I HT 
 
 
 1521 
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CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
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Cornell University Library 
 HT1521.T62 
 
 Class, color and race; questions and pre] 
 
 3 1924 019 193 667 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924019193667 
 
Class, Color and Race 
 
 Questions and Prejudices 
 Discussed 
 
 OPEN LETTERS 
 
 TO 
 
 Editor W. T. STEAD, of the London Review of Reviews 
 
 and Senator BENJAMIN TILLMAN 
 
 of South Carolina 
 
 PRICE 25 CENTS 
 
 By 
 
 D. E. TOBIAS 
 
 Author of "Freed But Not Free" 
 
Copyright 1005 by D. E. Tobias 
 
 Marshall-Jackson Company 
 
 Printers 
 140-146 Monroe St., Chicago 
 
PREFACE 
 
 In presenting this pamphlet to the public, I think a few prefactory re- 
 marks are needed in order-to call the attention ef my readers to the national 
 and international reputation of ijhe men to whom I- addressed open letters, 
 in the hope that we might publicly debate the'question of the white man's 
 dealings with colored races' under British and American rule. 
 \ Mr. W. T. Stead, editor of the Review of Reviews (London, England), 
 is without doubt the leading journalist in the world. Not only is Mr. W. T. 
 Stead a fluent and voluminous writer, but he is a brilliant and an eloquent 
 conversationalist and public speaker. 
 
 Besides the enormous number of daily newspapers, weekly and monthly 
 magazines and reviews for which Mr. Stead has written, he is the well 
 known author of hundreds, and perhaps -it would be no exaggeration to state, 
 thousands of pamphlets and books. Mr. W. T. Stead is more than a journal- 
 ist and an author of books and pamphlets, he is a strong advocate of interna- 
 tional arbitration as the one and only sure means by which international 
 difficulties may be adjusted in order that peace and good-will may some 
 day rule k the hearts of men. 
 
 Perhaps W. T. Stead is best known in the United States of America as 
 the author of that famous book of his, "If Christ Came to Chicago." This 
 remarkable book was published in this country and in England soon after 
 the Columbian Exposition of 1893 and made considerable stir. 
 
 In going to London, England, in 1898, where I imagined a colored man 
 would surely find freedom, and meet many liberal-minded Englishmen, I 
 naturally looked up Mr. W. T. Stead first, thinking that of all men, I would 
 find him most hospitable and the friend to all young men, white or colored, 
 who might visit London in search for freedom and knowledge 
 
 I had not been in London two weeks before I had the good fortune to 
 receive a letter of introduction to Mr. Stead. Naturally I thought he would 
 receive me kindly and give me encouragement and friendly counsel. I wrote 
 a letter and enclosed the introduction, telling Mr. Stead who I was and 
 the purpose for which I had come to London, viz., to study the British 
 prison system. Much to my disappointment and surprise, Mr. Stead wrote 
 me to return to the United States' at once, as I would never get a public 
 hearing on the "Color Problem" in London. The moment an American 
 colored person arrives in England many English people imagine that that 
 person wants to agitate ! 
 
 I went to England to find freedom and to study social and economic 
 questions, in what I had been taught to believe was the freest country in 
 the world. My letter to Mr. Stead speaks for itself. 
 
After remaining in Great Britain five years and having succeeded re- 
 markably well, I attended a public meeting, given at Mr. Stead's offices, 
 Review of Reviews, on March 6th, 1903, to discuss the atrocities practiced 
 on the natives in the Congo Free State. It was at that meeting that I was 
 re-introduced to Mr; Stead, and we had a discussion on the subject of the 
 colored man in the United States. 
 
 Mr. Stead opened the discussion and I added my quota to the debate 
 by stating most emphatically that there was more hope for the colored man 
 in the United States than I could. see for any poor man anywhere under 
 British rule. 
 
 Mr. W. T. Stead and his friends seemed profoundly surprised at such 
 a statement from an American colored man. 
 
 To upset my argument some one stated that no decent white man in 
 the United States would dine with a black man, and mentioned the Roose- 
 velt-Washington incident, saying that the whole country was indignant 
 that a black man had been entertained at dinner by the President of the 
 United States. It was also stated that Englishmen would not object to sitting 
 at a dinner table with a black man. To prove that I was wrong and that 
 Mr. Stead and his friends were right, I was asked, that same evening, to 
 dine with Englishmen. Under the circumstances, which are too many to 
 here state, I did not see how I could, in keeping with self-respect, dine with 
 Mr. Stead and his friends, hence I made no special effort to find the 
 restaurant at which the dinner was served. I went to my room and wrote 
 Mr. Stead, explaining why I did not care to be present at the dinner. I 
 did not keep a copy of that letter, and therefore cannot give my exact words, 
 in this pamphlet. 
 
 From the evening I declined to dine with Mr. W. T. Stead and his 
 friends, to the time I left London, Mr. Stead treated me with far more 
 respect than he had done during the five years previous to that time. 
 
 I have learned one lesson from a long and close study of white men, 
 and that is, in proportion to the measure in which colored men stand for all 
 that is due to all men under given conditions, will white men ultimately 
 respect colored men and treat them properly, and when this is done there 
 will be no color problems neither in this country nor in any part of fh^ 
 British Empire 
 
 Now to refer to Senator Benjamin Tillman of South Carolina : Sena- 
 tor Tillman is not so well known as Mr. Stead. The most that can be said 
 in favor of the Senator is that he rose from obscurity to national repute in 
 a comparatively short time. Twenty years ago Senator Tillman was a 
 common farmer in South Carolina, with no particular prospect beyond 
 farming. The farmer has made his mark in the history of his country in 
 a peculiar but rather remarkable way. He has done more than ill-treat and 
 abuse the colored race. From the farm Mr. Tillman become Governor of 
 South Carolina, and soon overthrew the old aristocracy of the State and 
 
 4 
 
established the rule of poor white men who had never been trained in 
 matters of government. 
 
 From being Governor of the State Mr. Tillman made himself United 
 
 States Senator from South Carolina. At Washington Senator Tillman 
 
 ,has made himself heard if not felt, and from his bitter and frank attacks 
 
 on the colored race, he has excited much attention and has lectured in the 
 
 North and West to large audiences against the black man. 
 
 From the position of inferiority of white men, in the South, Senator 
 Tillman has risen to the championship of the theory of superiority of the 
 white race over the colored race. Having some personal knowledge of Mr. 
 Tillman's history and having followed his speeches as reported in the public 
 press, I decided to write him an open letter and ask him to meet me in 
 public and debate the Southern question with me. Of course the Senator 
 has entirely ignored my letter, hence I must give it out to the public for 
 perusal. 
 
