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Ro os ebelt and Some Southern Leaders. In the eyes of a certain class of Congress* men from the South, Mr. Roosevelt is always wrong. Never, by any sort of chance, can he do right. No matter what he does, they are “agin it.” If, in pursuance of what he honestly under stood to be a satisfactory compromise reached while he was in attendance upon the Charles ton Expositon, he appoints Dr. Crum as collec tor at the custom house, batteries of abuse are kept bombarding him for years. Southern leaders badger him about the ap pointment of this compromise negro, just as though Cleveland had not stuck black pin heads all over the map of patronage —North as well as South—and just as though McKin ley had not given one of the highest places in the civil service to a negro. The people of Augusta, Ga., did not want Judson Lyons, a negro^for postmaster; and, therefore, they united against him, strove mightily against him, and secured a compro mise which put Judson into the higher posi tion of register of the treasury. Thus, for many years, the paper money which you have been using would have been illegal had it not carried on its face the signa ture of a negro. Then, again, there was the Booker Wash ington incident. According to the statement, made, appar ently, by authority, the president was in his work-room, his office, holding a business con sultation with Washington when the hour for luncheon arrived. According to this state ment, a servant brought into the room the tray bearing the president’s usual luncheon. To avoid the interruption of the conference of sending Washington away, and, at the same time, t(5 avoid tlfe rudeness of eating alone in the presence of an esteemed acquaintance, Mr. Roosevelt invited Washington to take part in this informal meal, served in the business office of the Executive Mansion. Owing to the peculiarly tangled and trag ical relations of whites to blacks in the United States, the president’s impulsive act was un questionably a mistake. Doubtless he himself soon realized that it was. But did it ever really deserve the tremen dous castigation given it by certain Southern leaders? Was the incident so tremendously impor tant as partisan hatred claimed it to be? Has it been followed by the disastrous consequences claimed by such enemies to the president as Senator Tillman? I do not think so. And I’ll tell you why. Too many other colored men had had social recognition extended to them at the White House by former presidents. It had been a constant habit, ever since the Civil War, to dine colored members of con gress at the White House. These dinners were known as State Din ners, but who will say that when the Head of the State —whether Czar, King, Emperor or President —invites to his table certain white men and certain colored men, and dines with them while they dine with him and with one THE WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN. another—this is not SOCIAL RECOGNI TION? What else can it be? ' To dine with the Head of the State, at his invitation, is the highest honor, for the rea son that no law requires it, and the act is one of grace. Now, it is the literal truth that negro mem- of the House and Senate had been dined in this manner by all the Presidents who pre ceded Mr. Roosevelt whenever there was a negro member of either house. As to Booker Washington himself, every fair-minded man will admit that his standing is exceptional. As a negro, he is exceptional. His “career has been exceptional. For many years he has been the fashion among the peo ple of tbe North. They pet him, lionize him, enrich him, blow bugles for him. The ease with which that ginger-cake mulatto can tap a Northern sugar-maple and catch the juice, is a fine art. Does not Andrew Carnegie think lots of Booker? Evidently he does, for he invites him home to dinner in that stately mansion of his in New York. Unless I have been utterly misinformed, two of the distinguished people who were in vited to meet Booker Washington at one of these Andrew Carnegie dinners were Mr. and Mrs. Grover Cleveland. I do not vouch for this, but my information comes mighty straight. Then, again, do you not recall how Presi dent McKinley went down on a visit to Tus kegee, and how he and the Governor of Ala bama took lunch with Booker? The newspapers so reported at the time, and no great rumpus was kicked up over it. Then, again, you will remember that when a New England State—Massachusetts, I be lieve —sent out a traveling committee which had a negro on it, Gov. O’Ferrell, of Virginia, invited the whole push to take lunch with him —and the negro was one of those that sat down to meat with the Governor of the Old Dominion. The meal was informal; the ladies of the Governor’s family were not present; and very little was ever said in the newspapers con cerning O’Ferrell’s “dining with a negro.” Now, when you calmly think the matter over you will no doubt come to the conclusion that the Southern leaders to whom reference has been made, exaggeratd the significance and importance and the consequences of this affair of the “Booker Washington lunch.” Mr. Roosevelt has never, in any particular, shown the faintest desire for “social equality.” He has given convincing proof that he con siders the white race the superior, dominant race. His view-point evidently is that the negro, while inferior, is entitled to protection, encour agement and opportunity. And in breaking that negro battalion be cause of the Brownsville affair, he has shown how he can punish the criminal negro, and dare Northern fanatics on the race question to do their worst. Why shouldn’t these Southern leaders change their attitude to the President? He seems proud of the fact that, on his mother’s side, he is as much Southern as any of us. Many of his characteristics are distinct ly Southern. And he appears to be most earnest in his desire to be held in confidence and esteem by the people of the South. Would it not be wise to meet him half way? When he is clearly wrong, condemn him. When he is clearly right, endorse him. This pig-headed denunciation of everything that he does is folly. No man is always right; and no man is always wrong. Mr. Roosevelt is very human, and that’s one reason why I like him. Am not certain that I would get on well with a saint. Let us treat the President with justice and discriminate. Indiscriminate condemnation can be no nearer the truth than indiscriminate approval. M H Random Notes. < By ]. D. Watson. A resolution has been introduced in the Texas legislature calling for an investigation of Senator Bailey’s conduct toward the Waters-Pierce Oil Company, one of the Stan dard’s subsidiary companies. If the resolution is passed, there may be some interesting facts brought out within the next few weeks. Mr. Bailey was nominated before his con nection with the Oil Trust was known, but he has not been elected yet. The only way in which Mr. Bailey can acquit himself of the charges and restore tlxe confidence of the people in him, is to aid the investigating committee in getting all of the facts in the case, and let the facts show him guilty or innocent.. If he opposes the investigation, tries to cover up facts or resort to technicalities, he might as well plead guilty at once and be done with it, for most people will believe him guilty. Unless Mr. Bailey faces the investi gation like a man, and proven himself inno cent, he is dead politically, for all time. The State of Missouri has started another crusade against the trusts that promises to accomplish more than seems likely at first glance. Suits have been filed to dissolve the alleged merger of the Wabash, Missouri Pacific and Iron Mountain railroad companies, and the Pa cific Express Co. The courts are also asked to revoke the charters of several other corpora tions. The mere filing of the suits would not mean much if the State did not have an attorney general who would push the suits which Mis souri has. Some time ago, when Mr. Hadley, Missou ri’s Attorney-General, went to New York to make H. H. Rogers testify in a certain inves tigation, Rogers laughed at Hadley, expressed contempt for the State of Missouri and for Missouri’s laws. It was not long, however, before Rogers was singing a different tune, and begging Hadley for mercy. Hadley put Rogers through what common criminals call the “third" degree,” and made him furnish the information wanted. With a man of that caliber after the cor- 9