Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE. THURSDAY, JANUARY 15,1903

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 9640, 15 January 1903, Page 2

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE. THURSDAY, JANUARY 15,1903

Tllli COLOR PROBLEM. President Roosevelt- appears to bu taking a very lirni and meritorious .stand with regard to the appointment of lugriK-s to cisil position*. It is diJlicull at tins distance lioui the scene to coniprt-iiw.d mc .tierce and uitiu.*r leeimgs 01 iace liauvu engender*. a m tlie fSoiiUK-in Stale*. 01 uiica. 'liiat is lnanilebit-U by tnc n-.-groos being pioinijitetl i'ruui using nw luul -* pallia, otiiig ivquucil to riuc m sjkcuu cars upon uu: railways, ana tutvuig 10 suil'er various uiner ioiins ol iv&uujih: j ana disability. mv colored people ioiiu a veiy laige and glowing stcliuii ul lilo population, and tliuiigli tuey u;e uxjou v uiistinci-iy lower plane man t«c winies, the great majority are rt-.spccuiule lawabiding lollc, tolerably weil eaucai-tct, and quitu capable ol governing uieuiselves., wlulst ineru are amongst tiKin many oriluanb personages wlto ,Ua,vu attained ;i aigii measure ot educational aclueveuwiit. iv is true mat amongst, tliein also are dupruved cluu-ucteivs, giv«:ii to outrage, uufc we question wlietlier l-lieir excesses aie any wor.se than tiio&c ol me desperados .ji the white population, who go m lor tlie exercise ol lynch law on every pi/aoiole pretext. Tue negroes have tJiovvu Uic-ui-at'lvc-s quite capable of advancement , and it is tile desire 01 many Humane people to see them advance. The great majonty uf Uuuthurnurs, however, sec a menace hi tiie rapid iuureasc of the black population, and would have them kept m subjection and under disability us a distinctly inferior race. President Rooxevdt uas refused to allow tlie question of color to weigli m his appointments, and consequently, as our cablegrams toll us, feolmg is at white heat 111 some parts ol America on the subject. The contest has arisen principally over the selection of a Uv W. D. Crum as Collector of Customs at Charleston, which is to a large extent a negro community. In reply to a letter of protest, written by a Charleston citizen, the President stated ius position clearly on the matter of negro appointments. The citizen, it appears, had written to the President a strong remonstrance m which he declared among other tilings, that "'we have sworn never again to .submit to Mil- rule of the African, and such an appointment as that of Dr. Crum to any such office forces us to protest unanimously against this insult to the. white blood." Ihe President's reply, which occupies nearly two columns m the papers contains the following paragraphs: — I do not intend to appoint any unfit man to office. So far as 1 legitimately can, 1 shall always endeavor to pay regard to the. wishes and feelings of the people of each locality ; but 1 cannot consent to take the position, thai, the door of hope — the door of opportunity— is to be shut upon any man no matter how worthy, purely upon the grounds of race or color. Such ;ui attitude would, according to my convictions be fundamentally wrong. If, as you hold, the great bulk of the. colored people are not yet fit m point of character and influence to hold such positions, it seems to me that it is worth while putting a premium upon the effort among them fo achieve the characleir and standing which will fit them. The question of "negro domination' does not enter into the matter at all. Jt might its well be asserted that when I was Governor of New York I sought to bring about negro domination m that State because I appointed two colored men of good character and standing to responsible positions—one of them to a position paying a salary twice as large tin that paid m (he office now under consideration— one of them as a director of the Buffalo exposition. Ihe. question raised is simply whether it is (o he declared that under no circumstances shall any man of color no matter how upright, and honest, no matter how good a citizen, no matter how fair m his dealings with all his fellows, be permitted to hold any office under our Government. I certainly cannot assume such an attitude. It seems to be that jt is a good thing from every s tamlpomt to let tlie colored man know that, if he shows m marked degree the qualities of good citizenship— the qualities which m a. white man we feel are entitled o reward-then he will not be cut off from all hope of similar reward."