Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, October 24, 1901, Image 4

Georgia Historic Newspapers

Atlanta semi-weekly journal., October 24, 1901, Page 4, Image 4

About Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 24, 1901)

Page of 8

Prev Issue Next Issue

Text PDF JP2 (7.0 MB) Clip/Print Image

Page of 8

Prev Issue Next Issue

Return to Top

Newspaper Page Text4 THE SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL Eatersd at Um Atlanta Poetofflo* *• Mall Matter at th* Second Ctoss. * « .. • The Saaei-WMkty Jnaraal to pubHshad *W Monday* and Thursday*. and mailed tn time for all tka twkia a-waak etar rout* mail* It contain* the new* from all part" . wortd brought over a a* erial leased wire lata T%e Journal offlca It baa a stall of diet In ruiaked contributor*, with etrona Agricultural Veterinary. Juvenile. Home. Book and other department* at apadal value to the home and farm. A<eats wasted tn every community tn the South Ramittanoe* may be made by poetofSc* money order, express money order, rerlstefred ttF ch<<*k Feraona who aead postage etampa In payment for *ubecription* are requested to eend those of the »-oaat denomination. Amounts terror than 40 cents poetofflce order, express -rrder. check er registered mall ' BijgMrthyy thrir paper* Changed ehould give both the old and the new TO*THS PUBLIC—Th* only traveling repreeentatlvee of The Journal aro C. J. OFarrwll. J. A. Bryan and Jerne* Callaway. Any other who represent* hlmaelf aa connected with The Journal aa a traveling agent la a fraud, and we will be responsible only far aseawy paM to th* above named rep resent*tires ATLANTA. GEORGIA. THURSDAY, OCTOBER M. 1901. THE PRESIDENT’S DEPLORABLE BLUNDER. The Journal haa refrained up to thia time from commenting upon the report •ent to some newspaper* that President Roosevelt entertained Booker Washing ton at dinner at his home last Wednesday evening. We did so because we dealrvS to be perfectly sure whether the report was correct or not before we said anything on the subject, and because we hoped to find that it had no foundation. Now that it la an established fact that President Roosevelt has given an il lustration of his belief in the theory and practice of the social equality of whites and negroes we must say that he has made a blunder that will lessen his influ ence for good: that he has done a great injury to the negroes of the whole coun try. especially those of the south, and has damaged the good influence of the wisest and most useful negro in America. President Roosevelt's opinion of the proper social relations of the two races to his own affair, but in demonstrating his contempt for the color line which the great majority of his fellow citisens regard aa proper and indelible he has made one of those blunders of judgment that are more deleterious In their effects than many an offense against statutory law would be. The people of the south who had warmed up to President Roosevelt have had their feelings rasped by him and the measure of the admiration and sympathy which they were extending to him has been greatly diminished. Th* president has never had the environment that would almost necessarily have caused him to appreciate, as his white fellow citisens of the south do, the fact that for the best interests of both whites and blacks everything that tends toward their social equality must be condemned and resisted, but we had believed that he had sufficient knowledge of human nature and the country of which he to the highest official to keep him safe from such a reprehensible mistake as he has made. In Irritating the south he has lessened Immensely his power for good to the country. He has set an example which will have a bad effect upon that class of negroes who Endeavor to force themselves into social relations with white persons that the latter will not tolerate. Every attempt to do that has Invariably cost the negro dearly and will ever do so. The two races can progress peacefully and prosperously together only as the negroes recognize that there are social barriers set up by the whites which they can never surmount. When the president took to his family board one of their race he kindled In the heart of thousands of negroes a desire for social recognition of a similar character. The negroes who will be moot affected by this affair are the less intelligent •nd less self-respecting of their race. The better class of negroes, the most thrifty and those who have the best ambition to improve their condition, do not worry themselves over the color line. These are negroes who are making real progress and who enjoy the esteem and receive tha cordial assistance of the race that controls and ever will control thia country. It is especially unfortunate that the negro who has been most conspicuous and most useful In setting his race on thia prosperous line of conduct should have been made a participant in an incident that will lessen the wholesome ef fects of his teachings. President Roosevelt has blundered, blundered without excuse, and in common with the people of the south generally we deeply deplore the fact that he has done so. We have spoken mainly of the effect of this ill-considered act of his on the south, but It will extend throughout the country, for as observation proves, •nd as their own social regulations demonstrate every day. the people of every other pert of the country with few exceptions draw the social color line and will not permit the negro to step over IL • They, with the south, win regret and condemn President Roosevelt for his very ill-considered and mischievous act. THE CANAL