The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1917, 1911-11-16

- with great interest, for about
two years. Your editorial in the
last number of The Jeffersonian,
on the negro question, being of Pc
culiar interest to me, considering the
fact that we have just passed through
one Of the most exciting campaigns in
the history Of this State. that being
the issue upon which the battle was
Waged. Your description of the con-
dltions in the days of slavery. the
carpet baggers and his dethronement
the elimination of the negro from pol.
ltlcs and the transition Of social and
political affairs since the war, is all
very similar to what might be said
on the same subject in Mississippi.
Your portrayal of the social char
acterist1cs of the negro are true to
nature and illustrations, and histor-
1cai references showing the utter i'm
possibility Of teaching the negro
the true science of self government
are incontrovertable, all of which
looks so simple and plain to me, as
you express it, that it seems strange
that every body in the South with an
ocular demonstration of all of these
things set before them, could not see
1t the same way.
However, [ reckon we should not
marvel, as with all of your genius for
statecraft, you were willing, only a
lew years ago, to try the experiment
OF giving the negro the privilege of
exercising the franchise, and l do not
doubt but what you thought it pos
sible to educate and Christianize him
as we'll, fitting him as material for
good citizenship. Of course, the pos
tive aversion to anything approach
ing, or leading to social equality, has
always been instructive, which ex-
perience and due course of reason
ing have crystalized and made
dogma, based on a scientific knoWl-
edge Of the irreconcilable differences
existing between the negro and the
caucasian. However, l did not start
writing to you for the purpose of
theorizing on the negro and his social
chara cterstics, for you are far more
capable of dong this subject justice
than l. But when you ask, what
do we really intend to Go with the
negro?" this question applies with
equal force to the people of Missis-
sippi, as to the people CT Georgia;
and | feel that it is the duty of every
white man in the South to endeavor
to reach a proper solution of this
grave problem. AS you know, this
has been a live issue in the State of
Mississippi, for about eight years, and
while larger majority OF our people
agree with VardamAn in his advocacy
of the repeal Of the 18th amendment
and the modification Of the 14th,
many Of us realize that there are
many obstacles in the way, and that
many things can happen before this
can be accomplished, and owing to
the proximity of the negro, we
cannot follow a waiting or supine
policy in reference to this matter, any
more than we could wait on the fed
eral government to relieve us Of the
carpet Dagger.
We have in the State Of Mississippi,
fifty thousand more adult male ne
groes than whites, and the whites
are divided into two bitter, hostile,
irreconclable, political camps; in
national affairs though, they arc I'M
der the same emblems. I say irrecon-
cilable, because the two factions are
separated by the same underlying
principles, and the same different
ideas of party policy, as that which
separated Jefferson ant Hamilton.
The conservatives diStruSting the