 To those who may chance to see this pamphlet I would say, "Study 
 carefully the letters which a member of the so-called most inferior race of 
 mankind has addressed to men who have had much to say about the 
 superiority of the Anglo-Saxon race over all other races of the human 
 family." Remember this fact: Mr. W. T. Stead did not ignore my letter. 
 In his reply he said he was "extremely interested" in what I wrote him. 
 He asked me to dine with him privately to further discuss the subject of 
 the colored man in the United States and the British Empire. The outcome 
 of that further talk was a public meeting at Mr. Stead's offices in London on 
 April 24th, 1903, when I openly challenged white men to debate the ques- 
 tion of the superiority of races. No one took up the challenge, but many 
 learned English and American white men seemed surprised when I had 
 finished arguing the case for the black man. 
 
 I did not expect Senator Tillman would acknowledge my letter, because 
 there was too much truth in it. Here is an interesting fact, worthy of 
 consideration: Neither Mr. W. T. Stead nor Senator Tillman has made 
 public the letters I addressed to them. Why have these able champions of 
 the theory of Anglo-Saxon superiority kept silent? 
 
 I wish to be just. Most people who talk about racial superiority speak 
 without thinking. One of the greatest surprises with which I constantly 
 meet is how little the white man, who talks about racial superiority, under- 
 stands either the colored man or himself. All instruction on questions of 
 mankind and human relationship has been exceedingly imperfect. As yet, 
 we know entirely too little about Psychology to have an intelligent under- 
 standing as to the capabilities of individuals and races. 
 
 During the 20th century many startling facts will be brought to the 
 light. Foremost will be the question of racial superiority. Students of the 
 natural history of man have discovered that human feelings, passions and. 
 sensations are similar the world over, and that environment has much to do 
 
with determining racial traits and tendencies. The problem before students 
 of the 20th century will be to understand man psychologically. 
 
 Materially the United States of America stands second to no nation at 
 the present time. But we must not too long overlook the fact that material 
 prosperity has never saved a single individual, race or nation, and unless 
 things of the soul are held in higher estimation than things of the body, then 
 ihis nation is doomed ! 
 
 And finally, unless white men make a closer study of themselves and 
 'colored men at home and abroad than they have done, and unless women 
 receive, a much fuller measure of real freedom than they now enjoy, this 
 nation will go the way of Greece, Rome, and Europe; for, barring the 
 French nation, Europe has seen its best days. 
 
 The hope of Humanity lies in the one fact summed up in the words of 
 Jesus : 
 
 "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them like- 
 wise." 
 
 The primary object, both in the writing and publication of these open 
 letters, is to call attention to and emphasize the fact that color prejudice 
 is not natural, but artificial. By this I mean that class and caste prejudices 
 which lie at the root of European, and particularly English civilization^ are 
 converted into color prejudices in countries where European white people 
 go to dwell among colored races for the purpose of making money. A desire 
 for economic gain is the primary cause of European class and caste preju- 
 dices which, in the United States of America, are called race and color 
 prejudices. 
 
 The fact that neither Mr. W. T. Stead, nor Senator Benjamin Tillman 
 accepted the challenge of a black man, may be taken as an indication that 
 when black men make close and serious studies of social and economic 
 questions as they affect the lives of all peoples under the white man's civil- 
 ization, white men will have less to say about the superiority of white races 
 over colored races. D. E. T. 
 
LETTER FROM MR. STEAD 
 
 Mowbray House, Norfolk Street, Strand, London, W. C. 
 
 March 7, 1903. 
 Dear Mr. : Tobias: 
 
 Your absence from our dinner gave me very sincere sorrow. There 
 were only ten of us ; we were all stalwarts, and there was not one who did 
 not feel that your presence would have been the one thing of all which was 
 necessary to complete the success of the evening. I had to go round another 
 way to get some cigars. I asked Mr: Green to take you up to the restau- 
 rant, and he promised to do so. When I got there I found to my dismay that 
 you were not present. Mr. Perris and I went out at once and scoured the 
 Strand, but could not find you anywhere. 
 
 I perfectly understand and sympathize with your feeling as to the 
 unpleasantness of finding yourself at a dinner at which even one person 
 regards you askance on account of your colour. But, whatever may have 
 been your experience elsewhere last night you would have found yourself in 
 congenial company. I hope we may have an opportunity of showing you 
 hospitality on some other occasion. 
 
 I note what you say concerning British rule. I am glad to know that 
 an American coloured citizen thinks that there is more chance of fair treat- 
 ment for his people in the United States than the British Empire, not because 
 I prefer the United States to the British Empire, but because nearly every 
 coloured man I have met from America has said exactly the opposite; and 
 our friend, Mr. Milholland, was very gloomy when I last spoke to him 
 concerning the prospect of peace between the races in the Southern States. 
 I sincerely hope that your brighter view may be the more correct. 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 W. T. Stead. 
 
 LETTER TO MR. STEAD 
 
 168 Hampstead Road, London, N. W. 
 
 10th March, 1903. 
 Dear Mr. Stead: 
 
 I have to thank you very much for your cordial and sympathetic letter 
 of the 7th inst, which I have perused with much pleasure and interest. I 
 can assure you that under the circumstances depicted to me in your most 
 friendly letter, I, too, would have been very pleased to have dined with you 
 and the friends. I may here repeat what I wrote you on Friday night, and 
 that is, having stopped to speak to two friends who were at the Meeting, 
 I fell behind and the gentleman with whom I was walking towards the 
 place where we were to dine, escaped out of my sight, and not knowing 
 
 7 
 
where the restaurant was, there was nothing left me, but the single choice 
 of coming home. 
 
 There are some interesting points in your letter, with which I think it 
 becomes my duty to deal. The first is, that you personally understand and 
 sympathize with the feeling which I, rightly or wrongly, entertained about 
 dining in the company of persons, where my presence might have produced 
 the inward discomfort of some, let us say. For I was perfectly certain that 
 there were persons in your party who would have welcomed me, and I 
 accepted the kind invitation from you because I felt you personally wanted 
 me to dine with others you had asked to dinner. 
 
 Point No. 2 is this: I didn't feel that the mere complexion of my 
 skin would have been the cause of discomfort to anyone of the party as 
 much as the expression of views which might have come from me during 
 the course of the evening. And if I was wrong in surmising this, I thank 
 you very much for setting me straight. I only based my apprehensions on 
 past experiences in meetings here in London. To this I may add, I do not 
 think that a Coloured person who refrains from the discussion of problems 
 which, for reasons I cannot fully understand, are looked upon as the exclu- 
 sive privilege of white men to discuss, need hesitate to accept an invitation 
 to pass a pleasant time in any company to which he or she may be invited. 
 
