The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1912-07-25
BATTLING DRY BONES

committee, teacher in the colory,
school at Weston, variously stylet
as professor, principal and superin
tendent, is out in a long "inter
view" advising my people" tc
remain steadfast in their allegience
to the Republican party. Mr.. vii.
son advises this course, he says, be-
cause of the well-known hostility
OF the Democratic party to the Ne
gro, the uncertainty of the attitude
of the Progressivcs, and because
the Republican party gave us free
dom.
In so far as the Democratic party
is concerned, The Advocate is in
accord with the gentleman from
Weston, but it does not think his
reasoning sounds either as to the
Progressives or the Republican Ma
tlonal party. 1t fails to see any
cause for alarm in the Progressive
movement SO far as the Negro is
concerned. At it's head is a man
who, more than any other who has
occupied the White House in a
quarter OF Il century, has demon
stratcd his freedom from race pre-
Judice; it was he who advocated
the "opcn door, for every man,
regardless of race, condition or pre-
vlous condition of scrvitude, and
forced an unwilling Senate to con-
firm his appointments of persons of
color against whom the only objcc-
tons were the accident of birth.
How different was this from the
platform laid down by Mr.. Taft
IN his inaugural address. to which
he adhered, when he said he would
make no appointments OF colored
men IN communities where they
would be Objectionable to the white
people! What was the result ? The
almost total elimination of the Ne
gro from politics in the Southland
The "lily whitc'' movement has
increased by leaps and bounds I'M
der the encouragement it has re-
ceived from the White House, and
but~two places of prominence re-
main to us where there were once a
score or more.
And Mr.. Wilson thinks the Ne
gro should continue in his support
to the Republican party because it
freed him! What rot Up until the
black voter arrived at the point
where he could read and digest his
tory this was a potent argument ;
it was the stock in trade of every
spcll-binder, white or black, who
addressed a political meeting com
posed mostly Of Negroes. There
never passed campaign since nc
was cnfranchiscd, but he was re.
minded of the eternal debt of graft
tude he owed the Republican party
for the opportunity Of returning
it to power. Not a word did he
hear of the statement Of President
Lincoln, the Libcrator whose mem
Dry we revere, that if he could say,
the Union without freeing the sIa
YES, he would do it, Not oncc was
he reminded that the Emancipation
Proclamation was war measure
one promulgated-in the Language,
OF President Lincoln simply t.
save the Union. Nor did the,
tell him how much blood his rae
had shed nor how many lives i
had contributed toward making al
actuality Of what was a mere prob
ability, in short, how much he him
self had done to break the fcttpr
Of slavery. 1T suffccd-as Nh
Wilson thinks it does now--simpl
to say that the Negro should vot
the straight Republican ticket BE-
cause that party had freed him.
Granting that this moth-catc
argument is founded on facts, thu
the comforting Of freedom upo
and the granting Of the ballot /
the Negro were actuatcd by no u
terror motives, it must be confcssc
that the debt has been paid aftc
all these years that the Negro vote
has blindly followed the Rcpu
]ican party. Surely some ind
pendcncc Of thought must be alIo,
ed him, since his bcncfactors ha,
tacitly rejected hiSalpport by the
acquicsence in the disfranchisir
legislation enacted by nearly eve
State at the South. Time aft
time the Republican party in n
tiOnal convention assembled has
plored this discriminatory legisl
ton, but, though it has controll