The Colorado statesman. [volume], October 07, 1905, Image 1

About The Colorado statesman. [volume] (Denver, Colo.) 1895-1961

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The
Colorado Statesman
VOL. XII.
Conditions in the Philippines
Becoming More Serious as to Race Prejudice. The Ap
pointment of Prejudice Southern White Men
the Sole Casue.
A correspondent to the Spring
field Republican from Mnnina, P.
I., writes of conditions there as
follows:
In attempting the solution of
the great problem of preparing the
Filipinos for self government there
is one most vital point which
seems to have escaped the eye of
the home government. It is well
known (or should be known) that
the first step necessary to the ac
complishment of our declared ob
ject should be to gain the confi
dence and good will of the people.
■ This must be the foundation of all
' our efforts. Without it no success
is possible.
The point, which seems to have
been overlooked by the home gov
ernment. is rather the initial error
which underlies our present theo
ry, is the appointment of so large
• a percentage of Southern whites to
to responsible positions in the is
lands. Unlike the whites from
the North, the Southerner is na
turally narrow minded and arro
gantin his deulings with colored
races, and his strong and plainly
apparent prejudices in this regard
make him, with few exceptions, an
undesirable resident of the islands
J3y reason of the fact that a ma
jority of Americans in the Philip
pines are from the South and that
their contempt and antagonism
toward the natives is so pronounc
ed, the reins of the government
should be almost entirely in the
hands of Northerners in order to
otfset in some degree the hard feel
ings caused by the presence of so
many Southerners. While the
Northern whites are by no means
free of race prejudice they are
more broad-minded anil are able
to control their sentiments where
the reputation of the nation is at
stake. It is believed that the
Southern man also means well and
would like to do his shure of the
great work before us, but he is
simply unable to control his pas
sions and often allow them to pre
dominate his prejudice at che most
vital moment.
*
# The effect has been a natural
one. The Filipinos are already
beginning to protest against ruce
prejudice through the columns of
their press. They are acutely sen
/ sativc and resent the open con
* tempt shown toward them by a
certain class of Americans. As u
rule, the northern man, with his
usual diplomacy, studies the Fili
pino and shows some regaril for
the long established customs of
centuries. He does not expect to
pull these old customs out by the
root in a single day. He deals
tactfully with the likes and dis
likes of the people and tries to win
their confidence, pointing out their
errors in a gentle manner to avoid
friction.
On the other hand, the South
ern man, with his usual narrow
new, shows no respect for any ex
cept his own opinions, and is open
ly offensive in his conduct. He
deals with an intelligent, educated
Filipino ns he would deal with the
most ignorant. He often assutns
an insulting, overbearing manner
where the exercise of courtesy and
consideration would have cost him
no sacrafice of dignity. By his
luck of tack in dealing with a col
ored race he neutralizes the efforts
of more broad-mindea Americans
and by reason of his majority is
creating the impression that his
sentiments are those of the entire
American nation.
\*
There are, of course some South
ern men in the islands who are ex
ceptions in this regard, but the
majority of them are a positive
hindrance to America’s mission
among these people. Except in
few instances, the well known pre
judices of Southerners should be
sufficient to bar them from ap
pointment to high positions in the
islands’ government. Although
they may mean well, their preju
dices are bred in the bone and
will not down, even in so trying
a problem as that which confronts
us. The Southerner is no hypo
crite. He is frank and does not
attempt to hide his feelings, but
this is no place for him to show
those feelings.
Whatever may be said to the
contrary by persons of job-molded
sentiments, it is well known that
the relations between the natives
and Americans in the islands are
not as cordial as tney were two
years ago, and the situation seems
to grow worse as time goes on.
The people are not co-operating
with the government. They me
pulling in tho opposite direction.
Their pent-up feelings are plainly
visible in the columns of the
native press They seem to
have lost confidence in the
ultimate intentions of the Uni
ted States. Why? Ask the South
erner heie. who, by lack of self
control, are responsible for tho
breach that has been gradually
created between the government
and the people. X.
Manila, P. I.
DENVER, COLORADO. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7, 11105.
Texas Troops Guard Negro.
Houston. Texas. Oct. 2. —Gover-
nor Lanhain to-ninght ordered two
military companies from Houston
to Edna, where citizens threaten
to burn at the stake Monk Gibson,
the Negro accused of the murder
of theConditt family. The search
ers are still confident of capturing
the Negro.
