Evening star., 1936-09-06
BY MARK SULLIVAN.

TN A long experience with poll
ticians, person grows tolerant of
a certain amount of the evasion
= which is part Of politics as an art.
1t goes with the necessity of compro-
mise which, up to certain point, is
inherent and legitimate in most pol
itics, which indeed accompanies much
craftsmanship of the best kind. Pro-
Wded it works no serious harm and is
not too blatant, an observer comes to
be amused rather than shocked. One
comes to Judge political dissimulation
and political dissimulators not so
much by the fact of their dissimula-
tions but rather by their success in
adroitness and their preservation of
certain amount of decent regard for
appearances.
But the equivocation which the
Democrats in this campaign are prac-
ticing about the Negro is really, as
Josh Billings used to say, 20 mutch."
Besides, one feels that political slight
of-hand which might be merely anus
ing in an ordinary campaign is some
how not easy to smile at when the
situation is as grave as the one Amer
lea now faces. If this election is to
borrow President Roosevelt's phrase
a rendezvous with destiny" we ought
to approach it without chicancery-
and without charity. for chicanery.
Observe, first, the attitude of the
Democratic leaders toward the Negro
in Pennsylvania. I take some facts
from an account in the Lebanon pa
Daily News of August 81. The head
line reads: Democrats Hold Negro
Rally at Gretna-Thousands Present
at Political Picnic - Colored Race
Lauded for Its Power at the Polls"
The colored folks, to the number of
more than 5000, were brought to-
gether from several counties in East
ern and Central Pennsylvania. Car
fare on the six special trains was free
though this liberality was rather
offset by request that the colored
voters contribute funds to the Demo-
cratic organization, so that when all
is over and Democrats win, the
Negroes can go to Washington and
ask for appointments and what we
want"
The principal speechmakers were
white. The secretary to Democratic
Gov. Earle told how much the Gov
ernor has at heart the interests of
the colored people" The Democratic
candidate for Congress told the crowd
that the Republican National Con-
vention had only two colored dele
gates while the Democratic National
Convention had more than a dozen.
incidentally, figures were inaccu-
rate) A Democratic member of the
Governors cabinet "emphatically de-
clared that Pennsylvania Negroes will
WELD the balance of power at the
coming election" The chairman OF
the meeting CLOSED with a strong
admonition to the colored race to
stick by their friends, the Democrats. "
Their friends, the Democrats"
That was Pennsylvania. Turn now
to Mississippi. In Pennsylvania Dem
ocratic leaders urge the Negroes to
vote and promise to appoint Negroes
to office in proportion to their share
of the total population. But in Mis-
sissippi the Democratic policy is some
thing else again.
Condition in Mississippi.
In Mississippi, if a Negro wants to
register for voting, he must first
satisfy election officials who are white
Democrats. The test isl quote from
the Mississippi State constitution
that the applicant shall be able to
read any section of the constitution
and to understand the same or give
a reasonable Interpretation thereof"
The test is valid and constitutional
for it applies to all voters, colored or
white. The trick comes in the obvious
opportunity for discrimination by elec-
ton officials, who are white Demo-
Gratis. While have no direct infor-
nation, am told that a white mans
exposition of the constitution Is looked
upon more tolerantly than a colored
mans. A white man may be asked
to tell how many houses there are In
the Legislature and knows, or car
have been told, that the answer i,
two. But a colored man may be
asked to explain the nature of bill
of attainder. or an ex post facto law
A Jest long current in the South de-
scribes a colored man who is asked
to explain "habeas corpus" and replies
that he guesses it's something to stor
colored folks from voting.
A colored man, to expound the con.
stitution to the satisfaction of white
Democrat election official, would neec
to have the combined juridical erudi.
ton of Chief Justice Charles E
Hughes, John Marshall and Sir Viii.
liam Blackstone As a result, Negro
at the polls in Mississippi is about al
rare as a Hindu at a Presbyterian
prayer meeting. The whole number o
Negro voters in the entire State i
about 80O-in a total population Of &
little over 100000. of which NOR,
than half are colored.
Procedure at Elections.
Since, in the South, almost no col
ored persons vote in general elections
and since the number of white Re.
publicans is but a handful, it follows
that the Democratic candidates wiz
all elections. From that it follows
that the actual election, the place