The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-05-12

1 uOxN which is dispensed to the riff-raf of the nations capital
 James Bronson Reynolds, who is . sort of man Friday" to the President has been Investigating the subject. and 1t was on his recommendation that the commission was named. Mir. Rey- holds Is a member of 1t.
 A Negro Problem.
 The negro question in Washington Is a serious one. The last census re- port showed that out of a total popu- lation of a little over 3oo,o0O in the District of Columbie, nearly s100, 900 are negroes. The police are of the opinion the number is much larger. No reliable census of the rowing ne- groes can be obtained. They constapt- ly move from one part of the city to | the other. and on account of crime and absolute habits have anywhere from three to dozen names. This | Is demonstrated nearly every day in the police courts of Washington. A | negro man or woman. Is brought in and the clerk will read out a certain 1 cognomen. The first thing the judge | knows one of the officers will sudden | Iy announce that the fellow in the cul- | prits box is not Jake" Smith, for he recognizes him as Tom" Wilson who for a few months before was sent down to the rock pife'' for being drunk and disorderly on the streets. The inner alleys here are sights to behold In most of the shacks any, where from twenty to thirty negroes are quartered. Comparatively few of the residents of these alleys have any permanent employment. They will work for a few days CT weeks-just long enough to obtain money with which to buy a small quantity of food, Hst most generally cheap gin and whiskey are purchased fu as liberal quantities as the available cash will permit.
 In one section of Washington there is a large colony of North Carolina me- groes huddled together in droves. Many cleared out of Wilmington several years ago when the riots occurred. Others came from different portions of the State. having left "Tarheeldom' during and after the red shirt" demonstra- tion.
 Blacks Sore On Roosevelt.
 These negroes are constantly holding out inducements for others to follow. And they are coming from all parts of the South to Washington. which has been regarded as the darkey paradise for a number of years The chances, however, are that the movement will be
 
 President Roosevelt Is devising schemes to clean out the sections of the city in which they congregate. They are quite Sore on him on account of the Browns vile affair. and one can hear almost any hour of the day the assertion in group of negroes that Roosevelt ain no longer de frein' of de black man."
 By the way, it is now charged that several thousand Baltimore negroes, the other day, remained away from the polls when the municipal election was held, which resulted in a sweeping vic- tory for the Democrats, which was forc- shadowed in a special to The Adver- tiser. Some people assert that at least 1000 negroes supported the Democratic nominees because they were mad over the Brownsville affair. The Republt- cans do not admit this. They charge that Democratic money, which they al- lege was plentiful. induced the negroes to remain away from the polls. This question Is being carefully investigated. If 1t should be found out that negroes are really resentful towards the Pres ident and Secretary Taft, 1t will make an important difference in rounding up delegates in Northern and Western States which have large negro popu- lation-States lige Pennsylvania. New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana and H. linois.
 Some Own Good Homes.
 Many of the upper class negroes or Washington own houses In the most fashionable part of Washington. Not great number of these residences own ed by the blacks can be reckoned as attractive mansions. They are general ly wooden structures which were built up a quarter of a century ago. A small percentage are of brick.
 The negroes were the first to buy the ground in what Is known as the north west portion of the city. Forty years ago nearly all that part of Washing ton was marshy land-full of frog ponds and considered so unhealthy that few white people would live out that way The site on which tho British Embassy is located, is alluded to as made ground" It had to be filled in. And so 1t Is with scores of the squares in the vicinity of Dupont Circle. which embrace many of the most palatiaI res idences of the Capital.
 limited states Senator and Mrs. Hale of Maine. have a fine mansion at the corner of Sixteenth and K. streets Al agitation has been going on 10 change the name of Sixteenth to Fres- ident Avenue, for the reason that DIX teenth street runs from North 10 eouth and stops at Lafayette square lni,ne S.otaiv nnnosite the White House. For tn,o blocks North of Senator Hales hovse tbere are any number Of frame and brick shanties owned by negroes. They will not sell just yet. preferring to hold their property for higher prices and they will certainly succeed IT they ban1 on to what they have. But the time time is not far off when all of these shanties will disappear: It is a sore subject with President Roosevelt, TOT ba often walks up Sixteenth Street III e,otnp +o his church on Sundays.
 Senator Hale married the daughter ot tbe late famous and notorious Sen ator Zach Chandler of Michigan vho more than any one else was re- snnsihIe for cheating Samuel J. Til den out of the electoral votes of Flor ida south Carolina and Louisiana Tn 1876, thus depriving him of the Pres,t dencv to which a large majority or tha voters of the country had elected him. Zach" Chandler left millions to his family, and no one seems to en- ioy that usufruot more than the Hon @ EHsene Hale. But he has often oeen
 a .o rennark that life would be