 But I may also state, that much to my amazement, I have learned that 
 a member of the Coloured Races is not expected to express views on social 
 and political problems as white men do. This has been a great surprise 
 to me during my visit to this country. My reluctance then to move freely 
 among English-speaking white people, ,is based upon the fact that being 
 Coloured and a member of the so-called most inferior Race of mankind, 
 many of the views I hold with regard to the relation of the white and 
 coloured races of the world and the efficacy of modern civilization and the 
 way it is practiced nowadays, I do often make people uncomfortable.; 
 
 Now to elucidate what I mean by saying there is more hope for the 
 person of colour in the United States than is now to be seen in any part of 
 the British Empire, I beg to extend the basis of my contentions from that 
 of the British Empire and the United States to that of Monarchical and 
 Republican forms of Government. Here we are on surer ground, hence, 
 less chances to slip. 
 
 Under a Monarchy, the Sovereign is the Ideal or nucleus around which 
 the forces and economy of State, Church, all political parties and high 
 class Society gather. 
 
 In a Republic, some fixed principle, such as education of the masses 
 of the people, and not the individual, is the Ideal kept before the people. 
 I do not pretend to say that that principle is lived up to and the Ideal 
 reached. Far from it. But in parts of the United States, all may claim 
 the rights of citizenship; and when denied it, as the Coloured people are 
 in the ex-slave States at the present time, those of the men, who go to live 
 in the advanced States of the Republic, may, in these States, vote, after all 
 
conditions of the State of their adoption are fulfilled. Race and Colour do 
 not keep the vote from any male citizen of the required age in the advanced 
 States. In some of the Northern and Western States, and in particular 
 districts, Coloured men hold the balancing power between the two great 
 political parties ; and therefore they are factors with which white politicians 
 must reckon. 
 
 As the Sovereign is not voted for in a Monarchical country, no white 
 men under a Monarchical Government can claim the freedom and citizenship 
 that belongs to Coloured men in sections of the American Republic. 
 
 Now, if we come to England, the heart of the British Empire, we find 
 that by reason of the number of titles, within the gift of the Crown, in 
 free England, one actually finds more inequality than is to be found in any 
 other country in the world; therefore less real freedom in the truest sense 
 of the word. Having studied social, religious, and political problems in 
 Great Britain for five years; from facts and figures, which I have come 
 across, all compiled by white men, I am now forced to the conclusion that 
 the true scope and purport of British civilization are for the perpetuation 
 and upkeep of the titled classes and not for the general welfare of the masses 
 of the people, either at home or in Africa and India and all parts of the 
 world to which British Rule and influence is extended. 
 
 Canada and the Australian Commonwealth are self-governing, and 
 therefore I leave them out. But even in these self-governing colonies, the 
 Coloured Races have but very little political status. Throughout the Brcash 
 West Indies, and in all parts of Africa and India, where British Rule ex- 
 tends, men of Colour have no political status, and I must confess I see no 
 hope for a change so long as the British Empire remains constituted as it ' 
 now is. If I am wrong on this point, I shall be very glad to be set right. 
 
 Let us now come to the Southern ex-Slaves States of America. I need 
 not say anything about the antagonism between the races there, for that is 
 well known throughout Christendom. But there is a hopeful side, even in 
 the South, and it is with this that I shall deal briefly. 
 
 If modern education, such as pupils receive in institutions of learning, 
 is the fulcrum of the lever which must be wielded for the elevation of 
 mankind, then I think, from what has been done in this direction in the 
 South, since emancipation of the African Slaves, and from what is now 
 daily being done there, we may entertain some hopes of the future. 
 
 There are between thirty and forty institutions of learning in that 
 section of America, which are teaching primary, secondary, and higher 
 grades of studies to Coloured pupils. Then there are Public Schools, doing 
 something for the training of young children. 
 
 The institutions devoted to higher learning among Coloured people 
 in the South were mostly founded by Northern white men and women, and 
 they are still largely supported by money raised in the North. Should^ 
 this be cut off, I think the work, or much of it, would be continued. But 
 I do not believe Northern people will cease to contribute to Coloured 
 
I 
 schools for some time yet to come. Almost all institutions of learning, 
 throughout the Northern and Western States, admit Coloured students. 
 Coloured and white children study side by side in the Public Schools and 
 there is no great trouble between the races. 
 
 Probably, when Mr. Milholland "was very gloomy" about the condi- 
 tions in the South, his cheque was then on its way there to pay the expenses 
 of some poor Coloured boy or girl in school. He has personally done a 
 very great deal of good in the way of raising money and by giving liberally 
 of his own means for the education of the Coloured Race in the United 
 States. This is not only true in Mr. Milholland's case, but equally as true 
 in the cases of. many white men and women in the United States, who have 
 given millions of dollars for the education and general development of 
 the Coloured Race since the great Civil War. 
 
 In the different departments of Governmental Service at Washington, 
 we find hundreds of Coloured civil servants who perform their duties 
 remarkably well. In the American Army, white and coloured soldiers fight 
 side by side for their country's cause, and have done so from the War 
 with George III, which resulted in the Independence of the United States, 
 right down through the War with Spain, which freed the Cubans and 
 made Cuba a Republic. Coloured Ministers are Chaplains to Coloured 
 soldiers in the American Army, and gradually Coloured men are gaining 
 rank as officers in the American Army. Coloured soldiers are not to be 
 used in the British Army, to fight white races, although natives were used 
 to fight the Boers in the late South African War. 
 
 Personally, I do not consider that the Coloured race is wholly under 
 the white man's rule in the United States. They form a large and very 
 necessary part of the American Republic, and therefore President Roose- 
 velt recognizes the fact that the Coloured race is a factor in the life of 
 the nation, which must be reckoned with on broad principles. Hence the 
 very strong and statesmanlike position he has assumed in his dealings with 
 the Coloured race is the only one likely to bring permanent prosperity to 
 the American nation, such as all seriously-thinking American citizens earn- 
 estly desire. Men like Senators Hanna, Hoar, Lodge, and many others, are 
 thoroughly with President Roosevelt, and we must not overlook the fact 
 that there are good and earnest white people throughout the South. Mr. 
 George W. Cable is one, of whom we know. The South produced one 
 Abraham Lincoln, and it may yet produce his prototype. Who can tell? 
 I believe firmly in the righteousness and justice of God, and therefore, I 
 do not despair of the future of the Coloured race in the United States. 
 If the nation rises, we must rise with it, and if it goes down, well, then, 
 all will perish together. 
 