OUTLOOK. If it be true, as reported from London, that Great Britain has made several mate rial concessions to the United States to the matter of the proposed isthmian canal treaty we may expect to see the way cleared rapidly for that great work. The opponents of the Hay-Pauneefote treaty which was rejected at the last ses sion of congress based their main objec tion upon the fact that while that agree ment permitted our government to con struct. own and police the canal the right to fortify it was denied. It is said that the British foreign office yielded this point and that the treaty which Secretary Hay and Lord Paunce fote have agreed upcn will surely be ac ceptable to the senate. We have never doubted that an agree ment that would insure the construction of an isthmian canal would soon be reach ed. There is a conflict of opinion on the question of route. The Nicaragua canal proposition was the only one considered a few years ago. but the Panama route has now many advocates and could poll a big vote in congress. The fact that much work has already been done at Panama and that the company owning the canal franchises is willing to sell out cheap has had effect. The Nicaragua route has lost favor be cause of the largely increased estimates of its cost. A third route, lying entirely :n Colombia, has been proposed recently, but it does not appear to have any de cided superiority over the other two. It seems to be more probable than ever be fore that an isthmian canal will be con structed. That either the Nicaragua or the Panama route will be chosen is certain, but there is considerable doubt as to which of them will be taken. ADOPTING AMERICAN IDEAS. The British contempt for American ideas of progress is decreasing fast. Within the past few years many expe dients which were originated to this country have been adopted to greater or less extent in Great Britain, and the in sularity of that nation seems destined to further liberalisation. Twenty years ago the average Britisher would not pay any attention to the claim that American rail ways wye in any respect superior to those in his own land, but now we have a delegation of practical railway men. rep resenting some of the greatest English traffic systems, on a tour of investiga tion in the United States. They frankly declare that they hope to find here many ideas which can be adopt ed with advantage and profit to their business. Mr. Gibb, manager of the Northeastern Railway company, one of the greatest railroads in England, admits that the railroad men of his country have much to learn in this country and have come here confident of taking many useful lessons back with them. - . , h seems that the main points of supe riority possessed by our railroads are metnods of handling freight and meth- ode of signalling in the operating ser vice. These are considerations of immense im portance, but we must be frank also and confess that the British railroads are su perior to ours in essential particulars also. Their roadbed* and tracks are better constructed and more reliable than ours. They have more convenient stations and lower fares. But the greatest thing in their favor is the fact that they have a far less num ber of accidents and only a small per cent of the number of fatalities that attend railroad travel in this country. It is clear, therefore, that while the British are learning of us we may learn much from them. Let us not allow the famously conservative and stubborn British to become more open-minded than wf are in anything. THE SAMAR DISASTERS. The country has been shocked by an other slaughter of its troops in the is land of Samar which came in quick suc cession to the fearful disaster that oc curred only a few days ago in the same island with the same regiment as its vic tim. In the first surprise of the Ninth infan try by the bloodthirsty Samar bolomen more than 40 United States regulars were slain and last Friday ten more met their death. It is poor consolation that a hundred or more Filipinos were killed in these fights. There is no proportion by which we can measure the value of the lives of our soldiers against those of these desperate Islanders. The populous island of Samar is clearly a hotbed of revolt and more blood must be shed before its enraged people, can be subjected. That there are in many other parts of the archipelago hosts of natives who only await the command of a daring leader to rise and fight cannot be reasona bly doubted. The announcement that no more trouble need be expected in the Phil ippines that was made so confidently soon after Aguinaldo was captured was an evi dence of gross ignorance of the situation. It is on a line with the assurances that the war was over which were sent every few days after the beginning of the trou ble that has now been going on nearly two years. Now more troops are to go to ths Philippines and we fear that there will be war there in one guise or another for a long time to come. THE ECKELS PLAN. Mr. James H. Eckels, former comp troller of the currency, was one of the principal speakers at the recent general bankers' convention. # He urged the necessity of currency re form and his main contention was for the abolition of the subtreasury system and the transaction of all the treasury business through one great central bank. Secretary Gage has advocated some thing on this line, but he would still keep a working balance for current uses in the treasury and would deposit in the THE SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL, ATLANTA, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24. 