The Mena weekly star., 1909-03-11

without reference Co the negro race, it's progress and It's present condition, The 18th amendment secured them freedom; tEe 18th amendment due proc ss of law, protection of property and the pursuit Of happiness; and the 18th amendn ct attempted to secure the negro a-ainet any deprivation of the privilege to vote, because he was a negro. The 18th and 14th amend ments have been generally enforced and have secured the objects for which they were intended While the 18th amendment has not been gencr. ally observed in the past, 1t ought to be observed and the tendency of southern legislation today is toward the enactment of electoral qualifica- tions which shall square with that amendment Of course, the mere adoption of a constitutional law is only one step in the right direction It must be fairly and justly enforced as we'll. In time both will come. Hence 1t is clear to all that the dom iration of an ignorant, irresponsible element can be prevented by consh. tutional laws which shall exclude from voting both negroes and whites not having education or other qualifca. tions thought to be necessary for proper electorate. The danger of the control of an ignorant electorate has therefore passed. With this change. the interest which many of the south. ern white citizens take in the welfare of the negroes has increased. The colored man must base their hope on the results of their own industry. self restraint, thrift and business success. as we'll as upon the aid and comfort and sympathy which they may receive from their white neighbors of the south. There was a time when north erners who sympathized with the ne-' gro in his necessary struggle for bet tor conditions sought to give to him the suffrage as a protection, and to enforce its exercise against the pre- vailing sentiment of the south The movement proved to be a failure. What remains Is the 18th amendment to the constitution and the right to haf6 SldlultS .Ol ctdNtO qualifications for electors subjected to the test of compliance with that amendment This is a great protec- ton to the negro. It will never be re- pealed, and it never ought to be re- pealed If it had not been passed, 1t might be difficult now to adopt it; but with 1t in our fundamental law, the
 Iao .r, will tend to obey 1t, and so long as the statutes of the states meet the test of this amendment and are not otherwise in conflict with the const- tuition and laws of the United States 1t is not the disposition or within the province of the federal government to interfere with the regulation by south ern states of their domestic affairs There Is in the south stronger feel ing than ever among the intelligent, well.to-do and influential element in favor of the industrial education of the negro and the encouragement of the race to make themselves useful members of the community The progress which the negro has made in the last 50 years from slavery, when its statistics are reviewed, Is marvel ous, and it furnishes every reason to hope that in the next 25 years a still greater improvement in his condition as a productive member of society, on the farm, and in the shop and in other occupations, may come The negroes are now Americans. Their ancestors came here years ago against their will, and this is their only country and their only flag. They have shown themselves anxious to live for it and willing to die for it. Encountering the race feeling against them, sub jected at times to cruel injustice grow ing out of 1t, they may well have our profound sympathy and aid in the struggle they are making. We are charged with the sacred duty of mak- ing their path as smooth and easy as We can. Any recognition of their distinguished men, any appointment to office from among their number. is properly taken as an encouragement. and an appreciation of their progress. and this just policy shall be pursued.
 
 Sees Era of Better Feeling.
 But it may well admit of doubt whether, in the case of any race, an appointment of one of their number to a local office in a community in which the race feeling is so wide spread and acute as to interfere with the ease and facility with which the local government business can be done by the appointee, Is of sufficient benefit by way of encouragement to the race to outweigh the recurrence and increase of race feeling with such an appointment is likely to engender. Therefore, the executive, in recognlz- ing the negro race by appointments, must exercise a careful discretion not thereby to do it more harm than good. On the other hand we must be careful not to encourage the mere pretense of race feeling manufactured in the in- terest of individual political ambition.
 Personally I have not the slightest race prejudice or feeling. and recogni- ton of its existence only awakens in my heart deeper sympathy for those who have to bear 1t or suffer from It, and I question the wisdom of policy which is likely to increase 1t. Mean