The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1911-01-19
INAUGURATION OF GOV.-ELECT
HOOPER BEING DELAYED r. I,
INDEFINITELY. -. =
Republicans at Sea
Are not profiting by their alliance
with Regular Democrats who are
masters of the situation--Negroes
interested in final result. '... .

- L
signs now ere In favor of his fietiFine
only when the Regulars wish. They
hold the whip in Tennessee politics
now. These same Regulars kept the
Legislature from organizing and
finally permitted it to go to work
on the, terms they dictated They
have succeeded in having the inau.
guration of Hooper postponed until
January r26 and the delay may &c
further. than that -if--both Houses
finally concur in the amendment fix,
ing January &c as the date. AS
things appear now, Hooper may nev,
er be Governor of Tennessee. In
such a case the crown would fall on
Nat. Baxter who is a Democrat. n
is not impossible for the matter to f,e
finally settled that way.
Now. comes the eternal question,
"Why?' Republicans and Demo-
Gratis are strange bed-fellows any
where and under any conditions. The
Independent Democrats are not such
fools as Tennessee pubIlcans be-
lleve' they are. They are playing the
game. Of politics for profit They
want the fruits of victory That
explains why they have decided to be
political feas and jumping jacks.
They .are~the disgruntled and disap-
pointed element of the Regular
Democracy. They were the outs
and could not "get in" on the disuri-
button of patronage. Because they
are so uncertain to deal with, it
would be no surprise to see them
finally frame up some sort Of cem-
:hinatioR Or trade with the Regulars
to toq send Hooper to the Senate In Fra
Zier's place. That would give Ten
nessee another Democratic Governor
and the Democrats control of all
branches Of the State Government.
They had rather nave control of Ten
nessee than a U. S. Senator and
would willingly make the sacrifice.
Time will tell :
You can't change the spots Of a
leopard. Good Democrats and loyal
Republicans are marked like the
beast. They are true to their faith
1T seems weak at times, but rises
high when the bulWarks are threat
ened. Self-interest appeals to the
Ejob-hunting element of both parties
sometimes but when they get "the
bone" for which they have been wait
ing. looking and longing, they take
IN
Mp." ....
-Fhe Negroes -afeintefested iR-the
final result Of the impending cri-
sis. When the State Republican or
gamzation dumped J. G.. Napier from
the Executive Committee wagon last
August and put white man in his
place, it settled. the future of the Ne
gro AZ part Of the State organiza-
ton and inaugurated the rule Of the
Lilly Whites. The 'sop" they threw
out to MIR. Napie3 in the nature of a
job as Register of the Treasury
means nothing in comparison to the
principle Of the Negroes of having
voice and vote in the councils of
poorest kind Of exchange and looked
like snatching baby's rattler and
giving him milk bottle 10 keep
him from crying although he would
bic nicer infant If he had both at
the same time. The Tennessee col
o:ed Republicans saw the point They
wanted Mr.. Napier to be rewarded
for his years Of faithful service to
the party but they also wanted some
voice in the party organization. They
cried out at the ballot-box in No
vember and negotiated their protest
against the color-line in the Repub-
lean party. Thetr undivided support
would put the G. o. p. on the safe
side entirely.
1t is hard to fool Negroes now
ind poor white folks as veil.
They are beginning to see the COM
mercialisn Of tho North advancing
on the Sodth. They see the corpo-
rate interests gradually urging the
party lin power to side-track the Ne
gro IN ordeT to build up sufficient
strength in the South to control at
fairs. The poor white man sees It
also. He is not much Of fool now
a-days and knows when his welfare
is in greater danger. He is not hat
ing the Negro 50 much as before.
He sees the real nigger-in-the-wood
pile" and his hatred for him ia
growing. Socialism and The
Greed Of Corporate Interests" are the
themes Of his everyday talk on the
corners and in the public square OF
Louisville, Birmingham. Nashville
Atlanta and nearly all the large cit.