The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1907-02-07
a.. NEGRO
Voters Are Dissatis-
... fled.
With the Republican Party in
Ohio and Are Expected
-.. to Cut Loose II

Columbus, Ohio, Feb. 4.-Ruminat.
ing oyer the recent exciting political
events, John F.. White, for many years
the Republican leader in Hooking
county, remarked: There are certain
people in the Republican party who
are eternally making trouble for it.
We got a deserved whipping at the
hands Of the temperance forces year
before last, and 1T looks to me as If
there was another licking due at the
hands of the colored voters"
This is but sample OF many SINH
lar mistatements that have been made
since the. Brownsville %horror" has
come to the attention of the nation
through the war between President
RooseYelt and Senator Foraker. From
time to time it has been. pointed out
IN this correspondence that the col
ored voters practically control the bal
ance of power in Ohio in normal cleo
lions. They have remained loyal un-
der all of the changing conditions to
the Republican leaders, no matter
which faction happened to- be in con-
troll. That they have been ignored
IN the matter Of official patronage is
Is notorious. No coloreed man holds
an elective county or state position
nor has any member of that race ever
been placed at the head of state
department through appointment by
the governor. Three counties have
sent members Of the General Assem-
hly-Hamilton, Cuyahoga and Mahon-
Ing. But one colored man has ever
sat in the senate-John p. Green, Of
Cleveland. There have been colored
men nominated for county Offices, but
always in Democratic counties VIII ere
a white Republican could not hope for
success. George w. Hayes, Of Gin
cinnati, and Rev. James Poindexter,
OF this city have been about the only
representatives recognized in appoint
| ments as members Of boards Of trus-
tees Of state institutions. The dispute
between the President and Senator
Foraker simply serves to emphasize
the fact that no colored man has been
appointed to a Federal Office in Ohio.
There Is a rumor that there is q
lft'urth-Class postmaster somewhere in
| existence. but his identity is vague.
Years ago colonel Bob Harlan, Of
Cincinnati, was wont to rear his giant
form in state conventions and in the
| name Of SO many thousand colored
| ticket Just as often he sat down with.
out getting it. Once every four years
| colored man Is nominated for alter
] nate at large to the national conven-
| ton.
The Republican leaders appear to
proceed under the theory that, no mat.
ter how difficult it is made for them,
| the colored voters will remain IGtead.
fast. One Of the Republican partys
| mainstays is the compromising atti-
| tude Of the Democratic party In favor
OF white domination. It even Nay be
called the corner stone of tthkS feeling
Of content. They felt the same way
concerning the temperance vote
Through the mistake Of Democratic
leaders in interpreting the doctrine of
opposition to sumptuary Legislation
as unlimited license in tipping they
secured for themselves the name Of
| he whisky party. 1t was never dream
| ed that there could ever be union
| between the temperance forces and the
tate Democracy, and the Republican
| leaders, notably Senator Hanna, felt
entirely free to make alliances with
the liquor element. But the unexpect-
ed happened when a man was found
| in the person Of John M. Patterson
for whom the law and order men felt
they could safely vote. The result
Tas disasterous to the Republican or
ganiZation, and 1t is now promi2ed
that the errors Of Hanna will never
be repeated. Thinking men in the
party now foresee a danger from the
colored vote. Some leader may arise
vino will lead q hegira out Of the
Republican party for the purpose
Of furnishing punitive example
for the future. In picking out
the colored man as the pretext for
their quarrel the President and Sena-
tor Foraker have both disobeyed the
old maxim: "Let sleeping dog lie"
AS long as he was not an issue the col.
ored voter might have gone along sup
porting the party ticket and gratefully
accepting the carcass Of the turkey
after it had been stripped Oh the flesh.
But he has been made an issue, and
through it his despised position in the
party whose principal bulwark Of
strength he is has been made painfully
clear to him. His extreme readiness
to swing from Roosevelt, once his
great hero, to Foraker, and from that
statesman back to Roosevelt, Is indica-
tive of discomfort and q yearing for
share of the division Of the good
hings that help to win at every cleo
ton The Washington fight has whet-
ted his appetite and the question ari-
ses, Is he to remain hungry .toT will
he be fed until contentment again
returns?
TABLED WAS THE BROWNS