The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-05

onel Goetha1s and his fellow army engineers associated with him, and will certainly be completed early in the next administration, if not before.
 Some type of canal must be constructed
 The lock type has been selected We are all in favor of having it built as promptly
 as possible. We must not now, therefore,
 keep up fire In the rear of the agents
 whom we have authorized to do our work
 on the isthmus. We must hold up their hands, and speaking for the incoming ad- ministration, I wish to say that 1 pro- pose to devote all the energy possible and under my control to the pushing of this work on the plans which have been
 adopted, and to stand behind the men who are doing faithful hard work to bring about the early completion of this the greatest constructive enterprise of modern times.
 Island Dependencies.
 The governments of our dependencies in Porto Rico and the Philippines are pro- gressing as favorably as could be desired. The prosperity of Porto Rico continues unabated. The business conditions Tn the Philippines are not all that we could wish them to be, but with the passage or tine new tariff bill permitting free trade be-
 tween the United States and the arcni- pelago, with such limitations in sugar and
 
 mestic interests on those products, we can count on an improvement in business conditions in the Philippines and the de- velopment of a mutually profitable trade between this country and the islands. Meantime our government in each depen- dency Is upholding the traditions of civil liberty and increasing popular control which might be expected under American auspices. The work which we are doing there rebounds to our credit nation.
 I look forward with hope to increas- ing the already good feeling between the south and the other sections of the ooun- try. My chief purpose Is not to effect a change in the electoral vote of the south i ern states. That is secondary oonsid- eration. What I look onward to is an in
 crease in the tolerance of political views
 of all kinds and their advocacy through out the south, and the existence of a re- spectable political opposition in every
 state; even more than this, to an in
 creased feeling on the part of all the people in the south that this government is their government and that It's officers
 in their states are their officers.
 The Negro Race.
 The consideration of this question can not, however, be complete and full with out reference to the negro race, its prog ress and it's present condition. The thir- teenth amendment secured them freedom;
 the fourteenth amendment due process of law, protection of property and the
 pursuit of happiness; and the fifteenth
 amendment attempted to secure the negro
 against any deprivation of the privilege
 to vote because he was a negro. The
 thirteenth and fourteenth amendments
 have been generally enforced and have secured the objects for which they were intended. While the fifteenth amendment
 has not been generally observed in the
 past, 1t ought to be observed. and the tendency of southern legislation today is toward the enactment of electoral quail flea ations which shall square with that amendment Of course, the mere adop- tion of a constitutional law is only one step in the right direction. It must be fairly and justly enforced as well. In time both will come. Hence it Is clear l to all that the domination of an ignor- ant, irresponsible element can be pre- vented by constitutional laws which shall exclude from voting both negroes and whites not having educational or other qualifications thought to be necessary for a proper electorate. Inc danger of the control of an ignorant electorate has therefore passed. With this change the interest which many of the southern white citizens take in the welfare of the negroes has increased. The colored men must base their hope on the results of their own industry, self-restraint, thrift and business success as well as upon the aid and comfort and sympathy which they may receive from their white neigh bors of the south. There was a time when northerners who sympathiZed with the negro in his necessary struggle for better conditions sought to give to him the suffrage as d protection and to en- force its exercise against the prevailing sentiment of the south. The movement | proved to be a failure What remains | is the fifteenth amendment to the con stitution and the right to have statutes of states specifying qualifications for electors subjected to the test of com 1 pliance with that amendment This is a great protection to the negro. It never will be repealed, and 1t never ought to be repealed. If it had not been passed it might be E.-~ssult now to adopt it; but with it in our fundamental law, the policy of southern legislation must and will tend to obey it, and so long as the statutes of the states meet the test of | this amendment and are not otherwise in conflict with the constitution and laws | of the United States, 1t is not the dispo- ! sition or within the province of the fed | eral government to interfere with the regulation by southern states of their do- mestic affairs. There is in the south a stronger feeling than ever among the intelligent well-to-do and influential ele- ment in favor of the industrial education of the negro and the encouragement of the race to make themselves useful mem bers of the community. The progress which the negro has made in the last 50 years from slavery, when it's statistics are reviewed., is marvellous, and it fur nishes every reason to hope that in the next 25 years a still greater improvement in his condition as a productive mem Der 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 coun- try and their only flag. They have shown themselves anxious to live for it and to die for it. Encountering the race feel l ing against them, subjected at times to cruel injustice growing out of it, they may we'll have our profound sympathy | and aid in the struggle they are making. We are charged with the sacred duty of | making their path as smooth and easy as we can. Any recognition of their dis
 tinguished men, any appointment to of
 flee from among their number. is prop