 But of the future of the Coloured races under British rule, I have many 
 reasons to despair. Take the cry for cheap labour in South Africa at the 
 present time. What does it all really mean? It means that the forces and 
 resources of the Mother Country, have, at the dawn of the 20th century, 
 
 10 
 
been used to create a slave-mart for millionaires interested in the develop- 
 ment of the gold mines in South Africa. Southern Rhodesia has been a 
 failure only because, owing to unjust, treatment of the native peoples by 
 capitalists, sufficient labour could not be obtained to work the mines. Rep- 
 resentatives of South African gold mines said, at the outbreak of the late 
 war, that with good government, plenty of cheap labour could be obtained 
 to work the gold mines, and with cheap labour large dividends would be 
 paid. 
 
 When I read these statements, published in the London "Times," when 
 the war had not been proceeding two months, it was obvious to me that 
 the whole business was a move to enslave Coloured people. Under Boer 
 Government, it could not be done; not that the Boer cared a whit for the 
 welfare of the native, but rather because he wanted to protect himself by 
 making the millionaires pay him well for working the mines. 
 
 Well, now, how about India? On the 26th of February, 1903, the 
 "Manchester Guardian" published a terrible story about conditions that 
 prevail at Assam. Sir Henry Cotton spoke on: "Assam and South 
 Africa" at Bradford on the 28th of March, in which he said some inter- 
 esting and plain things. 
 
 In turning up files of the London "Times" for September, 1898, we 
 read some dreadful accounts of the, Campaign in the Soudan. But they 
 are not the worst. In a leading article on "The Fall of Omdurman," the 
 "Times" said some strange things on September 5, 1898. Those poor 
 natives were slaughtered to avenge the death of Gordon, is what the first 
 daily newspaper of the Empire said. 
 
 Well, then, we read another leading article in this same newspaper, 
 June 6, 1899, commenting on the £30,000 ($150,000) which was granted to 
 Lord Kitchener by Her Majesty's Government on June 5th ; 393 members in 
 the British House of Commons voted for that grant and 51 against it. 
 The "Times" correctly says: "The figures speak for themselves.:" On 
 August 25, 1900, The "Times" published an article from its Simla corre- 
 spondent on "Lord Curzon and Native Chiefs," stating that the visits of 
 the latter to Europe would be restricted. 
 
 Now may I say: Had Coloured men from America studied the ques- 
 tions I have, with reference to the Coloured man under British rule, I 
 venture to think they would have expressed different views to you. Per- 
 sonally, I cannot begin to tell how all this pains me day and night, for 
 when I came to London in April, 1898, I certainly did imagine that the 
 Coloured races under British rule had a bright future. 
 
 Please pardon me for drawing on your time at the length I have, 
 and again thanking you for your most cordial letter and the wholesome 
 and noble sentiments contained therein. 
 
 I am, Sir, Yours faithfully, 
 
 (Sgd.) D. E. Tobias. 
 
 W. T. Stead, Esq. 
 
 11 
 
LETTER FROM MR. STEAD 
 
 Mowbray House, Norfolk Street, Strand, London, W. C. 
 
 April 7th, 1903. 
 Dear Mr. Tabids: 
 
 Miss Burnett tells me that you never got a reply to your lo'hg and 
 interesting letter. My Secretary tells me that I began dictating it, but 
 never finished it, and therefore the letter was not sent. Pray accept my 
 apologies. There seems to be some fatality about our arrangements. 
 
 I was extremely interested in what you said, and I should like to have 
 an opportunity of talking the matter over with you. After Easter could 
 you come and lunch with me some day when we could talk over matters? 
 I have given your name and address to Mr. Northrop, the Correspondent 
 of an American Syndicate ©f newspapers, who is much interested in the 
 question of the comparative respect paid to coloured people in the United 
 States and the United Kingdom. I told him that I thought you would 
 be the very man to discuss the question with him intelligently. Hoping to 
 see you next week, I am, Yours Sincerely, 
 
 W. T. Stead. 
 
 LETTER TO SENATOR. TILLMAN 
 
 5 Essex Court, Temple, E. C, London, England. 
 
 28th May, 1904. 
 Senator Benjamin Tillman, 
 
 United States Senate, \ 
 
 Washington, D. C, U. S. A. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 I trust you may not consider the act of addressing this letter to you 
 personally a piece of impertinence or presumption on my part. 
 
 On March 10th, 1903, I addressed a long letter to Mr. W. T. Stead, 
 Editor of the London "Review of Reviews," in which I defined the status 
 of coloured races in the United States and the British Empire. 
 
 The object of my letter was to draw Mr. Stead into a public discus- 
 sion on the subject of the legal and political rights of coloured people 
 under British and American rule. For reasons which I am unable to give, 
 Mr. Stead did not take up the subject as I had hoped he might do, either in 
 his own Review, or that he might use his great influence with an editor 
 of some London -Review, in which the position of the coloured races in the 
 American Republic and the British Empire might be thoroughly thrashed 
 out. 
 
 My endeavor to bring the subject of the coloured races in the United 
 States and the British Empire sharply before the public eye was not wholly 
 defeated, for on April 24th, 1903, Mr. Stead had an "At Home" at the 
 offices of the Review of Reviews to which he kindly invited me to come 
 and open a discussion on the subject in which he had learned that I was 
 deeply interested. 
 
 12 
 
Mr. W. B. Northrup contributed an artiqle to the Baltimore Sunday 
 Herald for August 9th, 1903, on "England is an Earthly Paradise for the 
 Coloured Brother," in which he said, among other interesting things: 
 "During the last few months Mr. W. T. Stead, Editor of the Review of 
 Reviews, has been giving 'At Homes' to his various friends at his offices 
 on Friday afternoons. Not long since a number of negroes were invited to 
 an 'at home.' Among others was D. E. Tobias, a coloured man from 
 South Carolina. Tobias was called upon for an address, and he chose 
 for his subject 'The Superiority of Blacks over the Whites.' Tobias and 
 his friends openly challenged the superiority of the white race over the 
 black, and said a great many pointed things which sounded strangely to 
 some of the assemblage. Among other things Tobias stated that a friend 
 of his felt a sort of prejudice against white men, and he made the point 
 that race prejudice of blacks against whites did exist. That was putting 
 Jthe boot on the other leg so cleverly that most persons who had arguments 
 against Tobias' statements were too flabbergasted to say anything." 
 
 I may here state that as facts are always much stronger than fiction 
 I had not the slightest difficulty in upsetting many of the white man's 
 theories about the superiority of the white races over coloured races. I 
 stated most emphatically at Mr. Stead's meeting that the attitude of white 
 men towards coloured races, in different parts of the world, and especially 
 in countries wherever the English language is spoken, is always such 
 that coloured people are forced to hold strong prejudices against white 
 men; I spoke of the existence of colour prejudice in London, the 
 heart and very centre of the British Empire, and neither Mr. Stead nor any- 
 one of his many friends could disprove my statements. 
 
 The discussion at Mr. Stead's "At Homes" was the direct result of 
 my letter to him, and a conversation which followed one day he asked 
 me to dine at a restaurant with him. 
 