1901. central bank only the surplus oyer a liberal allowance for such purposes. Both Secretary Gage and Mr. Eckels favor the policy of keeping expenditures within receipts when It is possible to do so. They agree also that the legal tenders should be retired; that the currency should consist exclusively of bank notes and that these notes should be secured only by the assets of the banks issuing them. The objections to asset bank issues un der careful restrictions have well nigh disappeared. Mr. Eckels declared that "by proper re striction, by proper care, by the accumu lation, if you please, for the present, of a safety fund, the notes so issued, re strained by a proper tax, would never be issued in such amount as to cause undue speculation or to bring about harm to any interest.” . Mr. Eckels commands respectful atten tion whenever he discusses currency prob lems. and his bankers' convention speech has called forth much discussion. He was quite a young man when Pres ident Cleveland appointed him comptrol ler of the currency, but he filled that high office with conspicuous ability. President McKinley urged him to continue his work there, but he resigned to accept the presidency of the Globe National bank, of Chicago, an institution which he has built up very largely and placed among the greatest of Chicago’s banks. One of the most important questions to be considered by congress at Its next ses sion is currency reform, the need of which is almost universally admitted. Out of the many plans proposed a meas ure of great usefulness to the country may be evolved. ELECTIONS NEXT MONTH. Though this is called an "off year” In politics a number of very important elec tions occur next month. The two which will attract most atten tion from the country at large are munic ipal contests, that in New York, where a coalition of Republicans, Democrats and Independents is making a strenuous ef fort to overthrow the domination of Tam many, and that In Philadelphia where a combination of men of all parties Is en deavoring to smash the Republican ma chine. The result in New York is doubt ful, both sides being confident of victory. There has not been such an uprising against the Republican organization in Philadelphia since the reform party turned the rascals out and purified the city gov ernment in 1875. The’allied reform forces in that city are led by ex-Governor Pattison, who has been twice elected governor of Pennsyl vania as a Democrat, thouh since the civil war It has usually led all other states in its Republican majority. Governor Pattison is not a candidate for any office. He is directing the plans and movements of the antl-Quay element. One of his most influential lieutenants is John Wanamaker, who has fought Quay and Quaylsm more persistently and more vigorously than any other man. His son is proprietor of the Philadelphia North American, which, under his con trol, has become one of the ablest and most enterprising newspapers In the land. Several other newspapers of large influ ence are pouring hot shot every day into the ring which has been robbing and dis gracing Philadelphia for years past. And yet, though the corruption of the gfing now in power is barefaced, it is probable that Philadelphia will refuse to leave her wallow. State elections will be held on Tuesday, November sth, In Ohio, lowa, Massachu setts, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia. The three states first named are sure to go Republican by large majorities, though in all of them the Democrats are making a very active fight. Virginia will, of course, give a big Democratic majority. Maryland is to elect a legislature, judges and county officers and will ratify or re ject the new constitution which disfran chises the larger part of the negro vote by imposing an educational condition. The Democrats will carry the legisla ture and return Arthur P. Gorman to the United States senate to succeed the noto rious Wellington. It seems to be conceded that the pro posed constitution will be ratified. The New Jersey Democrats seem to be hopeful in spite of the fact that they have been beaten so badly at every elec tion since they rolled up a rousing major ity for Grover Cleveland in 1892. They have put out a very strong ticket, headed by ex-Gongressman Seymour, and are making a thorough canvass of the state. It is probable that they will not win, but they are making a good fight and will put the party into greatly improved shape. Some of the Massachusetts Democrats are sufficiently buoyant to predict that they will win. They have as their can didate for governor Josiah Quincy, who was twice elected mayor of Boston by heavy majorities, and is probably the most popular Democrat in the state. Massachusetts seemed hopelessly Repub lican when William E. Russell won the state over to Democracy and held it through, three successive elections, but there is no man in either party now who has as strong a hold on the masses of the people of that state as Billy Russell ac quired and kept until his untimely death. HENDERSON WILL SCOTCH IT. President McKinley's noble speech at Buffalo on the day before he was shot was highly endorsed in every particular by many leading Republican newspapers. The most notable utterance in that ad dress was the declaration that the time has come when tariff taxes which are no longer needed for revenue should be abolished. Other eminent Republics as had spoken on this line before President McKinley and after he came out so strongly for tar iff reform many predictions were made that the Republican party would soon de part from extreme protectionism. We heard much of the "Buffalo