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S S CR I B N E R S S O N S
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CO N TE N TS
N EGRO
THE
Q UE ST I ON
,
Q U ES T I O N
T HE
I
.
av e Co l ore d A m eri c a n s in t h e S o u th the sam e
R i gh ts as A m e ri c an s of Fore ign B i rt h
Col or D i s c ri m in atio n
I n c o ns isten ci es
H
,
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I I I
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I V
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N SW
ER
oc i al B asis of Sl av ery st ill E i sts
E nfra nchi e m ent a Cau se of A pp rehensio n
T h F ree d m en L oyal to G o v ern m ent
een C ivil a n d S o c ial E qua l ity
D i s ti n c tion B et w
R espo n si b i l ity f S o u th er n W hi te M
M ate r ial D e v el o p m ent in the S o u th
The S
x
s
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e
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TO
l VH A T S H A L L T H E
S I M PL E R
W HA T M A
en ,
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N A T I ON A L A I D
A
,
SOUT H E R N
THE
CH OOL S
N E GR O D O ?
SO U T H E R N
KE S
S
Q U E ST I ON
CO L O R
V
9 3 49 5
,
LI N E ?
,
,
CON
T HE
E RN M EN T
.
I I
.
III
.
I V
V
.
.
VI
.
VI I
.
VI I I
.
S
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PA G E
S T R UG G L E
S OUT H E R N
I
TE N T
FO R
PUR E
,
i rst N e c e sity
D oes the N egro W a n t P u re G o v ern m e n t ?
S upposi n g the N egro U s upp ressed
T h P o lic y of P re G o ve rn m e n t F ir st
S o u th
T h I n dustr i al N w
P ar ty I d ea
T h R e i g of the O
T h I nv ent i o n s of D es p a i r
A m ore E c ell ent W y
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N OTE
.
T he
fo ll o w i n g p a ge s co n s t i t u t e a c o n
t in u o u s d e v e l o p m e n t O f a s i n l e s u bj e c t
g
T h e d i v i s i o n s O f t h e w o r k a pp e a r in t h e
fo rm O f s e pa ra t e p a p e r s o n l y b e ca u s e O f
t h e e a rl i e r p u bl i ca t i o n O f m o s t O f t h e m a s
m a ga z i n e a r t i c l e s
G W CA B L E
.
.
.
9 34 9 5
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.
T HE N E G R O
THE
Q
UE S T I O N
U
E
S
T
O
N
I
Q
I
.
.
.
w
Th e matter that is m ade the s ubj ect o f these
pages is not to day th e most p r o m in e n
3
is
one
upon
I
t
W
which o f late years as we might s a y m u ch
”
inattention has bee n carefully bestowed I t has
become a dreaded question We are n ot politic
ally indolent W é are deali n g courageou sly with
many serious problems We admit th at no nation
‘
has yet s o shaken wrong and Oppression from
its skirts that it may safely and h onorably s it
down in a state o f mercantile and ae sthetical
pre o cc u p at io n And yet th e matter that gives
u s daily the profoundest u nrest goes daily by
default /Th e Nation s bitter experiences wi th
it in years past th e baffling complications
men more c unning than wise have w
it its proneness to swall ow
and the eruptions of rancor an d strife
e v e r y least sign o f its S pontaneou s r e o p ening
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w
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2
I
TH E
2
N E GR 0
Q UE
S T I ON
.
have made it such a weariness and o ffence to the
great m aj ority and especially to o u r commercial
impatience that th e p ublic m ind i n large part
eagerly acce ts the: dangerou s comfort of p ost
,
,
“
p
o n e m en t
“
.
What i s this q u estion ? S u p e r fi c ia l l y it is
whether a certain seven m illions o f the people
o n e ninth Of the whole dwelling i n and natives
to the Southern Sta tes o f the U nion and by law
an u ndifferentiated part o f the Na tion have o r
ha v e not th e same full m eas u re o f the Americ
citizen s rights that they wou l d hav e were they
entirely o f E u ropean instead o f wh olly o r partly
African descent The seven m illions concerning
whom the qu estion is asked answer as ith m e
voice that they have n o t Millions in the N o rth
ern States and th o usands i n th e So u thern o f
wh ites make the same reply While other mil
lions O f whites in North and So uth respond not
s o O ft en with a flat contradi ction as with a d ec l a
ration far m ore di s concerting Fo r the
erner speaks truly when he retorts that
i n th e entire U nion eith er North or S o u
th d disadvantages o f being a black o r partly
black man con fi ned entirely to the relations o f
domesti c life and pri v ate s ociety ; bu t that in
every par t there i s a portion at least o f th e com
m u nity th at does not claim fo r o r even wil l ingly
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N
TH E
E GR O Q UE STI ON
3
yield to the negro th e wh ole cal endar of
ican rights in the same far reaching amp
and sacredness that they do fo r or to the
man The So uthern wh ite man points t o th o u
sands O f No rthern and Western factories co u nt
ing rooms schools h otels ch u rches and gu ilds
and these attest th e truth o f h is countercharge
Nowhere i n the U nited States i s th ere a wh ole
c omm un
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h
S iQ a l e
P Y
duly weighed if t h ey be weiw b e d
at
all
i
s
not
,
m
l i able to
N
a
t
.
,
4
”3
.
7
.
1
s
-xa
s~
-
va
vm a cn
s
m
-t fi
‘
M
A
“
th e fact then i n varying de
r d in g to l ocali t y what does it prove ?
S
?
cc
o
F
O
E
g
O nly that th is cannot be the real point Of iss u e
between North and S o u th an d that th is super
fi c ia l definition i s n o t th e tru e o n e
P utting aside mere di fferences o f degree
question is not Are these things s o ? but O ught
they s o to b e ? To this a large maj ority in the
No rthern States fro m al l classes with a small
mino rity o f th e Southern whites als o from al l
ranks O f l ife and the wh ole seven million blacks
irrespective Of party leanings answer N O O n
th e other han d a large maj ority Of the wh ites i n
—
the Southern Sta tes large as t o th e wh ite p o p u
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TH E
4
N
EGR O Q UE S TI ON
lat ion o f th ose States bu t a v ery smal l m inority
“
—
in the Nation at large an swer a v ehement Yes ;
these things sh o ul d and shall be s o
B ut h ow does th is small minori ty m aintain
itself ? It does s o owing to the familiar fact that
alth ou gh by o u r scheme o f government there is
a constant appeal to the maj ori ty o f the whole
people th e same scheme provides also for the
defence o f l ocal interest s against rash actions o f
national maj orities by a paral lel cou nter appeal
constantly
th
rou
gh
its
Senate
and
at
times
in
(
other ways ) to the maj ority not o f the people
en m a s s e b ut o f the States i n their corporate
c apacity N o a v ery large minority i n the
Northern States wh ose o n private declara
tion wo uld be against a difference between white
m en s rights and other men s rights nevertheless
refu se now as they refu sed before the
to answer with a plai n yes o r no b u t maintal
with the S outhern white r u le party that h eth
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-
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th es e th ings
every
h
t
g
ou
so
to he
w
all o
S ta te m u s t he
or
ed
h ot
to
is
a ns
u
es
o
t
i
n
q
wf
a
er
or
,
th
a nd
s
thu
s
o
altering
the
v
oice
Of
th
e
f f
Nation when it speaks by States a s virtu ally to
n ullify that negative answe r which would be
gi v en by a maj ority o f th e wh ole people I n the
Civil
R
ights
bill
the
verdict
o
f
the
States
was
(
“
o nce gi v en against all race discrimination in al l
'
z ts el
a l on e ;
!
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,
N E GR O
TH E
Q UE S T I ON
5
.
matters o f public rights whatsoever and for
confining it within that tru e domain —o f pri vate
ch oice—to which the j u dgment Of other Ch ris
tian nations consigns it B ut th e C ivil R ights
bill never practical ly effective in the comm u ni
ties whose upper ranks were h ostil e to it has at
last perished i n the inner citade l O f o u r govern
ment s strong conse rv atism th e nati onal Supreme
Cou rt and th e Senate maj ority that passed the
bill was long ago l ost by re v ol utions i n the
S outhern States Th u s by a fu ndamental pro
v ision in th e National G overnment intended for
the very pu rpose O f protecting the wea k from
the strong a small national m inority has fo r
twenty five years been enabled to withstand t h e
press u re Of an immense maj ori ty
Whether th i s i s b y a right o r wrong u se Of th
provisi on is part Of th e Open question Th e we
are protected from the strong b u t the s t
are delivered into th e hands o f th e stron
m illi ons o f th
,
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J
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p assed they drenched their
,
o
wlan d with thei r
n
6
TH E
N E GR O
Q UE S TI ON
.
own blood to kee p th e m
H owever be it a u s e o r an abuse of the
scheme Of order ; be it right
this is p olitically th e stronghold o f the con
tive party in the S outhern States ; and it is m
stronger still steel clad and turreted as it w
with the tremendo u s advantage o f the s ta tu s gu o
—that established order o f things whi c h good
o r bad u ntil it becomes intol erable to themselves
men will never attac k with an energy equal to
that with which it is defended
B ut political strengt h is little by itse l f The
m ilitary maxim that no defences are strong with
o u t force enou gh in them to occupy their line
is true of civil affairs E ntrenchment in the letter
Of a constitution avails little with the people at
large o n either side of a qu estion u nless the line
of that entrenchment i s occupied by a living
c onviction Of being in the right
Th e most
u ltra Southern pos ition on the negro questi on
has an element o f strength cl ose akin to this
T o be right i s the only real necessity ; but where
is the commu nity that will not make and defend
with treas u re an d b l ood the assumption that what
is necessary is right
S outherners in the
pol itical sense o f the term may sometimes lac k
a clear fir m fo u nded belief that they are right ;
they m ay h ave n o more than a restless confidence
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TH E
N
E GR O Q UE STI ON
7
th a t others are as wrong as th ey b ut the y h gye
at leas t a p rofou nd ggny igtia n that the y are
oved
b
an imminent unr emittin g im erative
,
m
y
p
necessi ty
Not that this is al l ; h undreds o f
thou sands Of them incapacitated by th is v ery
conviction from falling into sympathy with the
best m odern th ought ha v e been taught and are
learning and teaching not only o n the h u stings
but in sch ool in college at the fireside th rou gh
the daily press in the s ocial circl e an d in ch urch
that i n thei r attitu de o n the negro question the
are legally m oral l y and entire l y right
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II
Now s pe c ifi c all y what are the s e things that
the maj ority o f a free nation says ou ght n ot to
be while a section a l maj ority tri u mphantly main
tains they m u st will ought to and shall be ?
G ive an example o f an actual grievance O ne
commonly esteemed the ve ry l eas t o n the list is
th is : S u ppose a man his wife and their child
decent in person dress and deportment but
v isibly o f African o r m i x ed b l ood to take pass
age O n a railway train from some city o f the
Ea stern States as Boston o r o f the Western as
Chi c ago
They will be th rown p ublicly into
company with many others for an ordinary
American r a i l way passenger coach seats fifty per
.
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8
TH E
N E GE O
Q UE
S T /0 1 V
.
sons a nd a sleeping car acco m m odates twenty
fi ve ; and they will receive the same treatment
fro m railway employ és and passenger s as if
being otherwise j u st what they are they were O f
pu re E u ropean descent O nly they will be m uch
less l ikely than white persons to seek o r be
O fi er e d new acqu aintancesh ips
Arriving in New
York P hiladelphia or any other Northern city
they will easily find accommodations in some
h otel O f s uch grade as they wo uld be likely to
ch oose if exactly as they are they were wh ite
They may chance upon a h ou se that will refuse
o n accou nt of their color to receive them ; b ut
su ch action if made known will be likely to
receive a wide public reprobation and scant a p
l
u se
a
f
even
from
the
press
the
Southern
o
p
States I f the travelers ch oose to continu e their
j ou rney throu gh the night they will be free to
hire and occupy berth s in a sleeping car and to
u s e al l its accessories — b as ins
towels pillows
e t c —without the least chance o f molestati on in
act o r speech from any o n e o f the passengers o r
empl oy é s l et s u ch passengers o r employ é s
from any State o f the U nion No rthern
Southern
B ut o n reaching the So uthern States the th ree
trav elers will find themselves at every tu rn u nder
e c ia l a nd O ffensi v e restrictions laid upon them
lsp
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TH E
N E GE O
Q UE S T I ON
9
.
not for any demerit o f person dress o r manners
but solely and avowedly o n acco unt Of the
African tincture i n their bl ood however slight
that may be They may still be enj oying th e
comforts Of the sleeping car by vi rtu e Of the
ticket bought i n a Northern State and not yet fully
redeemed But they will fin d that while i n o n e
Southern State they may still ride i n an o rdinary
fir s t class railway coach without hindrance i n
another they will find themselves turned away
from the door O f o n e coach and requ ired to limit
themselves to ano t her equ al it m ay be to the
fi rst i n appointments and inferio r only in the
social rank Of its occupants They may p r o
that i n America there are no public distinctions
o f social rank ; but this wil l avail them nothing
They may obj ect that th e p as sengers i n th e car
from which they are exclu ded are not o f o n e but
palpably Of many an d widely different soci a l
ranks and that in the car to which they are
assigned are people not Of thei r grade only but
Of all s orts ; they will be told with great plain
ness that there is b ut o n e kind O f negro They
will be told that they are assigned equal but sepa
rate accommodation becau se the presence O f a
person Of wh olly o r partly African blood in the
same railway car o n terms Of social equ ality wi th
the white passengers is to those white passengers
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TH E
N E GE O
Q UE S TI ON
.
an intolerable Offence ; and if the h u sband and
ather
replies
that
it
i
s
itself
the
height
Of
v
ul
f
f
garit
to
raise
the
question
private
social
rank
o
y
j
‘among strangers in railway cars h e will be for
t u n a t e if h e i s only thru st withou t more ado into
“
the colored car and n ot kicked and beaten by
t o o r th ree white m en whose superior gentility
has been insulted and h e and h is wife and child
put O ff at the next station to appeal in v ai n to
the cou rts F or in co u rt h e will find that rail
way c ompanies are even requ ired b y the laws Of
the State to maintain th is ignominiou s separation
Of all wh o betray an African tinctu re refined o r
u nrefined clean o r unclean from the presence
Of th e wh ite passengers in the fi r s t cl ass cars be
those passengers ever so p romiscu ous a th rong
S uch is an example O f o n e o f the least gr iev
a u ces Of the colored man u nder the pr esent r é
gime i n the Southern States ; and s o d ull is the
com mon perception o f wrongs committed at a
distance that h u ndreds Of th ou sands O f in t e l l i
gent genero us sensitive people in the Northern
States are dail y con fessing thei r i nability to s ee
any seriou s h ardsh ip in s u ch a case if only the
colored car be really e qual in its appoi ntm ents
to the o n e i n which only white people Of every
s ort are admitted ; as if a permanent ignominiou s
distinction o n accou nt o f ancestry made in pu b
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TH E
r2
Q UE STI ON
N E GE O
O n pas sing into a third S outhern State the
th ree trav elers thou gh still h olders Of fi r s t class
,
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,
tickets will be requ ired t o confine themselves to
the s o called second c l ass car a place never
m u ch better than a dram sh op
When the
train stops for meals and the passengers men
women and children the rou gh the polished all
th rong into o n e common eating room to recei v e
a common fare and attention those three m u st
eat in the kitchen o r go h u ngry Nor can they
even await th e c oming o f a train in some rail
“
way stati ons e x cept l n a separate
colored
room
I f they tarry in some Southern city
they will enco unter th e
and
whimsical treatment o f the
l ie rights as A merican
in any street
h owever cro ded S
side o r even cram med i n among white men
women o f any o r eve r y station Of life ; but at
the platform Of the railway train o r at the
threshol d o f any theatre o r c oncert o r lecture
hall they will be directed to the m ost u n d es ir
able part of the hou se and compelled t o take
that o r n oth ing Th ey will find that th e word
“
public rarely means p ublic to them ; that
they may not e v en draw books from the public
l ibraries o r u s e their reading rooms
Sh ould th e harried and exasperated man be
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Q UE S TI ON
N E GE O
TH E
I
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3
.
fierce o r indiscreet as to quarrel with and
strike some white man h e will sta nd several
chances to a white man s o n e o f being killed o n
the spot I f neither killed nor half killed b ut
brou ght into co u rt h e wil l have nine ty nine
c hances in a h u ndred o f c onfronting a j u ry from
which either by o r else i n spite o f legal pro
v i sion men O f African tinctu re hav e been wh olly
If sent to prison h e
o r al most wholly excluded
m u st come under a penal s ystem wh ich the r e
port O f the Nationa l C om missioner o f P risons
O fficially pronounce s a blot upon civilization
H e will find the popu lation O f the State p risons
o ft en nine tenths colored di v ided into chain
gangs farmed o u t to private hands e v en sub
leased and worked in the mines quarries in
railway c onstru ction an d o n tu rn pikes u nder
cordons o f Winchester rifle s ; ve r ita b l fefi q u a r r y
slaves H e will find m ost o f the few wh ite c o n
victs u nder this system s u ffering the s am e o u t
rages ; b u t h e will also find that the system itself
disappears wherever this general attitu de toward
the black race disappears and that where it and
its outrages continu e the race l ine in prison i s
obliterated only when the criminal becomes a
negotiable c om modity and it costs th e lessee
m oney to maintain th e absu rd distincti on H e
wo u ld find the n u mber o f c olored m en with i n
so
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I
TH E
4
N E
GR O Q UE S TI ON
those de a dly cordons o u t O f all prop ortion t o
the colored populati o n o u tside as compared with
the percentages of blacks in and o u t Of prison i n
States not u nder this r égime There are State
pri sons i n whi c h he wou ld find the co l ored c o n
victs ser v ing sentences wh ose average is nearly
twice that O f the white convicts in the same
places for the same crimes
I n the sam e o r
other prison s h e wo u l d find co l ored yo uth s
and boys by scores almost by h u ndreds con
sorting with older criminals and u nder sentences
Of se ven ten twenty years while the State L eg
is l a t u r es vote down year after year the efforts of
a few co u rageo u s and h umane men either to
establish reformatories for colored yo u th o r to
introduce the element of reform into thei r s o
called penitentiaries
B u t s uppose h e commits n o O ffence against
person o r property ; he will make another list of
discoverie s H e will find that no s elect sch ool
“
u nder
So uthern
ausp i c e s will receive his
ch ild That if h e sen ds the c hild t o a public
schoo l it m u st be as requ i red by law to a school
excl usively fo r colored children even if his child
is seven times more white than colored Th ough
his child b e gentl e wel l behaved cleanly and
decoro u sly dressed and th e colored sch oo l s o
s itu ated as to be nat u rally and properly t h e
,
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TH E
N E
GR O Q UE S T I ON
1
5
ch oice o f th e v erie s t ri ff raff O f the school p O p u
lati on he wil l have no m ore liberty than before ;
he wil l be tol d agai n We know b ut o n e kind
The child s father and mother may
o f negro
themselves be professional instru ctors ; b ut h o
ever h ighly trained ; o f whatever reputation for
moral and religio u s character ; h owever talented
h olding the di
a s teachers o r disciplinarians ;
pl oma o f whatever college o r u niversity Welles
ley Vassar Yale Co rn ell ; and of whatever age
o r experience they wil l find themselves sh u t o u t
by law from becoming teachers in any p ublic
sch ool for white children whether bel onging to
and filled from th e best n eighborh ood o r in
a n d fo r the l owest quarter o f alleys and s hanties
They will presently learn that in many
o f So u thern sch ool districts where th e
tions are too sparse and poo r to admit o f s e
rate sch ools for the two races the children
both are being bro ugh t u p i n ignorance o f
very a lphab et rath er th an l et them enj oy a
mon public right u nder a com m on roo f
will find that this separation is n o t really based
o n any incapacity Of ch il dren to distingu ish b e
tween p ublic and private social relati ons ; but
that the same separation is enforced among
adults ; and that whil e e v ery So u th ern State is
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6
TH E
QUE S T I ON
N E GE O
.
