The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-11-30
ROOSEVELT IN AFRICA TO SETTLE
THE FATE OF THE AMERICAN greRo
An Astounding Story of What is Believed to be the Rao,
Purpose of the Ex-President's Mysterious
Juorney to the Dark Continent
By William Buckley, in Lesiies Weekly

cities are clamoring for RELIEF fro,,
negro ex-convicts from the conv;ntt
farms and PRISONS" The plan o1+
lined by Mr.. Roosevelt, and which
took him to Africa to complete. con-
tains a solution to every vexatioms
lem. The fact that the negro nov i.
a citizen Of the United States and is
a property owner, and all the diff
culties, legal and otherwise. entai}as
in the execution Of this plan. all ara
solved in the explanation of Roose-
Velts intentions to deport him. "a
disclosed by his confdant. ."Thao'
dore Roosevelt relies on his popular
ity as Napolean did on his" asserted
the attorney. ito carry him through
all his difficulties in his novel schema
to deport the American negro tn
Africa. He believes that it will be
easy to persuade the nation to abro-
then the negro will have the same re-
lations to the Federal government as
h Indians, and they were elected
from their lands handed down through
centuries of ancestors and forced tn
migrate thousands of miles, as in the
case OF the Seminoles. He relies on
the supper Of the South for tho
financial burden necessary to carry
aut his plan, provided his reports Of
conditions in Africa are favorable
If it is pointed u to him that the
territory he would annex, practically.
is far inland n not accessible. he
will point to the success Of the Nor
mons in making a fertile valley out
Of Utah. when they We're obliged to
cart all their material and supplies
overland from Kansas City.
Roosevelt will burst from the Jun
giles Of Africa next April and say.
Here, ! have done it.: now help me.
I have risekd my life for a year to
find a solution TO your negro prob
lem. ! hav organized a friendly fed
Grafton Of tribes in the most fertile
country Of Africa. / have perpared
q place for the negro, where each can
have a and sixty acres OF
land. This is not the pestilential
coast of Liberia, but the very heart
of Africa. The %colonizing of this
country will also prevent the expan-
manv.' And then, exerting all his in
fuence, he will ram through legisla-
ton and strike while the iron is hot.
He plans, if necessary or possible, to
have the individual States issue bonds
to finance his migration and expatria-
ton proposition. in proportion to the
negro population in each, supple
mented by a bond guarantee by the
Federal government. AS a last re-
nort, he relies on the attitude Of the
South to raise the one if necessary,
bv popuIa subscription, feeling sure
everv county n locality throughout
the South Will open II description lists
and that the money will pour forth in
abundance
There is one more problem, and
Roosevelt seems to think he can solve
this also. And that is the necessity
OF being able to persuade the negro
TO migrate. State legislation Roose-
Veit KNOWS he can control. If its OBJ
Ject is to settle the negro question;
u by Offering the negroes peace and
safety, from conditions that
are now humi1fating, by offering each
a farm with It bonus with which 10
make a new start and buy the tools
Of husbandry, by acclaiming that he
Is the friend of the negro and lwayS
a been, and that his solution viii
improve them as a ace and as in
d1v1duals-by these means Roosevelt
to overcome the situation with
out compulsory legislation, unless it
might be by q remote time limit OF,
say, twenty years. If he does not
md conditions over there as he eX-
pected, as he has not announced pub
licly his plans, he car withdraw
gracefully and no harm has been
utmost to put the deal through. 1T
is the kind Of an undertaking he
likes
What is Roosevelt really dojng iii
Strong evidence is nov De
ing brought to light which affirm the
rumor that he is there to solve the
negro question. Did Roosevelt, a man
who has kept the world in a tur-
for seven years, go out to Africa
with dreams equalling those of the
Corsican, expecting to reverse ne
laws of ethnoIogy and turn the TIDE
of migration back from West TO East
Did he expect to succeed where MOI
roe had failed, to combat the lust o.
European nations for every linen o.
soil on the Dark Continent? Did ne
to be able 70 accomplish thdt
which the sacrifice of a million me-
in the Civil War did not? And II lIHS
has hcen his real yame. inSteAd -