platform,” which meant the tariff policy indicated by President McKinley .n his last speech. It is beginning to become clear, how ever. that the "Buffalo platform” stands small chance of acceptance by the Repub lican party. That party is still joined to its idols and will not leave them soon. Congressman Babcock has been laboring for more than a year to induce his party to go even as far as the enactment of a provision that when the production and sale of any article comes under the con trol of a trust, that article shall be placed on the free list. This would be one of the most effective anti-trust measures possible but for that very reason the party that is In league with the trusts will never permit it to be come a law so long as the Republicans have power to prevent it. Speaker Henderson has already served notice on the country that he will exert the great power of his office to defeat any measure of real tariff reform that may come before congress at its next session. In a recent public address he declared that he is a stronger protectionist than ever. There are very few Republican mem bers of the house wfio would make a fight for the "Buffalo platform.” Undoubtedly attempts to reduce the average of tariff duties and to abolish some of them en tirely will be made at the approaching session of congress, but it is quite as certain that congress will be found still under the control of the trusts and bounty-fed interests, and there it will re main as long as the Republican party has a majority in either of its branches. YALE AND SAMPSON. There have already appeared abundant evidences that public opinion is over whelmingly with Admiral Schley and that it considers Admiral Sampson a much over-honpred of the navy depart ment. Additional demonstration of this feeling has been provoked by the announcement that Yale university has selected Admiral Sampson as one of the men upon whom it will bestow a degree. This decision has been criticized severe ly and the Yale Corporation is restive under these strictures. The New Haven Register, which is supposed to speak for the corporation, says: “Yale will honor Sampson, not be cause Schley does not deserve like hon or, but because Sampson does deserve it. It will be given without abating a jot or title the honor in which every one of the Santiago captains is held at Yale and elsewhere. We can merely suggest again that it would be no more than fair to let Yale conduct her own business in her own way. Those who prefer can send their sons to Sheol instead. No one need support Yale who does ndt care to.” Os course Yale will be permitted to con duct her own business in her own way, but it is only natural that the public should regret to see a great university cheapen its honors by bestowing them upon those who have done nothing to merit such distinction. JOHN MOST’S PUNISHMENT. Justice Hinsdale, in sentencing John Most, the most blatant of the anarchist agitators in this country to the peniten tiary for a year, defined the line that separates criticism of the government and its laws from criminal incendiarism. Most reprinted in bis paper a few days ago an editorial entitled; "Murder vs. Murder," in which he contended the de struction of a life which was "hostile or a hindrance” is a meritorious act. The section of the New York code un der which Most was convicted reads as follows: "A person who wilfully and wrongfully commits any act which seriously Injures the person or property of another, or which seriously disturbs or endangers the public peace or health, or which openly outrages public decency, for which no other punishment is expressly prescribed by this code, is guilty of a misdemeanor.” Justice Hinsdale held that advocacy of violence and murder endangers the public peace. He then went on to draw the fol lowing distinction to show that penal statutes cannot be invoked to restrict* a reasonable freedom of speech: "A person may advocate any change of our government by lawful and peaceful means, or may criticise the conduct of its affairs and get as many people to agree with him as he can so long as he does not advocate the commission of crime as the means through which to attain his end.” This is a clear demarcation of the line that separates the right of free speech. When a person transcends the liberty thus insured he commits a crime against government and society and in every well regulated community there is law to pun ish him. President Roosevelt is like a contrary cow which gives a good bucket of milk and then kicks it over. No offense against decency on the part of the president seems sufficient to keep some southern congressmen away from the pie counter. The census report shows that the males outnumber the females in this country. But the latter makes up in power what they lack in numbers. Those southern Democrats who have been dining with President Roosevelt will have to be excused whi’e they try to get the taste out of their mouths. The directors of the Panama canal wish to sell their little ditch to the United States. But the trouble is uiere appears to be more water in the company’s stock than there is in the canal. No doubt this thing of asking southern men who hold federal offices to resign be cause President Roosevelt dined with a negro will strike the office holder as carry ing resentment entirely too far. It may be of no consequence to Mr. Roosevelt to know that he has forfeited the respect of more than one-third the people of this country, but it is a regret table fact that he has put himself be yond the pale of consideration so far as the south is concerned. The final census