lamenting its i n ability to make anything like an
adequate o utlay fo r public ed ucation and h u n
dreds o f th ou sands Of colored children are gro
i n g up in absol ute illiteracy largely fo r lack
teachers and school houses an expensive iso
tion Of ra c e from race i s kept up even i
normal sch ool s and teacher s institutes
in th e h ouse Of worship and the divinity s
they woul d find themselves pu rsued by the
invidio u s distincti ons and separations t h
followed them at every step and wou ld follow
and attend them still to an d in the v ery alms
h ou se and insan e asyl u m
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I II
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And then they wo u ld make one more d is c o v
e ry They woul d find that n ot only were they
v ictims o f bolder infractions o f the most Ob v io u s
common rights Of h u man ity than are o ffered to
any people elsewhere i n Christendom sa v e only
the Chinaman i n th e far West b ut that to make
the Oppression m ore exasperating still there is
n o t a single featu re o f it i n any o n e State th ou gh
j u stifiable o n the plea o f ste m necessity that
does n ot stand condemned by its absence u nder
th e same o r yet more prono u nced c onditions i n
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N
TH E
E GR O Q UE S T I ON
I
7
some other State S ometimes even o n e part o f,
a State will utterly stultify the attitu de held in
another part ; I n Vi rginia o r S o uth Carolina a a
col ored person Of decent appearance o r beha
vior may s it i n any fi r s t class railway car b ut
in G eorgia the law forbids it and in Kentu cky
the law leaves him to the caprice Of railway man
a ge m e n t s some o f wh ich acco rd and others with
hold the right In some States h e is allowed i n
the j u ry box in some h e is kept out by the letter
Of statutes and i n s ome by evasion o f them ;
while in Tennessee some c ounties admit hi m to
j u ry d uty and others e x cl u de him fro m it I n
o n e or two S outhern cities the teachers i n col
ored public schools m u st be whi te I n certain
others they m u st be colored ; an d in still others
they may be either I n L o u isiana certain rail
way trains and steamboats r u n side by side
within a m ile o f one another where in the trains
a negro o r m ulatto may s it where he will and on
the boats h e m u st confine himself to a sep arate
quarter called th e freedman s bu rea u
The Civil R ights bill was fought fo r years and
finally destroyed with the plea that it infringed
the right Of common carriers and entertainers to
use their o n best j udgment in distributi n g their
passenger s an d gu ests with an equ itable c o n s id
c ration for the c Om fo r t o f all I n fact it only
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8
TH E
Q UE STI ON
N E GE O
forbade distributions that s o fa r from cons ul ting
the com mon comfort hu mo r the demand o f o n e
crudely self assorted pri vate social clas s fo r an
invariable ignominio u s isolation o r e x cl usion
o f another
Yet the same States and persons
wh o s o e ffectually mad e this plea either al low
and enco u rage its u se as a co v er for th is tyran
nous inequ ity o r else themsel ves ignore their
n plea usu rp the j u dgment Of common car
o
r ie r s and ente r tainers
and force them b y law
to make this race distrib u ti on whether they deem
it best o r not
And yet again a ll over th e South th ere are
s cattered c olleges academies and tributary gram
mar schools established and mainta ined at th e
expense o f indi v idual s and societies in the No rth
ern States fo r th e edu cation at l o rates O f tui
tion and living Of the aspiring poo r without
h indrance as to race o r s ex F or m ore than
twenty years these estab lishments ha v e fl ou rished
and been a boon to the African Ameri c an as well
as to the al most eq u ally n oted poor whites Of
the Southern m ou ntain regions sandhills and
pauper co unties and through both these cl a sses
to the u ltra Southern white man o f the towns and
—
plantations a boon the national val u e o f which
neither he n or o n e i n a thousand Of its h u ndreds
o f tho u s ands O f No rthern s u p porters h as a n a d e
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TH E
20
GR O Q UE S T I ON
N E
becoming their friends and i n s ome n otable
cases thei r converts S O widely have th e larger
colleges dem onstrated th eir uniqu e b en efi ce n c e
that in s ome cases S outhern State G overnments
acti v ely hosti l e to th e privileges Of civil liberty
they teach and apply are making s mal l annual a p
i
r
o
r
i
n
s
i
n
contrib
ution
toward
their
s
upport
a
t
o
p p
S O b ristling with inconsistencies good and
b ad would o u r th ree travelers find this tyran
n ou s and utterly unrepubl ican r égim e N owhere
else i n enlightened lands and in th is day d o s o
many m illi ons s ee t h eir o n fellow c iti z ens s o
play footbal l with thei r simplest public rights for
the larger part o f th e Southern wh ite people do
with th ese laws o f their o n m aking what they
please keeping o r breaking them as con v enient
B ut their discoveries wo u l d still go o n They
woul d hear these oppressions j ustified by S o uth
ern white p eople Of the h ighest standing and
—more s th e shame— by Northern to u rists in
the So u th o n the ground that th e people upon
wh om they are l aid are a dull viciou s unclean
race contact with wh ich would be physically
intellectually and m orally offensive and mis
a higher race And when they
c h ie vo u s to
might ask why the lines Of l imited rights are n ot
d rawn aro u nd the conspicu o u sly d ull v i cio us
and u nclean of both races for th e protection Of
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TH E
N
E GR O Q UE S T I ON
the opposite sort i n bo th they would c ome face
to face U pon the amazing assu mption that the
lowest white man is s omehow a l ittle to o good
for even s o m u ch c ontact with the highest b lack
as may be necessary fo r a comm on enj o y m
public rights and therefore that n o excellence
m oral mental o r physical in b orn o r attained
can buy for a man o f color from these sepa l
r a t io n is t s any distincti on between the restri c tions
Of h is civil l iberty and th os e Of the stupidest
and squalidest O f h is race or bring h im one step
nearer to the enj oym ent of the rights 0
man ; o r if at all then only as a matter
wh ite man s vol untary condescension an
th e right disguised as a personal privilege
woul d find that th e race line i s n ot a l ine o f
physical m oral o r intellectual excellence at all
Stranger yet they would learn that n o propor:
tion Of white men s bloo d in thei r o n veins
\
unless it wash es o u t the very mem o ry o f their
A fr ican j i ngzu r e can get them abatement o f those
deprivati ons decreed for a d ull viciou s and u n
—
clean race b ut that men women and children
—
alike h u ndreds and th ousand s o f mixed race
are th us daily and publicly punished by their
brothers for th e sins O f thei r fath ers They
o u l dj nd j h e race line not a race line at all
w
They wou ld find that th e mere conta m race
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TH E
22
N
E GR O Q UE STI ON
with ra c e is not the matter objected to b u t only
any an d every so rt Of contact o n an equal foot
in g They wou ld find that what no money n o
fame no personal excellence and no fractional
preponderance Of E u ropean bl ood can b uy can
nevertheles s b e bou ght instantly and with out
one o f these thing s b y th e s imple s u rrender o f
3 th e i tt it u de of phl Sl iO e q u a l ityT Th Ey
o ul d
w
find t m hé én ti r e essence o f th e Offence any
and everywhere wh ere th e race line is insisted
on
i s the apparition Of th e col ored man o r
as h is o r h er o n master ; that master
h ood i s all th at all th is tyranny is intended to pre
se rve and that th e m oment the relation Of master
and serv ant i s v isib ly establish ed b etween race
and race there is the h u sh Of peace
—
i s that negro what is that m ulat
tress —d oing i n here ? asks o n e private indi
vidual o f another in some publi c place and the
other replies
“
That s n othing ; h e is the serv ant Of that
wh ite man j u st behind h im ; s h e is the n u rse O f
th ose ch ildren in front o f her
“
“
O h al l right
And th e cordia l relati on
is restored S uch conversation o r equ i v alent
sol iloquy o c cu rs in the South a h undred times
a day
The su rrender o f th is one p oint b y the col ored
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N E GE O
TH E
Q UE S T I ON
23
.
—
man o r woman buys more than peace it buys
ami ty ; an amity clou ded only
Bu t
distinct and constant ai r an d tone O f com mand
a very gross and imperfect
o n th e o n e part
attitu de o f de ference o n th e other and th e per
t
u a l u nrest that always accompanies forcible
e
p
possession Of anything B ut since n o people
ever compelled another to pay to o m u ch fo r
peace with out somehow paying too m uch fo r it
themselves th e master caste t o l erates with u m
su rpassed s upineness and u nconscio u sness a
more indolent ine ffi cient s l ovenly u nclean
untru st orthy ill mannered n oisy disrespect
ful disputatio u s and yet serv il e domestic a
!
public menial service than i s t olerated by any
other enlightened peopl e S u ch i s b ut o n e Of
the smallest O f many payments which an intel
l ige n t and refined com mu nity h as t o make for
maintaining the lines Of master and servant hood
o n caste i nstead O f o n i ndividu al ambition and
capacity and for the forcible equalization O f m il
lions O f u neq u al i n dividu al s under o n e common
publ i c disdain O ther and greater payments and
losses there are m oral politi cal i nd u strial c o m
m e r c ia l as we shal l s e e when we tu rn as now
we m ust to th e other hal f Of this task and
answer the two impatient questions that j ostle
each other fo r p recedence as they spring fro m
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TH E
24
N E
GR O Q UE S T I ON
this still incomplete statement Of the conditio n
of a ffai rs
The two questions are these : If the case is so
plain then i n th e first place h o can the mil
lions o f intelligent and vi rtu ou s wh ite people of
the So uth make s u ch a political not to s a y s uch
a mo ral m istake ? And i n the s
h ow can the overwhelming m illions Of the North
after S pending the frightfu l costs th ey S pent in
tolerate thi s emasc ulation O f
th e war Of 6 1
the American freedom which that war is s u p
posed to have sec u red to all alike P
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TH E A N S W ER
.
I
As to the S outhern peopl e th e answer i s that
—
al tho ugh the Southern master class n o w c
ally and u nanimou sly admit th e folly o f 31
h olding yet the fu ndamental article O f political
faith o n which s l avery rested has not been dis
placed
As to th e people O f the No rth the
answer i s simpler stil l : the U nion i s saved
Th e Northern cau se i n o u r civil war was not
primarily the abolition Of slavery altho ugh
many a Northern s oldier and captain fought
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TH E
GR O Q UE STI
N E
ON
2
5
mainly for this and cared for n o other issu e
while this remained The So uthern cau se was
not merely for disu nion th ou gh many a S outh
ern soldier and captain would ne v er have t a k e rk
up th e sword to defend slave h olding stripped O f
>/
the disguise O f State sovereignty The Northern
cause was pre eminently th e National u nity
—
Emancipation th e emancipation o f the negroes
fo u gh t fo r b u t only
b t 1Ylth
The right to secede as
Wh aL j L i n
not what the South fought fo r bu t only what it
fought with The great maj ority o f the Southern
white people l oved the U nion and consented to
it s destruction only when there seemed to be n o
other way to save slavery ; the great bulk Of the
North consented to destroy slave ry only when
there seemed n o other way to save th e U nion
To put in peril the U nion o n o n e side and
slave r y o n the other was enough when nothing
else was enough to drench o n e o f the greatest
and happiest lands o n earth with the blood Of
h undreds Of thousands Of her o n children
Now what th ing o f s upreme val u e rested on
this U nion an d what o n this slavery that they
sho ul d have been defended at s u ch cost
There
rested o n or m ore truly there u nderlay each a
fu ndamental principle conceived to be absol utely
essential to th e safety o rder peace fortu ne and
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26
TH E
N E GE O
Q UES T I ON
honor of society and these two prin c iple s were
antagonistic
They were m ore than antagonisti c they were
antipodal and irreconcilable
N O people that
h old either o f these ideas as c ardinal i n their
political c reed will ever al l ow th e oth er to be
forced upon them from with out s o l ong as b l ood
and lives will buy deliverance
B oth were
bro u ght from the m other co u ntry when Amer
ica was originally colonized and both have their
advocates in greater o r less nu mber in the North
ern States i n the Southern and where v er there
is any freedom o f thou ght and S peech
The c ommon subj ect o f th e two i s the great
l ower mass Of s o c iety The leading tho ught o f
the o n e is that mass s elevation o f th e other its
s ubj u gation The o n e declares th e only perma
nent safety o f p u b l ic s ociety and its h igh est de
ve l o p m en t to requ ire the constant ele v ati on of
the l ower and th u s o f th e wh ol e mas s b y the
free self government Of al l u nder o n e common
code O f eq u al civil rights I t came fro m E ng
land b ut it was pra c tically, s u c c essfully b en efi
appl
ied
o n a nationa l s cal e first in th e
c e n tl
y
U nited States and Americans claim th e right to
cal l it an d it p r eé m in e n tl y th e Ameri can i dea
prom ulgated and established not by N ortherners
or Southerners o n e greatly more than another
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28
TH E
N E GE O
Q UES TI ON
assu red p ublic tranqu illity Nothing cou l d be
m ore natu ral than for African slave ry once in
t r o d u ce d to flo u rish an d S pread u nder the one
idea and languish an d die u nder th e other It
is high time to b e done saying that the South
retained slavery and the North renounced it
merely b ecause to the o n e it a s and to th e
other it was not l u crative I t was inevitable that
the m ost conspicu ou s featu re o f o n e civilization
sh oul d becom e the p ublic sch oolho u se and o f
the other the slave yard Wh o co ul d wish to
raise the equ ally idle and Offensive question of
praise and b lame ? When North erners came
So u th b y th ou sands and made thei r dwelling
there ninety nine h u ndredths O f the m fell into
o u r Southern error up to the eyes and there is
noth ing to p rove that had th e p lantation idea to
the exc l u sion Of the village idea b een planted
in all the c olonie s we sh ou ld n ot by this tim e
have had a West I ndian civilization from F lorida
to O regon B Ut it was not to b e s o Where v er
the farm v illage became the germinal u nit Of
social o rganization there was develo p ed in its
m ost comprehensive integri ty that American
idea Of o u r No rthern and So uthern fath ers the
representative self go v ernment Of the whole
people by the constant free c onsent o f al l to the
frequ ently re c onsidered c hoice O f the m aj ority
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TH E
Q UE S T I ON
N E GE O
29
Su ch a scheme can be safe only when it in
e l udes inherently th e continual and diligent ele
v ation o f that l ower mass which h uman socie ty
everywhere i s c onstantly precipitating B ut
slave h olding o n any large scal e co u l d not make
even a show Of public safety with o ut th e con
t in u a l and diligent debasement Of its ensla v ed
l ower millions Wherever it prevailed it was
bound by the natural necessities o f its own e x
is te n ce to u ndermine and corrode the National
scheme I t mistaught the new generation s Of
the white South that the slave holding fathers o f
the R epublic were approvers and advocates o f
that s a d practice wh ich by th ei r tru e h istories
we know they woul d gladly have destroyed I t
mistau ght u s to constru e th e ri ght o f a u niform
govern ment Of all by all not as a comm on and
inal ienabl e right o f man b ut a s a privil ege that
becam e a right only by a people s merit and
which o u r forefathers bo ught with the bl ood O f
the R evo lu tion i n I 7 76 3 and whi c h o u r slaves
did n ot and S h ou ld n ot b e all owed to ac qu ire
I t m istau ght u s to seek prosperity i n the con
centration instead O f th e diffu sion Of wealth t o
seek public safety in a state o f siege rather than
in a state Of peace ; it gave u s s ubj ects instead
o f fellow citizens and falsely th reatened u s with
the utter shipwreck o f p ubl ic and pri v ate society
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0
3
N E GE 0
Q UE
S T I ON
.
if we dared acco rd civil power to the degraded
millions to wh om we had forbidden patriotism
Thu s it coul d not help b ut misteach u s al s o to
subordinate to its p reservation th e m ai ntenance
Of a National u nio n with those Northern com
m u n it ies to wh ose wh ole s cheme Of order sla v e
h olding was intolerable and to rise at l ength
against th e will o f th e maj ority and dissolve the
Union when that maj ority refused to gi v e slav e
h olding the National sanction
Th e other system taught th e inherent right o f
all h u man socie ty to self government I t tau ght
the
impersonal
civil
equality
Of
all
I
t
admitted
[
that the private personal inequality o f individuals
is inevitabl e necessary right and good ; but con
d em n e d its mis u se to s et up arbitrary p u blic
inequ alities I t declared public equality to b e o n
the o n e hand th e only tru e and adequate cou n
te r p o is e against private inequalities and o n th e
other th e best protector an d promotor o f j u st
private i nequalities against u nj u st It held that
virtu e intelligence and wealth are thei r o n
s u fficient ad v antage and need for self protection
n o arbitrary c ivil preponderance ; that their
powers o f se l f protection are never inadequate
save when by forgetting equity they mass and
exas p erate ignorance vice and pove r ty against
them I t insisted that there is no safe p rote c tion
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TH E
N E GE O
Q UES T I ON
I
3
but self protection ; that povert y needs at l east
as m uc h civi l equipment for self protection as
prope rty needs ; that the righ t and l iberty
acqui re intelligence virt u e and wealth are j
as precio u s as th e right and l iberty to mainten u
them an d need qu ite as m uch self protection ;
that th e secret Of p ubli c o rder and highest pros
r it
e
i
th
e
c
ommon
and
equ
al
right
Of
a
l
l
l
aw
s
p
y
fully to acqu ire as wel l as retain every equ itable
means of self aggrandi z ement and that th is right
is ass u red to all only thro u gh th e consent Of all
to th e ch oice O f th e maj ority freq u ently appealed
to witho ut respect O f persons And last it truly
taught that a go v ernment fou nded on these prin
c ip l es and h ol ding them essential to p u blic peace
and safety m ight comfortably be a r the pro xi mity
Of al ien neighbors wh ose ideas Of right and
order were not implacably h ostile ; b ut that it
had no power to abide unless it co ul d p u t down
any internal m u tiny against that choice Of the
maj ority which as as it were th e Nation s fi rst
commandment
Th e war was fought and the U nion saved
F ought as it as o n the issu e o f the consent O f
all to th e choice o f th e maj ority the conviction
forced its way that the strife w o uld never end in
peace until th e libe rty o f self government as
guaranteed to the entire people and slave r y as
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TH E
2
3
Q UE STI ON
N E GE O
standing for the doctrine o f public safety b y s u b
j ugation destroyed H ence first emancipation
and then enfranchisement And now even th e
U nion saved is n ot the full m eas u re o f th e Na
tion s tri u mph s ; b u t saved once b y arm s it
seems at length to ha v e ach ieved a better and
fuller salvation still ; for th e people O f th e once
seceded States with a sincerity that n o genero u s
mind can question have ret u rned to thei r o l d
l ove O f this saved U nion and th e great North
from Ea st to utmost West ful l Of elation and
feeling what o n e may c al l the on u s Of th e win
“
ning side cries E no u gh ! and asks no more
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II
Th u s stands the matter to day O l d foes are
clasping hands on fields where once th ey met i n
battle and tou ch ing glasses across the b anqueting
board pledging l ong l ife to the U nion and pros
r ity to the So uth b ut at every feast there is
e
p
o n e empty seat
Why sh ould o n e seat b e ever emp ty and e v e r y
gu est afraid to l ook that way
Becau se the
Southern white m an swears upon h is father s
sword that none b ut a gh ost shal l ever sit there
And a gh ost i s there ; the ghost O f that Ol d
heresy O f public safety by the mass s s ubj u gation
This is what the Northern people cannot u nder
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TH E
Q UESTI O N
N E GE O
33
.
stand This is what make s the Southern white
man an eni gma to all th e worl d beside if not
also to h imsel f To day th e pride with wh ich he
boasts himself a citizen Of the U nited States and
the sincerity with which he declares for free gov
e r n m e n t as the only safe government cannot be
doubted ; to m orrow comes an explosion fol
l owed by su ch a m isinterpretation Of what free
government requires and forbids that it i s hard
to i dentify h im with the ninetee n th c entu ry
E mancipation destroyed domesti c bondage ; e n
franch isement as nearly as its mere decree can
has abolish ed public servitu de ; how then does
this O l d u m American u ndem ocratic idea Of sub
j ugation which o u r British m other cou ntry and
E urope as well are s o fast repudiating— h o
does it remain ? Was it n ot fou nded in these
two for ms o f slavery ? Th e mistake lies j
there : They were fou nded i n it and removi
them has not removed it
I t has al ways b een hard for th e No rth to
understand the alacrity with wh ich the ex slave
holder learned to condem n as a m oral and eco
nomic error that s l avery i n de fen se o f which h e
endu red fou r years o f desolating war But it
was gen uine and here is the explanation : H e
believed personal enslavement essential to s u bj u
E
mancipation
at
n e stroke proved it
a t io n
o
g
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TH E
34
N
EGR O Q UE STI ON
was not B ut it pro v ed n o m ore U nfort u nate l y
for the whole Nation there was al ready before
emancipation c a me a defined statu s a pecu l iar
niche waiting for freed negroes
They were
Nor was it new t o lose personal
n othing n e
O nersh ip in one s slave When u nder e m an c i
t
i
o n n o one else could o
a
hi
m
we
qu
ickly
n
p
sa
h e was n o t l ost at all There h e stood b eg
gar to u s fo r room fo r the sole o f his foot th e
land a nd al l its appliances o u rs and h e b y th e
stress Of h is daily needs captive to the l and
The m oment h e fel l to wor k Of his o n free will
we s a that emancipati on as e v en more o u rs
than h is ; p u blic o rder stood fast o u r h omes
were safe o u r fi r es id e s u ninvaded h e stil l se r v ed
we sti ll ruled ; al l need o f h olding h im in private
bondage as disproved and when th e noti on O f
necessity v anis h ed the notion o f right vanished
with it E man c ipation had destroyed private but
it had not distu rb ed p ublic s ubj u gati on The
ex—
s l ave was n ot a free man h e a s only a free
negro
Then the winners o f th e war s a that the
great issue which had j eopardized th e U nion was
not settled Th e G o v ernment s fo un da tion prin
r e é s ta b l is h e d and c o uld n o t be
c ip l e was n ot
wh ile millions O f the c ou ntry s population were
vith o u t a v oice as to wh o sho u ld ru le who
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3
TH E
N E GE O
Q UE S TI ON
.
States t o their autonomy with their populations
divided b y lines Of statu s abhorrent to the whole
National stru ctu re
1
Northern men O ften ask perplexedly if th
freedman s enfranch isement was not as to t h
South premature and inexpedient ; while So
ern men as often call it the o n e vindictive ac
th e c onqueror as foolish as it was cruel I t
cruel Not by intention and it may be u n a v
ably b ut certainly it was not gruel for it
but fo r j ts tardiness H ad enfranch isement come
into effect as emancipation did wh ile the sm oke
o f the war s last sh ot was still i n the air when
force still ru led u n q u estioned and c ivil order
and system had not yet superseded martial law
th e agonies the sh ame and th e incalculable
losses Of the R econstru ction period that followed
might have been spared th e S outh and the
Nation I nstead there came two unl u cky post
n e m e n t s the sl ow doling o u t Of r e enfranchise
o
p
ment to th e best intelligence O f So uthern white
s ociety and the delay Of the freedman s e n fr a n
—
—
his
civil
emancipation
until the
c h is e m en t
“
O ld South
instead Of reorgani z ing public
society in harm ony with the National idea
largely returned to its entrench ments i n the
noti on O f excl u sive wh ite rule Then too late
to av ert a new strife and as littl e m ore th an a
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N
TH E
E G R O Q UESTI ON
37
w
de fensive O ffset the freedman as invested with
citizenship and the experiment begu n Of trying
to establish a form o f p u bli c order wherein
u nder a political equ a l ity accorded by all citizens
to all citi z ens ne w and Old intelligence and v ir
tu e wou l d be s o free to combine and ignorance
and vice feel s o free to divide as t o ins u re the
maj ori ty s free choice o f rulers o f at least eno u gh
intelligence and virtu e to sec u re safety o rder
and progress Th is e x peri ence th e North be
l ieve d woul d s u cceed and since this was the
organic embodiment of the American idea for
wh ich it had j ust shed seas Of blood it sta nds to
reason the North woul d not h ave allowed it to
fail B ut the Ol d South stil l bleeding from her
thousand wounds b ut as bra v e as when s h e fired
her first gun believed not only that th e ex p er i
ment would fail b ut al so that it was dangero us
and dish onorable And to day both in No rth
and So uth a widespread impression prevails that
th is is the experi ment which was made and did
I n fact fail
Whereas it i s j u st what th e O ld
South never all owed to be tried
This is the whole secret o f th e Negro Q u
tion s v ital for c e to day And yet the stru ggle
in the Southern States has never been by the
blacks for and by th e wh ites against a black
supremacy but only for an d against an arbitrary
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8
3
TH E
N E GE 0
Q UE S TI ON
.
pu re wh ite s u premacy F rom the v ery first u nti l
this day i n a l l the freedman s intellectu al crudity
h e h a s hel d fast t o the o n e tru e National doc
trine Of the absence o f privil ege and th e ru le o f
all by al l th rough the comm on and stead fast
consent Of all to th e free and freq u ent ch oi c e o f
the maj ority H e has ne v er rej ected white m en s
political fell owsh ip o r l eadersh ip b e ca u se it was
white b ut on l y and a l ways when it was u ns ou nd
in th is doctrine H is party has never been a
pu rely black par ty in fact o r principle The
solid black vote is only by o utside pressu re
solidified ab o ut a principle Of Am erican liberty
which is its elf against solidity and destroys the
politica l s o l idity of class es wherever it h as free
—
play B ut the solid white v ote
wh ich is not
solid by incl u ding al l whites bu t becau se n o
colored man can truly enter its ranks m u ch less
its co u n c ils with o u t accepting an emasculated
emancipation — the s olid white v ote is solid not
b y outside pressu re b ut by inherent pri nciple
Solid twice over ; first in each State from sincere
m otives o f self preservation solid in keeping the
O l d servile class b y arbitrary c lassification s e r
vile ; and then s olid again by a tacit leagu e o f
Southern States aro u n d th e ass u med right Of
each State separately to postp on e a tru e and c o m
l
e emancipati on as l ong as the fear remains
e
t
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N E GE O
TH E
Q UE STI ON
—
that with full American liberty this and no
more —to all alike th e freedman would himse l f
u su rp the arbitrary dominati on n ow held over
him and plu nder and destroy society
So then the S outhern qu esti on at its root i s
simply whether there is any real gro u nd su ffi
cient to j ustify th is fear and th e attitu de taken
against it O nly rem ove th is fear which rests
on a maj ority Of the wh ole white S outh d eS p itefi
all its splendid well prove d c ou rage and the
question o f right in law and in mo rals will van
ish al ong with th e notion o f necessity
Whoever attempts to rem ove this a p p r e h e n
sion mu st meet it in t o form s : First fea r o f a
hopeless wreck o f p ublic government by a com
l
e
s
upremacy
the
lower
mass
and
second
t
e
o
f
;
p
fear Of a yet m ore d readful wreck Of p rivate
so c iety in a de l u ge of so c ia l equ al ity
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III
Now as to pu blic government the freedman
whatever m ay b e said o f his mistakes has never
sh o n an intentional preference fo r anarchy
H ad he su ch a bent h e would ha ve betrayed
something of it when o u r civi l war offered as
wide an opportu nity for its indulgence as any
millions in bondage ever had H e has shown at
l east as prompt a choic e for peace and orde r as
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TH E
40
N E GE O
Q UE S T I O N
“
any lower m illion ever showed The vices
said to be h is i n inordinate degree are only s u ch
as always go with degradation and especially
with a degraded statu s ; and when i n R econ
struction years he hel d power to make and u n
make laws ami d all h is degradation all the
efforts to c onfine him still to an arbitrary servile
statu s and all his v ici ou s special legislati on he
never rem oved the penalties from anything that
the world at large calls a crime Neither did h e
ever S h ow any seriou s disposition to establ ish
Th e wh ole S pirit Of his emane
r ace rul e
and enfranch isement and h is wh ole stru ggle
was and is to p u t race rule Of all sorts u nder
foot and s e t up th e c ommon ru le Of all Th e
fear O f anarchy in th e Southern States th en is
only that perfectly natu ral and largely excusable
fear that besets the upper ranks o f s ociety every
where and O ft en s uccessfully tempts them to
commit inequ itable u su rpations and yet a fear
Of which n o amo u nt O f power o r privilege ever
—
relieves them the fear that the stupid th e des
t itu te and the viciou s will combine again st them
and rule by sheer weight of nu mbers
Maj ority rule is an u n fortunate term in that it
fal se l y implies this v ery thing ; whereas its mis
sion in h uman a ffairs is to remove precisely this
danger I n fact a minority al ways rules At least
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N E
TH E
GR O Q UE S TI ON
41
it always can All the great maj ority ever strives
for is the power to choose by what and what
kind o f a minority it shall be ruled What that
choosing maj ority shall consist of and hence the
wisdom and public safety o f its ch oice will
depend mainly upon the attitu de Of thos e wh o
h old against th e power o f mere n umbers the
far greater powers of intellige nce o f virtu e and
o f wealth
If these claim by vi rt ue Of their
o
n sel f estimate an arbitrary right to ru le an d
s a y wh o shall rule the l ower elements Of society
will be bound together by a j u st sense o f gr iev
ance and a well gro unded reciprocati on Of dis
trust ; the forced r u le will continue only till it
can be overtu rned and while it lasts will be
attended by largely u ncou nted but enorm ou s
l osses m oral and material to al l ranks o f s ociety
But if the wise th e upright the wealthy com
mand the co u rage of o u r American fathers to
claim fo r all men a common political equ ality
without rank station o r privi l ege and gi v e their
full and free adherence to government by the co n
sent Of all to the ru le Of a m inori ty empowered by
the ch oice Of th e maj ority frequ ently appealed to
witho u t respect of per s ons then ignorance des
t it u tio n and vice will n o t combine to make th e
choosing m ajori ty They cann ot They carry
in themselves the v ery p rincipl e o f disintegra
.