 I here make this statement in order that the fact may be known that 
 white men came to that meeting with full understanding that I would 
 challenge the theory of the superiority of the white races. Facts were all 
 against them, and therefore my triumph was easy. 
 
 Now, sir, let us come to facts relevant to, and bearing directly upon 
 points I wish to discuss in this letter to you. I will here set out these 
 main points as follows : 
 
 (1) The Southern problem; its Cause and Consequence. 
 
 (2) White races not superior to Coloured Races. 
 
 <3) Collapse and Breakdown of the White Man's Civilization; In- 
 capacity of White Men Primary Cause. 
 
 In the Baltimore Herald, July 27th, 1903, a special despatch was 
 published under these headlines : "Glad Northerners adapt Southern Way. 
 Senator Tillman says the latter is the only way to settle the Negro 
 Problem." 
 
 13 
 
The following extract is significant : "We have shot them, and hanged 
 them, and burned them in South Carolina, until they almost know their 
 proper place now, although the desire to vote, whether or not they know 
 what they are voting for or against, frequently causes trouble." 
 
 However much one may object to theories which you advocate, Sen- 
 ator, as a coloured man and a citizen of South Carolina by birth (though 
 now a veritable exile, solely because I cannot live under such oppression 
 as has existed in the State, since, with your strong and mighty political 
 hand, you ruthlessly overthrew the aristocracy of South Carolina and es- 
 tablished the domination of poor white men), I am bound to say that I 
 greatly admire your truthfulness and the peculiar courage you have dis- 
 played from the time you left the farm to champion the cause, as you then 
 asserted of the oppressed people of the State. If all white' men in the 
 South, "and also in other sections of the world — for Southern white men 
 are by no means alone wrong on this intricate problem of the relation of 
 human beings to each other — were as bold, and may I say, as honest as 
 Senator Benjamin Tillman of South Carolina is, much of the cant and ignor- 
 ance that now prevails throughout the so-called civilized portions of the 
 world would most certainly disappear. 
 
 , Most of the political pledges you made to the oppressed people of 
 South Carolina, prior to your ascendence to political domination of the 
 State have, as was to be expected, been forfeited; and whereas certain 
 laws were respected and a degree of order prevailed throughout the State, 
 under the regime of the old aristocracy, since the State has been under 
 the control of you and your confreres, in politics, much political corrup- 
 tion has been practiced and lawlessness and chaos have been the order 
 of the day, arid the name of South Carolina has fallen into the vortex of 
 dishonour ! But, for all this, I am glad to say that I, for one, would never 
 call Senator Tillman of my State a hypocrite; for, unlike many men who 
 pose as leaders of the people, you are frank where they are not — you de- 
 clare your bad policy to the world at large. 
 
 A mere glance at your words above quoted, reveals the fact that you 
 stand for coercion and all such violent measures as may terrorize the 
 coloured population into meek submission to the white man's ideas of 
 civilization and government of the people. From the doctrine you preach 
 and practice, according to your own words, it is obvious that no 
 amount of education could possibly fit the coloured man for citi- 
 zenship as defined by the terms laid down in the amended Constitution 
 of the United States. In other words, until the white man can be raised 
 to a state of Christianity and civilization which may fit him to be a good 
 law-abiding citizen, it is futile to talk about making a good citizen of the 
 coloured man, because the white man will not let the coloured man be 
 good, only on terms of goodness which the white man lays down. 
 
 What makes the Southern Problem, and what are some of the con- 
 sequences 'of the Problem? 
 
 14 
 
The white man's insatiable hankering after economic gain, at the 
 expense of all moral, , religious, social, and philosophical laws makes the 
 Problem. The white man is to stop at nothing, according to Senator 
 Tillman's gospel, in pursuit of his ends. 
 
 There is no such phenomenon in the South as an innate colour preju- 
 dice between the two races. The problem that causes racial antagonism is 
 at bottom an economic problem. Colour and racial differences are only 
 subterfuges by which the real problem is disguised and complicated. Such, 
 it seems to me, are the only logical conclusions that may be fairly drawn 
 from the words of Senator Tillman of South Carolina, which the Balti- 
 more Herald published, the 27th of July, 1903. So much then as to the 
 underyling cause of the Southern Problem. 
 
 Let us now look at some of the immediate consequences which the 
 political unwisdom of white men is daily producing throughout the ex- 
 slave States. As a rule, those who elect to write and talk on the problem 
 which is the ruin of the South, assume that the fault lies entirely on the 
 side of the coloured race, and that the coloured race stands to lose more 
 than the white race. Such is far from being an accurate understanding of 
 the situation. 
 
 White men are bringing about the rapid ruin of the South in general 
 and the white race in particular. To illustrate: Young white men of 
 means, who desire a first class education, have to go north to Harvard 
 Yale, Columbia or some other leading institution of higher education in 
 the progressive States, where they can receive a liberal training. Many 
 who leave the South leave with the sole intention of returning when their 
 education is finished. What happens in the majority of cases? In the 
 progressive States, young Southern men come in contact with progressive 
 ideas. By the time their education is finished, they understand something 
 as to what freedom means. To return South means to them inertia, which 
 produces mental torture. They cannot stand the strain and test to which 
 they would be subjected after having their eyes opened and their intellects 
 improved. The world becomes to them a new phenomenon, and their 
 native States and homes seem like asylums to which they would be assigned 
 for life, if they returned to them. What happens is that the progressive 
 States of the Union which, from the beginning of the American Nation 
 after the War of Independence, have been rich with intellect and character, 
 grow richer at the expense of the South. Because, no man who loves 
 freedom refuses to accept it once he learns, from practical experience, 
 what it really means. 
 
 On a visit to Paris in 1903, where I remained four months and ten 
 days, studying methods as to how the Frenchman governs his Capital City, 
 one of the keenest intellects I have ever met with was that of a young 
 Southern white gentleman, who manages a large American newspaper in 
 Paris. We had many deeply interesting talks, and while neither of us 
 could justly claim to be wholly emancipated from old thoughts which 
 
 15 
 
were crowded into our minds in their formative stages, we could, in a 
 truly free city, meet each other and frankly acknowledge the mutual help 
 we received from an exchange of ideas. We both expressed a desire to 
 return South, where we knew our services are much needed, but the 
 thought of bondage to which we would be doomed was simply over- 
 whelming! We have had and immensely enjoyed a measure of real free- 
 dom, such as neither of us could find in any section of the ex-slave States, 
 and we now loathe the idea of returning to hard conditions which prevail 
 in the States where we were born and which we love. 
 
