The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1908-06-19
NEGROES
At Chicago in Large
Numbers Are Lined
up Against Taft
MUCH TALK OF A BOLT

s"S" ~ "
Chicago June 16.-There are more
negroes at this convention than have
been seen at any Republican conven-
ton since the convention of 1880.
There was a great outpouring of col
ored men at that convention. They
turned out then in support of Grant
for third term. They were all for
Grant, but they accepted the result.
Whether the colored voters will be
acquiescent this time if the Roosevelt
Taft program goes through remains to
be seen. The negroes have not come
here in support of one man as they
came to the convention in 1880. The
majority of them have come here this
time to oppose one man, and that man
is Taft. Not all of them are for Sen
ator Foraker. Some are for Speaker
Cannon.
The principal point is that they are
here in a spirit of resentment and that
resentment is directed against Presi-
dent Roosevelt and Mr.. Taft.
'If Roosevelt or Taft is nominated
an Independent Republican convention
will be held in Chicago Immediately
after the close of this convention, to
nominate candidates for whom the ne
groes of this country and the indepen-
dent Republicans can vote for next
November"
This was what the Rev. J. Milton
Waldron, head of the National Negro
American Political league declared to-
day.
The feeling aroused among the ne
gro population here was shown yester-
day when a crowd of several thou
sand negroes stormed a colored con-
vention called by the Taft people in
Quinn chapel, opposite the Coliseum,
and after capturing the meeting drew
up resolutions against Taft Another
attempt was made last night to hold
this meeting, but just as the meeting
was to begin the electric wires light
ing the church were cut, the police
had to be sent for and great confusion
ensued.
The negroes have been invading the
Foraker headquarters in great num-
bers, of course, but if they have beer
looking for anything more substantial
than sympathy for their cause II
would seem as though they had been
doomed to disappointment. They
have, Of course, received promises of
support in the matter of the contests
from the four states before the creden-
tials committee, but the leaders of
these negroes don't appear TO be op-
timistic enough to believe that they
are going to see any change in the
deal there.
Such leaders as Bishop Walters, ].
N. Trotter of Boston; the Rev. ]. F.
Carey, of Chicago, and others have
been holding conferences with view
of deciding what to do should Mr.. Taft
be the nominee.
Aside from the Brownsville matter,
what these negroes seem to hold par
ticularly against Mr.. Taft is his atti-
tude towards the disfranchisement of
the negro in the southern states.
Mr.. Waldron and others are out
with statements declaring that unless
they can bring about an independent
party to be headed by some such a
man as Senator Foraker, they will
keep up the fight against Mr.. Taft that
they have been making here and try
to get every colored voter in the
northern states to vote for the Demo-
cratic candidate. How seriously this
should be taken is a matter of some
doubt, however.
]. Scott Ferguson, of Washington,
D. c., the editor of a. paper for coll
ored people, and secretary of the Ne
gro American Political league, which
had its inception in meeting held in
Philadelphia several months ago, said
today that Senator Foraker might
stem the tide of this negro revolt
because Of the admiration the race
had come to have for him as a result
of his fight on the Brownsville mat
ter.