The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1909-03-11
mr. Denendencies.

The government of our ~dependen-
cies In Porto Rico and the Philip
pines are progressing as ~favorably
as could be desired. The prosperity
of Porto Rico continues unabated.
The business conditions in the Phil
ippines are not all that we could
wish them to be, but with the pas
sage of the new tariff bill permitting
free trade between the United States
and the Archipelago, with such Emi-
tations in sugar and tobacco as shall
prevent injury to the domestic IN
terests on those products, we a
count on an improvement In business
conditions in the Philippines and the
development of a mutually profitable
trade between this country and the
Islands.
Position Towards the South.
I look forward with hope to in
creasing the already good feeling be-
tween the South and the other sec
lions Of the country. My chief pur-
pose is not to effect a change in the
electoral vote of the Southern States.
That is a secondary consideration.
What I look forward to is an in
crease in the tolerance of political
views of all kinds and their advo-
cacy throughout the South, and the
existence of a respectable political
opposition in every State; even more
than this, to an increased feeling on
the part of all the people in the
South that this Government is their
Government, and that its officers in
| their States are their officers.
The South and the Negro.
The consideration of this question
cannot, however, be complete and
full without reference to the negro
race, its progress and its present
condition. The 18th Amendment Sc
cured them freedom; the 18th
Amendment due process of law, pro-
lection of property and the pursuit
Of happiness; and the 18th Amend
ment attempted to secure the negro
against any deprivation of the priv
ilege to vote, because he was a ne
gro. Thei13th and 18th Amendments
have been generally enforced and
have secured the objects for which
they were intended. While the 18th
Amendment has not been generally
observed in the past, it ought to be
observed and the tendency of South
ern legislation today is toward the
enactment of electoral qualifications
which shall square with that amend
ment. Of course the mere adoption
of a constitutional law is only one
step in the right direction. 1t must
he fairly and justly enforced as we'll.
In time both will come. Hence it is
clear to all that the domination of
an ignorant, irresponsible element
can be prevented by constitutional
laws which shall exclude from voting
both negroes and whites not having
education or other qualifications
thought to be necessary for a proper
electorate. The danger of the con-
troll of ar ignorant electorate has
therefore passed. With this change,
the interest which many of the Sou
thern white citizens take in the wei
fare of the negroes has increased.
The colored men must base their
hope on the results Of their own in
dustry, self-restraint, thrift and bus
mess 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 Northerners who SYM
pathized with the negro in his neces-
sary struggle for better conditions
sought to give him the suffrage as a
protection, and to enforce its exer-
else against the prevailing sentiment
of the South. The movement proved
to be a failure. What remains is
the 18th Amendment to the Consti-
tuition and the right to have statutes
of States specifying qualifications for
electors subjected to the test of COM
pliance with that amendment. This
is a great protection to the negro.
1t never will be repealed, and it
never ought to be repealed. If it had
not been passed, it might be difficult
now to adopt it; but with it in our
fundamental law, the policy Of South
ern 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, it is not
the disposition or within the pro-
vince of the Federal Government to
interfere with the regulation by Sou
thern States of their domestic affairs.
There is in the South a 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 pro-
gress which the negro has made in
the last fifty years from slavery,
when its statistics are reviewed, is
marvellous, and it furnishes every
reason to hope that in the next
twenty-five years a still greater i'm
provement in his condition as a pro-
ductive 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
to die for it. Encountering the race
feeling against them, subjected at
times to cruel injustice growing out