 Here is another fact which justly merits the serious attention of all 
 who love the Southland. The South is essentially an agricultural centre. 
 The coloured population is an agricultural people. The country depends 
 more upon the labour of the coloured race than it does upon the labour 
 of the white race. The lasting prosperity of the South depends largely 
 upon the fact of the coloured population remaining there. The injustice 
 which white people perpetrate upon coloured people is fast depriving the 
 South of thousands of men and women who would never leave if they could 
 live there in peace. We, of the coloured race, are fleeing from the land 
 of our birth, not because we desire to do so, but because the oppression 
 from which we suffer is so great that we cannot stand it. We love 
 freedom ! 
 
 Until within a comparatively short time ago, the South produced 
 almost all the cotton consumed throughout the Western World. Coloured 
 people were the principal producers of that cotton. There were no labour 
 strikes on the great cotton plantations throughout the South. Agricul- 
 ture is now fast giving place to manufacture and the peaceful field is being 
 yearly supplanted by the noisy workshop and factory. The land of the 
 South is going to waste while the towns and cities are being crowded, and 
 people are living under dreadfully bad, moral and social conditions. 
 
 The large manufacturing establishments are attracting poor white 
 people into the South by thousands. White men, eager for material gain 
 of today, take no thought of tomorrow, and are selling Strong Drink to 
 poor white men and women, many of whom squander their own wages 
 and the small earnings of their young children — for poor white children 
 are paid very badly in Southern Cotton mills — for liquor, which means' 
 misery and death! 
 
 White politicians are opposed to the schoolhouse and support the 
 interest of men who deal in Strong Drink which degrades and demoralizes 
 white people. The prospect of the South is lowering. White men, awake ! 
 
 Now, Mr. Senator, let us approach the question of the superiority of 
 the white race in the South and also in other parts of the world. 
 
 First of all, I must admit that it is an exceedingly strange fact in 
 your political history that you, a man who had a desperately hard struggle 
 to emancipate yourself from the political, to say nothing of the social, 
 thraldom of men. of your own race, who considered themselves to be your 
 
 16 
 
superiors, simply by virtue of money and material advantages which they 
 had had and enjoyed, but which had been denied you and other poor white 
 men and women, should now champion the theory of the superiority of the 
 white race over the coloured race in the South. This is a phenomenon 
 which I should be pleased to have you explain. We must be logical in 
 our arguments, and therefore if the white race is superior to the coloured 
 race, then all white men and women must stand on a level, intellectually, 
 morally, and socially, or else the white race as a whole cannot be a superior 
 people. 
 
 Let us take a fact still more salient than the one mentioned. Woman 
 is the foundation of the race, but white men not only say, but actually 
 treat white women as inferior beings ! What explanation have you for 
 this puzzle? "Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a 
 corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit." (Matt, vii, 17). 
 
 How, then, Senator, can an inferior white woman bring forth a 
 superior boy child? Such are the questions I put to white men at 
 Mr. Stead's meeting. 
 
 My conception of racial superiority is based upon moral excellence, 
 "Ye shall know them by their fruits." (Matt, vii, 16). 
 
 If we accept this as a standard by which white and coloured men are 
 to be measured, then I think you will agree with me that coloured men 
 are superior to white men in the ex-slave States. 
 
 When coloured men were allowed to vote throughout the South they 
 voted for good educational measures by which poor white children were 
 favoured more than coloured children. During the days of slavery the 
 condition of the poor whites was decidedly worse than that of the coloured 
 slaves, for they had neither legal, political nor social rights! Is this true 
 or false? When coloured men had the vote, no laws were passed which 
 specially discriminated against white people. All who paid for first class 
 tickets on the railways redeemed that for which they paid. Is this true 
 or false? 
 
 Under the white man's rule, the coloured man has always borne the 
 burden in the heat of the day. The coloured man is taxed by the white 
 man for the upkeep of State Institutions, but is denied privileges which 
 said institutions offer, and to which he (the coloured man) has a legal 
 right. The coloured man pays first class fares on railways throughout the 
 ex-slave States, but by no means receives first class treatment. 
 
 If white and coloured men in the ex-slave States be judged by 
 the Gospel of Christ, as laid down in the Sermon on the Mount, there 
 is not the slightest doubt but that coloured men will prove themselves to 
 be superior to white men. "Let your light so shine before men that 
 they may see your good works." (Matt, v, 16). We must judge 'men 
 by their deeds, and not by their creeds ; by their zwrks, and not by their 
 words; for talk is cheap, and theory is much easier than practice. 
 
 Now, Senator, we will leave home and seek information abroad, for 
 
 17 
 
there is much truth in the adage, that we have often to go thousands of 
 miles from home to find the truth. I have spent more than six years 
 in Europe studying economic, political, social and religious questions, as 
 they affect the lives and morals of white people. Being far removed from 
 environments tainted and in fact badly poisoned by what we in the United 
 States have been trained to accept as innate racial and colour prejudices, 
 I have been able to get at facts as to the origin and growth of the theory 
 of superiority. 
 
 I make this statement without fear of honest contradiction; that if 
 there had never been a class and caste prejudice which has long separated 
 and produced the sharpest antagonism between white people of the same 
 race, and often of the same family in Europe, there never would have 
 been a phenomenon in America, now called and believed by many white 
 and coloured people to be a natural colour prejudice. 
 
 I will confine what I have to say on this point chiefly to England, 
 where I have had many advantages of studying the question and gather- 
 ing data which prove what I have to say up to the hilt. 
 
 The question of superiority of one individual over another, as 
 preached and practiced in England at the present time, has nothing what- 
 ever to do with intellect, morality and physique. 
 
 England is a country especially noted for the number of titles within 
 the gift of the Crown. Each titled person represents both superiority 
 and inferiority. Let us look at the Royal Family first. The King stands 
 at the head, then comes his eldest son, the Prince of Wales. ' The Prince 
 of Wales now was the Duke of York when his father was Prince of 
 Wales. The order has been somewhat reversed since the death of Queen 
 Victoria, and the present Prince of Wales' eldest son is known as little 
 Prince Edward of Wales. 
 
 Next in order comes the Nobility. Here we find, first, Duke and 
 then Marquis, Earl, Viscount or Baron. The list of English titles is 
 exceedingly long, but the above will suffice to illustrate what we wish 
 to learn. 
 
 Each title represents that the person holding it is superior to the next 
 in order beneath, but inferior to the one immediately above him in the 
 social rank. Of course each titled gentleman believes and feels that he 
 is actually inferior to the person next above him, but superior to the 
 one immediately beneath him socially. The ideals after which an English- 
 man strives hardest are social ideals. To reach the heights of his ambition 
 he must possess great wealth, since wealth alone brings with it great 
 distinction in England. In order to get wealth rapidly, men must enter 
 pursuits of trade and war, for by these occupations alone can men possess 
 millions of money. 
 