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TH E
42
N E GE O
Q UE S TI ON
.
tion With out the o utside press u re of common
and sore grievance they h ave n o l asting powers
Of cohesion The minority always may ru l e
It need never ru le by force if it will ru l e by
equ ity This i s th e faith o f o u r fath ers O f the
R evol ution and n o commu nity in America th at
has bu ilt squarely and only upon it h as fo u nd it
unwise o r u n s a fe
This is asserted with all the terrible m i s r ul e
days in full remembrance
o f R econstru ction
F or fi rst be it said again that s a d history came
not by a reign Of equal rights and maj ority rule
but thro u gh an attempt to estab lish them while
the greater part Of the weal th and intelligence o f
the region involved held o u t sincerely stead
fastly and desperately against them and fo r th e
preserv ation o f u nequal privileges and c l ass
domination
The R econstruction party e ven
with all its taxing stealing and de frau ding and
with the u pper ran k s Of society at war as fiercely
against
its
best
principles
as
against
its
bad
prae
l
tices p l anted th e wh ole S outh with public sch ools
for the poor and illiterate o f both r a ces el c o m e d
and cherished the missionaries o f higher ed u ca
tion an d when it fell l eft them sti ll both systems
with th e master c lass converted to a belie f in
The history O f R econ
t heir u se and necessity
stru c tion dispassionately viewed is a final t r iu m
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TH E
44
Q UE S TI
N E GE O
ON
misapplied it to th e sacred domains o f private
society I f th e idea Of civil equal ity had rightly
any s u ch application their h orro r would certainly
be j u st To a forced p ri v ate social equality the
rest Of the world h a s th
ve r s io n b u t it
knows and feels that s u ch a thing is as impossi b l e
in fact as it is m onstrou s in th ought Americans
in general know by a centu ry s experience that
civil equ al ity makes n o s uch p r O p o s al bears no
s u ch res ults They know that publi c society
—
ci v il socie ty compri ses o n e distinct group o f
m utual relations and pr ivate society entirely
another and th at it i s simply and only evi l to
confuse the t o They s ee that p u b lic society
comprises all th ose relations that are impersonal
u nselective and in wh ich all men o f whatever
personal inequ ality shou l d stand eq u al They
recogni z e that pri vate society is its opposite
hemisphere ; that it is personal selecti v e assort
ive ignores civi l equality with out v iolating it
an d forms itsel f entirely upon m u tu al pri v ate
preferences and a ffin itie s They agree th at ci37il
statu s h a s Of right n o S pecial val u e in pri v ate
socie ty and that thei r private social statu s has
rightly n o special val u e in their p ub l ic social
e
their merely civil —relations
z
Even the
Southern freedman i s perfectl y clear o n these
points ; and Northe r n minds are O ften p u zz led to
.
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TH E
N E
GR O
Q UE
S T/0 1 V
.
45
know why the whites o f ou r Southern States
almost alone sho uld be beset by a confusion o f
ideas that costs them al l the tremendou s di ffer
en ce s spiritual and material
bet een a state o f
truce and a state o f peace
B ut the matter h as a very natu ral explanation
Slavery was both public and private domestic as
well as c ivil
By the plantation system the
members o f th e m aster class were alm ost con
s ta n tl
brought
into
cl
oser
contact
with
slaves
y
I
than with th ei r social equals
The d efe n s ive
line o f pri v ate s ociety i n its upper ranks was all ,
attenu ated o n e ; h ence there was a constant
well grounded fear that social confusion — fo r we
may cast aside the term social equality as pre >
—
s te r o u s
th
at
social
c
onfusion
wou
ld
be
o
p
wrought by the powerful temptatio n o f close
and contin ual contact bet een two classes — the
upper powerfu l and bold th e u nder helpless and
sensual and n either o n e s ocially responsible to th e
other either publicly o r privately It had al ready
I
brou ght abou t th e utter confusion o f race a n d
,
7 £Q Q EE E2 2 2 L§2 §9 W in the West I ndies and in
I Mexico and the only escape from a s imilar fate
seemed to o u r S outhern master class to be to
annihilate and forget th e bo u ndaries between
public right and private ch oice and treat th e
appearance anywhere o f any o n e visibly Of
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4
TH E
N E GE O
Q UE S T I ON
Afri c an tinctu re and not visibly a servant as an
a s s a u l t upon the p u rity of private so c iety to b e
r
repelled o n the instant with ou t questi on o f law
or autho rity as o n e wo ul d fight fire
Now
u nder slavery thou gh confessedly i nadequate
th is was a ft er a l l th e only way ; an d all th at th e
whites i n the So uth ern States have overlooked
is that th e conditions are changed and that this
policy has b ecome u nspeakably worse than u se
less D issimilar races are n ot inclined to mi x
spontaneou
sly
Th
e
com
m
on
enj
oyment
O
f
equal
!
civil rights never mi x ed two s uch race s ; it has
b een som e oppressive distincti on between
that by h ol din g o u t temptati ons to v ice
ih s tea d Of rewards to vi rtu e has done it ; and
becau se slavery is the fou lest o f oppressions it
makes th e mi x ture o f races i n m or al ly fou lest
form R ace fu sion is n o t essential t o National
s
u
ch
u
nity
requires
only
civil
an
d
political
ugj t
yL;
n ot pri vate social h omogeneity Th e contact O f
s uperior and inferior is n ot O f necessity degrad
ing it is the hin a o f contact that degrades o r
e l evates and publ ic equ a l i ty; equal p ublic
rights common p ublic l iberty equal m utual
responsibility—this is the great essential to b e
ne fi c e n t contact across the lines O f physical intel
lectual an d m oral di fference and th e greatest
safeguard O f private society that h u man l aw o r
cu stom can provide
,
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TH E
Q UE S T I
N E GE O
ON
47
.
V
Th u s we s e e that , s o far from a complete eman
c ip a t io n o f the freedma n b ringing th ose results
in th e Southern States which the wh ite people
there s o j ustly abh or b ut s o needlessly fear it is
the only sa fe and e ffectual preventive Of those
results and final cu re o f a state Of inflammation
which nothing bu t th e remaining vestiges Of an
incompletely abolished slavery perpetuates The
abolition Of th e present stage Of siege rests with
the S outhern white man
H e can abol ish it if
h e will with safety and at once
Th e results
will not be the retu rn o f R econstruction days
nor the incom ing o f any sort o f black rule n or
the s upremacy Of the l ower mass — either white
black o r mixed ; nor the c onfusi on of ranks and
races in private society ; n or th e throng i ng
black children into wh ite public sch ool s which
never happened e v en i n th e worst R econstru e E
tion days ; nor any at tenda nce at al l o f col ored
children i n white sch ools o r O f wh ite in colored 2
sa v e where excl u sion woul d wor k needless hard
—
sh ip ; no r any new necessity to teach children i
—
what they al ready kno s o well that th e public i
school relation i s not a pri v ate social relation L
nor any greate r o r less necessity for parents to
o versee th eir chil dren s ch oice o f co m p anions in
.
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48
sch ool
TH E
N E
GR O Q UE S T I ON
w
out ; no r a tenth as m uch o r as mis
w
m
h
i
c h ievo u s
l
a t in
of
é
a
n
d
colored
chil
t
p ay
g
dren as t h éFé Wés I n thedays o f slav ery nor any
new Obstructi on Of civil o r criminal j u stice no r
any need Of s ubmitting to any s ort Of Offensive
contact fro m a colored person that it woul d be
right to resent if he were wh ite B ut seven dark
American born m illions would find them selves
freed from their c onstant liability to public legal
iz e d indignity
They woul d find themselves for
the fi rst time in their h istory h ol ding a patent
with the s e al Of pu bl ic approval for all the aspi
rations O f citizensh ip and all th e p ublic rewards
o f virtu e a nd intelligence
Not merely wou ld
thei r m illion voters fi nd themselves admitted to
and faithfu lly c o u nted at the polls — whether
they are al ready o r not i s n o t here discu ssed
b ut they wo ul d fi nd th emselves as never before
at liberty t o ch oose b etween political parties
These are some Of th e good— and there need be
no ill — changes that will come whenever a ma
j o r ity Of the So uthern wh ites are wi l ling to v ote
for th em
There is a vagu e hope m u ch commoner in
th e North than in the So uth that somehow if
everybody will s it stil l time will bring these
changes A large me rcantil e element especially
“
would have the S outh let politics alone
It is
or
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N E G
TH E
R O Q UE S T I ON
49
too bu sy to understa nd that whatever peopl e lets
politics alone is doomed There are things that
m ere time can do but only v igoro u s agitation
c an be trusted to change the fundamental c o n vic
tions on wh ich a people has bu ilt Society Time
may do it at last b ut it is likely to make bloody
work Of it F or either fou ndation i dea o n which
s ocie ty may build m u st if let al on e multiply
upon itsel f The elevation
idea
brings
safety
——
and safe ty constantl y C Om
mends and intensifies
itsel f and the elevation idea The s ubqj tiga tiqn
idea\b r in gs danger an d the sense Of danger con
Time
s ta n tl y intensifies the subj ugation i dea
may be cou nted o n for su ch lighter things as the
removal Of animosities an d su spici ons an d this
in o u r Nati on s cas e it has don e Neither North
nor South now h olds o r s u spects the oth er o f
holding any gru dge fo r the late war B ut trust
ing time to d o m ore than this i s b ut trusting to
luck and tru sting to l uck i s a cri me
What is l u ck doing ? H ere is th e exclu sive
white party i n the Southern States calling itself
and itself only The South praying the Nation
to h old O ff not merely its interference but its
—
—
cou nsel even its notice while it not removes
bu t refines polishes decorates and disguises to
its o n and the Nation s eyes th is corner stone
Of all its own and the South s th e wh ole Sou th s
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S
TH E
50
Q UE STI ON
N E GE O
.
woes ; pleading the i nabi l ity Of any bu t itself to
u nderstand the negro when in fact itself has
had to correct m ore and m ore radical m istakes
about th e negro since the war than all th e Nation
failing
still
m
ore
than
twen
t
y
years
since
e
s
i
d
e
J
R econstru ction began and m ore than ten since
its era cl osed to offer any definition o f th e freed
man s needs and desires wh ich h e can a c cept ;
making daily statements Of h is preferences wh ich
th e one h undred newspapers publish ed for h is
patronage and by himself daily and u nanimou sly
repudiate ; trying to settle affairs o n the o n e only
false principle Of public social o rder that keeps
th em u nsettled ; proposing to settl e upon a s in e
u
a
n
on
that
sh
uts
u
t
f
its
cou
ncil
s
th
e
wh
ole
o
O
q
Opposite side o f th e only matter in questi on ;
and h o l ding out fo r a settlement which whether
effected o r not c an bu t perpetuate a disturbance
Of inter state equal ity fatal to the Nation s peace
— a settlement which i s n o m ore than a refu sal
to settle at al l
Meanwh ile over a milli on Ameri c an citi z ens
with their wi v es and ch il dren su ffer a s u spension
Of their ful l citizenship and are vi rtu ally s ubj ects
and not citizens peasants i nstead o f freemen
They cannot seize thei r rights by fo rce and th e
Nation wo uld ne v er allo it if they could B ut
they are learn ing o n e of the worst l essons c lass
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5
TH E
N E GE 0
Q UE
ON
S TI
.
the val u e o f this aggrandi z ement m ust be
d ul l indeed B ut many an eye i n North and
South and to th e So uth s l oss is crediting it
with val u es that it h as n ot T O many th e New
South we long for means only this ind u strial
and commercial expansion an d o u r eager mer
c a n tl l e spi rit forgets that even
for making a
people rich in goods a civi l order o n s ou nd
fou ndations is Of greater v alue than coal o r
metals o r spindles and l oom s May th e So uth
grow rich ! B ut every wise friend o f the South
will wish besides to s ee wealth b u ilt upon p ub
lic pro v isions for secu ring thro ugh it that gen
eral b en efi ce n c e with out which it i s not really
wealth
H e wo u l d n o t wish th ose A m ei ica n
States a wealth like t h at which once was Spai n s
H e woul d n ot wish to see thei r society m ore
diligent for those conditions that concentrate
wealth than fo r th ose that disseminate it Yet
he m ust s ee it That is the situation despite
the assu rances o f a h ost Of well meaning fl
a t te r e r s
that a New So uth is laying th e fou ndations o f a
permanent p rosperity They cannot be lai d o n
the O l d plantati on idea and m u ch Of that wh ich
is loosely called the New South to day is farthest
—
i
it is only the O ld South readapting th e
t
from
Old p l antation idea to a peasant labor and min
eral p roducts
Said a m ine owner o f the far
s ee
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TH E
N E GE O
Q UE S TI ON
53
.
Nort h lately
We shall never fear thei r com
petiti on till they get rid o f that idea
A l asting
prosperity cannot be h oped for without a dis
sem inated wealth and public social conditions
to k eep it from congestion B ut this dissemina
tion cannot be got save by a disseminated intel
l ige n ce nor intelligence be disseminated without
a disseminated edu cation nor th is be brought to
any high val u e with out liberty responsibility
private inequality publi c equality sel f regard
v irtu e asp irations and th eir rewards
Many as k if this new material development Of
the South wil l not natu rally be followed by ade
quate public provisions for this dissemination by
and —
There is b ut o n e safe answer : That it
by
has never s o happened in America F rom o u r
fu rthest E ast to o u r fu rthest West whenever a
comm unity has established social order in th e
idea Of the elevation O f the masses it has planned
not fo r education and liberty to follow from
wealth and intelligence b ut for we al th and inte l
l ige n c e to follow from edu cation and liberty ; and
t h e commu nity wh ose intell igent few do n o t
make the mass s elevation by pu b lic edu cation
and equal public liberty the corner stone O f a
proj ected wealth is not m o re likely to provide it
after wealth is achieved and mostly in their o n
hands
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54
TH E
NE G R O Q UESTI ON
—
O ur American pu bl ic s c hool ide a Am eri c an
-
at l east i n contrast with any dissimilar noti on
is that a provision for pub l ic edu cati o n adequate
for the whol e people is n ot a bene v olent conce s
sion bu t a paying in v estment constantly and
abso l utel y essentia l to confirm the safety O f a
safe scheme o f government The maintenance
and gro wth o f p ubli c educati on in th e S outh ern
States as fi rst established prin cipally u nder r e
constr u ction ru le sadly insu ffi cient as it still is
is mainly d ue to the partial tri u mph Of this idea
i n the m inds O f the So uthern whites and its eager
acceptance with or with o u t discordant condi
tions by the intel ligent blacks and in n o region
is right l y attrib u table to an e x ceptionable increase
Of wea l th M uch less is it attributab l e as is Often
conj ectu red to th e i nflu x Of Northern capita l and
capitalists b ringing Northern ideas with them
It ou ght to go witho u t saying that immigration
with o r with o u t capital will always try to ass im
ilate itself to th e state Of society into which it
c omes E very i mpulse o f commerce is n ot to
distu rb any vexed iss u e u ntil s u ch issu e th rows
itse l f immediately ac ross the path It never pu r
l
s
molests
a
qu
estion
of
s
ocia
l
order
S
O
it
o
e
p
y
is in the So u th
Certain p u blic men in b oth No rth and S o u th
ha v e Of late years made with the kindest l u ten
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TH E
N E GE O
Q UE S TI ON
55
.
tions an u nfortunate mis u se o f statistical facts to
make it appear that publ ic society i n the S o u th
is doing not all that sho u ld b e done b u t all it
can do for th e establish ment o f permanent safety
and harm ony th ro ugh the elevation of the lower
masses especially in the matter o f pu b lic educa
tion In truth these facts do not pro v e the state
ment they are c alled upon to p rove and d o the
Southern States no kindness in l u lling them to a
belief in
I t i s said for instan c e that c ertain x/
Southern States are n ow spending m ore ann u ally
for public edu c ation in p roportion to th ei r ta x
able we al th than certain Northern State s noted
for the comp l eteness o f their pub l ic scho ol s ys
tems M ississippi m ay th u s b e c ompared with )
Massach u setts B u t really the comparison is a
sad inj u stice to the South ern State fo r a c entu ry
o f p u blic edu cation has helped to make Massa
c h u s e tt s s o rich that s h e is able to spend ann u
al ly twenty dollars per head upon the children
in her p ublic sch ools wh ile M ississippi laying
a heavier tax spends upon hers but t o dollars
r
e
head
Manifestly
it
is
u
nfair
to
a
State
whose
p
public sch ool system is new to c ompare it with
any whose system i s O l d Th e p ublic school
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a treatm e n t of th e qu es ti o n of N t i ona l a id to S o uth ern
e du c a tion s ee the short art icl e pri nted suppl e m ent ary to t h is
Fo r
a
,
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6
5
TH E
N E GE O
Q UES TI ON
.
property Of O h io wh ose populati on is one mil
l ion is Over twice as great as th at O f ten States
o f the New So uth whose population is three and
*
a half times as large
And yet o n e does not
“
need to go as far as th e new West to fin d
States wh ose tax payers spend far more for pub
lic ed ucation than South ern communities th u s
far see the wisdom o r need Of investing With
more wealth than Virginia and b ut
o n e third
o n e tenth
the percentage Of illitera c y Iowa
spends o v er fou r times as m u ch per year for
publi c instruction With o n e fo u rth less wealth
than Alabama and but one fourteenth th e per
centage o f illiteracy Nebraska spends th ree and
a half times as m u ch per year for public in s t r u c
tion With about the same wealth as North Car
—
olina and less than o n e eighth the percentage Of
illiteracy Kansas spends over five time s as m u ch
per year for public ed ucation I f the comparison
be moved we s tward again into new regions the
Territory Of Dakota i s seen mak ing an ex p e n
d it u r e i n the year per capita o n a v erage attend
ance in the public sch ools Of $2 7 being more
than th e su m O f the like per c apita e x penditu res
by M is s is s ippi So u th Carolina Tennessee North
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1
S ee
883
R
,
e port of U ni te d S tates Co m m iss ioner of
page 1 l as t c o lu m n f ta bl e
2
,
o
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,
Ed
u c at i on
,
TH E
N E
GR O Q UE S TI ON
57
Carolina Alabama and G eorgia comb ined I n
Col orado it is about the sam e as i n Dakota while
in Nevada it is m u ch greater and i n Arizona twice
as large As to comparative wealth the taxable
wealth o f Dakota in 1 8 80 at least was but o n e
two thou sandth part Of that O f the six States with
which it is c ompared
Now what is the real truth i n these facts ?
That the ful l establishment Of this American
public school idea and Of that elevation idea of
wh ich it i s an e x ponent an d which has had s o
m u c h to do to ard making the people o f the
North ern States the wealthiest people in th e
world waits in the South not mainly an increase
o f wealth but rather the si mpl e consent Of the
So uthern white man to s e e society s best and
earliest safe ty the quickest greatest and m ost
lasting aggrandizement i n that p ub li c equ ality
Of all men that national citizensh ip wider than
race and far W ider than th e l ines of private
s ociety which makes the elevation of the masses
by every thing that tends to m oral aesthetical
a n d in t el l e ct u a l educati on i n sch ool an d o u t O f
school th e m ost u rgent an d fruitfu l investment
o f p ubli c wealth an d tru st
u
st
thi
s
sincere
j
confession All th e rest will foll ow The black
man will not merely be tolerated i n h is ci vil and
political rights as n o
so metimes h e i s and
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8
5
TH E
N E GE O
Q UE S TI ON
.
sometimes he i s n ot ; b ut h e will be wel comed
into and enco uraged and u rged to a tru e u n
d er s ta n din g val uati on and acceptance o f every
public du ty and responsibility o f citi zenship a c
cording to h is actual personal ability to respond
T O e fi e ct this is n ot th e h ercu lean and danger
ou s tas k it is sometimes said to be Th e No rth
has
foreign i mmigrants to American
ize and only this way to do it Th e S outh for
all her drawbacks h as th is c omparati v e a d va n
tage ; that her l ower mass h o ever ignorant
and debased i s as yet wh olly American in its
notions Of order an d government All that is
wanting i s to m ore c ompletely Americanize her
upper c lass a c lass that i s al ready ruling and
will stil l rul e when th e change i s made ; that
wants to rul e wisely and prosperou sly an d that
has n o consciou s i ntenti on O f bei ng u n Ameri
can O nly th is : T O bring the men o f best
blood and best brain i n the South to day not to
a n e and strange doctrine b u t back to th e
faith Of their fathers L et b ut th is be d one and
there m ay be fa r less cry o f P eace P eace than
b u t there wil l b e a peace and a u nion b e
no
tween th e Nation s t o great h isto ric sections
such as they have not seen since Virginia s
Washington laid do n h is sword and her J effer
s o n h is pen
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60
N A
TI ONA L
A I D
F irst that the con stitutionality
Of
national aid to
education is n ot th e qu esti on that properly comes
fi rst i n order The nation sh oul d fi rst ask itself
D O we i n this direction o e a national debt ?
for if s o there m us t he and we are bound in
h onor and common honesty to find some con
s t it u t io n a l way to liqu idate it
If we owed a debt
to a foreign nation we sh o uld c u t a sorry figu re
pleading that we co ul d not make i t constitutional
to pay it Shall we n ot treat o u r o n citi z ens
as well as we would h ave to treat the citizens o f
a foreign government ?
