WHITES AND BLACKS OR THE QUESTION SETTLED 43

CHAPTER VI. SHALL THE NEGRO BE DISFRANCHISED? 

There are foul and devilish outrages committed in the South which will not be lightly passed over. The good white men of this section regret these occurrences, these outbreaks, and if

the good colored men, instead of murmuring and flaunting the red flag in the face of the ruling whites, who want law and order observed, by sending reports North, worded in such a way as to indicate that everybody here endorsed the outrages, would join in helping to apprehend and bring to justice these violators of law, order would be more easily maintained.

The colored people, South, must learn to obey law and to help in its enforcement, and they must be as anxious to see a Negro criminal brought to justice as a white man violating the law. Then it would be well to remember that outrages are occurring as frequently in the North as in the South.

When the statistics are gathered it will be found that there are fifty cases of conflicts within each race, both parties to it being black, or both parties to it being white, to every conflict between men of the two races. This talk of outrage is greatly exaggerated for political effect.

The Democratic Party does not live by reason of many Democrats having owned slaves, by reason of many men who vote the Democratic ticket being charged with committing outrages. The Democratic Party disclaims a desire for the return of the former, denounces in strong terms the latter, and still lives in spite of the fate that both are true.

The sensible Negroes are natural Democrats, if they only understood themselves:

They believe in decentralization as against centralization:

They all are in favor of the greatest amount of liberty to the individual consistent with the well-being of society;

They are opposed to sumptuary and class legislation:

They believe in the greatest good to the greatest number;

They want the government economically administered; the war taxes taken off, the purchasing capacity of the dollar increased, and a tariff so adjusted as to pay the expenses of the government only.

Prejudice, and prejudice alone, is what keeps many of them from voting as I have indicated, and fear of social ostracism from those of their race who are not quite as far advanced. Let them be liberalized and made conservative.