Chapter XXXVIII: How to Help the Negro to Help Himself 468 (3)

There are to be found now not a few Negro men and women whose culture and refinement would not suffer by comparison with that of the best white people of this country. It is not native incapacity and the want of vital manhood that limit the Negro's progress in civilization, but it is the fight made against him on the ground of his previous condition. Remove this and give the Negro the white man's chance and he will keep pace with the white man in his march toward civilization.

THIRD PAPER.

WILL IT BE POSSIBLE FOR THE NEGRO TO ATTAIN, IN THIS COUNTRY, UNTO THE AMERICAN TYPE OF CIVILIZATION?

BY R. S. LOVINGGOOD, A. M.

PROF. R. S. LOVINGGOOD, A. M.

Prof. R. S. Lovinggood was born in Walhalla, S. C., in 1864.
He came to Clark University, Atlanta, Ga., in 1881, and
remained in school nine years, completing the college course
and taking a course in carpentry. Immediately after
graduating, he began to publish the "Atlanta Times," a
weekly paper, which he continued for two years. He sold out
his interest in the paper, and was elected principal of a
city school in Birmingham, Ala., where he taught with great
success for three years. Here he was married to Miss Lillie
G. England, in 1894. In the fall of 1895, he was elected to
the chair of Greek and Latin at Wiley University, Marshall,
Texas, and entered upon his work with enthusiasm. His wife
died in January, 1896, leaving him a boy only ten days old.
He continued his work at Wiley University for five
consecutive years. His success was notable in this position.
He wrote a work which has received favorable mention in
several papers of high grade. The title of the work is "Why
Hic, Halc, Hoc for the Negro?"

He was married a second time on April 25, 1900, to Miss
Mattie A. Townsend of Birmingham, Ala. In the fall of 1900,
he was elected to the presidency of Samuel Houston College,
Austin, Texas. His success here has been notable. Though
this is a new school, he enrolled 205 the first year. This
is its second year, and the enrollment will doubtless reach
300.

Prof. Lovinggood is a good scholar, a fluent speaker, and an
earnest Christian. He was a delegate to the General
Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Chicago in
1900. He is quite popular with the preachers and the people
wherever he goes. A bright future is before him and the
young school of which he is president.

I presume it is not necessary to show in detail what the American type of civilization is, or will be. Whatever that type is, or may be; will the Negro attain unto it in this country? Of the American type of civilization this much may be said, that this is a "government of the people, for the people and by the people; that all men are created with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness;" that governments derive "their just power from the consent of the governed;" that in such governments each individual is entitled to all the rights vouchsafed to any other individual in that government; that every one is entitled to stand on his merits as a citizen of the government.

Taking this view of the American type of civilization, will it be possible for the Negro to attain unto it? Will the time ever come when the Negro will stand on his merits in our government? Will it ever be that the Negro will stand the same chance to be Mayor, Congressman, Senator, Governor, President? That he will be tried for crimes as other men are tried? No one who believes in the innate capacity of the Negro to achieve as high a type of civilization as any other race, will question that it will be possible for him to achieve the American type of civilization along the lines of invention, commerce, philanthropy, scholarship, etc. The Negro _can be_ industrious, patriotic, courageous. He can be useful in the community in which he lives. He can be as good as anybody else. No one doubts that he can be as meritorious as any other. Geographical lines cannot prevent the Negro from being meritorious. Now, if he is meritorious, will he be treated according to his merits in both church and state? Is it possible in this country that he will be treated according to his deserts? I take this to be the gist of the question, and it is a hard one to answer. The prejudice against the Negro is more severe than that against any other people, and the prejudice grows stronger. Even the Christian churches are yielding to it. I remember that the Plebeians in the Roman Empire, though of the same blood as the Patricians, were excluded from the Comitia, the Senate and all civil and priestly offices of the state for several hundred years. Though of the same color, the statute of Kilkenny prohibited the Irish and English from intermarrying in the fourteenth century. Prejudice ran high, and has not ended yet. The wail of sorrowful Ireland continues to go up before England for justice. I remember the sad story of Kosciusko and the Poles. The Poles were white.

Here we are of a different color, ex-slaves, poor, beaten back by prejudice. Who can tell our future? We can only hope and give the reason for the hope that is in us.

I believe it is _possible_ for us to succeed in America. I should despair if I did not believe this. Why do I believe it? Here is my ground for hope: First, the Negro is the only race that has ever looked into the face of the blue-eyed Anglo-Saxon without being swept from the face of the earth. There is that docility, that perseverance, that endurance, long-suffering patience and that kindness in the Negro which rob the pangs of the hatred of the white man of much of their deadly poison. The Negro thrives on persecution. He never loses faith. Individuals may lose hope, but the race will never. The Negro does not run against the buzz-saw of destruction, and this fact should be put down to his credit. The saw will not whirl forever.

