The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1912-08-03
BULL MOOSERS
| NOT TO DRAW
THE COLOR LINE
Col. Roosevelt Writes Explaining
His Position to Julian
Harris
WELCOMES NEGRO DELEGATES
Thinks, However, New Party in
South Should be Govern
ed by White Men
WELCOMES NEGRO DELEGATES


ter written to Julian Harris Of At
lanta, Ca, editor Of Uncle Remus
Magazine, and son of the late John
chandler Harris, Col. Roosevelt ex-
presses his views on the position of
the negro in national politics and
the representation OF negro dele
gates In the convention of the pro-
gressive party in Chicago. **
In part Col Roosevelt writes:
"In pursuance OF our conversation
] write you this letter. There is
peculiar fitness in writing to the son
OF the man whose work made all
Americans his debtors. His life and
his work tended to bring his fellow
countrymen, north and south, into
closer relations OF good will and un-
derstanding; and surely it should be
needless to say that the author OF
Uncle Remus' and Of Free Joe and
the Rest Of the World felt deep
and most kindly interest in the wei
fare Of the negro.
In this country we cannot per-
manently succeed except upon the
basis of treating each man OH his
worth as man. We can fulfill our
high mission among the nations Of
the earth, we can do lasting good to
ourselves and to all mankind, only
If we so act that the humbfest
Among us. so long as he behaves in
straight and decent fashion, has
guaranteed to him udner the law his
right to life, to liberty, to protection
from injustice, his right to enjoy
the fruits of his own honest labor
and his right to the pursuit Of hap
piness in his own way, so long as he
does not trespass on the rights of
others, For us to oppress any class
of our fellow citizens is not only
wrong to others but hurtful to our
selves. Surely no man can quarrel
with those principles,
II believe that the progressive
movement should be made from the
beginning In the interest of honest,
industrious, law-abiding colored
man, just as it is in the interest of
every honest, industrious, law-abid-
ing white man. / further believe
that the surest way to render the
movement impotent to help either
the white man or the colored man in
those regions, of the south, where
the colored man is most numerous,
would be to try to repeat the course
that has been followed by the Re-
publican party in those districts for
so many years CT to endeavor in the
states in question to build up a pro-
gressiye party by the same meth
DDS which in those states have re-
suited in making the Republican
party worse than impotent.
s'ln many of the statse of the un-
ion where there Is a considerable
colored population we are able in
very fact and at the present moment
to bring the best colored men into
the movement on the same terms as
the white man. In Rhode Island
and Maryland, in New York, In
diana, Ohio and Illinois, in New Jer-
sey and Pennsylvania to speak only
of states which I have personal
knowledge. this is now being done
and from some or all of these states
colorcd delegates win be sent to the
national progressive convention in
Chicago.
For forty-five years the Republi
can party has striven 10 build up ir
the southern states in question {
party based on the theory that tht
pyramid will, unsupported, stant
permanently on its apex instead O
on it's base For forty-nve years tn,
Republican party has endeavored il
these states to build up party il
which the negro should be dominant
party consisting almost exclusivel,
of negroes. Those who took th
lead in this experiment were actual
cd by high motives, and no on
should now blame them because o
what, with the knowledge they thel
had and under the then existin
circumstances they strove. But II
actual practice the result has beel
lamentable from every standpoint
1t has been productive of evil to tn
white men Of the south; anu IT ha
worked the gravest injury to an,
finally the disruption and destruc
tion Of the great Republican part
itself.
ut would be much worse thal