New-York tribune., 1909-06-01
DEFENDS S0UTHERNER
]. S. B4SSETT, CHAMPION.
Other Speakers Denounce Him for
Oppression of the Negro.

Beginning in the morning with the consideration
Of the negro from scientific point Of view, as
compared with the Caucasian. the national confer
ence oR the American Negro closed its first days
session last night with several ringing addresses al
Cooper Urion. laying the responsibility for present
conditions in the Soath upon the white man Pro
fessor john Spencer Bassett. Of Smith College. A
southerner. Was the only one in the place where
Lincoln delivered his famous address who had a
good word for the men below Mason and DiNon
lire. and he cheered when he said:
i say q word for The Southern White
man His heart is good as the heart ~ any
Of any people He is good IN his sense OF
duty is the man OF the North We
have got take that into account. and 40 amount
Of vituperation you ! may utter viii help l"
solve this question
Justice Wendell Phillips Stafford, OF :he Supreme
Court of the District Of Columbia, presided. The
seven hundred persons in the hall inter
mingled negro and white men and women Many
of the regular frequenterS We're there. hut they
crowded the rear Justice Staffords ad-
dress accompanied by almost continuous ap-
plause. He said
We confronted not by theory but by a fact
THAI The deliberate and sNoWed exclusion
Constitutional rights. accompanied by the announce
n1ent that that exclusion must and shall be perma-
he is poor. that he is vicious. but that he is
negro Even when ne is good and learned ana rich
lie must still be excluded because he is still
negro That Is TIE proposition, and thar Is What
doctrine 10 make their dissent known. and make
IL unCGmprOnSlng and clear
shame on the race that holds in its hands the
wealth OF the continent and carries in It's brain the
fusing 10 lift ignorance and vice TO the level OF
me a wi ne e1ie IF rbs NeIeT
until white has spent his last surplus dol
the effort 10 lift up brother-never until
then he sknd in the presence OF infinite Justice
and complain OF the ignorance or the orimnaIitE OF
iI,. black
Jenkln Lloyd jones followed with examination
into the moral aspects 81 the negro question. He
wanted census taken 90 the mulattoes and other
offspring Of mscegenauon as a corrective Mr.
Jones declared that the negro the 10
the fun justification Of the amendments that gave
rights. and that If II necessary 70 wage
another maintain his freedom, now III eat
ened he would gladly sustain IL He deplcred the
action Of Berea College in acqu!escing in the de-
mand Of the Legislature that its doors be closed 20
persons with the slightest tint cf negro blood in
their yelns-a tint Nj Jones said, contributed 20
rhe exten; Of F. per cent by the states chivalry-
Professor ". f. B. Du Bois. Of Atlanta Univer-
siry the champion Of negro's political rights,
said that the black continually puzzled by
the easy almost unconscious. way in which his de-
tractors changed ground Before the war il was
said thai a free negro woL revert TO savageTy-
After the war said that education spoiled
him; thar ne became lazy. shiftless, criminal Then
he said:
What does the present hegemony Of the he g.e wtlte
force survival Of the worst stocks OF IhatIL9 .s
il attempts people the best part Of the earth
only and indeed not mainly the culture of EUROPE.
bur its greed ana dsgTadsdlon IL rs a'csPS P and ID
under all circumstances the superior of any col
ored group
Other speakers were Clarence Darrow. the Rev.
] Milton Waldron and John Milholland II was
reported that Or. Booker T. Washington. of Tus-
kegee had been heard from. but that he would
not he present. Dr. Washington counselled moder-
alton.
The conference opened in the assembly han of
the United Charities Building in the morning. with
the Rev Dr. William Hayes Ward OF The lnde-
pendent" as chairman. Dr. Ward said that the
purpose OF the conference was to emphasize in
word ard 50 far as possible the principle
that equal justice should be done to man,
and particularly 70 the negro The negro work
ingman. he said. had proved his willingness TO
II work capabilty of thrift He the chief
agricultural producer Of the Southern and
by the last census 81 per cent Of the negroes in
Virginia ned their MONIES. while Massachusetts
only "a per cent Of the white people owned theirs
AS the subject meeting Race Preju-
dice Viewed a Scientific Standpoint" the ad-
dresses adhered a comparison between the white
and negro races far mentality was concerned.
Professor Burt 6 Wider Cornell had lot OF
charts Of b-a.ns. which placed around the
room, giving il the appearance Of a corner Of the
Academy Of Medicine. Professor Wilder said that
while the weight of the brain Of the negro was
lighter by about two ounces than that Of the eau
casian. there exceptions in both races The
negro brsin ne SAID was distinctly human and
there constant feature which would differ
entiate from the Cauca sian 4e wanted more
brains for examination, and circulars distrfb-
uted showing how they might he contributed
other addresses IN the morning we're by Pro
fessor Livingston Farrapd. u Columbia .yho
agreed With Professor Wilder. Professor T r 4
SeliEman and Professor John Deu.,y- Professor
seiiEman said that there were economic causes
working in the South that would tend 10 make con
ditions there worse instead Of better. but be be