I think we are confronted here with a distinctly
nationa l debt Th e ed ucationa l destitution i n
the South s o c ontrary to o u r American scheme
o f social order is disti nctly th e result Of gross
defects in that social order ine v itably a e com
panying the institutiona l establishment Of African
slavery I t was certainly th e Nation s crime
It i s not enough for th e North to p oint to her
bloody expiation in war nor th e South to h er
proportionately greater sacrifice
E xpiations
h owever awful are n ot restitutions E xpiations
do not pay damages H ere is o n e Of the vast
evils resu lting fro m the Natio n s error still n u
removed
If it had n ot been fo r the politi
cal complicity O f millions O f Northern voters we
ne v er need hav e had a war and s l a v ery m u st
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SCHO O L S
T o 5 0 U TH E E N
61
.
have perished witho u t o n e I think therefore
that beyond question the removal Of o u r v ast
Southern illiteracy is an obligation resting upon
the wh ole Nation yet o n e wh ich th e States Of
the North and West cannot meet effectively
except thro u gh the action o f the Nationa l G o v
.
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e r n m en t
.
L et national aid to ed u cation be s uppl ied n ot
as a national condescension or charity but as
the o n e final payment O f a national Obligation
s o regarded by payer and payee and no c om
m u nity will be pauperized It i s abs u rd to fear
that the payment O f a j u st debt and its payment
in ed u ca tion is going to pauperize a commu nity
and make it content to bring up th e next gener
ation i n ignorance It i s hardly convincing to
draw large inferences from small examples in
e x cep t io n a l co m m u n it ies as has b een done too
frequ ently in this debate O u r whole wide
knowledge o f h uman h isto ry and h uman nature
makes it a x iomatic that a free and edu cated
generation u nder self government will not fail to
educate its children at its o n c ost
We need to make o n e distinction very plain
—
here between adults and children T O bestow
a professional ed ucation gratu itou sly upon an
adult certainly does have some tendency to p au
r iz e him for it p u ts ad v antages o f life into his
e
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62
N A T I ON A L A I D
hands at a l ower pri c e than m a n h ood o u ght to
pay B ut the case Of a child i n school i s j u st
the reverse U nder gratu itou s ai d he still gets
ed ucation at no abatement O f price to h im b u t
finds him self instead filled with needs which call
forth h is finest manhood to supply L et
nation pay its debt o f public ed ucation to S O
ern illiteracy in one generation Of school
dren I t is tr u e that the Southern St
do m ore for public education if they wou l d
and h e i s n o friend Of the S outh wh o flatter s h er
people into th e delusion that they are doing all
they can T O sh ow this o n e need only c ompare
th ese States with th e new States and Territories
o f the West where the people invest not only
m u ch m ore p er cap ita of schoo l population but
a very m uch large r proportion o f thei r ta x able
wealth e v en when they are poorer and more pre
occupied in establishing the preliminary frame
work O f s ociety and are b u rdened with a constant
inflow Of alien i mmigrants I n short they treat
public education as th e ve r y first Of preferred
claims B ut th e supreme fact is not that th e
South i s o r i s n ot doing all it can for educatio n
It is that h undreds and th o u sands Of chil dren
wh ite and black as the res u lt Of the nati on s
‘
crime O f which they are only th e innocent
v ictims are growing u p in an ignorance more
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SCHO OL S
T o S o U TH E E N
m g than
63
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education ho ever paid for To
those h o rest thei r argu ment against national
aid upon isolated examples in an ex c eptional
State here and there we might ask o n e question
Which are th e paupers the tens o f tho usands
h o have received Northern aid and even remote
indi v idual aid the most hazardou s O f a l l aids o r
th ose who have grown u p in ign orance witho ut
it ? I s it not the fact that m ost parts of th e
South have learned the v al ue and applied the
l esson of p ublic ed u cation from th e aid gr at u i
tou s as to them Of Northern m issionary socie
ties ? I d o n ot consider the edu cation o f the
l ower masses i n the South a c u re fo r all the ills
o f So uthern society bu t I fail to s ee h ow they
can be c u red witho ut it and I fail to s ee any
excellence in the po l i c y that i s content to with
hol d it
But again ou r national scheme in recognizing
th e right o f every man to v ote as a necessa r y
part Of th e universal right O f self go v ernment
forces upon u s as a correspondingly imperative
public necessity to s e e that no part Of the public
mass is left with out the means to vote in te l l i
gently The o n e i dea stands fo r freedom the
other for safety
I am not o f those wh o consider th at when the
nation enfranchised the Negro it created a new
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64
N A
TI ON A L
A I D
danger The range of h istory even with in o u r
o
n times gives pr o of enou gh that the illiterate
Negro is neither as dangerous nor as m uch feared
enfranchised as he was enslaved B ut I do insist
—
that enfranch isement which my mind e m p h a ti
—
call y approves was only half the essential na
In oth er
t io n a l pro v ision for permanent safety
words I recognize ci vil freedom as an element
o f public safety not danger yet an inadequate
element demanding th e establishment and main
t e n a n ce of intelligence to c omplete the provision
T O pay the world what it h ad borrowed
as
T O liberate
o n e part Of the nati on s Obligation
bodily politically and civilly the slave as and
is another There are others B ut to loose the
bonds Of th e Negro s ignorance is sti l l another
T O banquet toast and embrace the men wh o
conscientiously fou ght for th e destru ction of th e
U nion and the perpetuation o f slavery is gener
o u s ins p iring and largely admirable ; b ut it pays
no part Of the national debt to either side ; and I
sincerel y believe that North and South would
think m ore Of o n e another if o n e common n o b l e l
sentiment woul d recognize th e fact that feasting
and embracing cannot o f themse l ves pay the
debts O f either party L et u s have the banqu et
by al l means ; bu t let u s hav e the wedding first
and the banquet afterward
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T o S O U TH E E N
SCHO O L S
65
.
Whatever we say with regard to illiteracy Of
blacks i n the South applies to th e illiteracy O f
wh ites also S ince they are both th e fru it Of the
same tree wh ose root drew its n ou rish ment
from a m oral error as wide as th e nati on L et
u s be constitutional ; but I think n o reasonable
mind wi ll d o ij ht that when the nation recognizes
this m atter as a national debt it will find o r will
make a constitutional way t o mend it
We are told by th e opponents o f national aid
to edu cation that it would incu r the risk Of pau
r iz in
th
e
comm
unities
aided
b
ut
s
u
rely
we
e
;
p
g
cannot ru n a m ore glaring risk than to go o n
leaving the redu ction O f an enormou s mass Of
illiteracy to comm unities that believe themselves
and are widely bel ieved to b e doing all they can
wh ile they are hardly performing half th e entire
bulk Of the task There is not in the range Of
o u r ch oice any condition o r possible attitude free
from risks and the maxim is as tru e i n politics
and government as in commerce and fin a n c e
“
Nothing ventu re nothing have
Another
“
max i m I s to th e point that F orewarned is fore
armed
An d certainly all hazards i n national
aid would b e redu ced to trivial proportions when
made c onditional upon at least the fu ll mainte
nance Of the present degree O f self help supp l ied
by the Sta tes themselves
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6
W H A T S H A LL TH E N E G R O D O
?
Th is paper i s addressed dire c tly to the co l
ored people o f the U nited Sta tes A large mass
Of them o f co u rse will n o t s e e it ; yet others o f
them wil l Nothing m ore forcibly illu strates the
great p rogress Of o u r times than th e fact that
already o n e may safely co u nt o n reach ing a con
s id e r a b l e b ody o f readers
wh olly o r partly Of
Negro b l ood th rou gh th e pages o f a m onthly
p ublication adapted to the h ighest popular intel
T h e e x pl a na
l ige n ce o f the Anglo Saxon ra c e
tion o f thi s is that alth ough th e col ored man in
America enters the second q u arter centu ry o f his
emancipation without yet hav ing attained the
full meas u re O f American freedom decreed to
him h e has neverthe l ess enj oyed fo r at l east
t wenty years a larger share Of private p u b l ic r e
l igio u s and politica l l iber ty than falls to the l ot o f
any b u t a few peop l es —th e freest in the wor l d
It would be far from the truth to s a y that other
m en eve rywhere o r even that all white m en are
freer than h e N O s ubj ect o f th e C z ar b e he
peasant o r prince h owever rich in p r ivil eges
dares claim the r igh ts actually enj oyed by an
A merican freedman
The Negro s grievan c e is
I
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66
WH A T S H A L L
TH E
N E
GR O
D 0 ?
Of his higher ; th at as l ong as he i s content to
travel and l odge as a r a ga m u ffi n frequ ent the
vilest places O f am u sement l aze about the streets
sh u n th e publi c l ibrary and th e best ch u r c hes
and colleges and neglect e v ery politica l duty Of
his c itizenship n o wh ite man c ould be m u ch
freer than h e finds h imself ; b u t that the farther
he rises above s u ch li fe as th is th e m ore h e is
galled and tormented with ignominio u s dis
c riminations made against h im as a p ubl ic citi
zen b oth by cu stom and by law ; and finally
that as to his moth er h is wi fe h is sister his
daughter these encou ragements to ignob le a nd
disco u ragements t o no bl er life are only c r u el e r
in their case than in h is o n
What large enj oym ent o f rights with what
2
strange s u ffering o f wrongs ! Yet to ex plain
th e in c ongruity is easy ; the l arge enj oyment o f
rights b e l ongs to a new order o f things which
has only part l y d riven o u t th e o l d order o f
wh ich these wrongs are b y c omparis on b u t a
slender remn a nt T O e x plain is easy b ut to r e
move t o rem ove these s a d and p r o fitl e s s wrongs
what shall the nation do
There are m any answers We are reminded
Of what th e nation has done and the record is
a great o n e F o r forty years o f th is nineteenth
centu ry o n e Of wh ose years cou nts for a score
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SHA L L
W HA T
TH E
69
N E GE O D O ?
’
any other centu ry s it made the condition Of
the Negro the absorbing national question to
which it sacrificed its peace and repose Admit
ting m u ch intermixtu re o f m otives Of selfish
power and Of self preservation yet the fu nda
m ental matter as a m o ral convicti on that m o v ed
the maj ority o f the nation to refuse to hold slaves
o r cou ntenance slave h olding b y State legisla
tion To h ave waived this conviction woul d hav e
avoided a frightfu l civil war The freedo m o f
the Negro was bou ght at a h igher price i n white
men s blood and treas u re than any people ever
paid O f their o n bl ood and treas u re for their
n liberty
Since the close Of the war many
o
m illion s o f dollars h ave been spent by private
benevolence in the North to qualify the Southern
Negro m orally and intellectually for his new
freedom and th e ou tlay contin u es still u n dim in
is h e d
N O equal nu mber Of people elsewhere o n
earth receives s o great an amou nt Of missionary
educational aid I n the South itself a great change
has tak en — is taking — place in popular senti
ment concerning certain aspects o f the Negro s
—
cas e I n 1 8 8 5 8 6 over 5 8 per c ent Of th e col
ored sch ool populati on in seven great Southern
States were enrolled in State p ublic sch ools in
recognition o f th e necessity and ad v anta ge o f
th e Negro s ele vation
of
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Y
SHA L L
W HA T
0
7
TH E
N E
GR O
D O?
These things are not enu merated to remind
th e Negro Of h is Obl igations H is property as
far as it goes i s taxed equ ally with the white
man s for p ublic ed ucation and the m aintenance
o f the State ; and all th e benefactions he has
received added to all th e peculations O f which
he stood accu sed in the days o f h is o n m isrul e
are not yet eq u al to th e j ust d u es o f a darker
past sti l l remaining and that m u st e v er remain
u npaid t o h im They are en u merated not to
exhau st th e record b ut m erely to indicate the
range o f what has been done in the past and i s
being done in the present by wh ite men concern
ing the Negro s rights and wrongs Th e great
national politica l p arty that first rose to p ower
and for al most a quarter Of a centu ry h el d gov
er n m e n ta l
control by its espou sal and main
t e n a n c e Of th e Negro s cause still declares that
cau se a l iving iss u e in the national i nterest The
*
gre at party n ow in p ower with o n e o r m ore dis
affected wings fro m th e opp osition th ou gh it
does n ot pro p ose to do anything as to the Negro
that has th u s far been le ft u ndone at least con
sents not t o u ndo anyth ing that has been done
Yet oth er important issu es have been pu shed to
“
the front b y both parties and the Negro qu es
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e o c rati c P arty
Th e D m
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1
8 8 7,
W HA
T SHA L L
TH E
N E
GR O
D O?
7
1
’
tion however preeminent i n the nation s true
interest is not param o u nt i n the public atten
tion
But what has th e Negro done ? What is he
doing ? The trite answer is that h e has in “
A
creased from fo u r m illions to se v en and is stil l
m ultiplying faster b y natu ral in c rease than any
other race o n th e continent B ut also h e has
accepted h is freedom i n th e spirit Of th ose wh o
bestowed it ; th at i s limited by and only by the
civil and political rights and duties O f American
citizensh ip equally de v oid Of specia l privileges
and special restri c tions H e fought in no mean
nu mbers i n the great army that ach ieve d his
liberation and h e has lai d down since then
many a life rather than wai v e the rights guaran
teed to him by the Ameri can Constitution I n
the infancy o f his citizenship steeped in m oral
and intel lectua l ignorance with som e Of his
former masters disfranchised and the rest o p
posed to alm ost the whol e list Of h is civil rights
he fell into the a rms Of u nscrupul ou s leaders and
covered n o t a few pages o f history with a record
as the
O f atrociou sly corrupt government ; yet
present write r has lately asserted elsewhere th e
freedman never by l egislation rem oved the penal
ties from anythin g that the world at large calls a
crime and here it may be added that h e never
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WHA
2
7
T SHA LL
-
TH E
N E
GR O
D O?
put u pon the stat u te book a law h ostile to the
u niversal enj oyment o f American liberty
In
th e darkest day Of his power h e established the
publ ic sch ool system H e h as exceeded ex p e c
t a t io n in h is display o f ind ustry his p u rchase O f
land his accu m ulation Of wealth h is eagernes s
and capability for edu cation an d even in h is p O
l itica l intelligence and parliame n tary skill
Ev en
u nder the a rtificial and u ndiscriminating pres sure
Of pub l ic caste he is devel oping s ocia l ranks with
wide m oral and intellectual differences from the
stupid idle criminal and painfully nu merou s
m in ority at the bottom to a wealth h olding edu
c a te d minority at th e t o p ; each emerging o r half
emerging from a h u ge m iddle maj ority Of peace
keeping b u t u nedu cated and u nskilled farmers
mechanics and laborers yet a maj ority u m
estranged from the m ore cultured and prosperou s
m inority O f their o n race by any differences o f
religion conflict Of traditions o r rivalry Of capi
tal and lab or and hearkening to thei r c ou nsels
more tractably than the mass l istens to th e few
among any other people o n the continent H e
i s n ot Open to th e charges u rged against the
Indian o r the Chinamen ; he doe s not ch oose to
be a sav age as th e o n e nor a civil alien and a
h eathen as th e other i s s upposed to ch oose
H e accepts edu cation sometimes under o ffensi v e
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W HA T
SHA LL
TH E
N E
GR O
D O?
73
and s ometimes u nder expensive conditions
proposes to stay in this cou ntry and is eager to
be i n all things a citizen H is religion is Christi
a n ity ; and i f it i s Often glaringly em otional and
superficial s o confessedly i s th e Ch ristianity Of
h is betters th e world over H e only shares the
fault a ft er all in large and gross degree amply
exp l ained b y h is past and present conditions ;
and in many leading featu res a description o f his
faith and practice worship and work s would
di ffer b ut l ittle from the h isto ry Of rel igion
among o u r white settlers Of the M ississippi Val
ley scarcely seventy five years ago
Th
us
far
has
the
nati
on
come
and
in
iew
V
3
o f these developments th e Ol d b u t still anxi ou s
qu estion What shall be done with th e Negro ?
makes room beside it for this : What shall the
Negro do
F o r as matters stand it seems
only too probable that u nti l the Negro does
someth ing further noth ing fu rther wil l be done
And i ndeed are not the times and th e question
say ing themselves by m ute signs that the day
has come when th e Negro not th e rice fi el d s a v
age b ut y o u the ed u cated th e law abiding tax
paying Negro m u st p ush m ore strenu ou s l y to the
front in his— in your—o n behal f and th u s in the
behalf O f all you r race i n the land ? I n p a r tic
ular then What can— what shall— the Negro do ?
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W HA T
74
SHA LL
TH E
N E
GR O
D O?
You can make the m ost Of th e liberty you
have You have large liberty Of speech m uch
freedom Of th e press Of petition Of organization
Of p ubli c meeting liberty to h ol d property to
prosecute civil and cri minal lawsu its a perfect
freedom to u se th e mails and a certain —o r m ust
—
s
we a y an u ncertain freedom Of the ball ot All
th ese are inestimable l i b erties and have been
and are being u sed b y you B ut are they being
u sed faithfu lly to thei r utmost extent ?
F reedom o f publ i c organizati on for i nstance
F ro m th e earliest days O f hi s emancipation th e
Negro has sh own a zest and gi ft fo r o rganiza
tion and to day h is private public and secret
societies wh ich cost hi m m oney to m aintain
have thou sands O f members Yet only h ere and
there am ong th em i s th ere a cl ub o r leagu e for
the advocacy an d promotion Of h is civil rights
There is probably n o other great national qu es
tion s o nearly destitute O f th e ch ampionship Of
a n active national o rganizati on with O fficers
treasu ry and legal co u nsel The causes Of th is
are plain eno u gh A s l ong as it was th e s upreme
political iss u e it was l e ft after o u r American
fashion entirely to th e h eated treatment O f th e
daily press th e stump an d the nati onal and
State legislatu res
F ro m them a l arge part
Of the q u estion passed i nto a l ong period Of
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7
SHA L L
W HA T
T HE
N E GE O D O e
best white citizens O f its town And natu r al ly
for it declared only su ch aim s as any good citizen
ought glad l y to e n cou rage and aid any other to
*
see k by all lawful means
Y o u can as u rgently claim the li b erty to per
form all yo ur civil duties as the liberty to enj oy
all yo u r civi l rights The two m u st be sou ght
at th e sam e time and by th e same meth ods
They shoul d never be divided Yo u m u st feel
and declare yo u rself no l onger the nation s m uch
less any political party s still less you r Old mas
ter s m ere n u rsling ; b ut o n e bou nd by the
d uties Of citizenship to stu dy and actively to
seek all men s rights an d th e public welfare o f
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fter stat in g that an y ad ul t m al e c it i en of th e U nited S tates
to foster and
m y b e c o m e a m e m b er i t de cl ares it o bj e c t to b e
p r m ote by e v e r y l awf l u se of the p e n the press the m a il s the
l aw
s an d the c o u rts b y publi c asse m bl age d p et i tio n a n d by all
B t h t h e l ega l a n d
p rop er s t i m ul at i o n f publi c s e n t i m e n t
th e c on v enti o n al re c ogn ition establi sh m ent a n d p rote c t i on of l l
i n the c o m m on rights of hu m an ity a n d of l l c iti e n s f th e
m
U n ite d S tates in the f ll e nj oy m e n t of e v ery c ivil ri ght w i t h o u t
d i s tinctio n on a c c o u nt of birth ra c e or pr iv ate s o ci al stat us
T h li k e re c ogn i ti on of e v ery m a n s i n viol abl e right to sel e c t and
rej e c t his s o c i a l c o m p an i o n s a nd a c qu a intan c es a c c ord in g to h i s
own p ri v ate pl eas u re a nd c ons c i e nc e lim i ted i n the fam ily re l
h ip o nl y b y l aws m ade un der th e full e nj oym ent f e qu l
ti
c i vil r i gh ts t h ro ugho u t the w
h l e c om m un i ty c o m i ng und er uch
l aws ; a n d in th e s o c ia l c i c l e on l y b y t h e s am e in v iol a bl e rig h t
in oth er s
A
z
a
s
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o
u
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an
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1
O
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o
a
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a
en
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z
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2
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e
a
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a
O
on s
o
r
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s
.
WHA
T SHA L L
N E
TH E
GR O
D O?
