70

BE AN ISSUE

ADMINISTRATION SUFFERS
FROM CABINET OFFICERS

"The World's" Comment Sena—
tor Crane's Old Home Sold—
Mediterranean Shipping Men-
aced—Republicans and Colorado

WASHINGTON. NOV. 15.— The Trotter in-
cident has indeed fanned the segregation
issue into a great blaze—and curiously
enouph, perhaps, it is not the treatment of
Mr. Trotter, but the question of segrega-
tion per se which is now center of con-
troversy. The point is made that what-
ever Mr. Trotter's behavior and words, the
case remains as important as it was, and
this rather sensational incident has brought
it into new rellel. In short, the Trotter
matter has advertised the matter.

The President said there was no politics
in it, and could not be. The opinion of
political experts is that he is mistaken in
this. Can he keep polities out of it? By
saying that he had been informed by offi-
cials that the segregation had been started
to avold friction between the races, and
not with the object of injuring the ne-
groes, the President has opened a point
to attack, and effective attack. There has
been no friction that anyone could dis-
cover between the white and black em-
ployees, in something like half a century
of their working together, until MeAdoo,
Burleson and one or two others came into
power. This "friction" is a new thing. The
suspicion is general here that it is hand-
made. When so staunch a Democratic
paper as the New York World, an ardent
admirer of Woodrow Wilson, condemns the
race situation in the federal departments,
it is futile to say that there is no case, or
that politics can be kept out of it. This
is what the World has to say, editorially,
on the matter:-

What "The World" Says.

"The bad manners of the chairman of the
delegation, however deplorable are no
justification of the policy of Jim-Crow
government which certain members of the
cabinet have established in their depart-
ments; and, as the President well knows,
insolet conduct is not confined to the
members of any particular race.

"The President should have foreseen this
unfortunate issue when Mr. McAdoo and
Mr. Burleson were carrying their color-
line theories into democratic government.
Mr. Wilson told the committee that there
had been no discrimination in the com-
forts and surroundings of the negro clerks,
but explained that 'he had been informed
by officials that the segregation had been
started to avoid friction between the races,
and not with the object of injuring the negroes.'
The President failed to explain,
nevertheless why no such rule had been
considered necessary until Mr. Burleson
and Mr. McAdoo got into the cabinet.

"The President thinks that this is not a political
question, but he is wrong. Any-
thing that is unjust, discriminating, and un-
American in government is certain to be
a potitical question. Servants of the United
States Government are servants of the
United States Government, regardless of
race or color. For several years a negro
has been Collector of Internal Revenue in
New York. He never found it necessary to
segregate the white employees of his de-
partment to prevent 'friction'; yet he
would have had quite as much right to do
so as Mr. McAdoo had to segregate the
negro employees of the Treasury in Wash-
ington.

"While the Democrats of the country
have been trying to solve certain great
problems of government, a few Southern
members of the Cabinet have been allowed
to exploit their petty local prejudice at the
expense of the party's reputation for ex-
act justice.

"Whether the President thinks so or not,
the segregation rule was promulgated as a
deliberate discrimination against negro em-
ployees.

"Worse still, it is a small, mean, petty
discrimination, and Mr. Wilson ought to
have set his heel upon this presumptuous
Jim-Crow government the moment it was
established. He ought to set his heel upon
it now. It is a reproach to his Administra-
tion and to the great political principles
which he represents."

84971

Personally, President Wilson has treat-
ed the negro clerks well. At the instance
of the Secretary of the Treasury, he re-
cently promoted Richard Green, a negro
messenger of long and faithful service,
to a clerkship, and at the suggestion of
Sec. Bryan he similarly promoted Ed-
ward Savoy, the Secretary's personal
messenger. Both of these promotions re-
quired Executive orders. He also nom-
inated a negro to be Registrar of the
Treasury, but the nomination stirred up
so much hostility among the Southern
Senators that the candidate withdrew,
and an Indian, Gabe E. Parker, finally
was appointed and confirmed.