report on population puts the number of whites in this country at 56,990,802, the number of colored persons of negro descent 8,840,789. And fully 80 per cent of these negroes live south of the Mason and Dixon line. It is no wonder, therefore, that anything which tends to aggravate the race problem meets with bitter resentment in the south. For $1.40 we will send The Seml- Weekly one year and the Five Vaseline Toilet Articles and any one of the premium papers offered with The Semi-Weekly at SI.OO. This is Vie greatest offer ever made and you should take advantage of it without delay. THE SOUTHERN PRESS ON ROOSEVELT'S BLUNDER A Gratuitous Outrage. Memphis Scimitar. The most damnable outrage which has ever been perpetrated by any citizen of the United States was committed yester day by the president, when he invited a nigger to dine with him at the white house. It Would not be worth more than a passing notice if Theodore Roose velt had sat down to dinner in his own home with a Pullman Palace car porter, but Roosevelt the individual and Roose velt the president are not to be viewed in the some light. When the president of the United States sits at dinner with a nigger fti the white house he announces to rhe people not only of the United States, but of th* world—because this is the proudest na tion in the world—that any nigger who happens to have a little more than the average amount of intelligence granted by the Creator of his race, and cash enough to pay the tailor and the barber and the perfumer for scents enough to take away the natural nigger smell, has a perfect right to be received by the daughter of the white man among the guests in the parlor at his own home. Nothing could have happened which would prove more conclusively to the American citizen the absolute incompe tency and unworthiness of Theodore Roosevelt to occupy the position which he has won by chance than the circum stance In question. It justifies every harsh criticism which has been made of him and forces this newspaper to retract every complimentary thing which It has uttered in his behalf. He is after all not a statesman, but a mere swashbuckler and something else, with which we hesi tate to offend the ears of our readers. Abraham Lincoln, the greatest president and perhaps tne greatest man the I nlted States has ever known, was In favor of the freedom of the nigger, but Abraham Lincoln was too big and broad a man ever to have suggested by any act of his so awful a thing as the amalgamation of the races, and this is what this man Roosevelt has done. The president has rudely shattered any expectations that may have arisen from his announced intention to make the Republican party In the south re spectable. He has closed the door to any accessions of southern white men to the Republican ranks. There are many respectable Republicans in the south, but none of them would think of inviting a black man to his table. One More Step to Miscegenation. Macon Telegraph. God set up the barrier between the races. No president of this or any other country can break it down. A dinner given by one man to another In the home and privacy of his family means that the guest or his son may woo and win the host’s daughter. When the one man Is a white man ana the other black It means that there is but one more step to mlscegenatlon-a sinful and wilful breaking of God s plain The news Item which came from Wash ington and was printed in yesterday s Tel egraph told a sad story for our country. We shall hear more of this. Result Will Be Hurtful. Chattanooga Times. The Memphis Scimitar, in a column ed itorial makes a national matter of the Roosevelt-Washington evening. If Mr. Roosevelt felt that he was able to stand that sort of thing he had a right to invite Washington to his dinner if he so desired. It appears that it was simply a family affair and nobody will be hurt, if any hurt attaches, except Mr. Roosevelt. It does not signify that because the president was willing to dine tvlth a negro that every body else should go and do likewise. We undertake to say that The Scimitar edi tors will not modify one whit of their strenuous views on the “nigger” question because Mr. Roosevelt didn’t have the same viewpoint of it they have: nor will any other southern or northern man, for that matter, hold any different sentiments with reference thereto. We regard the incident as unfortunate at this time because the south was beginning to entertain a very kindly feeling for the young president, and it will undoubtedly check any further development of confi dence In his judgment or his profession of friendship for southern institutions. As to his willingness as a man, as Theodore Roosevelt, the individual, to sit at the social table with the learned negro we have nothing to say; that is a matter of taste with him. But we believe he made a mistake and a by no means Insignificant one, when as president he apparently went out of his way to offend the American idea of propriety and social distinction, for this idea of social distinction is thorough ly American, not sectional, a small part of New England alone excepted. Mr. Roose velt must have known that his action was radical, almost revolutionary, so far as a large percentage of his constituents ’were concerned and that he should do this thing just at this time is hardly understanda ble. It must surely embarrass him during the entire term of h!9 administration and it is altogether possible that it may be used successfully by his political enemies to compass his defeat for a renomlnadon. For it will be magnified and used as a most effective whip for lashing public in dignation, especially In quarters where the act will be most generally condemned. Was to Be Expected. Montgomery Journal. The Journal publishes in another col umn a communication from a prominent citizen of Montgomery, protesting against the action of President Roosevelt in Invit ing Booker T. 