77
the nation and o f eve ry lesser commu nity
—
State co unty ci ty village to which he belongs
Nothin g else can S O hasten the acqu isition o f all
you r rights as for yo u to make it plain that yo u r
o
n rights and wel fare are n o t all y o u are s t r iv
ing fo r b ut that yo u are at least equ ally with
the white man th e stu dent Of yo u r indi v idual
duty toward every publi c qu estion i n the light
o f the general good
H olding this attitu de you can make m any
things clear concerning the cau se o f civil rights
that greatly need to be made s o F or instance
that thi s cau se i s not merely you rs but is a great
fundamental neces sity Of all free government
in wh ich every American citizen is interested
knowing that th ey wh o neglect to defend any
principle o f li b erty may well e xp ect to l o s e its
substance
O r fo r another instance that th e demand fo r
equal civil inclu ding pol itical rights i s by n o
means a demand for supremacy m u ch less fo r
th e s upremacy Of o n e race o v er another
O r again that th is demand is not fo r a share
in the popular power by a mass knowing and
caring nothing about the pop ular welfare
O r yet again that it is not the demand Of an
irresponsible herd deaf to th e cou nsels o f its
o
n intelligent fe
and Of any other
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8
7
T SHA L L
W HA
N E GE O D O I
TH E
O r that the demand for equ al unpo l itical
,
c i v il
rights is not a demand that public indecency and
u nrespectabil ity shall enj oy al l the rights of de
c e n cy and respectability b ut that mere color b e
n ot made the standard o f pu b li c de c en c y and
respectability
O r that equ al ity i n these u npo l itical Cl V l l
rights i s u rged not for the difference i n c omfort
but fo r th e e ffect up on the inward character Of
th ose qualified to enj oy it and for its power to
awaken even i n th ose yet with o ut them aspira
tions that sh oul d not b e l a ck ing in th e m ind o f
any citizen
O r lastly y o u c an mak e it cl ear that the
Negro i s n o t th e m orally and men ta lly nerv e
less infant he was fifteen years ago
B ut there is a negative si de to what the Negro
may d o
4 Yo u can proc l aim what yo u do not want
We have al ready implied this in what goes j u st
befo re There are tens Of th ou sands Of in tel l i
gent people wh o to day u nwittingly exaggerate
the demands made by and i n behalf o f th e Negro
into a v ast and shapeles s terror Neither he h is
ad v ocates nor h is opponents have generally
realized h ow wi dely his claims have been some
times by and sometimes without intention m is
c on s tr u ed H e need s still to m ak e inn u mer abl e
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WHA
T SH L L
A
TH E
N E
GR O
D O
:
79
9
reiterations Of facts that seem to hi m too plain
for repetition ; as for example that he does n ot
want Negro supremacy o r any s upremacy
save that Of an i ntelligent and upright minority
be it white black o r both ruling o u t Of o ffi ce
by the sagacity Of thei r co u nsels and thei r
l oyalty to the c ommon good and i n o ffi ce by
the choice Of the maj ority O f the whole peopl e ;
that as to private society he does n ot want any
man s company wh o does not want his ; o r that
as to s uffrage he does not want to v ote solidly
unless h e m ust in o rder to maintain preciou s
rights and duties denied t o and only to h im
an d all h is
There is another thing wh ich the Negro m u st
l earn to s a y and feel that he does not want I t
is hard for a white man to nam e it for it i s prin
c ip a l l y the fault Of white m en that it i s hard fo r
—
the Negro to s ay it It is o u r th e white man s
—fault that the only even partial o utlet for the
colored man from a menia l public statu s in the
eyes Of th e white man is political O ffice E ven
when h e attains a learned profession he attains
no such consideration as h e gains in political
O ffice superficial and tawdry th ou gh it be Yet
self regard has gro n s ch olarly callings win fo r
him more and m ore regard from both whites and
b lacks ; in th e whole national m ind the idea h as
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8O
SH A L L
WH A T
TH E
N E GE O D O 2
—
wonderfully grown scarcely cu rrent at all when
—
the Negro began h is political life that public
O ffice is not th e legitimate spoils Of party and
the legitimate reward o f m ere partisan loyalty
and activity to be apportioned p r o r a ta to each
and every race class and cliqu e among the par
tisan v ictors ; and th e time has com e when th e
Negro for h is o n interest m ust learn to s a y
My full measu re Of citizenship I m u st and will
have ; b ut I yield no right Of public O ffice o r
emol u ment to any man becau se he is hite nor
c lai m any because I am black and I do n ot
want any O ffice that does not want me
S u ch
an attitu de will win better rewards than the
keeping o f doors and sweeping o f c orridors
B ut it is equally important to s a y that there
are other things for th e Negro to do that m ust
b y n o means be either negative o r passi v e
Yo
u
m
ust
keep
you
r
v
ote
alive
This
means
5
f s eve r a l
th ings I t means that with ou t venal i ty
o r servility y o u m u st h ol d you r vote up fo r the
h onorable competitive bi d o f political parties A
vote which o n e party can co u nt o n as a matter
o f co u rse and the opposite party cannot h ope to
win at any price need expect nothing fro m either
I n n o campaign ou ght the Negro to kn ow cer
ta in ly h ow he will vote befo re h e has seen both
platform s and weighed the cha nces o f their
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WHA
T SHA L L
TH E
N E
GR O
D O
?
words being m ade good Yo u will never get
you r rights u ntil the white man does not know
how yo u are going to vote Y o u m ust let hi m
Negro v ote can di v ide whenever
s e e that the
it may and c ome together solidly again when
ever it m u st
Keeping yo u r v ote alive means al so that
while to be gratefu l is right and to be ungrateful
is bas e yo u m u st nevertheless stop v oting for
gratitu de The debts o f gratit u de are sa c red
b ut no u nwise v ote can lighten them A v ote
is not a free will O ffering to the past ; it i s a
debt to the present
Again keeping you r v ote alive means v oting
What makes great parties if
o n all qu estions
it be not th e combination o f men Of variou s
political interests consenting to concern them
selves in o n e another s aims and claim s for the
better promotion Of those designs i n th e o rder
Of thei r u rgency and practi c ability ? N o here
—
is the Negro charged at least with rarely al most
—
never making himself seen or heard in any wide
spread interest except h is o n Small wonder
if other men do n o t m ore hotly i nsist upon his
vote being cast an d counted The Negro may
be not the fi rst o r principal o n e to blame in this
matter b u t he is largely the l argest l oser
La s t , keeping the v ote al ive m eans casting it
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W HA T
82
SHA L L
TH E
N E GE O D 0 ?
Yo u m u st v ote Yo u m u st practically recogni z e
two facts wh ich if wh ite men had n ot recognized
in th ei r o n case l ong ago yo u wo u l d b e in
slave ry stil l to day : that there is an enormou s
val u e i n h av ing v otes cast ; fi rst e v en th o u gh
they cannot win ; and s econdly e v en tho ugh
they are not going to be co u nted A gOo d
ca u se and a stub b orn fight are a combination
al most as goo d as v ictory itself ; b etter than v i c
tory with o u t them ; the seed o f certain vi c tory
at last E ven if yo u h ave to cope with fraud
make it p l ay its infamou s part s o boldly and s o
fast that it shall work its own disgrace and d e s tr u c
tion a s many a ti me it has d one b efore negroes
ever v oted
Vote !
Cast you r v ote thou gh
ta x ed fo r it Cast yo u r v ote th ough defr a u ded
Cast yo u r
o f it as many a wh ite man is to day
v ote tho u gh yo u die fo r it L et n o man c ry
“
L i b erty o r b lood ; leav e that fo r S oci al ists
a nd P arisian m ob s ; b ut when l iberty means duty
a nd death m ean s one s o n e x tin c tion th en th e
c ry o f L iberty o r death i s a h oly c ry and the
man wh o wil l n ot make it h is o n even i n free
dom i s n ot free See k not to b uy l iberty with
the blood either o f frien ds o r o f enemies ; it is
only men s o n b lood at l ast that cou nts i n the
pu r c has e o f l i b erty Whate v er may have b een
the tr u e philo s op hy fo r m ore fero c io u s time s
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W HA T
84
SHA L L
TH E
N E GE O
men may an d sh oul d help to b ear it ; b ut if s o
then all th e more the Negro m u st spen d h is o n
money H al f the amo u nt n o idled away o n
comparatively u seless s ocieties and se c ret orders
wil l work wonders
Money i s essential especially for two matters
F irst for th e stim ulation publicati on and wide
distri b ution o f a literatu re Of the facts equ ities
and exigencies Of th e negro qu estion i n al l its
practical phases This wo ul d natu r al ly i ncl u de
a constant an d diligent keeping O f the wh ole
question pruned clear o f its dead matter F rom
nothing else has the qu estion s u ffered s o m uc h at
th e hands both O f friends an d Of foes as from lack
Of this kin d Of attention And secondly m oney
i c ia l u npartisan prompt
is essential fo r the u n o fl
and thoro u gh investig ati on an d expos u re o f
crimes against civil and political rights
Yo u m u st p ress the contest for eq u a l c ivil
rights and d u ties i n you r sep a ra te States The
claim need by no means b e abated that th e na
t io n a l go v ernment has rights an d d uties i n the
matter that hav e n ot yet been fully established ;
but for al l that y o u c an u rge the questi on s recog
n itio n i n State politi c al platforms
and having
made yo u r v ote truly and h onorably v aluable to
all parties can b estow it wh ere there is largest
pro s p e c t Of s u ch recogn ition being c a rried into
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SHA LL
W HA T
TH E
N E
GR O
D O?
l egis l ation and su c h legis l ation b eing carried into
effect
There is a strong line O f cleavage al ready ru n
ning th rough the white part of the population in
every So uthern State O n o n e side o f this line
the trend O f convicti on is toward th e establish
ment o f the common happiness and secu rity
th rough the upli ft ing o f the whole people by the
widest possible distrib ution o f m oral e ffects and
wealth producing powers It favors fo r exam
ple th e expansion o f the p ublic sch ool system
and is strongest among men Of profes sional call
ings and with in sweep o f th e infl uence Of college;
an d u niversities I t antagonizes s u ch peculiar
in s t it u t io n s as th e infamou s convict lease system
with that system s enorm o u s political powers
It condemns c orrupt elections at h ome o r abroa d
It revolts against the absol utism Of political par
ties I n a wo rd it stands d istinctively for the
New South Of American ideas inclu ding th e idea
o f material development as against a New South
with no ideas except that Of material develop
ment for the aggrandizement Of th e few and the
holding Of the whole Negro race i n the South to
a servile public status cost what it may to j ustice
wealth or morals L et th e Negro i n every State
and local issu e strive with a dauntless persever
ance intelligently j u stly and h onorab ly to make
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86
W HA
T SHA LL
TH E
N E GE O D O ?
his v ote at once too cheap a n d too v alu ab l e fo r
the friends o f j u sti c e and a comm on freedom to
despise it o r al l ow their enemies to suppre s s it
R emember yo u r power in th e nation at l arge
m u st always be measu red almost entirely by yo u r
power in you r o n State
And finally you m u st s ee th e power and n e
It is
ces s ity Of individu al thou ght and action
perfectly nat u ral that th e Negro his h istory b eing
what it i s sh o u ld magnify the necessity O f CO Op e r
ating in m ultitu dinous n u mbers to effect any pub
l ic res u lt H e has n o t only been treated bu t has
treated h im self too m u ch as a mere mass While
he has too O ften lac k ed i n h is o rganized e fforts
that disinterested zeal o r even that semblance Of
it which far sighted sh rewdness puts o n to insu re
wide and harm onio u s c o Op e r a t io n he has o n the
other hand overlo oked th e power of th e indi
vidual and the necessity O f individual power to
give power to nu m b ers
Y o u rightly think it atrocio u s that yo u sh o u ld
l ose yo u r vote b y its frau d u lent suppression
B ut what can you r vote when cou nted procu re
yo u ? L egislati on ? P robably B ut what can
legislation procu re yo u if it is contrary to public
sentiment ? And h ow are public sentiment and
action i n the m ain shaped
By the supremacy
o f indi v idu al minds ; by th e powers o f intellect
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W HA
T SHA L L TI I E
N
E GR O
D O?
will argument and persuasion vested by natu re
in a few individuals here an d there h olding n o
other commission b ut these powers and every
su ch individ ual worth from a h undred to a h u n
dred th ousand v otes Witho u t thi s element and
without its recognition there is little effective
power even in o rganized masses D O n ot wait
fo r th e mass to m ove
Th e m ass waits for the
m ovement Of that individ ual wh o cann ot and will
not wait for the mass Y o u may believe you r
powers to be or they may actual ly be h umble ;
but e v en s o there are all degrees Of l eadership
and need of all degrees There is work t o be done
which it is not in the natu re o f vi olence o r votes
o r any mere mass powe r organized o r u n o r a n
g
iz e d to accomplish
An attempt has been made here to en u merate
a few Of its prominent featu res They are th ings
that the Negro can do s o p rofitably and honora
bly to all Of whatever race class o r region
that no white citizen can j u stly refuse his public
active c o Op e r a tio n Th e times demand these
things The changes al ready going o n in the
South are j u st wh at c al l for promptness and
v igor i n this work for they mark th e supreme
Opportu nity that l ies i n a formative stage Of pu b
l ic affairs What will the Negro do
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A S I M P L ER S O U TH ERN
I
E
S
T
O
N
U
Q
.
I T O bring any public question fairly into the
Open field o f literary debate is always a long
step toward its final adj u stment I t is across
that field that the questi on m u st go t o be s o
p u rged Of its irrelevancies misinterpretations
and misu ses personal partisan o r ill ogical and
s o clarified and simplified as to m ake it easy for
the popular m ind to take practical and final action
o n it an d settl e it once for al l by settling it right
It is in this field that the Negro problem still
forces itse l f to th e front as a livin g and u rgent
national qu estion Such distingu ished and hon
ored men as M ess rs H ampton Chan dler Co l
qu itt F oraker H alstead E dm unds and Watter
s o n are engaged i n its debate and in the O ctober
F
or u m Senator E u stis writes
nu
mber
Of
th
e
1
8
8
8
(
)
“
that this Negro qu estion is still a running sore
in ou r b ody pol itic and that among th e pro b
lems o f this co untry it prom ises to b e the
m ost serio u s o f all and is stil l far from b eing
solved
Now it is on l y fai r to assum e that each and
all the writers wh o ha v e t u rned aside from the
more e ffecti v e partisan m edia Of th e daily new s
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88
SI M P L E E
A
QUE S TI ON
S O U TH E E N
89
paper legislati v e halls the p ublic platform and
“
th e stump to the pages Of the magazine s and
reviews have done s o in th e desire to help the
question along toward its final sol ution by aiding
to make it in each case clearer an d simpler than
it was before I f s o then we may assume also
that writers editors and readers wil l no t repel
an effort if it be intelligent and sincere to gather
from several O f these writers utterances some
concl usive replies to qu estion s wh ose answer and
removal from the debate will greatly redu ce th e
intricacies Of the problem
I I Can the Southern question be s olved ?
There are men in th e North an d South who s a y
no and with ou t being at al l able to tell what
“
they mean by the ph rase thin k it m u st be le ft
to solve itsel f
B ut careful thinkers on either
side Of the questi on never S O reply Thei r a d
mission whether tacit o r expressed i s that can
be is o u t O f the debate ; it m u s t he s olved It
is a ru nning not a self healing sore o ne Of th ose
great problem s wh ose sol ution as M r E ustis
says strains the b onds Of society and taxes the
wisest statesmanship
that kin d Of problems
with som e o n e Of which eve r y nation m ust
W e m u st so l ve it
deal
I s it being solved
We l ook i n v ain for any
one s direct yes o r no G overnor Colquitt seems
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A
0
9
SI MPL E R SO UTHE RN Q UE STI ON
to come nearest to the distinct a ffirmation when
“
h e says
A sense Of m oral and religiou s
responsibility is restrainin g an d directing u s in
I t h in k
o u r State polity and practice ; and
we hav e had m ore than an average su ccess in
discharging the Obligations imposed upon u s
Among thes e he i nc l u des pointedly the assu ring
Of the Negro in th e ful l enj oyment o f his p oliti
cal rights B ut setting o u t to speak for the
South h e speaks in fact only for G eorgia and
makes n o plain claim that even s o the Negro
qu estion in G eorgia is really being pu shed
toward its settlement O n th e other h and when
“
Senato r Chandler says : Th e political control
of the U nited States i s now in the hands o f
a South ern oligarchy as persistent an d relent
less as was that which pl unged th e nation into
th e slaveholders rebellion ; and when Senator
“
E usti s falls sho rt only by a slender if Of the
b l u nt assertion that th e Negro problem still
exists i n its original relations these gentlemen
su rely are n ot to be u nderstood as implying that
th e question has made o r is m ak in g n o advance
toward s ol ution Both o f them yield a r e c o gn i
tion Of facts wh ich make it u nreasonabl e s o to
constru e their m eaning I n truth it is in d is p u t
able facts that we nee d from which to d raw o u r
final answer to this important query rather than
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SO UTHERN Q UES TI ON
SI I P
I PL E R
A
2
9
free s t i n the worl d and th u s far no writer b l ac k
And the
o r white has challenged the statement
vast changes that have been effected—not by
time mark it b u t by men so metimes at peril
sometimes at c ost o f thei r lives i n Northern
States as wel l as i n So uth ern—have been v ery
u niformly in the direction Of th e great problem s
simplification and s ol ution The problem 1 8 being
solved ; slowly th rou gh the years it is true ; in
pain in sweat in bl ood with many a m istake
many a disco u ragement m any an enemy and
saddest o f all many a neutral friend in North
and South ; yet it is being sol v ed and it is only
by misconceiving th e m otive Of th ose wh o have
effected these changes that M r Eu stis fo r in ;
stance can call the long fru itful and still persist
“
ent and determined effort an u ns u ccessful e x
r im en t
F
or
it
is
not
and
never
has
been
an
e
p
“
effort to balance o r equalize the condition O f
the white an d Negro races in this cou ntry but
only to balan c e o r equal ize thei r enj oyment o f
their pu b lic and political rights to estab l ish a
c omm on and u niform public j u stice and eq u ity
and trust the u ntrammeled selections O f private
“
society and th e laws Of natu re and natu re s
G od stil l to maintain all proper equalities and
inequalities Of race an d c ondition Th e fact
m u st b e admitted by al l fai r minds to be estab
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SI MP L ER SO UTHERN Q UE STI ON
A
93
and remo v ed from debate that i n some
aspects at least the Negro problem s original
relations are a l tered when men like G overno r
Colqu itt men in the front ranks o f political life
their political fortu nes largely dependent on what
they s a y eagerly ch oos e to deny with indigna
tion that either they o r their constituents in
States wh ere once it was against the law to teach
a col ored child to read now either practice o r
bel ieve in the entire o r partial suppression O f the
Negro vote and as eagerly boast— with statistical
figu res to back them — that thei r public sch ools
are edu cating twice as many th ou san ds Of colored
youth now as they were educating h u ndreds
fi fteen years ago Tru e there are men in the
South wh o talk very differently Aye and in
the No rth too When there are none s u ch le ft
in the Southern States they wil l be far ahead at
least Of wh ere the Northern are now toward the
whole question s final sol ution
IV O ne Of the most concl usive proofs that
the changes that have been made in the Negro s
s ta tus have been generally in the direction Of
tru e progress is that wherever and whenever
these changes have been made complete and
operative Opposition to them has disappeared
and they have dropped o u t Of the m ain problem
leaving it by s o m uch the l ighter and simpler
l is h ed
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94
A
SI MPLER SO UT HERN Q UE S TI ON
The m ost notable instan c e Of cou rse i s the abo
l itio n Of slavery ; but th ere are many lesser
examples i n th e h istory Of both No r thern an d
S o u thern States : th e teaching of Negroes in
private school s ; their a dmission into publi c
school s ; their sitting o n j uries ; their acceptance
as cou rt witnesses ; their riding in street cars ;
thei r enlistment in the militia ; their appointment
o n the police etc
It i s a fact wo rthy o f more
consideration than it gets from the debaters on
either side Of the Negro question that s u ch
changes as these wh ich nobody finds any reason
fo r undoing i n any place where they have been
fully established were , u ntil they were made a s
fiercely opposed and esteemed as dishon orable
h um iliating u nj u st and u nsafe to wh ite men and
women as th ose changes which in many regions
not all o f them So uthern still
o f o u r c o u ntry
remain to be made before the Negro qu estion
will let itself be dismissed This fact n o o n e wil l
dispute Yet thou sands sh ut their eyes and ears
o r let oth ers sh ut them to the equ al tho u gh not
as s al ie n t t r u th Of this fact s corollary to wit
that every step toward the perfecting o f o n e
comm on p u bl ic liberty fo r all American citizens
is opp osed an d postponed only w h e re it n ev er
has b een fairly tried
Ev en th e v ario u s p ub li c l i b erties intended to
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6
9
SI MPL E R
A
S O U TH E E N
Q UE S TI ON
.
to establish to u se Senator H ampton s ph rase
“
the political s upremacy of th e Negro o r as M r
“
Watterson charges to erect a blac k oligarchy
“
at the South o r as G overnor Col q u itt puts it to
Africani z e the States o f the S outh
These d e fi
—
mitions belong
to borrow again M r Watt erson s
—
thou ght to th e hysterics Of the qu estion That
fervid writer m ore than half refutes the charge
when he follows it cl osely with th e assertion that
the scheme was prep ostero u s in its fail u re to r e
cognize the simplest Operation Of h u man nature
upon h u man affairs an d i n its total lack O f fore
sight
B u t s u rely whatever may be said Of
S umner Stevens and th e men wh o gathered
aro und them they were n ot a herd O f perfect
“
fools with a tota l lack Of foresight
Not the
scheme was but the charge that th i s was the
“
s cheme is prep ostero u s The schem e incl u ded
the estab l ishment Of the Negro i n h is right to
v ote ; b ut its greater design was as we have
“
stated i n an earlier
to p ut ra c e ru l e o f
all sorts u nder foot an d s et up th e c ommon ru le
“
Of all o r rather th e consent o f all to the rule
fr e
o f a minority the choice Of th e maj ority
qu ently appealed to with ou t respect O f persons
As to the Negro i n partic ular th e design
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THE N
EG R O Q U E ST I O N
;
p age s 4
0
,
41
.
A
SI MPL E R SO U THE R N Q UE S T I ON
97
even at its extreme was to enable him—and
here we are i ndebted to M r E u stis fo r a phras e
“
— to share with th e wh ite man th e political
respo n sibility O f governing ; o r more exactly
the political responsibility O f ch oosing governors
This scheme was never allowed a fair trial in
any O f the once secedin g States E very effort
to give it su ch was powerfu lly opposed by o n e
great national political party th ro ugh o u t the
whole U nion while — to qu ote again from the
same earlier paper
th e greater part O f the
wealth and intelligence o f th e region directly in
volved h eld o u t sincerely steadfastly and d es
e
r a te l
against
it
and
for
th
e
preser
v
ation
Of
p
y
u nequal p ubli c privileges and class d omination
“
We thou ght we s a
says G overnor Col quitt
speaking for that Southern wealth and in t el l i
gence for which h e has s o large a righ t to speak
a determined e ffort s o completel y to Africanize
etc B ut Senator E u stis wh o als o h as his right
to speak for them treats that th ought as a n
“
absu rdity worthy only th e utterance Of that
fou l bird Of prey the carpet bagger
h o he
writes
enco u raged th e d el u d ed N eg r o t o b e
lieve that the F ederal G overnment intended that
he sh oul d govern the wh ite race i n th e S outh
The thought a s an absu rdity ; an absu rdity s o
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8
9
A
SI M P L E E
S O U TH E E N
Q UE S T I ON
.
palpab le that an intelligent peop l e must have
rej ected it b ut fo r th e conviction behind it that
whatev er might b e the experiment s design
Negro s upremacy wo u ld be th e result And
here M essrs E u stis Colq u itt H ampton and the
rest seem to agree Thi s seems to b e the poten
tial c onviction o f al l wh o spea k o r write o n that
side Of th e debate ; and we dwell upon th e fact
becau se it fu rnishes s uch weighty evidence o f
the entire truth of o u r ear l ier statement that this
c onviction this fear is the wh ole tap root o f th e
N egro q u estion to day
Man elsewhere may
“
h ol d some conj ectu ral belie f in race a n t a go
or
even in th ei r di v i ne ap p ointment
n is m s
Nowhere in th e worl d do the laws forbid a m an
this belie f I n every land be it Massach usetts
M artiniq u e or Sierra L eone h e may indulge it
to h is heart s content in every private relation
I t i s o n ly where a peopl e are m oved by the fear
Of Negro supremacy that the simple hel ief in
a divine l y o rdered race antagonis m is u sed to
j ustify th e w ithh olding o f impersonal pub l ic
rights which b elong to every man becau se he is
a man an d with wh ich race and its real o r im
a gin e d antagonis ms have nothing whatever to do
I t is only under that fear that men stand up
b efo re th e i ntel ligent and m oral world saying
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1 00
SO U THE RN Q UE S TI ON
S I AI P L E R
stone woul d s ay between these two distinct
issues As far as it is o r o f right can b e a mu ni
inter —
State o r national problem at
c ip a l State
all the question to day pru ned o f all its dead
wood i s this : Shall the Negro individu ally
enj oy equally and only equally with th e white
man individually that full measu re Of an Ameri
can citizen s p ublic rights civil and politi cal de
creed to h im both as his and as an essential to
the preserv ation Of equal rights between the
States ; o r shal l h e be co mpelled to abandon
these inalienable h u man rights to th e c u stody Of
“
M r E ustis s excl u sively wh ite m an s govern
ment and rely implicitly upon the m a gn a n im
ity Of h is wh ite fellow citizens o f the South to
treat h im with the j u stice and generosity d ue to
his u nfortunate conditi on ? Shall o r shal l not
second ch oice be forced upon hi m for fear
that otherwise these se v en ( mil lion ) black and
lean kine m ay s o to speak devou r the t elve
“
million
white
fat
kine
and
the
torches
Of
)
(
Cau casian civilizati on be extingu ished i n th e
“
South despite th e race antagonism Of the
m ost powerfu l fi fty three million wh ites o n earth ?