It is believe that the officers
possibly have the Negro in hiding
and that the troops have been sent
to escort Monk Gibson to Houston,
where their is a mob-proof jail
Ailjt. Gen. Hullen has ordered a
special train for himself, and has
gone from Austin to take com
mand of the troops.
Mr. Beasley, father of the mur
dered Mrs. Conditt, took the field
in person at the head of 2(X) Ne
groes upon whom he believes he
can rely. He thinks that he can
achieve resnlts by having trusted
blacks with him. that he would
not with white men. as the Negroes
living about Edna are now sullen
and refuse to give any information.
The dogs are said to have taken
Gibson’3 trail several times to-day.
but unsuccessfully.
With the troops at Edna there
is no longer a possibility of a burn
ing, but it is probable that the Ne
gro will be put to death if he is
caught in the timber by any posse.
These men are weary and sore
from the long chase, and are not
inclined to turn the Negro over to
the officers.
HEIR TO HALF MILLION.
Philadelphia, Sept. 24. — Sole
heir of the richest Negro South of
the Mason and Dixon line. Edward
T. Cobbs, a Negro living in Ger
mantown. has suddenly come into
a fortune, said to be §500,000.
Warreu C. Coleman died in Con
cord. N. C.. a few weeks ago. leav
ing an estute which included 400
houses of various sizes and a strong
box full of railrouil shares and in
dustrial securties. He was known
throughout the south as the richest
Negro in that section.
When his executors opened the
will it was found that Cobbs, his
nephew was the sole heir to the
fortune.
The latter, who is JO years old,
has been a day laborer. He did
not have time to investigate the re
port. so he sent his wife. As he
received a letter from her yester
day, telling him that he is surely
the man, he will leave immediately
for Concord to prove his identity.
Coleman was born a slave, and
after the Civil war started in busi
ness.
BITTER RESOLUTIONS.
Baltimore, Sept. 29.—At the
Democratic state convention yes
terday nfternoon State Comptroller
Gordon T. Atkinson was renouii
nated ami a platform adopted
which, excepting a paragraph in
ilorcing the excellent business ad
ministration of Gov. Edwin War
tied, is wholly devoted to the advo
cacy of the proposed constitutional
amendment to restrict Negro suf
frage. tf> he voted upon at the No
vember election. It says in part:
‘•This Democratic convention,
representing two-thirds of the
white people of the state, reaffirms
the declaration of our party in our
platforms of 1899 and 190 J upon
this subject, and now proclaims I
anew our resolute purpose to main
tain the supremacy of our race
and its control by all lawful and
constitutional means in the admin
istration of the political affairs of
the state.
"Believing that the purposed
const iTfiffonal amendment will op
erate as an effective remedy for
the evils of our situation, without
prejudice to any race or class; re
garding it, moreover, usa complete
response to the clearly expressed
mandateof the people, we unreserv
edly commend and approve it.
We make it the single issue o,f
this campaign. We decluree it to
be our battleery,
"The Negro vote as it stands to
day is a perpetual menauce to the
prosperity and pence of Maryland
—a menance to our very civiliza
tion -for it is ignorant corrupt,
the blind instrument of unscrupu
lous and selfish leaders.”
Just before the convention was
brought to a close there were loud
calls for Senator Gorman, and he
sharply denounced the Republi
cans and declared Negro suffrage
a "pall on the state.”
NEGRO AND THE FRANCHISE.
The greatest injury ever done
this generation of Negroes was
the placing of the ballot in the
hands of their fathers. In that
act is found the origan of the ma
jor part of their present difficul
ties. 11 ad they been told to go to
work as soon as the war was over
—told that political opportunities,
if they came to them at all, would
come to them as a result of their
industry and good citizenship gen
erally. they would have made by
now far more actual, material pro
gress as a race than they have
made. And it is not too lute for
them to learn in this connection a
leeson which even has proved and
ever will proveto their advantage.
—Charleston News and Courier.
That the Negro was given the
right of suffrage too soon after he
was emancipated is quite correct,
but even at that he is not making
a much worst fist at voting than
many of the whites of the South.
The elections in the Southern
states are farces beyond descrip
tion and are controlled by a very
limited number of white men. -
Seattle Republican.
RACE NEWS
Gathered from Various Sources.
Magnolia, M., Sept. 28- —Bessie
Perkins, a white woman, was sen
tenced today to ten years in the
penitentiary for marrying and liv
ing with a Negro. Judge Wilker
son, in passing sentence, said he
regretted that he could make the
punishment no heavier.
