The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1907-01-17
EDITo RIAL.
THE MISTAKES OF lILLMAN

Z THE MISTAKES OF 1ILLMAN
1t is undoubtedly presumptious for
US to attempt argument with the
violent Senator who brazenly pro-
claims himself as the apostle of caste
and of race hatred, yet we cannot
longer forebear to point out a few of
what we consider the mistakes of
Tillman.
Letfus admit, for the sake of argu-
ment that we are supporting theory.
That may be true but we believe it
is good theory, the theory that the Lord
Jesus Christ came to preach unto ALL
mankind. 1t is the theory of the white
mans su :oremacy-in love. in charity.
in magnanimity and in virtue. not his
supremacy in power, in pride, and
lust and mastery. Senator Tillman
and his followers are equally bad in
theory and in practice. What has
southern practice brought upon the
Southern people? 1t brought the
abomination of slavery. 1t brought
war and desolation. 1t is has debauched
not only the blacks but the whites.
1t has given to them tone of moral
laxity and depravity that is APPALLING.
1t has brought them today to state,
which the Senator himself describes
as critical. Is the south living today
in q state of quiet security and peace
and good will? Is it not rather a
seethipg mass Of unrest. of suspicion
Of hatred and of cruelty7 This state
of affairs cannot be laid to the North.
For years the North has pursued.
what we consider. policy of almost
criminal negligence. The South has
been given a free hand. The Var
damans and Tillmans have mouthed
unhindered. while every Northern
voice has been hushed as that of an
agitator and a theorist. Lynchings
and mob violence have not been re-
strained. State legislatures have been
allowed to pass laws that were fairly
grotesque in their efforts to disfran-
chise the negroes. No, the South
has been given free rein. but unoer
it's theory and its practice it has
gained nothing. Is it not time for
the theorist. the theorist who does
not believe we have 3.white mans
country" any more than that we have
- It'll, l.,
mans God. to come to the rescue
and in spirit of brotherly love. save
the South from its own worst en-
emy-i itself? Senator Tillman has
learned nothing since the war. The
defeat of the South brought to him
no message of Divine wrath, no les
son of great moral principle. no con-
viction of sin that must precede re-
generation. He is essentially ante.
bellum in his ideas and in his utter
ances. With but unimportant changes
in phraselogy his speeches might have
been. and in effect were. delivered
by pro-slavery leaders before the war
Let us be as brutality frank as is
the Senator. There can be no logical
ending to the Tillman program except
the absolute practical slavery of the
colored race. The name. the shadow.
is all that the Senator would yield as
the result of the War of the Rebel
lion. White. supremacy, serfdom.
peonage, slavery. are practically syn
Z onymous terms. and in his heart the
southern white man wishes them to
be.
The same degree of admiration we
may give the bold highwayman we
can accord the frank utterance of the
Senator from South Carolina. His
first mistake as we have already
pointed out. is in his viewpoint as
to what constitutes true supremacy.
He stands for the supremacy of brute
force, of superior shrewdness and
superior cunning. while we main
tain that in the great equation of
the centuries, that supremacy must
be upheld. if upheld it is. by SUPER
Tor virtue and 10 and charity to all
mankind. The senator makes a
sweeping admission. and his second
great mistake. then he admits that
he would make no discrimination on
account of Individual merit. The
white man is SUPERIOR because for
sooth, he is white4 The black man