends.
 Though the present day negro loves the Northern people best, 1t is to the Scutherner he turns when he gets into any real trouble, for he knows that i. is the former slave owner or his children who will help him; he knows we'll enough who will stand by him for the sake of "Auld Lang Syne." If we, in the South, heartily give to the negro all of the assistance, both mental and moral. which he needs, 1t l is plain that he will learn to love us as his fathers did our fathers; but so long as help of any kind comes from the North. just so long will he consid- | CT the far-away North to be worthy l of his deepest admiration. | If the North truly loves the South, can 1t not see that since the greater number of the colored people live at the South. 1t is much more necessary, for the good of all America, for the negro to love the Southerners than 1t is for him to care for those who are so far away from hid and his inter- | eets7
 | If this is admitted to be true, then will the North not encourage the South to carry her negro burden with- out the help of Northern people? If mother tries to train her child, and must needs discipline it, and an outsider steps in to commiserate 1t, from that moment she Is powerless to nake the child be good. A wise moth CT will take the little one off to her I best knowledge and experience. And so We Southerners should not only be patient and willing, but should be left alone to work out the tremendous me- gro problem.
 It Is barely possible that the inno- cent, well-meaning North does not sr spect that the very financial help which 1t sends, and even It's presence, | is often a meance and serves to aug ment the friction between the races. The generous North must be weary | of sending so much money to help the far-away negro, and would doubtless gladly relinquish its benefaetions if 1t saw that We were nobly doing our own work.
 The negro need not take fright and think that this Southern control would lead to his being re-enslaved. l Even though the last of the Ten Commandments does seem to justify slavery, We will never make him slave again for two reasons, namely: We would not If we could, and we could not if we would.
 The time Is ripe that somehow and some way we of the South go to work children and show to tn good people lup North that with their influence withdrawn we can once again turn out colored men and women who are pat terms of gentleness and piety. The lvery highest education which We can give the black people will not make them deteriorate as they are now do- ing through having too much outside Icommiseration and too little direct Southern Teaching.
 | Although the Northern zealots have meant to do us good, 1t will take fully 100 years of the very hardest work up- on our part to counteract the baleful effects of their fifty years of overZeaL
 How would the Northern people re- gard us if we were suddenly to turn the tables and develop into foreign missionaries like themselves? 1 Would we be thought to be officious if we were to inaugurate annual ex- cursions to the North to visit "the white schools;" to alleviate the suf- | ferings of the oppressed; to investigate the evils of the sweat shop" to lift up and teach the "poor whites" of the Northern mountains?
 Would we secure instant and wide spread cooperation from the better class of whites" at the North if we were to try to help the poor negro, who has been so unfortunate as to cast his lot in this cold cline? Would 1t be resented a tiny bit if we were to send, unasked, barrels of clothing and good things to eat to the half naked and starving in the large Northern cities?
 | Would 1t be considered a courteous thing for us to take the liberty to send teachers and missionaries there to restore the love of the old Bible and to point out the shortcomings of the high and mighty folk? Would we be hospitably received if we should sug- gest that the foneys which so con- stantly flow Southward might be bet ter utilized at home?
 There Is an old proverb which Solo, mon found to be true, and which fits the case in hand: "Rebuke a wise man and ha will love thee"