Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1918-01-05
FROM SOUTH AFRICA To
PRESIDENT WILSON
p. O. Box 1179, Capo Town,
South Africa, Oct. 3, 1917


South Africa, Oct 3, 1917
To The Honorable Woodrow Wilson,
President Of the u. S. of America
The Whitchouso, Washington, ID. c..
United States Of America.
Sir-If an apology may DO said to
be in order for this intrusion OH the
sacred privacy of one who is entrusted
with tho stupcndous task, and tho
attendant responsibilities entailcd on
tho charge and oversight of ninety
millions Of souls, then that apology
Is submitted, and I trust would prove
acceptable by the fact Of q common
racial identity of Tie Intruder. and
tho victims Of the unheard OF atroci-
ties whcrcon tho writer essays here
brief to touch.
You, Sir, attained to your present
eminent position almost unheralded,
and certainly unexpected by the aver
age student of the cOntemporancous DO
litical history Of the Great Republic.
But the wisdom of your choice has
been amply justified and your selec
ton Is fully demonstrated by subse-
quent events.
Your position, Sir, Is absolutely un
precedcnted in the historical annals
OF tho Republic. No .'rcCecc sor Of
yours was called upon for the solution
OF problem so intricatc,so deli
cate, so world wide In
their scope and effects. and embrace
ing the fate and the we'll being of so
many souls
For season YOU were the victim
Of world wide criticism. A thoughtless
clement alike at homo and abroad at
tributcd to weakness those prudential
deliberations on the wisdom of supply
ing an INSCRIPTIONS foe with the nee
essary for his own undoing-and mas
terly inactivity was mistaken for
tlmidity-but the time arrived when,
amid The plaudits of wondering
world, you acted the part which Is con
tribut1ng materially to tho one, and
tho inevitable end.
Put sir, you Will, trust pardon mo
II | call your attention to a pniloso.
phic and an ancient adage CHARITY
begins at Home" Inability to pro
tect ones >own children, stamps one
as being unfit to succor those of
others, and the world is apt to call
halt on one who, being buckled and
In armour arraycd, rushes to the pro
lection OF sufferers abroad the while
his own children perish at home.
Tho latest addition to that list of
honors which for so long have emblem
1shed tho cscutcheon the great ma
ton, those periodical outbreaks, in
when no other savage people OF to-
day can Vie, and which would appear
by Its very frequency to have scared
the conscience Of the people thus Sc.
curing tho perpetrators immunity
from the consequences Of their bar
narous deeds those hloodthirsty deeds
which have just eliminated at East
81. Louis In tho state OF the lmmor-
tal Lincoln, and the report of which
inc WIND has waited across tho
oceans, and brings tinge Of shame
" the cheek or any man who claims
any association with the Great Re.
public, this brutal deed incites the
present writer.
Is not new practice among a large
element in your country is no rnas
on Tor It's perpetuation in the face of
the advancing civilization of the dav
ana OF the great revolution wherein
you play so great a part and which
justly aims at the establishment Of
real and honest democracy the
world over. And what Is the crime
OF the poor and helpless victims OF
the st. Louis Massacre The com
mission or the attempt at the COM
mission OF the uncomfortable crime
which sometimes, but seldom truth
iuIly, presents the excuse.
NO! These poor black peopno's IF
Tense conssted only in their accent
ance OF the invitation to leave the In
bonr congested districts of the south
TOT more congenial Iabour sections
ELSEWHERE, thus giving excuses for
these wanton outrages and murder,
some OF the perpetrators whereof be
ing creatures who have left their
own European homes for the good of
those homes, and to the injury OF
America.
You. Sir. cannot round out your
doublo term Of office in your i1lustri
GUS position more appropriately than
ny the Initiation and the enactment
or legislation, looking to the discon
tinuance and tho abolition of a Drac
tlco which is unspeakably cruel to
the victims. degrading to tho com
mlnities where it obtains, and which
reflects disgrace on the fair Republic
and exposes the country to the de
serving taunt Of the world, and sto
the application of tho admonitioD
"Physician. Heal Thyself.'
I have the honour to be,