Second: The success of the last thirty-seven years gives hope of ultimate triumph. The Negro has increased in intelligence, in wealth, in moral worth, in population, etc. It is useless to give figures. All right-thinking men admit this.

I take no part in that view of a few pessimists, that the Negro race grows worse; that the "old time Negro" is better than the young "new Negro." The old Negro was submissive because he was not allowed to be otherwise. There is no character in slavish goodness. Character must be developed in freedom of action. Under freedom, a few young Negroes have gone to excess, but, thank God, under freedom, hundreds of thousands of young Negroes, in schools and out of schools, are struggling up the hill of virtue, of industry, of learning, not goaded on by the lash of the master, but impelled by a holy ambition that does not halt at temporary defeats.

Third: So I believe the Negro will be as good as any. He will produce his poets, historians, philosophers, inventors, his men of commerce, his humanitarians. His present disenfranchisement will keep him along these lines. The best people in America are helping him. Besides the Negro's own efforts in such organizations as the A. M. E. Church, the American Missionary Association of the Congregational Church, the Freedmen's Aid and Southern Educational Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Home Mission Society of the Baptist Church, and many other organizations are behind him with millions of dollars, with prayers and with the souls and the flesh and blood of the best men and women of the world. There are good men North and South--white men--who desire the Negro's success. Their number will grow. With these helps the Negro can become noble in character. He can merit the best at the hands of the American people. If he is as good and useful as any other class of people, will he be treated as any other class?

Fourth: Now, I will go a little further and say I know it is "possible" for the Negro to attain unto the American type of civilization; but, is it "probable"? I even believe it is probable.

The Negro is included in the "all men are created with certain inalienable rights." He is included in the "Our Father." He is included in the "Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do you even so unto them." Now, if the nation adopts some separate and unjust manner of treatment of the Negro, it must repudiate the Declaration of Independence. It must repudiate the Lord's Prayer. It must repudiate the Golden Rule. Can it do that and survive? Can it practice injustice upon the Negro and survive? Sin recoils upon the sinner. Injustice to the Negro will destroy the Nation. For that reason good white men and women are striving to bring the Nation up to that high plane of righteousness where justice is meted out to all alike. These good white men and women ought to conquer. I believe they will. Not to-day, but to-morrow. Thus the Negro, striving to be the best in the community, the white men, striving to reduce to practice the Golden Rule, may it not come to pass that "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks," and that the country of Lincoln shall thus become the "land of the free and the home of the brave," where all men of all races shall be treated in all departments of life according to their worth?

FOURTH PAPER.

WILL IT BE POSSIBLE FOR THE NEGRO TO ATTAIN, IN THIS COUNTRY, UNTO THE AMERICAN TYPE OF CIVILIZATION?

BY BISHOP J. W. HOOD, D. D., LL. D.

BISHOP J. W. HOOD, D. D., LL. D.

The subject of this sketch was born in Kennett Township,
Chester County, Pa., May 30, 1831. His father's house being
near the line between freedom and slavery was a station of
the Underground Railroad. Hence, the boy was very early
impressed with the evils of slavery and imbibed an intense
hatred toward that institution, and an intense love for his
afflicted race. This sentiment has been a great factor in
shaping his conduct through life. His moral and religious
convictions were fixed in early life. He was sensible of a
call to the ministry, but hesitated a long time because he
felt a lack of necessary qualification. He was licensed to
preach in 1856; ordained a deacon in 1860; elder in 1862,
and bishop in 1872. He entered upon a course of studies soon
after he was licensed, and has been a hard student ever
since.

His first appointment was to a mission in Nova Scotia. In
December, 1861, he was appointed to missionary work in the
South. Following the army, he reached New Berne, N. C.,
January 20, 1864. As a traveling minister he always had
encouraging success, especially in North Carolina, in which
State his denomination has a larger following than in any
other. Two of its most important institutions are located
there, namely, the Publication House at Charlotte and
Livingstone College at Salisbury. Bishop Hood is one of the
founders of the college, and has been President of the Board
of Trustees during its entire history.

He has been married three times, and has six living
children, all of whom have been mainly educated at this
institution. The Bishop is an untiring worker, and has
traveled as much as 20,000 miles a year. He once preached
forty-five sermons in thirty-one days, driving from five to
twenty-five miles a day. He is a natural presiding officer
and governs his conferences with an ease and quietness that
is astonishing.

He is an author. His first work was a book of twenty-five
sermons. The second a pamphlet, "Know, Do, and Be Happy."
The third, a history of the A. M. E. Zion Church (625
pages).

The fourth a pamphlet, "The True Church, the Real Sacrifice,
the Genuine Membership." His fifth, and most important, is,
"The Plan of the Apocalypse." He has in manuscript, a work
on the Millennium; also the material for a second book of
sermons, and is now writing an Autobiography.

