The Washington herald., 1906-12-03

I
know that there Is a fifteenth amend
ment, either to be repealed or to be but
tressed by further legislation of Con-
| gress.
The Real Problem.
Some people talk as if the repeal of the
fifteenth amendment would get rid of the
darkies. 1t is the physical presence of the
negro that constitutes the problem. That
cannot be too often repeated. and that
constitutes the problem even when his
status was one Of slavery That physical
presence, as far as 1 can see. is unavoid-
able. 1t cannot be escaped by the de-
portatiOn Of the negro race. 1t cannot be
escaped by the white people moving out OF
the South and leaving the negroes in pos
| session of the accumulated fruits of their
intelligence and civilization. 1t cannot be
| escaped by the determination of either
race by the other
And yet. while the darky cannot be re-
moved from the country he can be grad
ually, though not suddenly. scattered all
over the country, thus relieving the con-
gested racial condition in the cotton
States. diminishing the racial menace
everywhere and carrying with the negro
/ himself a knowledge Of the negro prob
lem to white men in other parts of the
union. Negroes are going out and white
men coming in. but we can, by wise ind-
yidual and State action, accelerate it by
| bringing into the South desirable white
/ immigrants. thus subtecting the darky 10
an Industrial competition which will re-
quire him to become either a more effec-
tual labOrer than he now is. especially
upon the farm, or else to leave the field
and go elsewhere 10 some sort of unskilled
work requiring heavy muscular exertion
under the supervising intelligence of the
white man.
Booker Washington said that the test
for his race would be whether il should
remain or not remain the laboring element
Of the South. ! say that the test has al
ready been applied In the minds OF all in
telligent men that the darky as a laborer
In farm and factory has been weighed In
the balance and found wanting. He feels
Il himself and IS seeking the cities.
Birth Rate Decreasing.
In the cities he does not reproduce his
numbers from one generation TO another.
The net birth rate Of the race there is not
equal to its death rate Gods law Of ev-
Olution-the survival of the httest, and the
extinction Of the unfit-is operating The
birth rate Of the negro is decreasing very
materially, as every observant Southerner
will tell you. I was told not long ago, by
a large planter In Sunfower County that
upon plantations where from the number
OF women, there used TO be nineteen or
twenty little pickaninnies running around,
there are now only eight OF nine or ten.
This has come about very largely from the
fact that the negro women are very poor
mothers-careless and unintenigeat.
Whether we want 20 or not we must
Of necessity seek somebody to do the
work Of the South that the negro hither-
to has done. The net increase Of the no
gro from generation TO generation can no
longer keep I'D with the demands of the
world for cotton and other products of
the South from farm, mine, and factory.
On the other hand. the natural increase Of
the white race OF the South, especially in
the Uolands os the cotton States, IS larger
than that Of any other population in the
world Thus we see the extinction of the
unfit going on on the one side and the sur
vival Of the fit going on on the other The
latter process. however, Is too slow. We
must help Il on. The right way 10 do il is
20 use strenuous effort in all the Southern
States TO bring IN. as workers in the
Lords vineyard men Of the pure white
race, desirable types OF It and Of desirable
individual character.
Criminal Phase of Question.
so much for the industrial phase of
the negro question Now for the Grim
inal side Of Il. People ask me why it is
that the negro race seems to have
changed so radically in forty years. Who
does not recall with pleasure and graft
tude the behavior Of the slaves during
the war? Even during the first few years
after the war, considering all the tempta-
tions and the newborn liberty and its
consequent license, they behaved very
well-not according to the white mans
standard. Of course, because they were
not white men, and were incapable of
that-but in everything. except politics.
upon the whole, we'll Now there are so
many negro crimes perpetrated. South
and North, that many people have come
20 the conclusion that the whole negro
race is. constituted OF criminals
These thoughts suggest some sort of
common sense remedies of the negro
question upon the criminal side. princi-
pally in the nature of preventives. In the
first place, they suggest the rigid enforce
ment of vagrant laws by new laws
wherever, in justice and right, they need
strengthening. In the second place they
suggest a closing Of all low dives and
brothels where the vagrant. tramp. and
idle negroes consort. and where their i'm
aginations-they being peculiarly a race
Of imagination and emotion-are infiamed
by whisky, cocaine. and lewd pictures.
In the next place, 1 suggest that we
ought, ike Canada and Cape Colony. TO
have mounted rural police or constabu-
larry whose duty it would be 10 patrol
country districts, day and night. They
would. to a certain extent. take the place
OF the patrols the Southern States used TO
have.
Encourage Good Negroes.
When we find a good negro we must
encourage him to stay good and to grow
better. We are doing too little of that.
The old adage, Give dog a bad name
and you have bad dog is a good one.
IndiscriElinate cursing of the whole negro
race. good and bad alike included, is an
exemplification OF the adage, Justice goes
hand in hand with power. or else power
becomes tyranny To every white man
would say. in the words of Shakes
peare: 1t is excellent to have a giants
strength, but it is tyrannous TO use Il
like giant. irrationally. We viii main-
tain in perpetuity that integrity of the
race and Of its civilization. To doubt
that We can do that when the governors.
sheriffs, judges, and lawmakers are of
our race and elected by us, is to doubt
our own capacity for self-government
On the other hand. when we are con-
fronted with criminal negroes we must