I s it not almost time for a really intrepid peopl e
k
l
to be getting asham ed O f s uch a fea r
B ut that
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of the q u estion of ra c e in stin ct
a n d t h e m ain tena nc e of the c o l or li ne s ee t h e s h ort arti c l e
p inte d suppl e m entary to this
Fo r
a sp e cia l
consi d eratio n
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SI MPL E R SO UT HE RN Q UE S T I ON
A
10 1
this fear is the main ro ot O f the whole S outhern
problem i s fu rther proved by the fact that no
speaker o r writer o n that side Of the debate
North o r South ever denies it And neither
does any attempt to prove that it is well
grou nded
L ike Senator H ampton all these
debaters content themselves with the absu rd
assu mption that the peaceable enj oyment by the
white man and the Negro O f an equal and common
civil and political citizenship was fairly tried i n
the reconstru ction peri od and that a large
class at the North have believed i n and still
want Negro supremacy wherever the Negro is
in the maj ority Challenged to actual argument
they are silent u ntil some o n e asks some subor
din a te qu estion : I s the Negro c ontented and
prosperous ? I s he allowed to v ote ? I s h is
vote fairly counted ? H as he all h is civil rights
Are outbreaks d ue to political causes ? Then
thei r answers are abundant a gain ; and as final
proof that n o t these but the earl ier question is
truly the main i ssue now there are scarcely any
two wh o do n ot contradict themselves and o n e
another
VI The least discordance of statement on these
“
m inor points is o n that Of race antagonism
And fo r the Obviou s reason that attributed to
the Negro wh o always denies it it excuses the
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SO UTHE RN Q UES T I ON
S D I [P L E R
A
102
/
bald assumpti on that n o matter what h e s ay s he
“
m ust want to establish a black oligarchy ;
wh ile attributed to the wh ite race it e x c uses the
theory that the white man c annot even by way
Of experiment give the black man white men s
rights b ecau se natural instinct will not let h im
B ut y o u m u st ! says conscien c e But I can t !
says fear Yet even o n this point there is not
h e co unts
full concord Mr E u stis b elieves
“
it qu ite eno u gh to believe and needless to prove
—that this instinctive antagonis m j u stifies the
s ubj ection Of the Negro forcible if need be to a
“
white m an s government ; while as far back
as 1 8 6 7 G eneral H ampto n recognized that i n
a rep ub l ic su ch as o u rs n o citizen o ught to be
excluded from any Of th e rights Of citizenship
because o f h is colo r or o f any other arbitrary
”
distinction
Where was and where i s the gen
t l e m a n s instinctive race antagonism ? It is not
in his list Of nec essities H e believed a large
“
class was bent o n establishing race suprem
acy and if there was to b e race supremacy
then Of cou rse and natu ral ly enou gh it m u st
be the s up remacy O f the wh ite race instinct or
no instinct ; while M r E ustis regarded the race
s upremacy scheme as a carpet bagger s lie and
could j u stify the s ubj u gation O f the Negro mainly
“
o n the hel ie
f that to protest against it is an inso
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SI MP L E R SO UTHERN Q UE S T I ON
A
I O4
cau se them to refuse the presidency if it had to
be won by frau d o n any o n e b lack o r wh ite
And G overno r Col qu itt ought to k now B ut
h o o ught to know better than M r Watters on
And M r Watterson n ot some time before b ut
“
s ix month s l ater writes :
I sh ould b e entitled
to no resp ect or credit if I pretended that there
is eith er a fair pol l or count Of th e v ast overflow
o f black v otes i n States where there i s a negro
maj ority o r that i n the natu re Of things present
there can be
Now the worst abo ut these flat
contradicti ons in a matter confe s sedly involving
the right to the nati on s respect an d credit and
“
to a rep utation for l ove o f truth and h onesty
is that they will remain amicably unsettled E ach
respondent will sincerely believe what h e has
stated and th e wh ol e circle Of party managers
o n thei r side o f the issu e will go on playing
thimble th imble with th e tormented qu estion
O ther se c ondary questions fare no better Are
outb reak s between the two races in the South
frequently d u e to politica l causes
F o r twenty
years we h ave heard that they are and that they
are not What says Senator E u stis
H e has a
divinely ordere d race antagon ism to assert and
s o tells u s that this being the cause almost any
th ing may be th e occasion
Some sudden
u nforeseen incident political religiou s edu c a
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SI MPL E R SO UTHE RN Q UE S TI ON
5
10
social o r what not may at any m oment
aro u se the passions Of race hatred and convu lse
society by th e o utbreak O f race con flicts
To
“
him th e real cause O f amazement i s that these
conflicts are not m ore freq u ent and more bloody
Ex actly ; the race antagonism theo ry does not
half wor k
What says G overnor Colqu itt ?
F riendly relations h abitually exist between o u r
white and black citizens and are never distu rbed
except o n thos e occasions when the exigencies
o f part y
politics call for an agitation Of race
prej udices
VI I S uch discrepancies are broad ; b ut they
sh rink to narrowness when compared with
Senato r E ustis s contradictions O f h imsel f Is
the Negro contented and prosp ering ? There
are actually millions O f citi z en s wanting to know
L et M r E u stis answer
H is [the Negro s !
I
c raving for federal t utorship i s still u nsatisfied
The white man s patience is to d ay taxed as ever
by th e u nending complaints O f the Negro and
his friends
H e stil l yearns fo r th is fru itless
agitation tou ching h is right an d h is s ta tu s
“
2
Thi s total want Of possible assi milation pro
d uces antipathy i gn h ostility between th e t o
races North as él l as South whos e manifesta
“
tions both races regard as the i ncidents Of a
stru ggl e for supremacy and domination
3
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I O6
SI M P L E E
A
Q UE S TI ON
S O U TH E E N
.
race
antagonism
were
not
the
case
the
!
[
Negro wou ld have th e right to appeal to the
enlightened j udgment and to the sense of j ustice
O f th e American people to protect h im against
the u nfeeling arrogance and relentless p r o s cr ip
tio n which h e has s o long endu red as th e result
“
Of the white man s intolerance
I n the
4
S outh to day he i s happy c ontented and satis
M r E u stis is alm ost as violently o u t Of
fie d !
tune with hi msel f as to th e Negro s acceptance
Of h is private social s ta tu s bu t we shall not
qu ote ; th e q u estion Of the Negro s entrance into
e again p rotest
private white society
i s en
t ir e l y o u tside the circle of h is civi l rights
N O
intelligent advocate Of a comm on enj oyment o f
all civi l rights b y both races h as argued to the
contra r y and th e present writer h as never written
a line i n favo r Of it As a m oral an d personal
question it admits no do u b t o f public discu ssion
but as to its connecti on with any problem o f
pol itica l o r civi l rights bet een the two races all
that needs recognition i s that it is completely o u t
Of that question
Su ch i s the c onflict Of testimony from th e
choicest w itnesses o n o n e side Of th e case It i s
a common saying o n that si de that comm u nities
at a distance cannot u nderstand this Negro
problem The fact i s qu ite overlo oked that a
I f this
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8
A
SI M PL E E
Q UE S TI O N
S O UTH E E N
.
simply as a u nit i n the civil comm unity o r in any
public part Of it ; and d o yo u advocate the
Negro s enj oyment of each and every o n e Of
these rights u nder only and exactly the same
protecti ons and l imitati ons h e wo uld be u nder if
j ust as h e i s in everyth ing else h e were wh ite
This is not a national party qu esti on
The
Dem ocrati c P arty is answering both yea and nay
to this in v ariou s parts o f th e U nion The
national party qu esti on is whether the federal
government may compel the peopl e Of a State to
answer contrary t o their will We waive that
question
Wil l you gentl emen answer th e
question we ask
If you r answer i s that yo u favor a separated
b ut equ ival ent enj oyment Of civil rights by the
two races consider this : That equ a l civil rights
inhere i n the in d ivid u a l and by virtue Of indi
vidu al conditions an d condu ct E qu iva l en t civil
rights are fi ct itio u s l y vested in cl a s s es and with
o u t regard to individual conditions o r condu ct
They cann ot b e even tru ly equ ivalent when s u b
stituted for equal civil rights on the grou nd Of
the Offensivenes s o f o n e class to th e other and
without regard to th e c onditions and condu ct Of
the individual D O yo u n ot s e e that su ch pre
tended equ ivalence establishes u nequal civil l ib
e r t ie s and d o yo u favor o r d o you condemn it ?
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SI MPL E R
Q UE S T I O N
S O U TI I E R N
O r answer a yet simpl er question
109
I f a free
ballot and a fai r cou nt sh oul d seem about to
decide in yo ur State that equ iva l en t ci v il rights
m ust give place to equ a l civil rights as the two
are above defined wou ld yo u o r you r State party
protect that free ballot and fair count and stand
by its decision ?
L ook at this question closely It is n ot o n e
upon which American p ol itical parties can h on
It is the qu estion whether the
e s tl y divide
American government shall o r shal l not be a
“
government Of th e people by the people for
the people according to th e Constitution s d e fi
We beg to be
n it io n Of wh o th e people are
believed that every word here written is uttered
i n a S pirit Of kindness and civil fraternity We
believe that to these two questions a tru e Amer
ican loyalty can i n cal m reflection give b ut o n e
answer But we as sincerely believe that these
gentlemen o n the other side are as h onorable
and loyal in thei r intenti ons and are as sincere
l overs o f their State s and the nation s common
welfare as they certainly are co u rteou s in debate
We trust that loyalty and co u rtesy for an answer
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W H A T M A KE S TH E
C O L O R LI
NE
?
The popul ar assu mpti on th at a certain a n ta g
o n is m
betw een the wh ite and black races is
natu ral inborn ineradicable has never been
scientifically proved o r disproved E ven if it
were that wou ld not necessarily fix a complete
and su ffi cient rule O f conduct T O be governed
merely by instincts i s pu re savagery
All
civi l ization is the result Of the s ubordination o f
i nstinct to reason and to the necessities o f peace
amity and righteousness T O s u rrender to l n
s t in ct wo u ld destroy all civilization i n three days
I f then th e col or line is th e res u lt O f natu ral
instin c ts th e comm onest dai l y needs Of the
merest civilizati on requ ire that we S hou ld ask
ou rs el v es is it better o r worse to repress o r cher
ish this instinct an d th is color l ine ? Wherein
and h ow fa r is its repression or its maintenan c e
the better ? If we decide that in civil and polit
ical matters the color l ine is bad the next ques
tion m u st be wh o m akes th e color line i n p o l l
tics and what will break it ? The fact is certain
m en are continual ly swinging b etween two state
ments : F irst that th e colo r l in e in e v erything
else bu t politics is an imperative necessity ; and
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1 10
CO L O R L I N E
WHA T I l[A KE S TI I E
1 1 2
/
s it
?
on j u ry o r t o enj oy any O f the publ ic a dvan
tages arou nd h im on the same terms as others
with o u t any consideration o f h is own individ ual
—
valu es good bad o r indifferent— except that he
is an individual O f a certain r a ce is making an
entirely artificial and i rrele v ant u s e o f a l imited
natu ral distinction B ut says this writer the
Negroes Obtained all these cardinal and essen
tial rights in spite Of ou r [Southern white men s !
most determined and bitter opposition
Speak
ing as an o l d citizen Of Vi rgin ia he says that the
poll —
tax as a qual ificatio n for v oting was a meas
u re aimed solely at the negro and was final ly
abolished becau se it was found to keep m ore
wh ites than blacks fro m the pol ls I n No rth Caro
lina by laws expressly and avowedly enacted for
that pu rpose the form Of government is central
iz e d the c ounty Officers are appointed by the
G overnor and th e Negroes are deprived Of the
local self government which co u nty maj orities Of
their race m ight give them I n South Carolina
th e syst em Of electoral machine ry i s especially
an d confessedly designed and effectually o p e
l
rated
to
deprive
the
Negroes
Of
a
voice
in
po
itics
l
H e qu otes from a leading Southern newspaper
that as l ong as a white man capable Of h olding
O ffi c e c an be fou nd n o negro howe v er worthy
and capa bl e shall b e appointe d
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W HA
T MA KE S
CO L O R L I N E
TH E
?
The Negroes never did and do n ot now draw
a strict color l ine in politics E ven i n recon
stru ction days when eve r yth ing favored Negro
supremacy the Negroes generally entrusted the
publi c O ffices o f cou nty and State to white men
And speaking fo r Virginia even as late as 1 8 7 8
8 2 wh en th e party o f which th e Negroes were
the main strength had absol ute control o f th e
State alm ost every O ffice from U nited States
Senato r to c l erks i n th e State Capitol were given
to white men and wh ite men were elected to
Congress and to the State L egislatu re by u n
questioned Negro maj orities E ven to this day
in th e S O cal led Blac k Co untie s th e negroes
generally yiel d to the whites all b ut the smallest
“
and least
desi
ra
b
le
o
ffices
Whatever
thei
r
other
—
W
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ft s slhy s the writer qu oted th e Negroes as
de
a rule ha v e sense enough to select for O ffi ce
holders the best whites they c a n find i n their
o
n party an d i n default Of them th ey select the
best D emocrats obta inable
If th e negroes are
too ignorant to fill the O ffi ces themselves su rely
no better testim ony than this to their wi sdom
and publ ic spirit could b e asked for An d if th ey
d o this b ecau se Of th ei r o n incompetency to
govern all the more fro m this e x ample Southern
“
white people sh o u ld dismiss as u nmanly and
unwarrantabl e the fear that r u in and disaster
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1 1
WHA T
4
MA KE S
TI I E
CO L O R L I N E
?
will follow i n the train Of the free s u ffrage Of the
blacks
The adherence o f the Negro to what th e South
calls the R adical party i s th e only result that
could be expected in V iew o f the attitude o f the
two parties i n th e South toward him The o n e
gave him freedo m and citizenship and p r om is es
at least to do what i t can to secu re h im i n the
exercise Of his rights The other stil l says to
him not only that h e bel ongs t o a degraded and
i nferior race b ut that in al l h is public relations
he m ust be j u dged and treated according to his
r a ce s merits and demerits wh ile his wh ite fell ow
citizen monopolizes the ennobling liberty O f being
j udged and treat ed according to what h e is h im
sel f
With these facts b efore u s h o c a n we
e xpect the Negroes to be anyth ing b u t o u r politi
cal Opponents and th e adherents o f o u r political
adversaries
“
To break this dark and ominou s color line
rests with u s ; b u t we can on l y obliterate it by
treating the Negroes with equity and impar
t ia l ity a nd b y according them cheerfu l ly al l the
rights that we o u rselves enj oy
The s u m is th is
That where the color l ine i s drawn arb i
1
t r a r il y and artificial ly i n any merely c ivi l relation
in the S ou th it i s drawn by th e white man
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TH E S O U TH ERN S TR U G G L E F O R
P U RE G O V ERN M E NT
.
I
.
The world has cease d to l ook to imperial r ule
fo r pu re governm ent
Men may at times still
coupl e the two b u t it i s only i n m omentary
resentment Of the fact that nowhere yet is there
a people u nder electoral rule wh ose go v ernment
is entirely pu re
Yet excepting R u ssia there i s hardly a people
O f E u ropean o rigin o n earth that has not secu red
in s om e val uabl e degree th e enj oyment o f elec
toral representative government ; and althou gh
the im p u rities remaining in such governments lie
mainly in their defective electoral meth ods yet
the world refu se s to look back to i mperia l rule
for refu ge o r remedy Not th e s u ffocation but
the pu rification Of the b allot i s recognized as
th e key to the pu rification Of govern ment
B ut h ow shall we purify the ballot ? We can
n ot s a y only the p u re shall vote and then decide
ralizations wh o o r what sorts are
o n cru de gen e
pu re That wo ul d be as if instead o f m aking a
filter work th orou ghly we should forbid that any
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S T R UG GL E FO R PURE G O VE RN ME N T
.
1 1
7
but pu re water be put into th e filter N O class or
party is s o pu re but its vote n eeds the filtration
Of effective electoral meth ods ; methods s o e ffec
tive as to bear th e whole strain Of a genu inely
popular vote F o r any cl ass to s a y Th e pu re
shall constitute the State and we a re the pu re
is itsel f imperial tyranny B ut we can s a y the
vote shall be pu re and tr u st ultimately to s e e a
pu rified ballot pu rify th e balloters Not th e
banishment Of all impu re masses from th e polls
but the equal and complete emancipation O f all
balloters from al l impu re temptations o r con
straints is the key to th e p u rification Of the ball ot
It stands to reason that most men want good
government I f without constraints they ch oose
bad government it is by mistake S ociety dis
franch ises the felon the idiot the pauper the
lunatic becau se it is fai r to in fer as it i s not Of
men in general that they have n o clear ch oice
for good g overnment Th e only trouble is that
tho u gh m ost men want good government they
want it mostly fo r themselves F rom th ese two
truths rise th e wisdo m and necessity Of sel f
government Men can never safely depend upon
others to supply them benevolently with good
government
N O man is good enou gh to
govern an other withou t his consent ; th e only
free government is self government B ut the
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8
S T R UG GLE
F OR P
URE
G
O VE RNMEN T
.
only practicable self government o n any large
scale being electoral and representative the
pu rity of the ballot becomes a v ita l necessity
F o r the only tru e end o f sel f government is
free government and o f free government p u re
govern m ent as p f p u re government it is the
pu rity n o l ess than the prosperity o f the whole
people No government o r p olitical party has
ever yet attained co mplete p u rity because ends
m u st wait o n means and pu re government can
not be got except th ro ugh free government nor
free gov ernment except by self government
I ndeed pu rity and freedom are s o interwoven
and identified with o n e an other that to distingu ish
between them scarcely separates them i n the
mind But a p u re government is especially o n e
where al l the peopl e are wh olly and equally pro
te c t e d from th e possible corruptness o f Offi cials ;
while a free government i s o n e in which all c ivi l
classes in o ffi ce o r o u t o f o ffi ce and all political
parties i n power o r o u t of po er are fully and
equally protected from each oth er O bviou sly
there can be n o united and effective effort for
su ch pu re government while an i nsec urity o f
free government keep s c l asses o r parties pre
occupied with o n e another s actual o r possible
a ggressions
P robity is the one abs olute essen
tial o f socie ty s h appiness An impu re go v ern
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1 20
S T R UG GL E FO R PUR E G O VE RN ME N T
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of
America stand ? The answer is n ot inspiring
There is probably n ot a State in o u r U nion whose
good citizens do not confess an d lament c orrup
tion in its elections What the G overn or o f New
York writes of his o n State is true o f the whol e
U nion
Bribe r y and intimidation are not c on
fined to any locality
H ow is this ?
F or one thing overlooking the degree o f
freedom attained by other co untries since we
declared o u rs we have learned to lay upon o u r
freedom th e false charge o f having produ ced
M any cou ntries have
o u r political corruption
become almost o r qu ite as free as we even in
the matter o f suffrage and are pressing forward
while amon g u s voices are heard repenting ou r
rashness as tho ugh in manh ood s uffrage we had
made a mistake which the rest o f the world was
condemning Whether o f th e F rench th e G er
mans the Ital ians we admit o r deny that they
are as free as we we h ave to confess that s u ch
freedom as they enj oy i s not a gift bestowed
“
upon them by th e p u rity o f strong govern
m ents It i s a prize snatched by them from c or
rupt governments and s u ch p u rification as they
have wro ught is the product of freedom E ven
if they have with less freedom than we effected
some larger p u r ifi ca t io n s of go v ernment —this
—
f
the
ballot
for
instance
stil l they have done
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S T R UG GLE FO R PUR E G O VE R N ME N T
.
1 2 1
it o n the plan of free government the means
pu re government th e end They teach u s n ot
that we are too free b ut only that we have been
too well pleased with freedom as an ultimate
end
B ut ou r fathers had not only to establ ish free
States and free institutions without models befo re
them they had other great tasks F or instance
they had to learn State and national banking and
general publi c fi n a n c ier in g and they learned
them in a series o f gigantic bl u nders i n com
parison with whose devastating res ults th ose o f
the S outhern R econstru ctio n governments o f
I 86 8
sink i nto in s ign ifi ca n c e
In other
words they h ad to learn h ow to vote wisely ;
and n o pe ople ever learned how to vote except
by voting
M oreover while for over a h und red years we
have had great freedom for th ree fou rth s o f that
time we had also a great slavery which c o n
s t a n tl
th
reatened
th
e
destruction
true
free
o
f
y
—
r
dom Not that even th e p o slavery party what
ever its leaders may have been wanted govern
ment to be bad o r free men to b e less free ; they
even looked forward — th ou gh with m ore l onging
—
than hope to som e i ndefinite day when thei r
o
n slaves m ight somehow enter into freedom
Beyond dispute then as to day a vast maj ority
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S T R UG GL E FO R PURE G O VE RN ME N T
1 22
.
the wh ole people i n every State o f the Union
wanted both free and pu re government ; b ut we
were divided into two Opp osing hosts ; one for
pu re govern ment th ro u gh free go v ernment the
other for pu re government before free govern
m ent
O ut o f the resu lting strife has come the
n ation s declarati on for al l time that p ure govern
m ent cannot c ome before free government and
that n ot even in the name o f pu re go vernment
shall tru e freedom be abridged
Another obviou s truth pu re and free govern
m ents advance by alternating steps M en will
not help others to s et up p ure government wh o
refuse them free govern ment
Nor will men
help those to advance free government wh o
refu se them pu re government ; and if each scho ol
h olds o u t h ostilely against the other ruin m ust
follow ; b ut i f not a patriotic and entirely noble
political commerce may sprin g u p between the
two A nation s o doing may have to see itself
outstripped fo r a moment i n the direction of
free govern ment by oth ers less pure o r o f pu re
government by others less free o r o f material
wealth by others neither s o pu re no r s o free ;
b ut it is nevertheless o n a broader higher road
to perfect freedom p u rity and prosperity at last
than any different sort can possi b ly b e
of
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1 24
S TR UG GL E FO R PUR E G O VE RN ME N
T:
importance and would be a s uicidal confession
that th e present ru ling class is n ot strong and
pu re enough to establish and maintain pu re
government with ou t the ai d o f the ruled To
give th e Negro the same ful l civil and political
freedom that th e white m an h as wo uld they
s ay
be fatal becau se in that case white men
would never divide o n questions of p ubl ic policy
lest th e blacks if not already u nited sh o uld at
once u nite and u nder corrupt leaders seize the
reins o f power
Now to these things what can we answer ?