Nashville, Tenn., Oct. 2.--The
Union Transportation compauyi
has been organized by the Negroes
of Nashville and will put in oper-j
at ion five automobiles for the pur
pose of transporting Negro passen
gers to various jiarts of the city.
Some of the leading Negroes of J
Nashville are interested in the ven-'
ture and claim to have ample cap
ital. Ever since the “Jim Crow”
street car law went into effect the!
colored population has been much
dissatisfied and the Negro travel
on the cars has greatly decreased, j
Prof. J. W. Hoffman, colored,
the English cotton expert for the
Colony of Lagos West Africa left
Charleston for England on Satur
day, September 24, by the Canard \
S. S. Lucania. On his arrival at j
England he will go directly to i
London to address the British j
Spinners Association and from!
there he will go to Berlin, Ger
many, to speak at the Internation- j
al Association of Agriculture.!
From there he will go to Brussels.
Belgium, and will leave England I
the last of October for West Afri-;
ca to again resume his work.
St. Paul, Minn . Sept. 29.—The
friends of one of the leading so
ciety young women of Webster
City, la., are having a prodigious
laugh at her expense. A few days
ago. through curiosity as much as
anything else, she answered a mat
rimonial advertisement, and if she
ever had faith in this plan of
match-making, she has now lost it
all. Her correspondent, who re
presented himself as a prosperous
young business man of Chicago,
grew so ardent in his letters that a
relative of the young woman made
a trip to that city to investigate af
fairs He found the "prosperous
young business man” to be a Ne
gro barber.
The Negro press of this country
seems much disturbed as to who is
to be the Negro leader. If the
press would teach the entire race
to piny well its part in tho drama
of life and tench the members of
the race to so fit themselves in
early life that, whenever one of
them is given employment he or
she can do what is undertaken
than his white competitor, the
matter of leadership will settle it
self. \\ hat the Negro of the Uui-
I ted States needs more than all else
|is capable followers. In this con
nection it might not be out of
1 place to mention the fact the day
'George Washington, a Negro pio
] neer ol Centralia, Wash., was bur
ied every store and business con
cern in the city suspended busi
ness for the afternoon out of re
spect to his memory. He was the
kind of a leader the Negro needs
Philadelphia, Pa., —“I am so
cially as good as any white man
| here." Aroused by the attitude of
the Methodist church. South,
j which desires to unite with the
Methodist Episcopal church on
| condition that the ‘color line be
tightly drawn and Negroes exclud-
I ed,’ the Rev. Storer L. Jolly, a Ne
igro minister of Atlantic City, made
j this statement before the Method
! ist minister in Wesley hall. Furth
!er he said: “Since God Almighty
j has not held us Responsible for the
! color of our skins I don’t see why
it should be criticised by the
church.' The ministers appended
his speech.
Prof. W. W. Black, principal of
a Normal school, at (>Bth street and
Stewart avenue ip Chicago while
spending his vacation at Norfolk
i last week, had quite a thrilling ex-
I perience with a street car conduc
j tor. by making a mistake and get
ting iuto Jim Crow seats, which
contained one colored pessenger.
“Now" said the conductor, “you
| will have to move up front.” “For
j why?” said Mr. Black. "Is it not
as cool back here as it is up there?
“Well,” said the conductor, “these
seats are for colored." “Well,"
said Mr. Black, “if I am not as
good as that colored gentleman,
let him get off and walk; for I am
not geing to be changing from
place to place.” There they ar
gued until the conductor became
so disgusted that he advanced to
the front of the car. giving up his
task.”
New York. Sept. JO.—A special
meeting of the John C. Martin ed
ucational fund, an organization
for the uplifting and bettering of
the Negro, was held last night and
reports on the work of the year
were submitted to the trustees by
Rev. S. G. Miller and plans dis
cussed for the future. Dr. Miller
j stated that provision had been
made for the maintenance of a nor
mal department in eleven colleges
and universities for Negroes
throughout the South, in which
j they have a regular and systematic
; instruction in the Bible. These
j departments have been installed
in the Arkansas Baptist college.
Philander Smith college. Shorter
; college, Haygood college, Atlantic
| Baptist college, Paine college. Ben
edict Baptist college. Chitlin uni
| versity. Livingston college, lvetrell
I college and Washington college.
NO. 2