The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1909-01-06
SMITH FLASHES FIRE AT NORTHERN
Present Governor Differs With Former Governor on Ne
gro Education. A Near" Sensation
From the Atlanta Georgian.

Just as the second general session
of the Southern Educational Asso,
citation (now in session in Atlanta
was drawing to a close at 1 O'Clock
President P. P. Claxton saw Gov
ernor Hoke Smith sitting in the as
sembly hall, and called upon him for
a speech
The governor, without INTRODUCED
ry remarks, launched into a vigorous
and pointed discussion of the negro
problem in its educational phase.
sharply taking issue with ex-Govern-
or NOrthen, who had preceded him,
and with other speakers
The interest was at intense heat
throughout the morning because of
the free handling Of the question,
and the great differences that arose,
and 1T became red-hOt when the gov
ernor took the floor.
Preparing a merchant for life by
sending him to a medical college"
said the governor, would show
lack of sanity, you will agree. We
should prepare a negro for life with
a proper conception of what his life's
struggle Will be, and not with the
conception of an idealist, which is
what it should be-
l am not opposed to the study Of
Latin and Greek by those who have
nothing else to DO, but there is more
character to be built in the study Of
English than in all the dead Ian
guages and other languages COM
bined. We must not be inundated
by orators and idealists. We must
not allow enthusiasts to sweep us
off our feet,
II Resent the Charge"
Il resent the charge of the pre-
yious speaker Ex-Governor Northern
that We are to blame for the negro
being here Our English compatriots
did that, and when they did they did
the negro a service, not an injury.
1t was Gods way to give the negro
a chance.
Il differ with another suggestion
by my friend who opened this dis
cussiOn. | take issue with his state
ment that the white people turned
their back on the negro during re-
construction. EXploiters from the
north and the lower men of the south
joined hands, and the negroes were
taken away from the southern peo-
pie, and this made it impossible for
the whites of the south to do what
they would like to have done.
Il do not believe in prejudice and
I do not believe in hatred, but | re-
sent with all my soul any denuncia.
ton of race prejudice, which denun-
citation really aims to obliterate the
lines of distinction between the white
race and the negro race.
The great bulk of the negro race
is engaged, and must continue to be
engaged, in the humber walks of
life and in the humber lines of labor.
The real problem is to teach them
to do that work well.
1t is the southern mans burden
and the southern woman's burden.
The real problem is ours. We know
the negro better than anybody else"
Governor Northen's Views.
Ex-Governor Northen, whose adj
dress the governor seemed to be most
directly answering, had opened the
special discussion on the negro prob
lem from an educational standpoint.
The negro problem, - he said, lis
the most difficult problem ever known
to the American people, and the more
closely it is studied the more diff
cult seemingly it becomes.
In dealing with the problem there
are a few things, in justice to the
negro, which We must not overlook.
The negro is not responsible for be-
ing here. He is the only immigrant
to the south that did not come of
his own volition. RE came as
slave.
The negro is not responsible for
his black face God gave him that,
and | trust God will have his face
continue black.
THE negro is not responsible for
reconstruction. When this great
horde of negroes was turned loose
on us we turned our backs upon
him
Give Equal Advantages"
81 say to you that we should give
the negro the same educational adj