L et u s take them seriatim F i rst then as to
the statement that virtu ally the whole m ass o f
Negroes in th e South care n othing for good
government we s a y that to establish s u ch a vast
exception to s o general a tr u th requ ires e x h a u s
tive pro ofs Wh ere are they ? R econstru ction
times do not fu rnish them They may S h ow
that th e R econstruction party wh ite and Negro
constantly and formidably opposed by a party
exclusively white and h ostile to the equal civil
liberties of whites an d Negroes did not ach ieve
may b e did not often earnestly try to achieve
pu rity i n government B ut they do not prove
that th e Negroes would n ot have b een well
pleas ed to j oin pu re government with free They
only prove o u r prem ise that there can b e no
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STR UG GL E FOR PURE G O VE R N ME N T
1 25
.
e ffective effort for pu re go v ernment while an in
secu rity o f free government keeps classes o r
parties occupied with o n e another s actual o r
possible aggressi ons The great maj ority o f th e
Negroes are illiterate improvident reckless and
degraded B ut s o is th e I rish peasant S o is
the R u ssian serf The fact is proof presu mptive
that I rish R u ssian o r Negro — they are far m ore
concerned for a better freedom whether eco
n omic civil or political than for pu re govern
ment ; but n o t that pu re government i s s ome
thi ng they would rather n ot have
H ow coul d it be ? Tens o f thou sands o f them
n the land they till the h ou ses they l ive in
o
With scarcely a very rich m a n among them th ey
n to day certainly not less than
o
so me s a y
worth o f taxable wealth
O ver
o f their children half their total
school population are enrolled in the public
sch ools where their a v erage daily attendance is
more than
Thei r principal industry is
agricultu re the m ost peaceable and peace pro
m o t m g labor o f th e hand known to mankind
Their crops in the year 1 88 9 u nless h igh j ou r
n a l is t ic authori ty is in error aggregated the va l u e
of
I s it to be bel ieved that the
wh ole mass o r any preponderating fraction o f
s uc h a people as th is is s o supinely indifferent to
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1 26
S TE U G G L E
F OR
P URE
G O VE E N M E N T
.
or s o abjectly ignorant o f the advantages of
pu re over corrupt government that they prefer
the corrupt other things being equal ? And are
we to credit this statement on the bare emo
t io n a l declaration o f comm unities that a fe
years ago — claiming to be the only people wh o
are in a position to u nderstand t h e N e gr o hon
e s tl y believed h e woul d not earn his bread in a
state o f freedom and was mentally incapable o f
re c eiving an o rdinary comm on sch ool ed ucation
M ust we go even further and believe that n one
of them n ot even a m oderate n umber care
enough for th e p u rification o f the governments
over them to v ote for p u re meas u res and go od
rulers e v en if these sho uld bo l dly decl a re for a
removal o f u nj u st encroach ments upon their
public rights and liberties ? H u ndreds of th ous
ands of them take pains— not a few take risks
to v ote v oting far o ftener fo r white men than
D o these p re fer corrupt rulers and
fo r col ored
meas u res and for mere corrupti on s sake ? The
answer is familiar Their leaders it is said do
actu ally want c o rruption for its own sake to
fatten o n it and in vast solid m asses the great
black herd blindly fol l ows these leaders B ut
wherein lies the strange power of these leaders
In consangu inity
They are oftener wh ite than
I n promises o f o fficial patronage ?
c o l ored
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1 28
S TE UG G L E
F OR
PURE
111
G O VE E N M E N T
.
.
B ut we have next th e assertion that they
wo ul d become s o if the hand o f s uppression
were withdrawn Th is i s a very ancient argu
ment A centu ry ago it was believed and p r ac
tically applied against m ill ions o f white men j ust
as it is now u rged against millions o f Negroes
an d was based o n the same specio us assu mption
that th e ignorant u nintelligent and u nmoneyed
man i s v irtually in all cases dangerous to society
and government and m ost dangero us when in
vested with civil an d political l iberty Nor was
its repu diation any rash leap taken initially by
o
n
c ou ntry in th e heat o f revolution
ou r
Manhood s uffrage even for white citizens o f the
U nited States is barely seventy five years Old
and o f al l the earlier States o f the U nion is
yo ungest in New E ngland To day except only
R ussia and one o r two others less notable every
white man s government i n the world has either
reached o r is steadily m oving toward manh ood
s u ffrage The republics of South and Central
Am erica so me o f wh ich are n ot pu rely white
men s governments at all are wel l along on the
same road and wherever they have also S haken
o ff the slavery o f slaveh ol ding an d the fetters O f
ecclesiastical tyranny are rising into commer
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S TR UG GL E FO R PURE G O VE RN ME
N T
.
1 29
and political greatness Yet we m ust still
meet th e same argu ment long overtu rned as to
white men b ut readapted and m ade special
against Negroes as s o far exceedi n g wh ite
men i n cupidity vanity and passion that what
political experiment may have proved even as to
ignorant u nintelligent and u nm oneyed white
men is not thereby made even s upposably pos
sible as to Negroes
The loose assertions offered to support this
assumption we deny We deny that this utter
and manifest u n fi tn es s o f the Negro i s believed
by al l respectable Southern white men All
throu gh the So uth there are worthy white men
wh o deny that the experiment need be futile
o r disastrou s
We deny th at Southern white
men by vi rtu e o f cl ose daily contact with th e
Negro in m ultitu de are s o excl u sively able to
decide this point that their word ou ght to be
‘
final S o m é men may be to o far o fi; but j u st as
certainly oth ers m ay be t oo near to decide it
u ncounselled and in fact every great step thu s
far taken towards the Negro s real betterment
has been first proposed by those rem ote from
h im while it has been condemned as idle o r
dangerou s by th ose nearest h im We deny that
the experiment of fu l l civil and political l iberty
has ever been fairly tried o n the Negroes o f the
c ia l
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1
S T R UG GL E FO R PUR E
30
G O VE R N I lI E N T
/
.
South O ne thing has always been lacking the
want o f which has made the experiment a false
and u nfair trial It always lacked the consent
it had th e constant vehement opposition— o f
almost the wh ole upper class o f s ocie ty in the
commonwealth where the freedman s new and
untried citizenship rested With out land owner
ship commerce credit l earning political or
financial experience th e world s acqu aintance
and esteem th e habit o f organization o r any
other element o f political power except the naked
b allot and th e ability to appeal at l ast resort to
the F ederal auth ority and with almost the
wh ole upper class o f s ociety and well nigh al l
these elements o f power skillfully arrayed against
them the Negroes accepting th e party leader
ship and fellowsh ip of any and every sort o f
wh ite man wh o would only recognize their new
ten u re of rights took up th e task abandoned to
them in c onfident derision by th e ir fo r me r mas
ters o f establish ing equal free government for all
in th e State s wh ose governments had never b e
fore been free to other than white men The
res ulting governments were lamentably corrupt
B u t it was th e day o f Tweed rings and Credit
M obiliers great and small th e cli macteric h ou r
o f o ffi cial corruption th rough out a whole nation
h itherto absorbed in the rou gh er work of estab
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2
3
S TR UG GL E FO R PURE G O VE RN ME N T
.
refu sal that has demol ished with ghastly clear
ness the truth counted su icidal to confess that
even the present ruling class is n ot strong enou gh
o r pu re eno ugh to establish and maintain pu re
government with ou t th e aid and consent of the
governed I admit th e Negro problem is not a l
ways and only political N O problem can be
It is n ot in the natu re o f pol itics fo r any ques
tion to be only political The Negro qu estion is
fu ndamentally a qu estion of civil rights includ
ing political rights as th e fortress of all the others
It is not always a pecu liarly African proneness to
anarchy ; nor is it always race instinct ; it is
often only the traditional pride o f a master class
that remands the Negro to a separate and in
vid io u s ten ure o f h is civil rights ; b u t it is to
perpetuate th is alienism that he is exclu ded from
the political c o partnersh ip ; and it is the struggle
t o maintain this exclu sion that keeps the col ored
vote solid prevents its white antagonists from
divi ding where they differ as t o other measu res
and h olds them u nder a fatal O ne P arty idea
that ru les them with a rod o f i ron
We s ee then how far the facts o f h istory and
present conditions are from provi ng the S outh
ern States an exception to the rule that pu re
government cann ot be got by setting its claims
be fore and above free government R ather they
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S TE U G G L E
PURE
F OR
G O VE E N M E N T
1
.
33
present these States as striking examples o f free
government itself falling into decay through the
well meant but fatal policy o f seeking its pu ri
fi c a tio n by constricting th e rights and l iberties o f
the weak er and inferio r ranks o f society
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.
IV
.
Wa shington bidding a l a st farewell to public
o ffice and uttering h is parenta l warn ings to th e
people pronounced n o t large ness or un iversali ty
o f freedom nor illiteracy no r u nintelligence but
a rankness o f party S pirit th e worst enemy o f
popular government If h e could characterize
the alternate domination of o n e faction over
“
another as itself a frightful despotism what
would h e have said o f an arbitrarily p er m a n en t
d om ination o f o n e party over another and a cul
m i nation o f party spirit into the O ne P ar ty idea ;
the idea that a certain belief and pol icy are s o
entirely su rely and excl usively right that men
wh o do n ot assent to them are incendiary vile
out rageous and not m orally entitled to an equal
liberty and secu rity u nder the laws with th ose
from wh om they dissent ? A State ruled by
su ch a sentiment is n o l onger u nder a free
go v ernment A peopl e seeking pu re govern
ment u nder that idea are triflin g with destiny
and h u rrying towards disaster and in simpl e
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T
S
R UG GLE FO R
34
P
URE G O VE RN MENT
.
h u manity if not in their own involved interest
th ose who see their error ou ght to stop them if
there is a way to do it consistent with righteous
law
Is there any su ch way ? L et u s look at the
situ ation The R econstru ction go v ernments in
the South ; wh ile still h olding not for Negro
domination which they never hel d fo r b ut for
equal free government for all l ost i n large mea
s u re the nation s respect and good will by an
acute moral and financial defalcation They were
allowed to be overtu rned by measu res often
severely revol utionary o n the assu rance o f thei r
opponents to the nation and to the world that
thei r only desire an d design was pu re govern
ment an d that th ey were m o re than willing and
am pl y abl e to furnish it at once and follow it
c losely with the amplest meas ure o f free go v ern
ment contemplated in the Am endments to the
C onstitution Some Southern men may deny
that th is was the u nderstanding o n wh ich their
party was allowed to retake the m onopoly o f its
State governments The qu estion is not impo r
tant for it is not proposed here to m ou rn th e
e x tinction o f th e R econstruction governments
as o n e m ou rns the death o f the righteo u s nor
to lay upon the men wh o destroyed them the
wh ole blame o f the error committed Whatever
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6
3
S TE U G G L E
F OR
PURE
G O VE E N M E N T
.
governments repu diated and antagonized by th e
wealth holdi n g portion o f th e people that were
bank rupt and whether their action was j us ti
fi a b l e or n ot it was nearer th e truth to say
the peopl e had bankrupted the governments
than that the governments had bankrupted the
people
F o r a l ong tim e th e sincerity and earnest dil i
gence o f th e m ore intelligent and liberal wing
o f the South ern Conservatives bent itse l f to a
most commendable progressive measu re ; o n e
h ich had already been i rrevocably begun u nder
the R ec onstruction governm ents as an in d is p e n
sable adj unct to the extension o f civil o r politi
cal freedom Th is measu re was the expansion
o f the p ublic sch ool system
a system which
wherever it has fo u nd large establish ment— l n
America E ngland o r elsewhere — has always
foll owed n ot produ ced th e extensi on o f the su f
frage This measu re was and is practicable
even u nder the rule of th e O ne P arty idea
becau se wh ile p ublic edu cation i s the o n child
o f the sch eme o f free
governmen t first it is
alm ost the only important factor o f that scheme
wh ich does n ot obvio u sly antagonize the oppo
site policy And yet th is Opposite policy o f pu re
government first is not and by natu re cannot be
the zealou s promoter of the free sch ool system
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S T R UG GL E FOR PUR E
G O VE R N /II E N T
1
.
37
that a free government policy is s u re to be A
policy o f fre edo m fi rst inevitably precipitates and
perpetuates an immediate and imperative exi
gen ey wh ich can be met only by an entirely
ample provision for the wh ole people s education
Th e policy o f pu re government first assu m
ing t h at ignorance and impu rity are m u ch the
same thi n g prom ises that ignorance shall there
fore not participate i n government and c a s tin g
abo u t now on the right hand and now o n the
l e ft for expedients to p revent it accepts free
sch ools as o n e b ut with a divided credence and
a tame enth usiasm This is why th e Southern
States to day have only schools enough for half
thei r sch ool population and believe they are
h e a r in g as heavy a b u rden o f school tax as any
people o f equal means can while th e States and
territories o f the West u nder the ideas o f free gov
e r n m e n t fi rst and of two parties of equ al rights
are t a x in g t h e ms el ve s far heavier even where
they have less wealth The example o f some o f
these Western commu nities is complete proof
t hat the only sense i n which it can be said that
the South i s doing all it can for public ed ucation
is that Southern State legislators m ay be levying
as heavy a school tax as they can reasonably h ope
to collect from a people lulled by th e assu rances
and methods o f a policy of pu re government
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1
8
T
S
E
3
fir s t
UG O L E
PURE
F OR
G O VE E N M E N T
.
*
It has been m u ch reiterated i n the South
and r e ech oed i n the North that the task o f
p ublic edu cation i n the Southern States s uffers
a uniqu e and unparalleled drawback i n the fact
that while the Negroes enj oy nearly half the o u t
lay o f the school fu nds al m ost th e entire amount
of those fu nds is pai d by wh ite taxpayers
B ut assu ming this to be quite tru e in every other
regard there are two points in which it i s n ot s o
F i rst the very alphabet o f economics teaches u s
that all taxes do n ot rest entirely o n those from
wh om they are collected b ut that h u ndreds o f
th ousands o f men wh o are too po or to be found
en u merated o n the tax rolls are for all that
reached by taxation th rough the mediu m of rents
and similar indirections And second that the
fact qu oted i s far from being u niqu e and u n p a r
a l l el e d
Th e only thing peculiar abo ut it is
that this l ower and u nmoneyed mass which as
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C
h
of
b
s
ays
i
F
8
9
f
)
W hav e 38 publi c sc hoo l s in th i s p a ri sh a n d 98 55 s c ho l a r s to
ed uc ate in the m or a b o u t 6 pupil s to the tea c her
T ak in g the m a i m m n u m b er of pupil s fi ed b y the l aw it
wo ul d re qui r e l ess than 5 tea cher s to d o j u st ic e to the
ed uc atio n a l s ubj e c ts of the p arish T h v ast i m prov e m ent i s
m e r e b rai n fi gm ent
T h whol e yearl y sc hoo l in c o m e for o u r
p ari sh i s n ot m uch m o r e tha n e n o ugh to c o n d uc t pr op erly a s u f
fi i t nu m b er of s c hoo l s pr s i ded o v er b y c o m pete n t in struc tors
for th i t y d ays I t i s a ll that wc an p ay h w
e v er
Th e D
on a l
ds on vil l c
L
a
e
.
e
,
1
.
0
,
e
2
,
x
0
x
u
2
no
0
.
.
c en
,
’
e
e
e
i
.
e
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1 40
S TR UG GL E FO R PURE G O VE RN ME N T
lanta and R ich m ond are almost as romantic as
they are inspiring a theme l ingered upon by
Northern tongu es and a Northern pres s with a
warmth that indicates a p r o p e r recognition o f the
North s o n great gain i n the So uth s prosperity
Nevertheless the very fu llness and renown o f this
success has wrou ght t o grave errors A saga
c io u s and enterprising fe
may get rich in any
country blessed with natu ral resou rces ; b ut no
cou n tr
ever
won
r
ca
n
win
a
large
and
perma
o
y
nent prosperi ty save by the prosperity o f its poor
No cou ntry can ever b uild a so und prosperity
while it tolerates conditions that keep a large
l ower mass o n low wages and long h ou rs This
is the word n ot o f politicians al on e b u t o f
econ om ists an d financiers and th is is a fact which
the s u nbu rst o f a s udden great material develop
ment i n many region s of th e S outh has h idden i n
deep shadow That S outhern m en still s o largely
u nder th e stress of Southern traditions sh ould
overlook thi s is la r gely natural and excu sable ;
but that the North too with its s o wide and
fortu nate experience of better conditions should
n o t s ee an d point o u t th e oversight seems strange
It may be d ou bted that there is a h igh school
between B osto n and Denver wh ose pupil s are
not tau ght that the greatest s ou rce of the decay
o f nations i s the congestion o f wealth and degra
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STR UG GL E FO R PURE G O VE RN ME
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1
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4
dation o f poverty No s u fficient offsets for it
have yet been fou nd i n any scheme o f public
society bu t the search for them is th e great
quest of the age and the safety peace an d pros
an
d
th
e
great
e r ity o f E u rope th e Americas
p
Au stralasian colonies i s mainly d u e to the adop
tion of su ch n oble thou gh incomplete offsets
as have been fou nd These are equal rights and
protection to opposing parties free s chools for
the wh ole people manh ood s uffrage and a pu re
free ballot
Su ch is o n e o f the two great errors that have
fastened themselves upon th e otherwise entirely
admirable material development o f th e N e
South
Th e other i s twin to it It is that this
material development i s not only economically
sound but that it has als o a political potentiality
and can o f itself solve and is solving the Southern
problem Where is its sol ution
Th e claim is
absu rd It is simply fantastical to expect a mere
aggregation o f private m ovements for th e b uild
ing o f private fortu nes to u nravel the snarled
thread o f civi l and pol itical entanglements in a
commonwealth I t may i n self defence rally to
the support o f public financial c redit ; b ut farther
it is n ot in it s natu re t o go What has th is o n e
“
done ? We a r e reminded that i n the So u th
there are Negro l awyers teachers editors den
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S T R UG GL E FO R
42
P
URE
G O VE R N I II E N T
.
doctors and preachers working in peace
and m ultiplying with the increasing ability o f
their race to support them
But whence
came they ? Nine tenth s o f th ose teachers and
preachers and ninety nine h u ndredth s o f those
lawyers editors dentists and doctors have got
their professions in col leges built and su stained by
Northern m oney an d tau ght by Northern mis
s io n a r y teachers wh om the great bulk of th is New
South rewards with s ocial ostracism They work
in peace B ut what a peace G
A peace bo ught by
silent
ofa legalized system o f arrogant
incivilities that make them in almost every public
place c onspicuo u s obj ects o f a public disdain
wh ich i s n ot always even silent What s ingl e
o n e o f th ose tyrannou s and vulgar intrusions
social selection into pu rely public
o f private
places has this New South of iron and coal
mines and n e railways and cotton mills and
oil presses removed ? Not o n e ! F rom th e e n
noblin g relaxations o f the d rama th e O pera th e
oratorio th e orchestral symphony and sonata ;
from th e edifying diversions o f th e popular lec
tu re th e pictu re gallery and even the sacred
service an d sermon o f th e popular preacher ;
from the refining comforts o f th e fi r s t cl ass rail
way coach and th e public restau rant ; fro m th e
ch aracter making labors disciplines and rewards
tis ts ,
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44
S T R UG GL E FO R PUR E G O VE RN ME N
T
.
c ontented and d uly rem u nerated labor Yes we
can !
D id the vast wheat c rops o f ancient
E gypt come from peaceful fields and a well con
tented h u sband ry
Are h er pyramids th e pro
d u ct o f duly rem u nerated labor ? Did the great
crop o f 1 86 0 — raised when the Negroes were
—
half their present numbers come fro m men
satisfied with their wages ? F rom th e eastern
b orders o f Ru ssia a h u ge wave o f material de
vel O p m e n t is at present rolling eastward across
Siberi a with an energy and S peed until lately
supposed by Americans to be fou nd only in o u r
free West The commerce o f the
o
n great
Volga rivals that o f the M ississippi Th e vol
u me o f trade o f the city o f Nizhni N o vo go r o d
rose from some
i n 1 8 6 8 to about
i n 1 8 8 1 A great th rou gh Siberian
railway to be completed i n from three to s ix
years i s n ow in variou s stages of s u rvey and con
struction wh ose trunk l ine alone wil l stretch
eastward t o the J apan Sea ab o ut 50 0 0 m iles b e
yond M oscow It ru ns al ready th rough millions
of acres Of fru itfu l fields tilled by an industriou s
pea s antry B ut is Siberia a free country
Spain
is a land o f harvest and song H ave the laborers
i n her v ineyards and olive yards a freedom th a t
o ught to satisfy a citizen o f the U nited States ?
H as America any class o f society in which we
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1
45
can afford to cultivate contentment with a R u s
sian o r a Spanish measu re o f civil o r political
liberty ? There is a c ontentment which is m ore
intolerable to th e order and interest o f a free
cou nt ry like ou rs than a discontent that leaves
the ripened grain u nharvested to guard the
rights of free man Which o f the two has this
ind u strial development o r any oth er outcome o f
th e policy o f pu re government fi rst cherished
and stim ulated ? F o r twelve years it has per
s u a d e d an apparent m aj ority o f the nation to
leave to it the fitting of th e Negro for citizenship
even refu sing national aid to li ft the b u rden o f
public edu cation it cou nts insupportable yet to
this day it has made not the slightest provision
fo r admitting any Negro to th e fu ll meas u re o f
any civil o r political right by virtu e o f acqu ired
fitness Th e N e Or l ea n s fl
u t es D em ocr a t o f
Nov 5th says The race issue is a national a n
and has nothing whatever to do
ta go n is m
with edu cation or the lack o f ed u cation To
the Negro varnished with s u ch learning as he is
capabl e o f acqu iring there is even a m ore p r o
n o u n c ed antipathy than to th e
Negro o f the
cotton fie l d and kitchen
Th e sch ools says
th e A tl a n ta Co ns titu tion barely s ix m onth s ago
have been i n active operation for over twenty
five years and it is estimated that several h un
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46 S T E U G G L
E
F OR
PURE
G O VE R N M E N T
.
d red th ou sand o f the colored voters can now
read and write The di ffi c ulties h owe v er have
increased with th e progress o f education and are
n ow m ore di fficu lt than they ever were before
Not the sl ightest advancement toward an adj ust
ment of the two races o n political grounds has
been made anywhere and even the direction o f
su ch advance i s a matter o f spec ulation
In
plain words after twelve years o f wandering
th rou gh a night of false political traditions these
largely s incere gu ides to p u re government first
and free government afterwards acknowledge at
l ast that th ey are l ost in the wo ods under a star
l es s s ky
VI
The fail u re to get good government has been
absol utely abj ect N ot only has n o material
advance been made toward free government
b ut the go v ernments that started o u t twelve
years ago full o f h onest intentions to b e o r
b ecome p u re have grown confessedly corrupt
an d are now avowing with hardihood o r shame
th ings that a few years ago they denied with
indignation L et it be gladly admitted that open
personal bribery o f O ffi cials is rare And nat u
rally ; for where an upper and pro p erty holding
class holds secu re and arbitrary power over an
illiterate and destitute laboring c l ass and real ly
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S TE U G G L E
F OR
PUR E
G O VE E N M E N T
.
laws the State is a fflicted with a type o f money
lenders traders and meth ods o f doing business
the like of which was never seen before
u
ot
Q
ing fro m a parliament report the statement that
a certain credito r i n I reland had charged a Co n
nau ght peasant a rate o f interest aggregating
“
What is
4 3% per cent per annu m he asked
per
cent
compared
to
th
e
profits
charged
4 3%
by the h olders o f anaco nda m o rtgages o n tenants
i n Arkansas They wo ul d scorn 4 3 per cent
And another member o f the Association had
al ready said o f a signer of o n e o f these mort
gages a place where he could borrow money
at us u ry wo u ld be an asylu m to h im
I have known men — laboring men farmers and
renters— to pay twenty and twenty fi ve per cent
interest for m oney and secu re its payment rather
than m ortgage thei r property and b uy s upplies
I f i n the face o f these facts Negroes
o n c redit
are moving by tens o f tho u sands from North
and South Carolina to Mississippi and Arkansas
that su rely is someth ing not for u s but fo r N o r th
and South Carolina to explain P robably the
b est explanation beyond th e eager enterprise o f
railroad companies is that these ignorant laborers
li k e th o u sands of other immigrants do not know
what th ey are going to
It wil l be said that the burdens of this system
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S TE U G G L E
PURE
F OR
G o VE R N M E N T
.
