By Maxwell Gorman
Raleigh, May 24—In the interest of straight news told in an unprejudiced statement by one who is familiar with the facts and present situation, the following extracts therefrom, as recited to me today, are printed purely as News. He said.
“If one will ask a given number of people, including Democrats (officer-holders excepted, if they believe a strong opposition political party is a good thing for any state to have, an overwhelming majority will decisively say ‘yes.’ Most of them in North Carolina, Tennessee, and other Southern States will add—‘provided neither is dominated by or has a monopoly of the negro votes.’” Many will go further and say that it is not feasible or desirable otherwise, in states where the bulk of the negroes line up with either party or against the other. “Now, then, that view of (words obscured) was held by Chairman Linney and other Republican committeemen in the last campaign, when the Republicans polled 23,000 votes more than 200,000 of the votes being white men and women.
“The demonstration that so many white votes could be polled in a Southern State for the Republican candidates, state and National, greatly impressed some Republican leaders, including President Harding, who have long been interested in the organization of a militant and formidable Republican party in some of the Southern states.
“It had been so repeatedly shown to these leaders in previous campaigns that no such party could be organized or maintained in North Carolina with the negro vote forming its basis, that the development of a white Republican party was regarded most favorably at Washington generally—with the exception of some Senators and Congressmen hailing from the states in the North and West where there is a considerable negro vote, which they fear may be used against them if they openly and officially endorse the ‘Lilly Whites,’ political trimmers and a few who still hate the South.
“President Harding appointed Mr. Linney, knowing about the white party attitude he and his committee maintained in last year’s campaign. “If he is confined by the Senate, the prospects are that the Republican party will be greatly strengthened in North Carolina, because the people will have positive proof that the white-domination principles now professed by Republican leaders can be practically carried out—with the National administration backing the movement.
“If the protests made by the several negro politicians (Bishop This and Professor That) against Mr. Linney’s confirmation serve to defeat him, and to cause the withdrawal of his nomination by the President, it will be a great blow to Republican National prospects in North Carolina, the chances being that the State could not be reasonably expected to vote for a Republican elector in the future----and that, even if Mr. Linney stands by his guns and insist that his attitude and record were correct and will be maintained.”
THE “DEFENSE”
The above statement, made from a non-partisan standpoints, represents that viewpoint fairly well. As to whether Linney will be confirmed, the following extract is taken from a Washington correspondent’s story this week:
“That the present idea of Linney forces is to base the fight to save Linney upon three grounds is evident. First, it will be declared that the only way to build up a decent Republican party in North Carolina is to divorce it from the negro; second, that the Democrats in 1920 were making use of a statement said to have originated in Republican headquarters in which the negro women were called upon to register so to offset the registration of white women; third, that attacks were being made on the ancestry of Senator Harding, Republican nominee for President, and that the anti-negro declaration will be intended to give that matter a black eye. And this last line of defense, it is rumored, will be made the strongest.
From the Commonwealth, Scotland Neck, N.C., Tuesday, May 24,1921
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