Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1910-02-18
Vardaman and the Negro.

w OdC Has OduQOS n. dIObLAdA
ever accomplished toward the so
luton of the alleged political as
poets of the race problem in the
South?
Can his most ardent supporter
point to single utteranCl from
him that has served to eliminate
the So called "dark shadow of ne
gro domination?
Don't you know that, by his
continual agitation of this ques.
tion he virtually charges the
white men of the South with COW
ardice and craven fear?
While posing as EFthe apostle OF
white supremacy" THE White
Chifetain," and other self-acquir-
ed titles, does he not thereby
openly declare that the white men
of the South are not masters of
the situation?
Putting it pointedly, is there a
white man in the South today,
with red blood coursing through
his veins, who feels fear i ne
gro domination?
If there is such a man he is an
arrant coward. If there is a per
son in Mississippi who believes
that the time will ever come
when Anglo Saxon supremacy
cannot maintain itself, he is un
worthy to be called a white man.
He is a phariah, an Outcast, a re-
necade, and deserves the contempt
and contumely of his race.
Yet IN the opinion of James K.
Vardaman, the sole and only is
sue in this senatorial race is "me
and the niger"
Like the mountebank who
twangs harsh discord from the
single string Of a broken fiddle, he
has traversed the length and
breadth of this state stirring up
strife, fomenting hatred, infaming
passion, and arOusing sectional
prejudice.
If he has ever given voice to an
intelligent opinion on any of the
great public questions that vital
ly concern our moral and material
welfare, it is not a matter of rec
ord.
Persistently and perniciously,
James K. Vardaman's dOleful
plaint has been "nigger, nigger,
nigger," until the sensible, sober
minded people of the common
wealth have grown heartily sick
and tired of it.
This man has been feeding, or
endeavoring to feed, at the public
crib for twenty years.
If, during this long period, he
had even shown one solitary quail
ification for a seat in the worlds
greatest deliberative body, if he
had ever made one intelligent ap-
peal to high principles, his present
bid for public favor could be Civ
en- more serious consideration.
But he has not even shown an
accurate knowledge Of his one
hobby. Strange though it may
seem, he cannot claim an accurate
knowledge of the so-called prob
lem that has been constantly in
his thoughts by day and haunted
his dreams by night.
James X. Vardaman sees only
the alleged political aspects Of the
negro question, because his domi-
nant mental characteristic is pol
itical ambition, a perpetual han
kering after office.
In chasing this political ambi-
tion he has never stopped for a
moment to consider the fact that
the real, vital, ever-present negro
question is an existing condition,
and not political theory.
His passion -inf1amed mind has
never realized that the negro |
is here, and here to stay; that we
must live side by side with him;
that he must exist with us on
Southern soil until the end of the
world: that he is both our servant |
and our ward; that to maintain |
harmony of relations will require
thought and conserva-
tive action.
The negro problem-the real ne
gro problem, mind you-is purely
a matter of social economics, and
politics has nothing whatever to
do with it. That phase was set
tied long ago and it was settled
by men of the same mental and
moral caliber who are today op-
posing James K. Vardaman for
the United States senate.
That great cOmmoner, James q.
George, was not an agitatOr, a
a fulminatOr. He was
1 deep, silent, sober minded
thinker, who never ventured an