The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-01-24
CetterS tc ti,e Gditor
THE NEGRO QUESTION

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 As Seen By n Northerner in the
 south.
 Editor The Advertiser:
 This Is my first visit South. I have been here since last August, and have travelled through North Carolina. Geor- gia and Alabama l came South with all the prejudices of the North. With the idea that l should dislike the south erners from what l saw of them in the North.
 An Irishman was reproaehed because of the appearance, the illiteracy, and his race in this country. "Ah," said he, Ego to Ireland and see the educated Irish, and you will find Gods mobility. And the axiom Is true; ITO judge 2 class of people. see them in their na- tural surroundings"
 The true soqtherners are ladies nsIS and gnsifpent fSsS eS lack ise bnsiness ability and push of the Northerner. and 1t is in this lies their weakness. They have a burden on their shoulders Whlcn den ts neaE{ is the tO coiored people. The people of the North may theoriZe, may suggest ways. and means to lift this puTaen. But what good will 1t do? IT the Morsn .Ia whites, there would be race war ln- side of a week. The South knows now to deal with the race question better than the North, because 1t Is With them
 The colored people are like over grown children. They become more in- dependent every r d5y tSsr Tnsy hanyds h0 rhes will work when they please. They do as they please Every place that em- ploys colored people is at their mercy; by W false doctrines promulgated by Northerners, that they (the colored people) are as good ndsns. as Iae Wh that they should have the right to vote that they should own land and bulld- ings. and do business in competition to the whites. What IS the result nnIa iSIe three.fourths of the time, caroussiihs and an annoyance to the communitiess in which thev live. Do not think thas I do not believe in the advancement or the colored race. I do. But the meth ods employed by the Northern advocate for the advancement of the colored peo- erner know about this great question, when he is waited on by white ser wants. surrounded by white people ano would not employ a colored person, Hor IiOr allow a colored person to be ylsltor at his house? Let the Northerner come South and live, and have dealings Wltn the colored people, and he will chahse
 I have sympathy for the colored peo- pIe; they cannot help being black They should be taught to be dependent nIoWer rI WTiA' His lis % success eel is their success. selves. I To work for their own ad. vancement. There is one truth l Wa9s it this: The Southerner treats the col pred people far better than the North z erner would There has been talk or principaIly by Northerners. But l had rather see the colored people stay nere' working in harmony with the whites aiding and helping eseh ,st. otner' niacs than 'o
 Let these Northern reformers come here and devote their time, their pa tience, their energy in educating the colored people to be faithful servants in whatever line of business they are empIoyed-whether farm hands. cotton pickers, domestics--to save their money and shoddy clothing; to establish law abiding communities where they can live and thrive, To learn to read i6s and write. It will take time and patience, consider 1t terrible crime if man should turn his children out on the streets, saying: You are free now; done done with the colored people. The war ended about forty years ago, but the fruits of that injudicious action IS have said are no better than children, In about forty years of freedom, the ma ajority are worse than before the war Shiftless, ignorant, and not trust  who have advanced and do credit to themselves. But they are so few In comparison to the thousands of illite. rates, that it is like a few drops or rain on the desert of the good inten- tions of the Northern suffragists
 There are colored people who work hard, who try to improve, These should be commended But it Is of their race, taken as a whole, I write. 4 IS to al. lowing the colored man to vote, never! Unless he can read and write. This law should be applied to the whites as we'll The colored vote is a menace, unless a law is passed requiring read ing and writing a test for suffrage. There are, of course, number of edu- cated colored men, but just think what the result would be if a colored man was elected to office. giving him the power to dispense patronaeei
 Roosevelt is a man of impulses, and not cool Judgment. He has shown his temperament many times, Ills invit- ing Booker Washington to dine at the White House, and I will wager that Roosevelt, as a private citizen, would not have done this. His appointing colored men to positions in the South was an anront to the white people of this section of the country. If the truth was known, he committed these acts on the impulse of the moment. moYad by the persuasive elennenee of