Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1907-06-20
THE VARDAMAN IDEA
How the Governor of Mississippi Would
Solve the Race Question.
Br HARRIS DICKSON
tReprinsed ey Pernisoz ssrvspsr Evrxrxo Posr

lReprir
@Vardamsnismi- ~Demorocic ap-
pealsi" ~Negrophobia,- By these and
like expressions the Governor OF Missis-
sippi y frequently pointed oat a. the
APOSTLE Of the Rabid Idea. College pro
fessors, highly edusated and uneo' wise,
accord TO him the unique distinction Of
originating new creed.
James n VanIlman must smile guilt
ily at all of this; must wonder how long
the deception can last; how long it viii
ts before his rank plagiarism viii be dis
covered and himself unmasked a. a mere
L<liever IN the repetitions Of hisfc-y-
Here i the Nariaman Iica--a very
simple matter, after all Il does not
take two men and a boy to comprehend
u:
The negro should never have been
trusted with the ballot He is different
from the white man He i eongenitally
unqualified 10 exercise the most respon-
-sble duty OF citizenship. He i physie-
ally, mentally. morally. racially and
eternally the white mans inferior There
Is nothing in the history of his race,
nothing in his Individual character,
uothing in his achievements of the past
nor his promise for the future which
entities him to stand side bv side with
the white man at the ballot box
The inestimable privilege was thrust
upon the negro. snatehing him out of
his twenty thousand barbaric years AMI
placing him shoulder to shoulder with
the heir OF all ages This was stu
pendous blunder worse than any crime,
and the sober second thought OF tho na-
tion should correct it.
we must repeal the Fifteenth and
modify the Fourteenth Amendment to
the Constitution of the United State.
Then we shall be able in our legislation
to recognize the regro's racial pseuiiari-
ties and make laws to 1T them This
would leave the matter precisely a. was
intended by the fathers OF the republic.
This i what Variamsn saws. and a
vast number Of patriotic citizens who
are standing face to face with the sor-
did problem think practically the same
thing. The only difference i that Var
daman saws II.
An Echo Of Lineoln's Words
The statement made Is no more than
an echo Of Abraham Lineolu's words.
with a change in the tense. In his
etfNEN NtlttHcI NhAfte-Nuu. H. On
September Is. is5s, Lincoln said;
Il will say, thea. that | am not, nor
ever have been in favor OF bringing
about in any way the social OF political
equality of the white and black races.
Il am not, nor ever have been. in IA
vor Of making voters or jurors Of ne
groes, nor of qualifying them to hold
Office, nor Of intermarriage With white
this. that there Is a physical difference
heeweeu the white and black E.cex xhieh
believe will forever forbid the two
races living together On terms Of social
and political equality Inssrnueh a.
they cannot 30 live, while they do re-
main together there must be a position
of superior and inferior, and /, as much
as any other man, am in favor Of hsv-
ing the superior position assigned to the
white race"
Ten years before the ballot was ever
placed in the negro's hand this marvel
Gus man from Illinois stated accurately
the position taken by Southern whites
in the light of forty years experience
with negro voters. He spoke in a spirit
of prophecy, pointing out a pitfall into
which he hoped the nation would never
tumble.
Can il be doubted IL Lincoln were
alive today he would be big enough, brave
enough and generous enough TO undo the
wrong against which he had lifted his
mighty voice in vainf Wouh mere po-
litical expedieney prevent And what
q spectacle that would present-the rail-
splitter of Illinois and the fireeater of
Mississippi making common cause upon
a comman platformi Would it then be
called -Linenln's negrophobiaf
Was this idea original with Lincolni
Indeed, no. Toombs said exactly the
same thing in Boston two years before:
Il maintain that % long as the Afri-
can and Caucasian races co-exist in the
same society. the subordination of the
African i its normal, neee-sary and
proper condition, and that ssreh saboEdi-
nation Is the condition best calculated
to promote the highest interest and the
greatest happiness of both races, and.
consequently, of the whole soei-ty-thAt
the white is the superior and the black
the inferior, and that subordination.
with or without law, will be the status
of the African IN this mixed society.
Therefore, il Is TO the interest OF both.
and especially of the black race, that
this status should be fixed, controlled
and protected by law
What did Mr- Toombs mean when be
said il would be especially to the inter
est of the black race that il be assigned
a permanent position Of -ubordination.
Every white man in the South under
stands what Mfr. Tcombs meant And
tn. student who does not live among
negroes need only turn the pages Of his
tory and read the lesson.
From tine beginning Of time the white
racp< have never bowed to a superior,
and have rarely brooked an equal They
have tolerated other peoples 50 long as
those other peoples did not come into
direct competition and conflict with
them-so long as other races took noth-
ing from the white man which the white
man desired for himself For instance,
the whfe man needed the Indians land
and took it. The Indian resistei-and
disappeared
Under present conditions the negro
rarely comes into direct competition
with the white man. either North or
South AT the North this Is because
there are 50 few negroes in proportion
~ the total popul2tion-even these few
hcing in most eases barred from trades
unions and like organizations
In the South the negro was formerly
wen under control; he Is now drifting
rapidly from all control; vet he cannot
be reckoned the white mans rival The
white mechanic and farmer work side by
side with him in peace.
Should the negro be forced upon his
own resources into competition with the
whites. he must stand or fall BY the nat
uraI Law of sx.rvivnr<hin IL he eannof
survive he must die Such IS natures
law II Is a matter OF common knowl-
edge that no like race has ever been
able to survive in competition with the
whites
The negro's greatest safety and great
est happiness require that he should be
spared battle which gives no quarter
Should that competition come into the
trades, it means that the white man,
because of superior competency and in
I'll i. -. l.