New-York tribune., 1906-11-26
THE NEGRO PROBLEM.
Dr.. 4dIer Declares Gift Of Ballot a
"TerribIe Mistake"

~. Felix Adler addressed the members Of the
Society of Ethical Culture in Carnegie Hall yester-
day morning on ''7'he Negro Problem the Su-
prerae Test of the Moral Ruiz" After pointing out
the difficulties OF the problem. he said. in part:
am SAD that the national idea is to-day gain
Ing gro;ind. and that in the South the nation has
cone to mean more man me a ~ i: ,fbr on ee
chaScteristics embedded in our national life, such;
Nov tb;s problem is a Southern problem. The
practical difficulties IN dealing with the moral con-
ditions native race only comparatively recently
ene not bT the NORTH At the same time no IN
telligent southerner will hold that II Is sSutheTn
r. n Is Rightly solved the whole nation viii benefit
and If it is wrongly solved the whole nation VIII
While It is encouraging on the one hand TO see
there is in all sections Of the land n2rdenng t or
nent is turned against the Negro. and in the race
riots and other outbreaks the treatment or IN, Ine
that of the South. w..
terrible mistake was made when the - Negro ,ge
armed with the ballot and wren ne Ni4e H4s
asked with no training TO compete with ai {e
Gace on YOUR feP Wien the Negro was hardly ready
to creep It was a horrible mistake which en-, en-
tailed the greatest injustice upon the NEGRO. here
is one place where the moral rule applies: T.
The notion that there is an equahtE, except I'm IL,
the sense of "A moral equality. is confusing. or
we have got recognize that the weak are WEAK
led 10 the carpet bag government. We must re-
member this then. and that there Is no other
Regarding the social equality of the races the
is misleading. il what Is meant is tte
approa chInent of the sexes, then the best Sentl-
rnent of both is in accord From the lips or
one Negro leader / had il that the Negro race
would dread such approach more than anything
rise, and IL 1t should come, the blacks would
suffer far from ii than the whites.
on the whole. ] think there is the utmost reason
for aggregation. But that does not interfere with
cooperation. For there is such between the races
constantly Tt was seen after the Atlanta troubles.
II is possible the races to cooperate. For IN
stance. orthodox Jews can cooperate with Chris
tisns. yet internarriage could not, for moment
be considered.
think the policy of holding the Negro down is
suicidal In the first place. the great industrial
development of the South. come and coming, needs
skilled labor and artisans For many years ITO to
replacing the labor of the blacks Will of neces-
sity. extend a period Of many years. Skilled
labor means intelligence. Intelligence must be
based upon education One of the ways out OF the
problem for the South Is through the gateway OF
education. -
subsidy the schools7 Philanthropy has not done
enough
From a political standpoint in the second place
do not think that this colored people should be
held as a servie The best sentiment must
hold that laws of observation-disclosures must be pro-
visional in that they must lead TO enfranchisement
by demanding Of the Negro that education which is
essential TO the franchise. But should say that
the most ignorant must never be without repre-
eentatiop