'Washington, a negro, to the white house to dine with his family. Mr. Roosevelt is simply putting into practice the theories of his party, theo ries and policies urged and advocated for nearly half a century, and what he has had the courage to do is but the natural result of years of teaching and preaching. Other Republican presidents before Roosevelt have been either hypocrites in their pretention of their great affection and love for the negro because he Is a negro, or they have lacked the moral courage to carry out and put into practice the teachings and preachings of the par ty in all these years. Mr. Roosevelt’s cordial Invitation to Booker Washington to din* with him and his family, and his desire to consult him further about southern appointments, and to have a hear-to-heart talk with him on current southern affairs, were all no doubt sincere, and grew out of natural conditions brought on by the Republican party. All this has happened in good time. It comes when there was about to be a mad rush of thoughless Democrats into the Republican party, pell mell, regardless. It pulls the blinds off. makes clear the policies of the Republican party and no man in the south now need be deceived as to where he will land when he starts into the Republican party. He knows in ad vance what Republicanism means. He ought to have known before. But there is no need for him to be deceived. If he Is willing to accept it now, with his eyes open, it is all well enough. He can go and be damned. It is Nauseating. Chattanoga News. President Roosevelt could not possibly have picked a more sensible or deserving negro to compliment with a dinner at the white house table than Booker T. Wash ington, of Tuskegee, Ala. Booker Wash ington is by long odds the best living representative of his race in this country and he has wielded a power for good among his people. So sensible is Washing ton that we seriously doubt if he ever expected President Roosevelt, or any other president, to entertain him at din ner. and now since the thing has been done it is equally doubtful if he thinks any more of the president for doing It. This is the most conspicuous example in favor of social equality of the negro that has ever been set in this country. It was charged once that President Cleve land entertained a negro at the whit* house board, but promptly denied by some’ of the president’s closest friends. In the case of Roosevelt and Washington there is no attempt at denial; it was known pretty generally at Washington and no effort was made by the white house occupants to conceal it. Every southern man who keeps up with the times knows that Booker Washington has opposed social equality for the ne* gro with all his might. He has spoken against it, and taught his pupils in his schools against it, contending that such a movement would do more to create race prejudice than any possible issue. In view of this, we do not believe that President Roosevelt elevated himself in the esti mation of this negro by inviting him to dine at the white house. The South Repudiates Him. Memphis Commercial-Appeal. The published report in the newspapers that President Roosevelt had entertained at dinner Booker T. Washington of Tus kegee, Ala., was a shock to the south that leaves behind it a nauseating sensa tion. Washington is a good, even a grqat man, but he is a negro and, out of def erence to a large section of the country that is opposed to all semblance of social equality, the president should have ob served the amenities. It is only very re cently that President Roosevelt boasted that his mother was a southern woman, and that he is half southern by reason of that fact. By Inviting a negro to his table he pays his mother small duty by insult ing her inherited sentiments and by doing violence to the ethical concepts of the section whence she came. He has cut himself off socially from the south. No southern woman with a proper self-respect would now accept an invitation to the white house, nor would President Roosevelt be welcome today in southern homes. He has not inflamed the anger of the southern people; he has ex cited their disgust. He has not exhibited boldness by the coarse innovation; he has manifested a vulgar diregard for the feel ings of those who formerly respected and admired him. Certainly the south repu diates him. It pities his northern half, and expatriates with abhorrence and con tempt his southern half. Washington is not to blame. From a slave pen to the table of the president of the United States is a long cry. It is the president who has given offense. The Commercial-Appeal has always stood up for the rights of the negro, and expects to continue to do so. But the color line must be drawn, and drawn firmly when the social aspect of the matter is considered. President Roosevelt has com mitted a blunder that is worse than a crime, and no atonement or future act of his can remove the self-imprinted stig ma. It is now incumbent on those white Democrats of the south who have received appointments at the hands of President Roosevelt to resign their offices. They cannot afford to remain the recipients of any favor at his hands. Certainly there is no honor attached to his benevolences or bestowals. Is a Rank NegrophiliaL Richmond Dispatch. With many qualities that are good— with