Watson's weekly Jeffersonian. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1907, July 04, 1907, Page PAGE TWELVE, Image 12

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PAGE TWELVE LEAVE THE NEGRO OUT OF IT. (Continued from page 9.) der a negro, but there is always a sense of shame about it. No bitterer pill does the bread-winner have to swallow. Ihe game of politics never exacts a more degrading forfeit than it demands in such instances as these. The same spirit of resentment is aroused where the white railway mail clerks are vir tually compelled to recognize the social equal ity of the colored clerks. They have to eat at the same tables and sleep in the same beds. Th Government has adopted regulations which make this compulsory. The white clerk has to submit to the outrage and endure the humiliation, or lose his job. Such things are deplorable. The remedy is simple and should be applied. Leave the negro out of it when it comes to running the Government. The whites made the Government what it is: the negroes had no hand in making it: let the whites hold ex clusive control. Give to the negro, in the fullest measure, his rights as a man and citizen; but stop at that. Political privilege is a different thing entirely; reserve that for the whites. Then you remove the source of the trouble, and the two races will dwell together with less friction and conflict. Negroes in the army means Brownsville riots. Negroes at the head of Government Departments means insults to white girls and humiliations to white boys. Negroes in the Gobernor Smith Inaugurated. A semi-holiday prevailed in Geor gia’s capital city Saturday in honor of the inauguration of the new gover nor of the state, Hon. Hoke Smith. A monster parade was one of the features of the exercises. The pa rade was composed of many Hoke Smith clubs from all over the state, platoons of mounted police, and vari ous military organizations, including the Fifth tegiment of infantry, Geor gia National Guard, and many visit ing companies. The line of parade was from West Peachtree, at the intersection of Peachtree street down the latter street into Whitehall, thence through Mitchell street into Washington, which marks the western front of Capitol Square, on which the inaugu ration took place. At 10 o’clock a committee from the general assembly waited on the gov ernor-elect at his private residence, and escorted him to the capitol, where the general assembly previously had gone into joint session, out of doors, on the west front of the capitol gr< muds. At about 11:50 o’clock the commit tee brought from “amidst the as sembled people” the governor-elect and presented him to the president of the senate and the speaker of the house. Then an invocation was pro nounced by Bishop Warren A. Cand ler, after which the announcement of the canvass of the vote for governor was made by the committee of the assembly in joint session, and Chi f Justice of the Supreme Court Fish administered the oath of office Io the incoming governor. Secretary of Stale Phil Cook then came forward and presented to Gov ernor Smith the great, seal of the state, which was formally rel •> Civil Service means compulsory social equali ty which is of no benefit to the colored clerk, and which stirs in the soul of the white clerk the passions of hell. If some one of the political parties were to take the bold position that henceforth this country is to be governed entirely by the whites there would be an upheaval in 1908 which would show that in the North, as in the South, the day of illusions is over, and that the time has come to recognize the fact that the Negro is a negro —NOT A CAUCASIAN WITH A BLACK FACE. * * * Build It Somelvhere “Else. Hon. Thos. E. Watson. My Dear Sir: About a week ago, I sent to the Atlanta Constitution, for publication, an inquiry in which every citizen ought to be interested. The Editor, for some reason, has not seen fit to publish. It may be that he be longs to a class of citizens who believe that publicity and discussion are not wholesome with regard to some matters of public concern. I know that you do not belong to that class, and I now send you the enquiry for publica tion in your Weekly Jeffersonian, though, for obvious reasons, I had desired that it should appear in a daily paper. Appeal has been made, through the daily press, for contributions of money to be ex pended in the erection of a Y. M. C. A. build ing on the campus of the State University at Athens. Now my question is: Who has any the secretary for his care and safe keeping. Governor Smith then delivered his inaugural address. The closing feature of the inaugu ral exercises was the great reception by the governor and his wife at the executive mansion beginning at 4 o’clock, and continuing until 10 o’clock; many thousands of the as sembled Georgians greeted their new chief executive. Summary of the Address of Govern or Hoke Smith. The governor at the outset lays down 'the proposition that certain specific duties have been placed upon him and upon the legislature, as out lined in the Democratic platform, and those pledges must be performed be fore other tasks are undertaken. Suppression of Lobbyists. Lobbying is declared to be the curse of national legislation; the in fluence of lobbyists is felt in nearly every state, and Georgia has been no exception Io the rule. These hired political agents sit around hotels