The Sentinel=record., 1912-08-07
SAYS EACH STATE MUST JUDGE THE MANNER AND CHARACTER
 OF ITS DELEGATES.
CANNOT DRIVE AMERICANS
Interrupted During Speech, the Col one Stops Long Enough to Make Plain Ills Position on the
 Negro Question.

Chicago, Aug 6.-The troublesome southern negro question, which for \ time threatened dissension in the first convention of the national pro- gressiye party, finally was disposed of today when the convention itself, without dissenting voice. and with out discussion, adopted the report of the credentials committee unseating both the white and negro delegates from Florida and throwing out the negro delegates from Mississippi
 Colonel Roosevelt, during his con fession of faith" was heckled by q spectator, who interrupted him with the demand:
 How about the negro question?'
 Instantly the convention was in an uproar, but Colonel Roosevelt sil enced those who objected to the ques- tion with the statement that no one could ask him a question he was afraid of
 The colonel then proceeded at some length to state his views on the ne- gro question. He declared he hoped conditions might SD improve in the south that at future progressive con ventions those states might send as delegates negroes who would have 1 the character and standing of the ne- gro delegates from West Virginia i who, he asserted, were in those re- spects the equal of their white asso
 ciates.
 h taking the stand he did Colonel Roosevelt asserted he was stifling in advance conditions which had led to
 1he crushing disaster and death of
 the great republican party itself" The report of the credentials com mittee. unanimously adopted, con | tained resolution recognizing 'the constitution and inherent right of each and every state to determine | the qualifications and manner Of electing its delegates to national conventions"
 This resolution was regarded as giving the southern states the right to choose delegates as they pleased. It also was interpreted as not imposing the direct primary system upon any state participating in the convention of the new party.
 In replying to the Interruption as to the negro question, Colonel Roose- welt said
 Any respectful request for infor- nation l will always have an answer for and, during my administration, l never did anything l was afraid to be questioned about and l shall not be- gin in the progressive party.
 There has been distributed here a letter wrote to MT. Julian Harris,
 three or four days ago. In that letter set forth my views and the reasons back of my views in detail, and 1
 think, with a clearness that will pre-
 vent any misapprehensions; but can give you by example just what
 I mean by the policy 1 am adyoeat- | ing
 Cannot Drive Americans.
 q think the American people is a mighty good people to lead and a mighty poor people to drive. l think we can get the best results from our | fellow Americans in other sections of the country by treating them as we | expect them to treat Us and by our selves living up in our own homes
 to the principles that we profess. "In republican national conventions hitherto there has been d large rep | resentation of colored men from non- republican states, the virtue of the | republicans of the republican states taking only the form of trying to make the democratic states be good | Do you see what I mean? The col | ored delegates all came from the states that never cast a republican electoral vote, that never elected q | colored man to office, where largely owing to the action participated in l for forty~five years by the republican | party the colored man has gradually | lost all of his political rights. So that the old policy of attempting to impose on the southern states from without
 a certain rule of conduct toward the
 negro has in fact broken down and friends, 1 regret to say that every man who has ever been to a national con
 vention knows that the character o' the great majority of the colored del
 egates from the south, from those old rattenborough states. was such as tC reflect dscredit upon the republican
 party and upon the race itself.
 Now, as soon as the progressive party was formed, l at once set abou.
 as many men in other states did. SC
 curing from the northern states them
 selves ample recognition of the col
 ored man in the states. so that as {
 matter of fact, there IS in the con
 vention a representation from thu lsouthern states of colored men sucl