Life — November 24, 1898 — page 4: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

a oa White there Life there's VOL, XXXH. 5 OVEMBER 24, 1 Pablished every Tharsda: wa year tn ad. vance. Postage to foreign countries in tho Postal Union, $L00 n year extra. Sinwle current To cents, Back numbers within six month: cents. Previous to six months, @ cents, No contribution will be returned unless accompanied by stamped and addressed encelope. The illustrations in Lave are copyrighted, anil are not to be reproduced without special arrangement with the publishers, Prompt notification should be sent by sub- scribers of any change of adilress. E shall have to borrow time from the consideration of the Philippines problem and our other exterior perplex ities to bestow some serious thoughts upon our domestic negro question. The recent riots at Pana and Virden in Illinois, and the still more recent and calamitous outbreaks in North and South Carolina, are very grave symptoms of a dangerousstate of things. Itisof no use to dogmatize about it and say that the South- ern negroes ought to have more sens and the Southern whites more patience. Theories and ‘ oughts” are as futile in effect as they are easy in formulation. There are ignorant and brutal negroes in the South who need firm restraint, and there are also ignorant and arbitrary whites who need the same, but it cannot be discerned that the attitude of Soutbern white people towards negroes is different from what the attitude of Northern whites would be under the same condi- tions. Whites, North and South, seem to believe in white-man’s government— ina place for negroes and in keeping negroes in their place. It is an inferior place, but, except for that, it is not neces- sarily seriously uncomfortable. Negroes may acquire education aud accumulate property, but, apparently, they may not aspire to be the equals of white people, or to govern them, Their lives and prop- erty are secure £0 long as they are orderly and prudent in their conduct, provided they are lucky enough not to be mistaken in the dark for disorderly persons and not to be suspected of crime, To all appearance, the negro question in the South will have to settle it- self without much help from outside. *LIPE* The Federal Government omitted to in- terfere the other day in Ilinois, and up to the time of this writing it has not ventured to interfere in Wilmington, It has been suggested that, in time, negroes may gct possession of whole counties in various Southern States, and thus establish negro communities in which black men shall hold all the local offices and do all the local governing. Such counties might prove a grateful refuge for negroes who are tired of living in close contact with white men, but as yet such settlements do not exist. The cure for any Northern white man who is scandalized by the treatment negroes reccive in the South seems to be for him to go South to live. The cure for negroes who find the conditions ot exist- ence in the South too irksome seems to be to come North to work. 666 66 6 HE D.C. on that white flag which floats so conspicuously from a brownstone building on Fifth Avenue, stood, before election, for Democratic Club; but since election the intimation found acceptance that what those dark blue letters mean is D—n Croker. Itis power or nothing with Croker. When he ceases to be king he will go, and when he goes it will be with a grand burst of enthusiasm among his erstwhile subjects, The faithful who have fawned upon bim and held his coat, and carried his bag, and basked in the golden glow of his toleration, are sure to make an example of him when bis time comes. The true reason why Actwon’s hounds ate him was that he didn’t bring down his deer. There was nothing in it for the hounds, 89, exit Acteon. Bales of money, they tell us, were carried out of the Demo- cratic Club to pay election bets, and there is plenty of point to the suggestion thet the club should adopt as its emblem the trademark of Mr. Platt’s express com- pany—a pair of wings flying away with a strong box. For the moment, the hearts of Croker’s trustful retainers are heavy, and their pockets light. The king himself, we are told, bas under- gone a slight operation to ease his breathing, and gone away for rest, baths, and meditation, But he is still king in New York, and master of resources suf- ficient to pay his losses and comfi rt his disconsolate adherents, SLE Gi OLONEL ROOSEVELT is talking freely, and thongh he seems to be speaking his mind, his sentiments are not such as excite apprehension. In his speech at the Republicah Club dinner on November 12th, he talked about our duties towards the Spanish islands, His position was that we should not let any of the islands ** go back to the tyranny of Spain, or sink into savage anarchy.” He believed in recognizing our responsi- bilitics, and in facing the situation in- stead of dodging it, but as for the ulti- mate disposition of the islands, he de- clared that for his part he would be glad to sce the islanders manage thcir own governments as they should be managed, and he trusted that ‘in a reasonable time—and the sooner the better—they may be able todoso” Folks who find in these opinions the thin cdgo of a wedge of expansion and colonization should suggest some practicable alterna- tive to them. Mr, George Boutwell’s suggestion, that we drop all the islands and run, does not seem either practica- ble or agreeable to public sentiment. We won't drop the islands till we can do so decently, but we don’t want to hold them a day longer than our moral obli- gations compel, a~ T was good to read also what the Governor-elect had to say at the din- ner given to Gencral Miles, about the regular army. ‘‘I wish,” he cried, “that you could realize the bravery, devotion and endurance of pain and peril of the American regular officer and of the American regular soldier.” Then he went on totell them about the regulars at Santiago in words that were particu- larly grateful to those of his admirers who have considered, with regret, that the immense renown of his own valor in that campaign had unduly overshadowed the glory of men whose achievements, though no more gallant than his, were, from a military standpoint, much more important,