Show TOOMBS ON THE NEGRO PROBLEM Whenever Robert Toombs gives utterance utter-ance to any opinion concerning the South or things connected with her his opinion is eagerly sought by all not so much from its intrinsic worth as from the fact that he remains unreconstructed and apparently ap-parently unreconstructable He is the embodiment of the Southern sentiment of antebellum days In those days he was an oracle to whom all listened with interest although his prophetic sayings say-ings have not been fulfilled Of late there has been much discussion as to the future of the negro in the United States and the views expressed have been as diverse as the temperaments of those who have spoken Only recently Mr Toombs has given expression as to his views on what is now termed the negro problem lIe gave them in an interview with a representative of the Atlanta Evening Tournal on the 3d instant He said that his views today were the same as they were when he delivered his speech on slavery in the Tremont Temple Boston That speech was delivered near thirty years since its date being January 24th 1856 What changes have our country seen since then A long and bloody war has been fought the Union saved and the slave made free and a citizen But time has made no change in Robert Toombs in his thought or in feeling Let us see what were the views he expressed in that famous Tremont Temple lecture He submitted considerations and reflections re-flections upon two points this being the second tecon2d 2d The influence of Slavery as it exists in the United Stales upon the Slave and Society At tin very outset of his lecture he addressed himself to the consideration of this point On this point he said On the second point I maintain that so long as the African and Caucasian races coexist in the same society that the subordination of the African is its normal necessary and proper condition and that Full subordination is the condition con-dition best calculated to promote the highest high-est interest and the greatest happiness of both races and consequently of the whole society t They rest on the truth that the white is the superior race and the black the inferior and that subordination with or without law will be the status of the African in this mixed society and therefore it is the interest of both and especially of the black race and of the whole society that this status should be fixed controlled and protected by law It is the old argument that was heard in every discussion concerning the retention or abolition of slavery in the days when that question was the one which agitated the entire country Near the close of his lecture Mr Toombs gave other reasons why the institution of slavery should be retained and advanced this argument Its permanence is based upon the idea of the superiority of the white race over the African that this superiority is not transient and artificial but permanent I perma-nent and natural that the eamc I Dower which made his skin unchangeably black made him inferior intellectually to the white race and incapable of an equal struggle with him in the career of progress and civilization civili-zation that it is necessary for his preservation pres-ervation in this struggle and for his own interest as well as that of the society of which < he is a member that he should be a servant and not a freeman in the commonwealth com-monwealth The sentiment of the American people was against this view and the institution of slavery was abolished abol-ished The problem of slavery is forever settled in America but there remains the problem of this new condition It is I the problem of two separate races living I Hide by side in one country and under one I government and both politically equal What will be the destiny of the African race socially morally and intellectually is the grave question of the hour Twenty years of freedom are not enough to say what are the capabilities of a race that for centuries has been in bondage without opportunity to develop its better instincts and show whether those instincts will lead that race to the higher plane of the white mans civilization In the discussion now being carried on in the I Century various views of this problem I are put forth Mr Cable holds that there j will be an amalgamation of the races i i and an elevation of the lower or African 1 I race to the level of the higher or Caucasian Cau-casian race This view is combatted by I I Mr Grady of Georgia in the April Century I I fury who holds that the tendency in everything in i to a complete separation of the races in schools in churches in railways and elsewhere and that this separation is tending to create a much better feeling between the whites and blacks and that through it I each has more respect and consideration for tho other In the June Century theI I Rev T U Dudley of Kentucky discusses dis-cusses the problem but does not subscribe sub-scribe to either of the above views Doubtless it was this discussion that I I brought Robert Toombs from his hiding place and caused him to give his views on the negro problem to the world He says he does not think the n6gro can be educated in which he is certainly 1 wrong as regards some notable men of the negro race He further says that education I ed-ucation is increasing crime among them which is not at all surprising when it is considered what has been their condition and that it takes time and much time to educate men morally far more time than to educate them intellectually He says that the negro is out of his element I at the blackboard and that his J I natural homo is in the cotton patch r K G I I amid The laws of some of his cotton patch homes made it criminal for him to seek the blackboard and learn its secrets At the conclusion of the interview he remarked on the future of the negro race in the South It is the plainest thing in the world he will die out He is dying out now I hink I ought to understand the census I have studied enough I tell you that it is being falsely interpreted by certain people in this country The negro is dying out as a race he is bound to die out That is what will become of him It is the history of all inferior races and here is i the broad distinction The negro race is a scrub race the white race is a thoroughbred race In time the scrubs are bound to die out but the thoroughbreds thor-oughbreds live on to procrate the species It is a law of God and cannot change TliehC views are of interest and are different from the usual oiles What will become of the race no man can tell but its influence on American politics will be watched with great interest as it contains con-tains elements which have never before figured in governmental questions |