 How to get rich and become a respectable English gentleman is the 
 one thought that haunts the mind of a British-born boy from the time 
 he can think until he achieves the great object of his desires or dies in 
 
 18 
 
the attempt. I say a British-born boy, because even a Scotchman, or a 
 Welshman, or an Irishman who, from the English point of view, are all 
 low-born, may become a superior English gentleman if he should prove 
 himself one of the fittest in the race for material wealth. 
 
 Great Britain is, in a sense, an exceedingly poor country, so far 
 as natural resources are concerned. The land is poor in choice minerals, 
 and also for agricultural purposes. Being badly handicapped by Na- 
 ture's gifts, the situation was greatly complicated when a few took the 
 land away from the many and made the masses of the people in the 
 British Isles their veritable slaves — and this state of things has been 
 the cause of a tremendous struggle at home among white people. 
 
 Boys born outside the pale of the chosen few, but who possess great 
 ,ambition, have always had to look far from home for their fortunes. 
 It is a most curious fact in the history of this world and its peoples, 
 that the coloured races have always originally inhabited all the richest 
 countries, they being literally in possession of great material wealth, have 
 never been seized by the insatiable desire to amass fortunes at the ex- 
 pense of humanity, morals, religion and philosophy. On the contrary, all 
 great religions and true philosophies were founded by coloured races of 
 the East. Africa and Asia have always been the lands and homes of 
 great inspiration. A religious people — I don't mean a theological peo- 
 ple — are, as a rule, a people who trust other people, because they must 
 first love humanity whom they have seen, before they can love and have 
 confidence in God whom they have not seen. Man must have trust and 
 confidence in man before he can believe in a just God. White men have 
 always betrayed the trust and confidence coloured races have reposed in 
 them and have, instead of teaching truths which they professed to possess, 
 deprived coloured races of their freedom and rich countries, by means 
 of sheer physical force. Physical force then explains in a nutshell the 
 theory of superiority of one race over another. 
 
 The white man is an incarnate enigma or a parodox — it is hard to 
 tell which. He absorbs all his best thought and highest talents in de- 
 partments of Science to create and improve all the most dreadful instru- 
 ments of war for the destruction of humanity. Then he sends preachers 
 of the Gospel of Christ on the battlefield to preach eternal salvation to 
 poor innocent men who are murdered for material gain. Scientific men 
 and women follow the soldiers to comfort those who are slaughtered 
 in cold bipod! War is the negation of all humanity, and the white man 
 who claims to be the chief promoter of the welfare and happiness of 
 humanity, has manufactured the best modern shot, shell, torpedoes and 
 submarines and all the most deadly machines now used in modern war- 
 fare for the total ruin of mankind. With the aid of such instruments as 
 I have here mentioned, the white man has been able to assert his superi- 
 ority over coloured races for a time. But it will not be for always. 
 
 Englishmen boast of being the greatest and most successful Im- 
 
 19 
 
perialists the world has ever known. By this they unconsciously mean 
 that they have been the greatest slave masters the world has ever known. 
 
 The English "Merchant Company," chartered by Queen Elizabeth in 
 1600, opened the eyes of Englishmen to the wealth of India. Sir Walter 
 Raleigh pointed the way by which his countrymen sought wealth in North 
 America. Captain Cook led the way from the British Isles to Australia, 
 and Dr. Livingstone and Sir Henry Stanley found the gate through which 
 Europeans in general, and their countrymen in particular, have entered 
 into Africa, not only for wealth but for the downfall of European nations 
 and the ultimate decay of Western white civilization! 
 
 In seeking wealth in countries inhabited by coloured races, Europeans,' 
 and especially Englishmen, have carried their class and caste prejudices 
 with them, which, upon the hypothesis that the white races are superior 
 to the coloured races, have become colour prejudices. Senator, what I have 
 thus far written you amply explains the rise, growth and expansion of 
 the theory of racial superiority. The idea of superiority runs throughout 
 the religious, political, to say nothing of the social system of England. 
 
 Every man who has a dollar more than another man in England is 
 that much superior to the other man. White men leave home and live in 
 countries belonging to coloured races, not because they prefer these coun- 
 tries to the land of their birth, but because they cannot get on at home and 
 make fortunes which will bring them within the realm of recognition and 
 respectability of the refined and rich people of their own race at home. 
 
 In settling in countries far away from their native lands, Europeans 
 sink their class and caste prejudices and combine against the coloured 
 inhabitants of the countries where they seek their fortunes, in order that 
 they may the better accomplish their aims and return home where, by 
 sheer virtue of their acquired wealth, they may gain the favour of the rich 
 people who never leave home. 
 
 In England at the present time everybody is known by the particular 
 class to which he or she belongs. There are high class, middle class, upper 
 middle class, low class and upper low class ! The members of all these 
 classes are recognized by the class to which they belong. But when a 
 member of any class leaves home to seek his fortune, the moment he reaches 
 a country where there are coloured people, he becomes a superior man, 
 simply by reason of his complexion. / 
 
 The different classes in England never fraternize together, religiously 
 or socially. They never eat at the same table, and, as for intermarrying, 
 that is wholly out of the question. As for attending the same schools and 
 institutions of higher learning, that is entirely out of the question also. 
 A poor white man cannot get a first class education at a leading English 
 institution. The expenses of a first class education in England are too 
 great. Oxford and Cambridge are institutions for rich gentlemen. Now 
 and then a poor white man gets in on a scholarship, but not often, and 
 when he does, he is never recognized by rich men's sons. 
 
 20 
 
In short, England is a country ruled by and in the interest of rich 
 men. Baronetcies and Knighthoods are in the gift of the British Cabinet, 
 who, of course, are entirely influenced by the Crown. Money, and not 
 brains, rules everywhere. Rich men hold all the best positions and profes- 
 sions, religious, legal, medical and military, and they are the superior men of 
 the nation. Englishmen of positions and great wealth are all superior! 
 When a poor Scotchman, Welshman, or Irishman rises to power by means of 
 wealth, he becomes an English gentleman of position and he lives in 
 England and is received in high class society. The best demonstration of 
 this fact that I can now mention is the late Sir Henry Stanley. He was 
 born a poor Welsh boy, brought up and educated in a workhouse in Wales. 
 He left home at an early age, went to America to seek his fortune, but 
 bad luck overtook him there. Finally, he found his way to Africa and 
 brought back the news to Europe that Africa was a country rich with 
 gold mines and black people to work them. He died an English gentleman 
 of distinction. 
 
 Now, Mr. Senator, I have written at much greater length than^I 
 intended to do when I commenced this letter, but the subject is one of 
 intense interest to all lovers of truth and justice to all human beings and 
 all who desire to do what they can to promote peace in the world and 
 happiness of the whole human family, therefore I think I need not apolo- 
 gize for the length of this letter nor for anything I have said in it. 
 
