The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1914-11-19
NEGRO OFFENDS WILSON.
PRESIDENT BREAKS OFF INTER.
VIEW AT WHITE HOUSE.
Mr.. Wilson Tells Committee They
Will Have to Get Another ;
Chairman.

chairman, W. NJ. Trotter, Of Boston,
President Wilson today ended an in
teryiew with a delegation of negroes
who called at the white house 20 pro.
test against race segregation in gov
ernment departments, with warn
ing that if the negroes wanted to see
him later they would have to get
another spokesman The president
said he had not been addressed IN
such fashion since he entered the
white house.
A ffteen-minute interview had
been arranged for the callers and the
president received them in his office
with only his stenographer present.
The delegation complained formally
that Postmaster General Burleson,
Secretary McAdoo and Comptroller
Williams, of the treasury, were en-
forcing segregation of white and
negro employees in their offices. Mr..
Wilson listened to the statement and
then replied at length, explaining
that he had investigated this matter
himself and had been assured that
no discrimination had been practiced
against the negroes and that segre-
cation had been inaugurated to-
avoid friction between the races, not
to injure the negro He added that
he was deeply interested in the ne
gro race and admired it for the prog
ress it had made.
I Took Issue.
At this point Trotter and others OF
the delegation took issue with the
president. They declared the negro
people did not seek charity or assist
ance, but held that they had equal
rights with the white and that these
rights should be respected. There
had been no friction, they insisted,
before the segregation was started.
Mr.. Wilson waited for the protest
to end. Then he told the delegation
that he could not discuss the mat
ter further. He closed with the
quiet. but emphatic statement that
Trotter had lost control Of his tenn
per and that he (the president)
could not be talked to in such man
ner.
When the negroes left they said
their talk had been thoroughly dis
appointing" and that they would
hold a mass meeting in Washington
next Sunday to protest further
against segregation.
Not as Wards.
Trotter said in his address that
his committee did not come "as
wards looking for charity, but as
full-fedged American citizens, vouch-
safed equality of citizenship by the
federal constitution.
Two years ago. said Trotter,
"you were thought to be a second
Abraham Lincoln president
tried to interrupt, asking that per-
sonalities be left out of the discus
sion. Trotter continued to speak.
and the president finally told him
if the organization wished to ap-
proach him again it must choose an
other spokesman, adding that he had
enjoyed listening to the other men,
bers of the committee. but that Trot-
ter's tone was offensive.
The president told Trotter that he
was an American citizen as fully as
anyone else, but that he (Trotter)
was the only American citizen who
ever had come into the white house
and addressed the president in such
a tone and with such background
of passion. Here Trotter denied
that he had any passion. but the presi-
dent told him he had spoiled the
cause for which he had come, and
said he expected those who professed
to be Christians to come to him in
a Christian spirit.
Continued to Talk.
The negro spokesman continued to
argue that he was merely trying to
show how the negro people felt, and
asserted that he and others were
now being branded as traitors to
their race because they advised the
negro people Ito support the
ticket"
The mention of votes caused Mr..
Wilson to say politics must be left
out, because it was a form of black
mail. He said he would resent it Gs
quickly from one set of men as from
another. and that his auditors could
vote as they pleased, it mattered lit
tie to him. so long as he was sure
he was doing the right thing at the
right time.
The president spoke frankly. say
ing that if the negro people had