New-York tribune., 1906-10-17
SOUTHERN TROUBLE MAKERS.

The lesson of the Atlanta race riots is being
taken to heart by enlightened Southern sentl-
ment. Senator Tillman's incorporate predc-
tons OF race war and his advocacy of an
armed truce policy on the part of the whites do
not reflect the feeling Of the educated and con-
servative South. There are thousands of South
erners who have not thrown reason to the winds
and who do not believe that the civilization they
enjoy is TO go TO wreck on the rock of race
passion and race prejudice. The Hon. William
II. Fleming ex-Representative in Congress from
the Augusta district of Georgia. is one Of those
who think that a race conflict is not inevitable
and that 1t is the part of cowardice and folly
to assume that the race problem will not yield
to justice, moderation and charity. In a letter
to THE Augusta Chronicle" Mr.. Fleming cour-
ageously repudiates the Tillman theory and LAYS
the blame for the Atlanta riots where 1t belongs
at the door Of Southern agitators and mischief
makers who use the Negro issue for their ON
purposes.
Mr.. Fleming's letter is notable in that it
does not mince words. It names three OF the
agitators most directly responsible for the To-
mentation Of race feeling in Georgia-the Rev.
Thomas Dixon, the Hon. John Temple Graves
Editor Of THE Georgian" and the Hon. Hoke
Smith, ex-Secretary of the Interior and recently
elected Governor of Georgia. OF Mr.. Dixon's
play, The Clansman,' r = Tribune has already
struction period saw the ,outh at its worst, and
no picture of political Ii in the ex-slave states
between 1865 and 1875 can be expected to yield
effects which are either inspiring or wholesome
To revive the memories of those days serves no
artistic or patriotic purpose, and we reproduce
with pleasure this criticism Of The Clansman"
quoted by Mr.. Fleming from the pen of a dis
ttnguished Georgian, the Hon Joseph B. Cum
ming:
I regard this reverend gentleman's work as
not only nasty but fendish, and, worse STILL
cowardly. I say cowardly because Il tends IT,
indeed, II does not seek, to incite the more law
less part of our people to deeds of violence and
cruelty TO defenceless class OF population,
who need and. by their general conduct deserve
protection.
Mr.. Graves is censured by Mr.. Fleming for
publicly advocating q barbarous and inhuman
punishment for rape and for encouraging the
idea that the Negro should be subjected to
veterinary treatment like the domestic animals
Mr.. Smith is condemned for his agitation In
favor of Negro disfranchisement and the with
drawal from the Negro Of all political rights-a
project which has no practical Justification In a
state like Georgia, where the white population
largely exceeds the black population and where
the Negro has long been a negligible quantity in
politics
Mr.. Fleming It seems to US, puts the case in
a nutshell when he says:
Respect for the law until IL is lawfully changed
is the highest duty OF every self-governing peo-
pie We are the superior race, and that su-
periority puts upon the obligation not to
needlessly oppress and discourage those less
fortunate. If both races will act In moderation
there is no sufficient reason why we NAV not
live together for generations in comparative
peace and great prosperity. We Georgians are
in no danger Of Negro domination our white
majority is not less than hundred and ftftv
thousand and is increasing with every decade
The preservation OF our purity is a matter
in our own hands, and win preserve # We
can give the Negro justice as a human beinp
and as an American citizen without imperilIine
our civilization or our supremacy. It is tust al
necessary for us to encourage good Negroes or
it is for us TO punish bad ones. There are hun
dreds TO be encouraged TO every TO be pun
ished.
Cooperation between the better elements of
both races is the first step toward solution of
the race problem. II is the step urged by
Booker T. Washington and by the Rev. IT. Fl
Proctor. leading Negro pastor in Atlanta. as
well as by Mr. Fleming and tie Atlanta Commit
tee OF Ten. The criminal classes. borb ,vhite
and black, be kept ia check by organized
tOint affort- this ef1ort IL mada tho co,..I