The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1909-07-11
Coz. Herbert Writes Of
ADard IN Georgia Case

one OF the foremost lawyers Of the
South. The railroad was represented
by Major Cumming and Mr.. Sanders
Mcdaniel; Major Cumming making the
only speeches, and need not tell Geor-
gians how high he ranks. The chief
witnesses for the strikers were twon-
ty-five engineers, mostly from the
Georgia Railroad. upon which no trav-
eler ever lost his life by the careless
ness Of Q fireman. The testimony OF
many Of these witnesses was the ster-
eotyped answer that the average white
man was superior to the average me-
gro, which, Of course, all know. 9th
ers testified more specifically that the
white man made better fireman than
the negro; all admitted. however. that
some negroes were entirely compe-
tent, and two of them admitted that
they had asked for particular negroes
as firemen. Now. the testimony OF
each Of these witnesses. all Of them In
telligent, and / believe truthful, was
mainly from his opinion formed from
the few negro fremen who had been
under him individually. No concrete
facts were given which. In my opinion,
could AFFECT the question. Remember
ing here that general conclusions
drawn from individual instances ara
only considered valuable when derived
from many facts. and the more the
better, let us look frst at such evil
dence ON the other side as comes from
the Georgia Railroad alone. The witt
-nesses were the General Manager. the
Master Mechanic and other oflcials to
whom reports were regularly made
about the conduct and value, and par
ticularIy about the defects. IL any, of
every fireman on the road. 1t was the
duty of every engineer examined, and
of the many other engineers who were
not examined, as Il has been for years
Of their predecessors. to report espe-
cially upon any dereiictions from duty
Of the firemen who were serving imme-
diately under them. Each Of these Of
fetal witnesses was. therefore. through
firemen on the road, and the expert
ence of such officials. IL truthfully re-
lated, was therefore of more value
than was that of all the engineers
who gave evidence, because each en-
gineer was In touch only with such
hremen as happened to be under him.
What adds further value to the testi-
mony OF these officials IL that the Gem
erai Manager and the directors of this
carefully managed railroad, from all
their reports. have adhered for years
to the policy Of employing in part me-
gro firemen. Self interest prompts rail-
road corporations, as II does other per-
sons. II experience had shown that
negro dremen endangered the safety
OF the travelling public. the railroad
company would have given them up.
Everybody knows that juries award
heavy damages when losses occur from
the incompetency Of railway employees.
The case of the Georgia Railroad
was established by the evidence from
that corporation alone. But besides
the evidence of the Georgia Railroad
onicials, the Board OF Arbitration had
before II also the testimony of on
cials Of six other Southern railroads.
All Of them testified that experience
extending back for years. embracing.
OF course. careful observation for long
periods of all their firemen, justified
them in adopting and adhering to the
policy Of employing in part negro fire.
men. Never was q controverted fact
more abundantiy established by evil
dence than was the fact before the
Board OF Arbitration. that the negro.
well all the duties OF fireman. Some
OF the testimony was that negroes
were more efficient than whites, be-
cause they endure better the heat of
the climate. It further appeared from
the evidence that more negroes than
at present would be taken on az fire-
men by some of the companies, were
~ NOT AoE q ueSlFo 10 Train on eaCn TO30
q certain number of firemen for en-
gineers. No one of the companies
makes negroes engineers, wisely draw
ing the line here. JUST as the people
OF Georgia do when they elect to SUI
bordinate positions men whom they
would not choose for Supreme Court
tudges-the PoIitico- Economic ques-
tion. II the negro Is not competent to
do the duties of firemen under the Inn
mediate supervision of white engi-
neer. what Is he At for? What are
we to do with the 100000 negroes
in the South? The able counsel of the
fremen saw the necessity of some re-
ply to this question. and, as remem-
Der, he said they all should be sent
to the fields. OF course, Mr.. Arnold
has as high a regard for the white far
mer OF the South, who works with his
own hands, as have; and I am sure
that ne did not see all that his posi-
ton would imply To the white far
mer the only white man in the South
with whom the negro is to be allowed
to compete7 These white farmers and
their friends, when appealed to for
sympathy with these labor unions who
wish to drive the negro out Of other
ocupations, should take notice of what
all this. means. For one, I should be
glad IL we had never had negro in
America. He has been the cause OF
strife and bloodshed. He
came: yet II was not his fault. He
was brought here against his will. and
he served faithfully as a slave, espe-
ciaily during the civil war; During
days he played a sorry
part. He was ignorant and credulous,
and bad men. playing On his hopes
ana fears, pitted him against us In
contest for social equality and politi-
cal supremacy. The white man won
out. of course, and now the pity OF 1t
ali IL that those OF the two races who
grew up in the midst OF that conflict
became 80 bitter against each other
that the young white man. with his
superior Intelligence, often finds II DIFF
ficuit to take a dispassionate view OF
the situation before him. stu, this Is
what he ought to do. We OF the
south are in full control. and the ne
gro with whom we must deal is here
with us to stay.
The Negro Question.
Thomas Jefferson was a wise man.
He favored emancipation. but thought
Il should be coupled with colonization
az the negro abroad. because he feared
= race war, as in San Domingo. Other
early Southern Statesmen thought like
wise. Abraham lincoln, the South now
as O wise and good man.
When he felt obliged. as a military
necessity, to issue his preliminary
of emancipation. sympa-
thizing with the South. and fearing
race trouble, he sounded. through his
Secretary OF State, Great Britain.
France and the Netherlands to know
whether the United States could send
preadYnan To the British the French or