 My parents were slaves in South Carolina and gained their freedom 
 as a result of the Civil War. I was born during the time of, or soon after 
 the Reconstruction of the seceded slave States. My father was a foreman 
 on a large slave plantation in the northwestern part of the State of South 
 Carolina. He was a man of keen intellect, although he could neither read 
 nor write. He made a close study of questions which led up tothe Civil 
 War, and being intimately associated with his master, he had every, facility 
 for understanding the conditions which produced antagonism between 
 whites and black after the war. Curiously enough, my father did not 
 believe that education and Christianity had improved the white man. His 
 view of slavery was that the slaves supported the slaveholders, and as 
 producers are of more importance in working out man's salvation than 
 consumers, therefore coloured men were superior to white men! 
 
 At the death of my father, more than fifteen years ago, I left the farm 
 and went to Columbia, where I remained for a few years pursuing the 
 study of books, as I thought education from books improved people morally 
 and made them better citizens of this world, which to my mind at that time, 
 meant they would, if prepared in this world, make good citizens of the next 
 world. 
 
 After living in Columbia a while, I soon learned that many of my 
 father's views were correct, and that education as the white man taught 
 and practiced it, really meant getting on materially and this, in fine, meant 
 exploitation of the masses by the clever members of the classes who con- 
 
 21. 
 
trolled the political affairs of the State. Not being satisfied with condi- 
 tions in the South, I went North, where educational advantages were far 
 better for white and coloured people than in the South. I had the good for- 
 tune to meet and gain the friendship and practical help of some noble- 
 hearted white men and women. This heightened my interest in the white 
 man's civilization, for I saw that general conditions were much better in 
 the progressive States than they were in the ex-slave States. 
 
 I worked at hotels and in private families and earned money to pay 
 my way at three different institutions of learning in the North. While 
 profiting in certain ways, I did not feel that the white man's ideas of civil- 
 ization were altogether correct. All we young men and the women were 
 taught brought sharply before our minds competition. 
 
 We read much about ancient and modern wars and accepted facts from 
 history; of man's cruelty to his fellowmen on the battlefield as acts of 
 heroism, which young Christian men and women were to be proud of. 
 
 While attending school in the North I made observations of general, 
 social and economic conditions as they affected the lives and morals of 
 white people. I soon became dissatisfied and left Boston on the 28th of 
 March, 1898, for England, where I had hoped to find great freedom and 
 the best conditions possible under the white man's or any man's civiliza- 
 tion. 
 
 After what I have said in this letter I need hardly say how dreadfully 
 disappointed I have been in coming to England. 
 
 There is more poverty, misery and crime in England, in consequence 
 of the exploitation of the masses of the people, which has been going on for 
 hundreds of years, than must be possible to find in any so-called civilized 
 country of the world. I have been in France, but found no such poverty 
 and misery in the streets of Paris as one sees every hour of the day in 
 London. According to recent national statistics, for every thirty-nine of 
 the population of England and Wales there is one actual pauper! This is 
 true in the face of the fact that England has been at war in different parts 
 of Africa from the day I arrived in London down to the present time. 
 
 I have visited a number of prisons in England, Scotland and Wales, 
 and found them all crowded with criminals. 
 
 The English prison system is punitive, pure and simple, and once a 
 poor human soul slips and falls, he or she is doomed to a life of sorrow 
 for ever thereafter. England is said to be a civilized and Christianized 
 land. But there is no mercy and forgiveness in this land. Well, I have 
 almost despaired of the white man's civilization after ten years' close study 
 of how white people treat each other. I am making studies of the white 
 man. White men spend all their time studying coloured people. 
 
 In the progressive States of America and in France, I have seen the 
 white man's civilization at its best. But even in these sections there is much 
 more to be desired. _ 
 
 Capital and labour are 'constantly at war with each other and humanity 
 
 22 
 
suffers in consequence. Throughout the ex-slave States and in the entire 
 British Empire, no thought is taken of human flesh and blood. 
 
 White men have made a terrible job in South Africa, murdering each 
 other for the possession of gold mines. The necessities of life for home 
 people in the British Isles at home, have been heavily taxed to pay the 
 war bill. In Australia, capital and labour are at war ; labour has triumphed 
 for the present. The British Home Government is now spending all its 
 valuable time supporting the interest of men dealing in Strong Drink at 
 home, and other men who are making slaves to work gold mines in 
 South Africa and in other parts of Africa. 
 
 Millions of human souls have perished of famine in India within the 
 past few years, while white men lead native Indian soldiers in different 
 parts of Africa and Asia to kill coloured races who desire their own lands 
 and personal freedom. The white man's civilization has collapsed. Anglo- 
 Saxons have failed in Ireland for centuries. The Welsh people would like 
 to get free of Anglo-Saxon misrule. The Anglo-Saxon says the Celtic 
 Irishman cannot rule Ireland. But the Irishman has successfully ruled 
 America. That is, he has made a better job of it in America than Anglo- 
 Saxons have in Ireland. 
 
 Senator, I do not wholly despair! There is still hope left. White 
 men have failed, but humanity has not failed. 
 
 If white men are wise in their day and generation, they will now give 
 women a free hand in all departments of government. Women have not 
 failed because men have never allowed them to be free! I am not asking 
 for political power for coloured men. I am not sure that they would be 
 any more capable than white men have proved themselves to be. Wher- 
 ever women have had a free hand they have proved themselves more than 
 worthy of the places of trust they have thus far filled. 
 
 Come, Senator, will you join me in working for the political, economic 
 and social freedom of white and coloured women in the South? If so, I 
 shall be glad to hear from you on the subject which I have discussed in 
 this letter. If not, I shall be glad to further discuss points raised in this 
 letter, either in the pages of some American publication, or from the public 
 platform. Will you or any of your men friends take up the challenge? 
 
 From statistics and data which white men have compiled, I am pre- 
 pared to prove: (i) That the white man has failed in his attempt to 
 govern States; (2) that white races are not superior to coloured races; 
 (3) that women are at least 30 per cent better than men morally, intel- 
 lectually and spiritually. 
 
 I hope to be in New York City towards the end of June this year, and 
 shall be prepared to meet any white man who wishes to defend the lost 
 cause of white men ! 
 
 I am Sir, yours truly, 
 
 D. E. Tobias. 
 
 On behalf of truth, justice and righteousness for all human being through- 
 out the world, and of all races, colours, nations and sexes. 
 
 23 
 
i/cra 
 
 PAM PHLET BINDER 
 
 ^^j; Syracuse, N. Y. 
 -— — Stockton, Calif. 
 

 ! 
 
 ■ *i