The strong line taken by President Roosevelt in his Message
to Congress, and his recent action in connexion with the Brownsville riots, led to an extraordinary speech from Senator Tillman last Saturday. The galleries of the Senate were packed in anticipation of a sensational outburst, and Senator Tillman was even more extravagant than usual, openly justifying lynching, and predicting that blood would flow like water in the settlement of the race question. All educated Americans repudiate these sentiments, but, as the Times correspondent in Washington observes, the publicity attaching to a Senator's speeches—even though in a minority of one—undoubtedly tends to inflame race hatred, "whether Mongolian, Indian, or negro, and to increase the difficulties of adjusting the relationship between the Caucasians and these races." Whatever may be the imperfections of the House of Lords, none of its Members is capable of makin$ so mischievous a speech as this.
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