Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1905-09-23

says.
Abraham Lincoln foresaw this
tragedy when he wrote his Emancipa
tion Proclamation, and he asked Con
gress for an appropriation OF bill
lion dollars 10 colombo the whole Ne
gro race. He never believed il pos
sible 20 assimilate the Negro into our
national life. This nation viii yet
come back 20 Lincoln's plan, still so
eloQuently advocated by the Negro
Bishop. Henry N. Turner.
And again
Il is curious how the baldheaded
assertion of lie can be repeated and
repeated until millions of sane peo-
pie viii accept the bare assertion as
an established fact. At the close OF
the War. Mr.. Lincoln. brooding over
the insoluble problem OF the Negroes
future which his proclamation had
created asked General Benjamin +.
Butler 20 devise and report 10 him
Immediately a plan TO colonize the
Negroes. General Butler, naturally
hostile TO the idea, made at once his
famous, false and facetious report.
"that ships could not be found 10 car
ry the Negro babies 20 Africa as fast
as they are born The President was
assassinated a few days later This
lie is now forty odd years old, and Mr.
Booker IT. Washington actually re-
peats it as a verbal inspiration though
entirely unconscious of its historic
origin.
The above is rather strong lam
suage ID be used by a minister of
the gospel He even makes an att
tack upon the dead and makes CO.
pious extracts from the grave of the
saiuted Lincoln i'm order to bolster
zap q bad cause. Was the state
ment of Gen. b. +. Butler untrue2
Could ships have been obtained at
that time TO transport the babies of
the Negroes who porsistenty arrived
on schedule time
They came TOO by white fathers
as well as by black ones. The Ne
gro population of the United States
In 1850 was 4,44LS30) four mill
lion. four hundred and forty-one
thousand. eight hundred and thirty.
In 1880. il was C163S,360) seven
million. six hundred and thirty-eight
thousand. three hundred ana sixty.
II viii be seen that the yearly rate
of Increase has been GO6,55D one
hundred and six thousand. FIVE hun
dred and fifty one. II would take
one hundred OF the largest ocean
liners. carrying one thousand pas
.sengers each to accommodate even
the ordinary Increase upon the basis
cited. AS the increase now avera-
ges about three hundred thousand
souls per year, il would take three
hundred ocean liners for the same
purpose. without even hauling any
of the ten million Negroes now in
this country. a billion dollars
would be a mere bagatelle OF the
cost of transportation.
Could trade be interfered with and
the ships furnished by any transpor-
tation company in the world? To
say that IL could be is 10 belle facts
and defy history. To seriously
breach such a proposition would pro
woke ridicule and excite derision on
the part of the steamship companies
OF the world.
There is a still greater objection
TO tie deportation idea. Barring
the fact that a large number of white
people who would naturally desire
to follow their Negroes and to look
after their illegitimate offspring.
there is the all-powerful mandate of
the law. To the Negro-haters who
seriously breach such a proposition
and make an effort to carry it into
execution, II says. Thou shalt not,"
You cannot, Rev. Dixon, forcibly de-
port from these shores, a citizen OF
the United States. The Negro is a
citizen. He came here by force, but
it will take something else, other
than force TO carry him away.
Your visionary schemes with scarce
ly a dollar in your own pocket to
bring about your realization of them
will hardly be considered by the safe
and sane" people of this country.
Rev. Dixon continues;
We have spent about $500, 1000, 900
on Negro education since the War.
One-half OF this sum would have been
sufficient 10 have made Liberia rich
and powerful Negro state. Liberia
is capable of supporting every Negro
in America. Why not face this ques
ton squarely? We are temporizing
and playing with it. All our educa-
tional schemes are compromises and
temporary makeshifts. Mr.. Booker
T. Washington's work is one OF noble
aims. A branch of it should be i'm
mediately established in Monroyia,
the capital OF Liberia. A gift of ten
millions would do this, and establish
colony of half million Negroes
within two years. The could lay
the foundations of a free black re-
public which within twenty-five years
would solve our race problem on the