The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1912-12-14

In the House Of Representative the
other day, Congressman Roddenberry
of Georgia made red-hot speech, full
of denunciation of the legal procedure
under which "a brown skinned, thick
Tipped, brutal African can walk into
an office Of the law and demand an
edict guaranteeing him legal wedlock
TO a white woman" Mr.. Roddenberry's
speech was in favor of a resolution he
had introduced earlier, to prevent in
termarriages of whites and negroes.
Mr.. ROddenberry prophesied that the
legal sanction of mixed marriages
ultimately might bring this country to
a conflict He declared that mo bru-
tally, infamy or degradation in all the
days of Southern slavery possessed
such villainous characteristics and
atrocious qualities as the permission
that allowed marriages by laws of this
country.
The measures a direct result of the
recent marriage of Jack Johnson. the
negro pugilist, with white girl, did
not come to a vote.
Mr.. Roddenberry, of course, voiced
the sentiment of southern whites, and
probably of most northern ones, and
certainly those of a majority of civil
lied whites who are familiar with race
conditions throughout the world. But
his measure did not come to vote,
partly because of politics, partly be-
cause of the way he advocated it.
If he had taken the opportunity to
make a temperate and logical address,
showing the great harm that will be
done the two races in particular and
the country in general if intermar-
riage and miscegenation is not put a
stop to, his address would have had eff
feet. and it might have come to vote.
Is it was, it only impressed those who
already agreed with him, but it made
no converts among the large class
whose support is needed to bring
about the necessary legislation.
All of Southern Europe suffers from
the intermixture of races. Over 25
centuries ago, when Carthage was
mistress of the Mediterranean, she
landed thousands of negroes and Arabs
in her armies and their slaves, in every
port of Spain and the islands under
her dominion. Some hundreds of years
later. the Arabs overran Spain and
Southern France, and tho wave after
wave of the Teutonic nations have
since flowed from the north they have
never entirely overcome the blood
faint from Africa. How far behind
the pure white northern nations these
countries are is too we'll known to be
disputed. The evils of race mixture
are not confined to these countries
where negroes have been imported as
slaves. 1t works the same detriment
in India and China, where Caucasians
have intermarried with Mongols and
Malays. 1t has not had much effect
on the swarming millions of Africa,
India and the far-east but in the little
islands CT Oceanica it has in many in
stances wiped out the population, and
is decreasing it rapidly in all
Intermarriage with whites is the
ambition of ignorant and british ne
-groes in America. Many ignorant and
prejudiced white people see no harm
in it. It's useless to talk TO or against
these people, or to the depraved of
both races. But any well informed
white person knows what a moral and
physical evil it is, and the better
class of negroes understand it also. 1t
is tt such as these that statesmen and
journalists should speak, and if they
would do so in concert, the evil would
soon be remedied as far as law could
cure it.