and, with professed impartiality, pretend to speak for the interests of the peo ple, when secretly they are employed to defeat their interests. The govern or wants this deception made a crime and wants a law requiring any per son employed to oppose or support a measure before the legislature to enter that fact in a book to be kept in the office of the secretary of state, describing the nature of his employ ment, which book shall be kept open to public inspection. Abolish Free Passes. The free pass is described as a means of petty political bribery, a twin evil with the hired political agent, and the governor calls for a law against free passes. Use of Money in Politics. The governor asks that it be made WATSON’S WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN. a crime for a corporation or special in terest to contribute money to politics, wants it made a crime to hire a striker at the polls, and wants every candidate required to make under oath a de tailed statement of his campaign ex penditures and where the money came from. Regarding Disfranchisement. The governor does not mention the negro as a race but he proposes a new franchise standard which will ■ eliminate the ignorant and vicious, and he presents a line of reasoning which shows that the proposed amendment to the constitution of the state would not be in conflict with the constitution of the United States. In fact he says: “With an oath fresh upon' my lips to support the constitution of the United States, I favor the amendment.” He lays down the proposition that the inhi bition of the constitution is directed against disfranchisement on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude. The proposed amend ment divides voters into six classes and any person measuring up to one of the standards would be entitled to register, and one of these provisions, that requiring the voters to be able to “read correctly and write correct ly when read to them in the English language any paragraph of the con stitution of the United States or of the State of Georgia,” will “exclude by fair and constitutional tests the great bulk of that class who are in competent to govern others or even themselves.” Regulate Primaries by Law. The governor proposes to regulate primaries by law, and urges that no primary shall be allowed more than sixty days prior to the date of the regular election. The Railroad Commission. The enlargement of the powers of the commission is proposed and a strong argument is presented against right to grant to anybody permission to erect such a building at such place ? If a Christian temple may be erected there, then, in all se riousness, I ask: Why might not a Jewish temple be erected, or a Buddhist, or an Agnos- Verv trulv yours, A CITIZEN. Answer: No one has authority to grant that permis sion. The Y. M. C. A. is a mighty good thing— but so is Religion: under our form of Govern ment State affairs and Church affairs are to be kept separate. A Y. M. C. A. building is a glorious thing,' when put in the right place. It has no busi ness on the campus of the State University. Located there, it will be as improperly dom iciled as that Catholic Chapel which the U. S. Government permitted the Roman Church to build on Government property at the West Point Military Acadamy. Fundamental principles can never be safely violated. A bad precedent is always inju rious. We cannot guard too vigilantly the dividing line between Church and State, nor watch too jealously the stealthy encroachments of the priest. A chapel in a college, as a part of the col lege, is all right; but the state is debarred by the Constitution from legislating in favor oi any religious denomination or institution. judicial interference with the orders of the commission and the suspension of the findings of the commission on the ex parte affidavit of a railroad officer. The governor holds that the actual trial of a rate is the best way to determiie its effect and the rail road commission should be relied on to modify its rulings if it should be found necessary. The governor quotes from Robt. Toombs to show the power of the state to take the railroads under the right of eminent domain or to repeal their chart ers for violation of the same, and while the governor does not urge forfeiting of the char ters at this time he warns the men in charge of the properties not to defy the conservative demands that are now being made upon them. Suspension of Commissioners. The governor speaks of the sit uation in which a commissioner be comes so hostile to the work of the commission that his presence is a hindrance, and he adds that in such an emergency it “would be the du ty of the governor to suspe d him.” State Road Extension. Attention is called to the propo sition to extend the Western and At lantic railroad to the sea. Liquor Legislation. The governor says that' while his sympathies in local elections are with those who oppose the sale of liquor, for the present local option may be the best plan, but after local option is adopted the dry counties should be kept dry by means of laws against jug trains, and he proposes to make the operation of a blind tiger a felony. Manual Labor for the Negro. Discussing negro education the governor particularly urges training the negroes for manual labor, saying the negro needs “less books and more work.” He says the differ ence between the races must be rec-