The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-02-26

That were bad u Dut liz =
feet on our own people Will be lnlI-
nitelv worse. We Will be plunged into
a period of reaction. on one slde I'M
der the whip of political ambition the
masses Will be lined UP in resentment
and on the other side those VINO are
forced out of conscientious support
Of order and national honor into a po-
sition which will destroy the sympa-
thetic leadership of the best minds the
now has. / arl not an alarmlst.
but | am speaking the judgment OF
scores Of the most thoughtful and
careful men living in the lower section
Of the Southern states.
The great prosperity in the Sn~h-
ern States which is set forth in figures
almost fabulous, suggests the question
whether the native white man IS
the man Who is going to reap and
control the great harveSts out of our
Southern resources. | believe that the
answer to this serious question hinges
largely upon the development of a
southern esprit de corps that. is capa-
bic Of being aroused to an active and
honorable jealousy for the interests of
the native white boy, and / believe
also hat its answer is logically relat-
ed to the duty we show ourselves capa-
bic of with respect to the negro and
our future undue toward him.
The reconstruction era did the South
one wrong, probabA1 the greatest
wrong that could AVE been done us,
a wrong hat went deep and far to-
ward determining the course and tenn
per of the South for the past thirty
years. reconstruction and its attend
ant measures shocked our sense of Sc
cu~ity, disturbed the repose of strength
characteristic of A~nglO-SaXOns. So
desperate was the determination when
the Federal drum beat was rolling
close to our ballot boxes to restore
our civilization to the white mans
hands, that when it was accomplished
we We're left with a dread-almost a
fear. That fear hur our courage to
this extent. We took counsel of our
fea" instead Of the cOunse' of our
force, and this counsel of apprehen-
sion and dread has colored the civiliza-
ton of the South through and through.
The black bulk made a shadow on
every h%ustings n many indeed were
the tricks political ambition turned
in that shadow. Not considering at
the outset that the great mass of ne
groes were untouched really by any
bad feeling toward the white people,
and that they were still responsive t.
the white mans masterfulces, ours
legislation dealt with him in the dig
nifty of an enemy.
Now the harm of this inheritance of
reconstruction was in the fact that it
Injuries any man to be afraid and loses
him the great moral advantage of ac-
ton under the impulse of conscience
and duty. The great part Of u re-
construction negro legislation since
1870 has not been conceived exactly
in our sense of dignified superiority,
ON" Sub-cOnSciOuSneSS of Caucasian
rulership, which was the mood and
attitude of the old South, and which
made slavery like unto a philanthropy.
If the restrictive measure Of the South
ave failed to improve the real situa-
ton, it is not because they weSe re-
strictive, but because they were retri-
butive. For us to come to the calm
and ~steadfast resolve that the negro
is a child race and shape our front Of
civic and social policy toward him by
that resolution is the imperative sum-
mons of the hour. | am solemnly con-
vinced. This would be masterful. The
whole world will honor, and applaud,
and support the Southern people in a
high strong problem like that.
We must also shift the emphasis
Of this discussion and concern from
he negro to the white nan The best
Try Of the North Carolina campaign
for the constitutional amendment was
Chas. B.. Aycock's no niger, niger,
niger, but white man, white man,
white man. We must turn that side
of the shield to the front. The pro-
gress Of the South, including the ne
gro's progress, waits on the progress
of the white people. The emphasis
of concern and attention must be
shifted from the negro as the issue
and contention of our Southern life,
to the white nan the white boy, the
4 white girl, that he may be what he
ought to be, that he may be prepared
to reap the harvest, the Southern
wealth and power. and that she may
be fit for the motherhood of a gra-
cious civilization. To put the negro
$50 4s~~ 49, ~.
white man up is a nobler thing. To
keep the negro in his place is the ideal
of those who build civilization on the
sand; to keep the white man in his
place secure and strong, is the ideal
of those who are trying to build our
southern civilization on the rock, nor
can that be done by fiat or decree.
"Straight is the way and narrow is
the gate that leads to life. and few
there be that go in there at" No IA
voring enactment of legislatures car
guarantee white supremacy in the
South. White supremacy must be
erected or a dynamic n not on an
a%rtifce. There are times when it is
prope to indulge in harmless racia,
poetry. i love to go back to those
Saxons and Angles of which Gregory
when he saw them for/the first time
said mot Angles, but angels and take
pride in the fact hat | am of theil
breed" but Anglo-Saxons have come
to pre-eminence not by bear assertions
of supremacy. but by being intrinsic
cally powerful. The time is now fol
us here in the South to get every mar
Of us down to the racial prose anC
sense of things. Lets stop protesting
as though it needed protesting. tina
this is a White mans country" anC
go to asking what kind of a white
mans country is it and shall it be?'
To pray and labor with the whit
man of this country shall show a civil
ization guaranteed in the quality of it
citizenship. a size and sort of mer
able to look all problems in the face
in the poise II temper of Washington
and Lee, and able to discount the flu
ture by preparing their sons anC
daughters for greater work than the,
themselves nave dOne-is the kind o
loyalty the South needs in her sons
and that is the task of all of us wnt
: shall promote the white mans suprem
Z acy along real interchangeable lines.
The practical need Of the presen
, hour of the South is a Southern pro
gram. which shall be the beginnin;
| of agreement among the white PEG
: pie and of understanding among tn
(. negro people. The first practical ste
? in the direction of harmony. conf
l dence and security will be for South
2 ern men to originate, shape. and pro