some, possibly, that are great- Mr. Roosevelt is a negrophllist. While governor of New York, he in vited a negro (who, on account of raee prejudice, could not obtain accommoda tions at any hotel) to be his guest at the executive mansion, and it is said, gave him the best room in the house. Night before last the president had Professor Booker T. Washington to ANOTHER PLAN SUGGESTED FOR SOLDIERS' HOME BUILDING I understand that it has been suggested in rebuilding the veterans’ home, to have one central building, containing dining room, reading room, etc., and a number of cottages surrounding this central or main building, the cottages, presumably, to contain the bedrooms of the veterans. Now, such a plan would be all right for a college, for a collection of hearty, ro bust young men; but fancy, on a cold win ter morning, those old men going out of their warm bedrooms into the bitter cold, perhaps rain and sleet, three times a day, to reach their meals and read the news. No doubt some of them are troubled with rheumatism or weak lungs or throat, and suoh an exposure would be fraught with great discomfort, to say the least. I hope the board of managers will not favor such a plan, but will give us a stately edifice, built of stone, brick and iron—fireproof, as nearly as possible. A buildipg whose Interior shall be filled with all possible comforts for its inmates —a house of beauty as well as a house of comfort. Let its exterior be such that it shall fill every southern heart with pride to gaze upon It, or its pictured beauty—in fact, let it be "A thing of beauty and a joy forever.” And pray, let me suggest that the archi tect plan, and the builder build a room, a large one, which shall be dedicated to the hoarding and preservation of the sa cred relics of the past. Let it be a place where the battle scarred flags may find a resting place. They are getting too old to be carried about, except on some very Important oc casions, and should be placed where they will last a tong, long time; where those who love them may go. as to a Mecca, and gaze upon them and dream of the past. And why may not the Daughters of the Confederacy have in the new home a room also, where they may collect and preserve the relics so dear to their womanly hearts. I have heard .many people, elderly peo- MARRIAGE IN KOND LAND. Some curious stories in regard to the Kondeland. one of the choicest regions in German East Africa, have been told by a German traveler who has just returned from that country. The marriage ceremony there to quite primitive, and a young man who/ desires to take unto himself a wife must be pre pared to pay a certain number of cows for her. A year or two ago a comely girl was worth ten or a dozen cows, but today any village belle can be oougnt for two cows and an ox, the reason being because a disease has been raging among the cattle for some time, and as a natural result their price has greatly increased. A young man who has decided to go a woolng begins by consulting a match maker, or go-between, who is known as the “ampousia.” The latter, if he ap proves of the match, goes to the girl for her consent, and after obtaining it he calls on her father and tell* him of his project. The suitor next brings forward the cat tle which he proposes to give for the girl, and his future father-in-law inspects them closely. Jf he likes them, all goes well, but if he does not like them, the suitor is obliged to offer others in their stead. As soon as this important detail nas been satisfactorily arranged the suit or casts a lance into the ground in front of him as a token that on his part the compact will be kept. A minute or two later the girl removes the lance and hands it to her father, but the latter declines to accept it, whereupon the happy'bride uses it as a goad to drive toward him the cat tle which represent her market value. Such are the complicated marriage rites among these uncivilized negroes. In them the go-between playa an important part, and ev«n after the marriage he may be called upon to act, for if the wife should prove unfaithful to her husband It is his duty to go to her father and compel him to restore the cattle which were .paid for her. Egotism which leads a man to head a char itable subscription list is excusable. .. dine with him at the white house. That was a deliberate act. taken under no al leged pressure of necessity, as in the Al bany case, and may be taken as outlining his policy towards the negro as a factor in Washington society. We do not like Mr. Roosevelt’s negro philism at all. and are sorry to see him seeking opportunities to indulge in it. He is reported to have rejoiced that negro children were going to school with hi* children at Oyster Bay. But then, it may be said, too, that he has more rea sons than the average white man to be fond of negroes, since it was a negro regi ment that saved the Rough Riders from decimation at San Juan hill. And but for San Juan hill, it is quite unlikely that Mr. Roosevelt would be president today. Throws the Fat Into the Fire. / Augusta Chronicle. Ine news from Washington that Presi dent Booker T. Washington, of Tuskegee Institute, was a guest in the white house, at dinner with President and Mrs. Roose velt and family, and that after dinner there was the usual social hour over ( cigars, is a distinct shock to the favor able sentiment that was crystallizing in the south for the. new president. The ap pointment of Judge Jones in Alabama, and the published utterances of President Roosevelt to the effect that he intended to appoint only good men to office have led southern people to hope that • new political era was at hand. While encouraging the people in the hope that the negro is to be largely elim inated from office in the south. President Roosevelt throws the fat in the fire by giv ing countenance to the negro’s claim for social equality by having one to dine in the white house with himself. Mrs. Roose velt and children. We concede the fact that he could not have had a more deqaUL negro. President Booker T. WashiWotOu is the representative mgn of race, a useful citizen leader of his people. But he represents the negro race, and between his people and the whites there can be no social equality. This is not simply local southern prejudice, but it is an ineradicable racial fact. If Colonel Roosevelt desired to receive negroes at his table on a plane of social equality he had a right to do that in his personal capacity before he became the executive head of. the government, but as the president of the United States it is a matter of very grave doubt if he has the right to inaugurate a custom which is repugnant to an overwhelming major ity of the white people of the country in all sections, and the tendency of which is to open anew an issue which has been practically eliminated not only by argu ment but unswerving ana determined practice throughout the years. The south does not relish the negro in office, but that is a small matter com pared with its unalterable opposition to social equality between the races. Presi- . dent Roosevtlt has flown in the face of public sentiment, and precipitated an is sue that has long since bqen fought out and which should have oeen left in the list of settled questions. He Offends Southern People. Rome Tribune. President Roosevelt has made a serious mistake, and committed a grave offense against the southern people. It is not so much in his having a well behaved and well educated negro like Booker Washington at his dinner table with his family, but it is th* baneful ef fect in his position as president it will have on certain vicious negroes who seek social equality. pie, express the wish for just such a plac* where they might place such and such an article. They consider them too precious to throw away and their children do not appreciate them. In several homes I have seen old paintings and engravings relegated to back rooms or store rooms and attics because they were "old-fash ioned,” and which another generation,rin many instances, will consign to the wood shed, the trash barrel or the kitchen stove, and yet they possess great value from an historical point of view ts no other. Many years ago there was a building in Albany, New York, known as the bureau of military statistics. It stood in the way of the great capitol then in course of construction, and as soon as a place could be arrAnged for their placing the contents of the building were transferred to the capitol and the building tom down. I spent a good part of a day in the corri dors where they were then (they have since been placed in a room, I under stand). The majority of the articles, I think, were from the south. It has been so long ago that I have only a hazy remembrance of the articles. One thing I - remember, however, was the pictures, old fashioned ambrotypes, that had been pick ed up from battle fields or taken from the case in which they were arranged, with tearful eyes. It was so inexpressibly sad to see them, pictures of old, sweet-faced— women, young and beautiful women and little children, who perhaps, never knew what became of the men who carried their pictures into battle. The thought came to me then and I have often spoken of it to friends, that I would like to have some one go there and "write up” those things for som* of our southern papers. There were many articles there that might yet be recognized and give knowledge of the fate of a loved one to some waiting heart. WINEFORD V. ASPINWALL. Kirkwood. Ga.. Oct. 8, 1901. REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR. Naw York Press. Young hopes grow into old disappointments. The world was made for man and man for woman. Don't bother to spend your income: it will spend itself. The only thing in the world that a woman can acorn and yet love is man. Let me write the checks of a country, and I -care not who writes its songs. During a certain age most women think that even their innocence must be pictur- ✓ esque Getting engaged appeals to all women, be cause it gives them a chance to let out a secret. When we old chaps don't envy the young ones it is because we don’t realize how tha young ones laugh at us. Women don’t know much about the possi bilities of brick, stone, steel and wood. But they can take two strings, a piece of ribbon and a bit of rag and put to shame the creative faculty of all mankind. POINTED PARAGRAPHS. Chicago News. A cunning man is sure to overreach himself sooner or later. The only berry that flourishes 365 days in the year is bribery. A brave man is one who isn't afraid to act as judge at a baby show. Many investigating committees are made up of expert whitewashers. All stained-glass windows look alike to the man who is color blind. Human nature is the same the world over, but It never shows up well at a tree-lunch counter. An old bachelor says a man is fucky at cards and unlucky In love if he wins in both in stances. Probably the happy medium is the spiritual istic medium who has a knack of acquiring th* circulating medium. A woman’s face is the rose and her tongue is the thorn; the rose fades, but the thorn continues in business at the old stand. Note premium list in this issue, make your selection and subscribe at onoe. v - ■■ .. ..