“I doubt very much whether there is any such thing as an unsolved ‘negro problem,’ since the negro was granted the same rights and privileges as others enjoy under the Constitution. There certainly was a problem before that, but when the government clothed the negro with the full rights of freemen the problem was solved, and there remains now but to allow the slow process of time to adjust ourselves to the situation. “The negro is a citizen of the United States, invested with the suffrage, guarded by the most solemn and positive safeguards, and the nation will never turn back the pages. And all that now remains, as said, is to adjust ourselves to these unalterable conditions. The age of miracles is probably past, certain it is that this is not an age of miracles; hence, we do not look for the elevation of a despised and formerly enslaved race to the full plane of its surroundings in a day, nor in any time short of that usually required to elevate mankind generally. The process seems slow and discouraging except, possibly, to those who have lived long enough to comprehend the changes that have been wrought over a period of many years. Remarkable advancement has been made by the whole people since the proclamation of freedom was issued, and we should be well satisfied that on every hand progress is reported and manifest. “Whatever may be the treatment accorded the negro, he nevertheless, recognizes the fact that his condition is an improvement upon the condition which might have been his had his progenitors remained in the shade of the Dark Continent. Reckoning over a period of two hundred and fifty years, he has been much the gainer and has no disposition to return to his ancient condition. He has now passed the problematic stage; there is nothing doubtful, untried or unsolved in his case. His is an open book. Dewey’s Work. “But a new problem, by the fortune of war, now confronts the American people. A new volume was unexpectedly opened on that Sunday morning when Dewey passed the gates at Cavite, and its pages have become the more perplexing as the glory of that day fades in the distance. The negro welcomed the day when the American people gave evidence of the fact that they recognized that the negro problem had been solved, and other subjects occupied their minds. When free trade vs. protection, honest money vs. free silver, became the chief topics of discussion, it was an assurance to the negro of the end of a long drawn out discussion, which had served to keep him upon the surface of a troubled sea. The hour has come when he may sit somewhat complacently in his own secure place in the nation and discuss the desirability of admitting other races to the full enjoyment of American citizenship, and it is to be hoped that his own experience will tend to clarify the atmosphere surrounding him and enable him to deal justly by and be merciful to others, situated in many respects in a position which was once his own.