178 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



merit of liberated slaves. Certain great civil rights are the necessary 

 and proper consequences of freedom. Suffrage is not a natural right, 

 nor a legal, political, or general result of freedom or citizenship. The 

 large majority of citizens do not and can not vote. 



The liberation of millions of slaves was the most gigantic and, 

 in itself, one of the most beneficent acts of this century. Nothing 

 is comparable to it as a triumph of the inalienable rights of man. 

 Humanity and justice demanded emancipation. Re-enslavement no 

 one proposes or desires. All would rejoice in the prosperity and 

 progress of the Afro- American, but with freedom came citizenship 

 and suffrage, and these revolutionized our Government. Elements 

 undreamed of were introduced as constituents. When the Consti- 

 tution and the resulting Union were formed, such a citizenship with 

 franchise was not proposed, and if proposed would not have been 

 listened to for a moment. The most infatuated negrophilist would 

 not stultify himself by asserting that the Union of States would or 

 could have been consummated with the present incongruous, hetero- 

 geneous citizenship. 



From these and other facts has been evolved what has been called 

 the negro problem. In the discussion, it is best to eliminate all 

 extraneous considerations, all issues which, as the lawyers say, are 

 " dehors the record." Government is a very practical business. 

 The end is the securing and preserving the peace, safety, and well- 

 being of the State. Civil government has no mission of general 

 philanthropy. This problem, while of terrific importance in the 

 South, where the black population is persistently congestive, is not, 

 in its ramifications or direct effects, local or sectional. It affects 

 every community and every section. It is of paramount national 

 importance, complex, and involving social, moral, and political con- 

 siderations. Its gravity can not be exaggerated. It compels the 

 attention and demands all the resources of patriots, philanthropists, 

 statesmen!. It thrusts itself, uninvited and unwelcomed, into re- 

 ligious and social assemblies and legislative councils. It is pervasive, 

 continuing, vital. It is better to look it full in the face and give it 

 dispassionate thought. 



It need scarcely be said that in this discussion no hostile refer- 

 ence is made to individuals. Some negroes are men of intelligence, 

 integrity, patriotism, and stand on a plane with our best citizens in 

 virtues and mental qualifications.* The gist of this contention is 

 not based on special exceptions, but on the race in the aggregate. 



We find in the South the presence of two distinct peoples, with 

 irreconcilable racial characteristics and diverse historical antecedents. 



* Such an extraordinary man as Booker T. Washington is an honor to any country and 

 worthy of unlimited confidence and regard. 



