The semi-weekly messenger., 1906-10-23


the north a shock We deserve II and
we need il 10 awaken Us 10 a reali-
zation OF our responsibilities TO onr
brethren OF the south. \ race war.
undertaken on the whites In sacred
defense Of their homes, or an unlawful
outbreak in which the innocent and
guilty OF one race were alike Sacri-
feed TO the maddened vengeance OF
another: consider it either way. as
you will; denounce it or excuse il;
find pilliation in the greatest of provo
cations humanity can know or con-
denim perpetrators as outrageous law
breakers, you cannot avoid the awful
fact that the condition which is re
spOnsible for IL exists and must be
reckoned with.
This dreadful problem presses fer a
permanent solution The conclusion
Of the rebellion demonstrated, once
and for all, that this was a nation.
Being such. its component parts must
share responsibility for the mainte-
nance of order and justice within its
borders. l. the protection of woman
IS not the supreme duty of the Amer
lean citizen, whether he lives north or
south of the Mason and Dixon line
then our country no longer deserves
70 rank among civilized nations. If Ii
IS, then il is time that the citizen of
the north ceased 70 consider the prob
lem OF the south as an academic QueS-
ton TO be discussed calmly and regret
fully at a safe distance from the scene
OF horror and shame. 1t is his duty %
come forward, manfully. and acknoW!-
edge his share of the blame and as
sumo his part of the burden.
The north is even more responsible
for this overshadowing horror than
the south. Let it face the facts as
they are and cease this sloppy, senti-
mental talk about the elevation of the
negro race and the need of self con-
troll on the part of the Caucasian. Eth
scal considerations, fine spun theo-
ries, philanthrOpical devices for a
gradual elevation of the negro are not
entitled to a moments consideration
when il is tue that no whie woman
living in the south is safe for moment
unless guarded by the gun.
The north freed these negroes Z
elevated them to citiznship and pro
claimed them the Tos5essors of equal
rights with the whites. Previous to
the war, slavery, accursed though it
was, held them in subjection and re-
strained the brutes among them, and
they were many, from violence. Care
less of consequences, the north let
them loose and encouraged them to
believe themselves equal in every
thing to their former masters. After
a brief interregnum Of carpet-bag gov
eminent, the conquerors retired to
nf t<s1
cure in the knowledge that the law
was amply strong to protect them
from assault and their women from
dishonor. They washed their hands
of responsibility; they left to the i'm
poverished, defeated, disheartened
south the task Of making the newly
freed worthy Of citizenship.
Since then the north has contribut-
ed largely of money to educate the
negro. 1t has sent northern teachers,
, devoted, self-sacrifcing, well-meaning e
persons, full of zeal to lift the once
oppressed race to higher plane. 1t
has SympathiZed with and supported
I every scheme devised to benefit the
negro and has lauded to the highst
. skies every effort TO create in him So
cial, political and financial aspirations.
, To the protests of the white men of
the south who know the negro and
had to live with him, that the methods
chosen were wrong and mischievous
and would surely result in disaster.
the people of the north turned a deaf
ear.
The southern white mans exact
knowledge Of conditions was discred-
tied, his advice sCorne1, his warnings
unheeded. Although he had demon
strated repeatedly his fidelity to the
restored union and had shown his
willingness to serve his country in
! the field when the emergency arose,
he was deemed unworthy of conf
dnce in questions affecting the negro
He was told to observe the law, when
the law was unable TO save him or,
what was a thousand times more i'm
portant. TO save the dearest thing on
earth TO him-his women. He was
told to contain himself, TO De patient
and await the results of lOng-distance
northern theOriZing.
Meantime he was surrounded by a
dense mass of ignorant negroes fast
forgetting what little Of self-control
had been inherited from a former gen.
eTdtIOu WHICH Hdu IL
spect the white man and honor the
white woman was rapidly returning 20
a state of brutal savagery, every day
degenerating, as a whole, morally, and
becoming an increasing menace 70
civilization. Upon this vicious. ignor-
ant, debased horde, the puny schemes
of race elevation were as snow fakes
falling into the seething ocean. Still
the southern whites protested, warned
and impIored, but northern sentimen-
tality was proof against the natural
appeals OF race, the ties of kinship
and the dictates OF nature.
Now il has at last come to pass
that the deluge has broken and this
problem long in the brewing Of It's
malign factors. must be effectually set
tied not alone By the south but The
north as well. We have had enough
OF theoriZing, temporiZing. philoso-
phizing, it is time 10 act. Northern
people are not generally aware of the
fact, but II IS nevertheless true. that