Franklin's paper the statesman., 1907-10-11
NO RACE
PROBLEM
Continued from page |


can be applied to any one race as
against any other Such principles are
universal and not racinl. The road
which your people are travelling In
their Efforts to overcome the handicap
entailed by century OF slavery In this
country is the same road which the
AnKlo-SaSon race has Travelled from
the depths Of barbartsm and serfdorn
TO Its present position in the world,
and let us not deceive ourselves into
believing that any people or any indi-
vidual has yet reached the end OF thai
road. for perfection In human AFFAIR."
Is for the centuries to come In consid-
erinH the future welfare and happiness
OF our colored people we have come TO
look upon IL and to call IL the Negro
problem This so called problem has
been the subject of endless discussion
In the press. on the platform and In our
serious thoughts and even In our li,era-
ture. Societies have been formed for its
solution. Mistaken philanthropy has
directed Its attention to II. Legislation
has attempted to deal with IT. | take
issue with the whole idea. for to con
slider II a race problem and treat II
NO is 10 clos. our eyes to those rrin-
ciples upon which human progress de-
pcnds. II Is to ignore the fact that
IN gradual and not spasmodic. that
the moral. physical and intellectual de-
v.lopm.nt OF an individual or of a race
OF individuals must come from within
and not from without No race can he
gro question ami 90 treat IL Ms such Is
scarcely less than an insult TO cur
colored population for n II Is a prob
lem at all IL is a problem OF the whole
human race ard no, OF any particular
branch of IL The things that make
for your welfar. and happiness ere
controlled by the same laws that az
feet mine AS ! View the matter the
question with you and your people to-
day Is not how you will attain the ro-
sltion in tn. worlds affairs to which
you aspire and which you arc destined
to attain. for this Is attained through
the working of fundam entail immu,
able laws. The question il how TO ac-
ceirrnte and hasten this much desired
end. To me who has observed the Iro-
xress which your people have mad. and
are making and have noted with more
than passing Interest their advance IN
all lines through their own efforts and
unasslstcd epd.aVors IL N "A matte OF
no little surprise that there are stu
thos. who believe that water can be
made to run up hill and that mDnu.
ment can be constructed from the tor
down. Immediately following the rlose
OF the Ciyil War when The country was
torn and wasted by that dire Struggl.
and before your people. just freed from
the yoke OF slavery and having had
no opportunity to demonstrate their
ability to care for themselves and their
own sfnirs II Is not surprising that
well meaning. but misiakcn persons
to solve the whole question at Issue
in day. Conditions then existing
made such plans not only cxcusablc but
eommendAhlc, for they came from
those who had the welfare OF our coll
ored population Mt heart. and their
mistakes were OF Judgment and not Of
intention one plan which | viii men
ton. as II has some bearing on what
] shall have to say later. was that Of
transporting our entire colored popu-
lation back to the, country from which
Its race had originally sprung Impos-
ptble and unwire as we now know such
"a course would have been II received
the support OF many well intentioned
men. Looking backward we now know
that such program would not only
have been impossible OF execution. but
that l, would have been the creates,
calamity that could have befsilcn our
eoiored race and would have been
hardly less Of q calamity to the country
hs whole. In the light of today we
wonder not why some such plan was
not adopted. but why II should have
been suggested at all Surprising as
II may seem that such n solution should
have ever been suggested. II In mat
ter OF Infinitely greater surprise that
today. when we have before us the
marvellous results which your people
have attained In working out their
own salvation that any one should he
found advocating a kindred proposal
for such is the program brought for
ward and seriously advocated by some
which Involves the colonization of
large numbers OF our colorcd ropu-
lation. AZ understand the question
u Is proposed to set aside n portion OF
the public domain and there locate
such OF your people as NAV desire
under government supervision. In the
frst place the impracticability OF such
plan In manifest. but this is not the