1
49
fall as heavily on a white man as if h e were
black That may be b ut it i s a system u nknown
i n o u r free land except i n States where the tenant
class is mostly Negroes and j ust as fa r as white
debtors fall u nder it it ill ustrates a fact o f wh ich
it i s far from being the only proof ; that this
whol e policy o f the black man s repression u nder
a taxpayer s government i s constantly escaping
from its intended bounds an d running into a
fierce and general oppression o f th e laboring
classes wh ite o r black Yet the wealth holding
taxpaying citizens o f these s ame States still
really an d u ntiringly bent upon a large and
noble renaissance in commerce indu stry and
government h ol d convention s and subscribe
money to promote immigration Can n o o n e
make them u nderstand that a desirable i mmi
r a tio n will never come t o a land o f long h ou rs
g
“
low wages and anaconda m ortgages
The
only way to make th e S o uth a good place for
white m en to come to is to make it a good
place for black men to stay in
It belongs to the imperfections o f h uman
socie ty even at its best that as yet even u nder
the pu rest freest conditions the poor s u ffer
many times mo re chances than the rich o f being
legally p u nished for criminal errors M oreover
th e poo r man s home and neighborh ood become
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S T R UG GL E FOR PURE G O VE RN ME N T
50
.
th e cesspool and garbage heap o f th e prisons
discharges pardons an d escapes The penal
system o f a country is therefore s upremely the
v ery poor man s concern if not even h is supreme
concern H ence it can never be stripped of a
political v al u e I f there were n o other reason
why th e p oor an d ignorant shoul d enj oy the
scant self protection o f m anh ood su ffrage th is
wou ld be enou gh And with what clearness
h as the S o uthern party o f o n e party and pu re
government proved th is ? F or twelve years
it has retained the Convict L ease System a
prison system entirely peculiar to th e Southern
States and ba ffling comparis on fo r corrupt and
m ortal cru elty with any system of prison s b e
tween here and St P etersbu rg It has not merely
retained th e system L egislatu res an d governors
have sometimes officially s ometimes u nofficially
allowed penitentiary rings to become financial
and politica l factors in the fortu nes o f their parties
and their States wh il e all th e better elements o f
the party and press bu rning with righteo us
shame and resentment and crying o u t against
th em nevertheless en du re the o utrage clamped
and riveted upon them by the exigencies o f a
O ne party policy and the alienation o f the great
bulk o f the poor man s vote Nowhere th is s ide
o f R u ssia and Tu rkey is there a region o f cou ntry
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S T R UG GL E FO R PURE G O VE RN ME N T
.
cu red to th e maj ority in th e State legislatu re s o
great that n o party retaining it can clear itself
o f the charge o f corrupt intentions
In So uth
Carolina this same party n o that rifle cl ubs
and tiss u e ballots have passed away confesses
with th e pardonable bu oyancy o f a relieved con
science that th ose measu res were intolerably
corrupt Yet the eight box system stil l stands
in their stead raising the same bl u sh o f m o r tifi
cation yet commanding from them th e same
s ubj ection as do lynch law and the convict
lease system
S u ch are th e conditions after twelve years of e f
forts by a n intelligent accomp l ished determined
persistent h eroic people to h ol d d own free go v
e r n m e n t with o n e hand till they can s e t u p pu re
government with th e other F or twelve of o u r
modern years each o n e worth an ancient centu ry
th e cry o f pu re government fi rst has p revailed
not only am ong th emselves b ut th ro u ghou t the
nation F or its sake this nation alm ost as u ni
ver s a l l y dazed as they by the bright plau sibility
of the m istake has endured more deadly o u t
rages against its citizens withi n its o n borders
than it wo u ld have tamely s ubm itted to from all
the great powe rs o f the earth c ombined The
mass to be held i n subj ection has been th e inferior
i n n u mbers prowess i ntelligence wealth and
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S TE UG G L E
PURE
F OR
G O VE E N M E N T
.
1
53
e v ery other element o f military o r political
strength ; n ot tu rbulent a n d ferociou s b ut o n
the Southern wh ite man s testim ony tractable
amiable dependent The great national party
that unhindered m ight have l ifted this subj ee
tion has fo r twenty five years fou nd itself o p
posed and for the last t elve years pini oned
by another party qu ite o r almost its match in
numbers power integrity and skill vehemently
charging it with ru shing to the rescu e o f free
dom too rashly for freedom s good The class
proposing to rule the South al one is h onest
in p u rpose still filled with the spirit o f free
d o m that gave u s Washington and yet as im
perial as ancient R ome It is not they it is
only th eir policy that i s fo und wanting I f any
people o n earth coul d have carried that policy
to su ccess they co uld They have proved for
al l tim e and fo r all mankind that it can never
be done
The day I n which this truth becomes a p O p u
lar conviction among o u r wh ite breth ren o f the
South and among millions in the North wh ose
conversion waits only o n theirs wil l be the
brightest gladdest best day that ever dawned
o n this continent
I believe that dawn is now
breaking
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S T R UG GLE FO R PURE G O VE R N ME N T
.
VI I
Tru e we hear voices th rough the Southern
press c ryin g new schemes for avoiding th e sim
ple necessities o f free government : th e establish
ment o f a Negro Territory ; a disfranchisement
o f over half th e
Negroes by an edu cati onal
qu alificati on at the polls ; thei r total disfranchise
ment by the repeal o f th e F ou rteenth Amend
ment ; and i n the very Senate a proposition to
deport the Negro to Africa at th e national
expense alth ou gh at the same time and all over
the South m en in the same party from which
the p roj ect c om es are stating with new frankness
their o l d doctrine that th ou gh th e country shal l
never b elong to th e Negro the Negro s imply
shall belong to the c ountry B ut th e v ery for
lornness o f these absu rd proj ects b uilt them
selves o n open confessions that th e past i s a
fail u re and that s omething different m u st be d one
with all speed is a final admission that the party
pledged to s olve the Negro Q uestion witho ut
consu lting the Negro feels that i t m ust change
its policy o r drop from under the nation s mis
placed h opes
The press o f the nation al most with o n e voice
rej ects the scheme o f a Negro territo ry We
have m ore Negro territories n o than either
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S TE U G G L E
F OR
G O VERN ME
P UE E
N
T
.
are illiterate and nearly half of wh ose population
of school age are wit h o ut public provision against
illiteracy has n o reason as it has n o right to
hope for an honest vote to disfranchise the il l ite r
ate Well for it that there is n o su ch h ope F or no
peopl e ever escapes the incub u s o f a large il l it e r
acy in its poorer classes except by providing a
system o f public edu cation ample for th e whole
people ; th e demand for ample free edu cation is
created n ot by the contraction but by the e n
largement of th e right of suffrage The m ost
suicidal thing a party of free edu cation can do is
to favor an educational qualification o f th e s u f
frage before free edu cation is amply supplied ; for
whenever the issu e is between adeq u ate and
inadequate provision the v ote that tips th e scale
aright is j u st th e bugbear itself— the illiterate
man s vote
I h old that to prove the m oral wrong of a
thing is to prove j u st s o far its practical worth
l essness To disfranch ise the illiterate i s to make
th e most defenceless part of a com mu nity more
defenceless still ; There i s I know an educa
t io n a l qualification in Massachu setts and there
are a few illiterates B ut there is n o illiterate
cl a ss
and the ed ucational qualification here is
not mainly for th e protection of the suffrage but
a c orre c tional p u nishment for ine x c u sable ign o
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57
rance The dangers o f illiteracy h ave been
almost as m uch overstated as its economic loss
has been overl ooked F ar the greatest danger
in a wide illiteracy is to the illiterate themselves
and th ou gh there are reciprocal risks the S upreme
u rgency fo r its removal is n ot their dangero us
ness to the more fortunate and powerful classes
but the dangero usness o f those classes to them
As for the Australian ballot system wherever i n
this great u nion o f States it goes for the better
liber ty o f every honest voter learned o r ignorant
rich o r poor and for the confusion o f bribers and
bribe takers learned o r ignorant rich o r poo r
may G od give it good speed B ut alas ! for pub
lic liberty puri ty or sa fe ty wherever it is put
into use to abridge the right o f s uffrage No
people is j ustly ready for a system o f elections
that prevents the voting o f th e illiterate m a n
u ntil it has first provided full p u blic facility for
every s uch ma n to learn to read and write and
has then given him fair warning and time to
learn
The last and it seems to m e the most irra
t io n a l scheme o f all is that embodied in the
Bill for the deportation o f Negroes to Africa
The graceful argu ments o f its advocates in the
Senate have been fully ably brilliantly answered
in the Senate and there is no excuse for m ore
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S TE U G G L E
F OR
PUR E
G O VE E N M E N T
.
than a word to the point here The early admis
sions and confessions o f Abraham L incoln have
been m uch used in th is debate by excellent men
wh o still rep u diate and antagonize the concl u
sions of h is latest wisdom as they o n ce did his
earlie r L et u s in that wonderfu l spirit o f m ore
than Wash ingtonian generosity which made h im
impregnable and i rresistible in debate make
every supposition o f the advocates o f deporta
tion that can be supposed Say th e bill is fo und
to be not u nconstitutional ; that h u ndreds o f
th ousands o f Negroes want to go and that
So uthern wh ite m en generally will let them go
despite the palpable fact that the men most
likely to go will be to u se an o l d Southern word
“
the m ost likely men the men o f health
strength self relian ce enterprise and despite
again th e fact that no large emigration can take
place with out carrying a ay millions o f ready
m oney with it E very
of E u ropean
em igrants to this c ountry bring about
with th em The industrial val u e o f
un
skilled laborers is
Is a white im mi
r a t io n likely to make up s u ch l osses ? L et u s
g
s uppo s e even this alth ough no o n e ever yet
heard o f o n e s et o f emigrants pouring into a
cou ntry from which a poorer s e t was po u ring
o u t ; and alth ou gh if they will come at all there
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F OR
PUR E
G O VE E N M E N T
.
the fl ight back to Africa of the victims o f its
o
n tyrannies
This is not th e way to settle b ut
only to delay and hinder th e settlement o f the
Negro qu esti on E migrants have been pou ring
o u t o f I reland for forty years and their G overn
ment has enco uraged thei r going and still I re
land is full o f I rish and the I rish Q uestion i s
not settled P ass you r Deportation Bill H elp
h undred s o f th ou sands of able bodied Negroes
to sail to Africa B ut u nless yo u remove the
al ready existing c ompulsions upon which you
are counting to drive them o n shipboard the
white immigrant will not come to take his place
and the Negro and the Negro Q u estion will be
with u s still
I t is tru e also that th e infat u ation for bu ying
pure government at som e other price than the
Negro s c ivil fr e e d o m and political c o Op e r a t io n
still maintain s the iron rule of the o n e party idea
It is to this sentiment and policy that we o e
the enormities o f Lynch law with its record o f
crimes beyond all cavil darker and fouler than
all th e robberies o f Carpet bag G overnments
F or these m u rderou s deeds are committed only
because the l o v ers of order and pu re government
make n o serious effort to prevent them and
these make n o serio us effort only because to
pu nish these m u rderers would break the s olid
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F OR
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PURE G O VERN ME N T
1
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61
square o f that o n e party which m akes simple
dissent from its doctrines infamou s and criminal
the only party that ever has dared to declare
Openly to this free nation that it mu st and will
rule whether it represents a maj ority o f the
people o r not I s not that the very germinating
and perpetuating principle o f political corrup
tion ? U nder what strange skies on what dis
tant planet can we believe that su ch a tree will
put forth the fl owers and fru it o f pu re go v ern
ment ?
I n Nash v ille lately a gentleman o f the south
ern political orthodoxy gave me th is story as
strict fact : A traveller similarly orth odox s a t
down at the large supper tabl e o f an Arkansas
tavern The landlord bearing two large steam
ing covered vessels identical in size and pattern
o n e in each hand passed from g u est to guest
with always the same hospitable offer of choice
Tea or Coffee ?
Tea o r Coffee
Coffee
s a id o n e H e pou red coffee
Coffee said a
second H e pou red coffee
Coffee said a
third fou rth and fifth
Again once twice
th rice th e tea pot was deferentially drawn back
and the coffee —
pot pou red forth its strong black
“
flood S o o u r traveller was reached
Tea o r
“
coffee ?
Tea
Th e landlo rd drew back
bristling but the next instant was gracio u s
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62
S TE U G G L E
F OR
PURE
G O VE E N M E N T
.
again H e bro u ght the h uge tea pot nimbly
forward and poured from it the same h ot rank
“
R io
that h e had been pou ring from the
“
other pot saying as h e pou red
tea ! in Ar
kansas ! No S ir I n Arkansas y o u take eo f
fee o r yo u take nothing
O u r travel ler drank
it with ou t m ilk It was a ft er all simply h is
o
n o n e p arty idea and he had t o sw al l o w it
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VI I I
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B u t if the O ne party ide a still r ul e s i n th e
South men are longing and rea c hing o u t for
deliverance from it n ow as they have n o t done
before since thirty years ago it fi rst laid its c om
l
e te bondage upon them
F
rom
out
th
e
South
p
itself has lately been h eard a strange new m ost
wo rthy and m o s t wel com e sou nd th e v oi c es o f
so u thern wh ite leaders o f th o u ght and a c tion
charging upon the North the duty and necessity
o f helping the So uth to solve the sim pl e q u e s tion
whi c h the north ern and s o u thern see k ers after
pu re go v ernment throu gh race ru le and post
poned rights have snarled into a bewildering pro
blem This problem has been drawn into the
open fie l d of literary de b ate a field from wh ich
in these enl ightened days n o practical qu estion
can e s cape u nti l it is solved B ut the qu estion
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64
S TE U G G L E
F OR
P URE
G O VE E N M E N T :
m ust be neither abandoned n or abated O n l y
the effort to pro c u re it at th e e x pense of free
government m ust be abandoned F ree go vern
ment the equal freedo m of all in all p u bl ic rela
tions m u st be recognized as its foremost and
supreme necessi ty Yet we d o n ot demand a
s udden and c omplete re v ol ution o f southern
sentiment and poli cy All th e nati on i s really
impatient for is to s ee th e So u th once t u rn and
s ta r t i n the right di rection
To th is end let it be u nder s tood and de cl ared
in so u thern circles co u ncils newspapers that
in the s o u thern States j u st a s tru ly as in Ka n
s a s O h i o o r Mas s ach usetts a man c an favor the
Negro s enj oyment o f a white man s p ublic
rights with o u t being either a R epub l i c an o r a
traitor H e can b e an E qual rights D emo c rat
I ventu re to s ay that the great b u l k o f the R e
publican party itself will look with m ore respect
and pleas u re upon a b and o f so u thern opponents
declaring themselves E qu al rights Democrats
than upon a like r e é n fo r c em e n t t o its o n ranks
o f Alabama protectionists trying to take the piti
fully impossible pose o f col or line R ep u blicans
I f men cannot reconcile it to thei r self regard
o r sense o f expediency to declare for equality i n
all public rights at once let them try a few at a
time Since 1 8 6 5 the S o uth has fou nd on e x
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S TE U G G L E
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G O VE E N M E N T
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65
sometimes
vol
u
ntary
sometimes
other
p
wise a great many things consistent with honor
safety and peace that they had looked upon with
loathing and alarm Why n o t try a few more ?
Take at random any phase o f t h e matter ; for
instance railroad accommodation If in every
south ern town Negroes may ride in street cars
where people crowd o n e another an d n o separate
place o ffers to the rag tag that refuge from the
better kept which they always covet why n o t
try making fi r s t class railway coaches equally
free to al l ki nds o f people decent in person and
behavior and requ ire all kinds o f rag tag to a c
cept other accommodation s
There is no risk in
su ch a step ; nobody really believes there is any
it is p urely a matter o f pride B ut be it pride o r
be it risk th e street cars offered the extreme
case and in them the question has long been
settled
O r tak e another case
P robably the most
indefensible wanton cruel deprivations su ffered
by Southern colored people o n the score o f race
is their exclusion from the privileges o f th e
p ublic libraries L et these excommu nications
from the pu re wells of i nspiration that are in
good books be withdrawn
L et decent wh ite
Southerners s ay to decent colored Southerners
—
—
These con c essions o r s u ch as these will we
e r im en t,
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66
S TE U G G L E
E OE
P
URE
G O VE E N M E N T
.
make to you if yo u will j oin with u s politically
for p u re men and pu rifying meas ures That
were a b uying o f votes witho ut dishono r to
either side ; and tens o f th ou sands o f colored
votes both o f those that m oney can and that
m oney cannot b uy can be b ou ght at that price
O nly let it not be fancied that even Negroes are
going to be o utwitted m ore than on c e o r twi c e
by promises that if they wil l c on c ede someth ing
now thei r wh ite fel low citi z ens will concede
something to them by and by Says th e R e v
D r T h ir k iel d o f Atlanta in a late all usion to
the failu re o f the P rohibition m ovement in that
“
c ity Th e Negro was recognized as a factor in
the great civil contest ; h e was met as a man
and a brother ; prom ises were given h im as to
h is civil rights in th e c ondu ct o f the city govern
ment Throu gh h is vote th e campaign closed
in v ictory Then th e contact b etween the two
races a s broken o ff; re c ognition and c o Op e r a
tion in civil m oral and religio u s wor k ceased ;
pledges as to h is civil rights were b ro k en The
ru m power s a its oppo rt u nity
organ
iz e d for victory and brou ght again the reign o f
ru m
So it may always be ; there is a vote that
divides b ut n ot destroys ; an d there is another
that s olidifies b ut d oes n ot save
Tr u e to influen c e th e colored v ote men m u s t
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68
S TE UG GL E
PUR E G O VE RN ME
F OR
N
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i n smal l o r large There are towns townships
cou nties even States o n e o r two in the So uth
where th e two nati onal parties are nearly equal
i n numbers There as elsewhere the Negro
cares as he shou ld far m ore about his own civil
and political rights than abo ut wh o gets into
the White H ou se I n s u ch a region a party o f
p u re government o ught by reasonable and gen
e r o u s concessions to a better an d more equa l
freedom to gain enough colored votes to enable
it advantageously to sacrifice some very bad
white ones O nly thes e c oncessions mu st be
made in the spirit and guise not o f c o n d e s ce n
sion and protection but o f civil and political
equ ality and fellowship entering frankly and
fully into co uncil with the Negro s recognized
leaders wh ite o r col ored appealing to s u ch as
“
are o u t o f politics only when those wh o are
in politics will not listen to reason Say what
you will o f party leaders and managers the great
R ep ublican party itself w ou ld rather be h ope
lessly o utn umbered and defeated in M iss issippi
o r South Carolina by fai r means i n th e interest
than to s e e a R epublican
o f free government
maj ority ty rannou sly defrau ded u nder the pre
tence o f procu ring o r u ph olding pu re govern
ment No r d o I d ou bt the great D emocratic
party als o would i n its tu rn rather be s o o u t
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PUR E
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G O VE E N M E N T
1
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69
nu mbe red and defeated than to s ee its managers
win victory at th e price o f honor
But if southern wh ite men will not even yet of
their own m otion give this method o f healing
“
the nation s ru nning sore a fair trial there
are still two ways by which su ch a trial m ay be
had O ne is a means which no generou s m ind
in this nation would make other than its last
choice I mean o f cou rse F ederal i ntervention
I earnestly protest I h ave learned too m u ch
from the teachings of Wash ington ever to be a
partisan O n the race qu estion I am a R epubli
can ; o n some others I am a D emocrat and o n
all questions I know and am ready to avow ex
The southern party for
a ct l y where I stand
pure government first has been given the best
twelve years that ever sh one o n earth in which
to make F ederal intervention unnecessary and
has s o u tterly failed that it is to day seen asking
in th e U nited States Senate for a species o f
F ederal i nterventio n by no means the safest o r
best o r m ost constitutional to help it to remove
bodily to Africa th e problem wh ose ob v iou s
solution it will n o t allow even to be tried I do
not favor F ederal intervention for the establish
ment o f equal civil and political rights in any
State whatever e x cept as a last reso rt As to
F ederal elections at least it is a right placed
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STR UG GLE FO R
0
7
P
URE G O VERNMEN T
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beyond c a v il by the p lain letter o f th e Co n s t it u
tion B ut e v en there the intention that it sho u ld
be never other than an unpreferred al ternative i s
plain
Yet I see to day only o n e alternative inter
O f it I shall speak i n a m oment B ut
ve n in g
for this alternative it seem s to m e totally l n
compatible with th e dignity and honor o f this
nation that a fter twelve years o f amiable h ope
ful waiting it shoul d let itself be kept indefinitely
waiting still for admission to its o n simplest
rights b y the plau sible and el oquent door
keepers o f a do noth ing policy A despair that
prompts to a c tion and deliverance is better than
any false h ope and if su ch a despair mo v es this
nation this year o r next to th e action it has
borne so m u ch to avoid it can point to these
door keepers wh ether they be o f North o r South
a nd say the b lame o f it and the shame of it be
o n yo u !
The only alternative I s e e a h ope o f wh ose
adoption can rightly postpone F ederal in t e r ve n
tion any longer is fo r the D em ocratic party o f
the wide North and West to withdraw its sup
port from th e so u thern policy n o as it di d in
Said o n e o f the national D emoc ratic
1 8 60
“
leaders to m e a fe years ago That is what
we ha v e got to do The v otes we l ose by it in
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7
S T R UG GL E FO R PURE G O VERN ME N T
'
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inter v ention is n o willing ch oice of th e R epubli
can o r any party and that what it with the
wh ole nation m ost covets for every southern
State i s as large as fu ll as u niversal and as
prosperous a self government as can be fou nd in
any part o f this U ni on An d then in all kin d
ness for the South s own sak e as m uch as for
the sake o f any i n the nam e o f the comm on
welfare an d the nation s h onor l et th e word be
spoken that i f by 1 8 92 any State i n this U nion
has n ot at least begu n with goo d S h ow o f com
l
i
e
t
n
the
establish
ment
equal
American
o
f
,
p
g
rights for all Americans the men o f this nation
wh o in whatever party believe i n free govern
m ent first will strain thei r every nerve and sinew
to give th e nation a president and a congress
that will establish it peac eably promptly and
forever
Th e day i n which that is done whether by
a southern maj ority s o n motion o r by the
G overnment s intervention will be a great birth
day I t may date the birth o f some m omen
ta ry and aimless strife th ough this I do ubt ;
bu t it will certainly date the birth o f a better
peace a wider richer prosperi ty a happier
freedom o f every citizen and a freer pu rer
government o f th is U nion and o f every State
in this U nion than this continent has ever yet
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S T R UG GL E FO R PUR E G O VE RN ME N
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1
73
seen Yea and complete fraternity between
North an d South F or i t shall not have been
l ong done ere the whole South will rej oice in
the day o f its doing as now it rej oices i n the day
when L incoln freed th e Negro and i n the day
when Washington by spu rning the offer o f royal
rank and authority declared that th e only road
to pu re gove rnment is free government
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