Bishop Haygood of the M. E. Church South, who wrote the
introduction to the Book of Sermons, says: "Bishop Hood has
traveled the continent to and fro. His ability, his
eloquence, his zeal and usefulness, have commanded the
respect and confidence of the best people of both races."

As one of the members of the Ecumenical Conference that met
in London in 1881, Bishop Hood made a lasting impression.

These sermons speak for themselves. Their naturalness, their
clearness, their force and their general soundness of
doctrine, and wholesomeness of sentiment, commend them to
sensible and pious people. I have found them as useful as
interesting.

Those who still question whether the Negro in this country
is capable of education and "uplifting," will modify their
opinions when they read these sermons, or else will conclude
that their author is a very striking exception to what they
assume to be a general rule.

The subject of this article is one upon which much thought has been spent, and yet, excepting the color of the skin and the texture of the hair, the Negro has more the appearance of the white American than any other race. A cultured colored woman, with gloves on her hands and a veil on her face, is hard to distinguish from a cultured white woman a little way off.

And the same is true of men when the complexion is not seen. We shall take the position that the inherent possibility of the Negro is equal to that of any race. Notwithstanding his environments are against him, yet he has the inherent power to break through them, and will break through them and reach the highest plane of Christian civilization.

This is indicated by the progress he has made in the few years in which he has had any chance for development as an American citizen. Almost everything has been against him. Every possible effort has been employed by his enemies to keep him down; but in spite of all he rises. Like Israel of old, the more he is oppressed the more he prospers.

His possibility is indicated by the stock from which he comes.

It is the impression of many that the Negro has no history to which he can point. There could be no greater mistake than this. If it had been in the power of modern historians of the Caucasian race to rob him of his history it would have been done. But the Holy Bible has stood as an everlasting rock in the black man's defense. God himself has determined that the black man shall not be robbed of his record which he has made during the ages past.

The first and most illustrious of earth's historians has left on record statements which set forth the fact beyond reasonable doubt that an ancestor of the Negro race was the first of the earth's great monarchs; and that that race ruled the world for a long period; and the statements of Moses are confirmed by the testimonies of the earliest secular historians, whose writings have come down to our time. Ethiopia and Egypt were first among the early monarchies, and these countries were peopled by the descendants of Ham, through Cush and Mizraim.

Palestine was peopled by Canaan, the younger son of Ham, upon whom the curse was pronounced; and, notwithstanding the curse, his posterity ruled that land for hundreds of years. They were in it when the promise of it was made to Abraham; and four hundred years later, when Israel came out of Egypt, they were still in full possession of it. And, although the land was promised to Israel, yet two tribes, the Jebusites and Sidonians, resisted the attacks of Israel for more than four hundred years after they entered upon their promised possessions. Neither Joshua, nor the Judges of Israel, could drive them out. Not until David became King were the Jebusites driven out from the stronghold of Zion. (Even David failed to drive out the Sidonians.) It was from the ancient seat of the Jebusites, Jerusalem, also called Salem, the seat of royalty and power, that Melchizedek, the most illustrious king, priest and prophet of that race, came forth to bless Abraham, as seen in Gen. XIV., 18:19. There have been many wild notions respecting this personage, for which there is no good reason. Dr. Barnes, a standard author, whose commentaries have been adopted by the Presbyterian Board, takes the position that there can be no question but that Melchizedek was a Canaanite.

That the Phoenicians, who were the founders of Carthage in connection with the original Africans, were the descendants of Canaan there ought to be no question; but, since everything honorable to the Negro race is questioned, we will simply give the testimony of Rollin. He says: "The Canaanites are certainly the same people who are called almost always Phoenicians by the Greeks, for which name no reason can be given, any more than the oblivion of the true one." Thus it is seen, that up to Rollin's time there was no question as to the fact that the Phoenicians were Canaanites. Rollin did not know why this, instead of the true name, was given; neither do we know; but we may easily conjecture that, since it was the Greeks that gave this name instead of the true one, it may have been their purpose to hide the fact that the people to whom they were so greatly indebted were the descendants of the accursed son of Ham. This would be in perfect accord with the conduct of Caucasian authors now. We have also the testimony of Dr. Barnes that the Phoenicians were descended from the Canaanites. In his notes on Matt. XV., 22, of the woman of Canaan who met Jesus on the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he says: "This woman is also called a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth" (Mark VII., 26).

Anciently the whole land, including Tyre and Sidon, was in the possession of the Canaanites, and called Canaan. The Phoenicians were descended from the Canaanites. The country, including Tyre and Sidon, was called Phoenicia or Syro-Phoenicia. That country was taken by the Greeks under Alexander the Great, and these cities, in the time of Christ, were Greek cities. This woman was therefore a Gentile, living under the Greek government, and probably speaking that language. She was by birth a Syro-Phoenician, born in that country, and descended therefore from the ancient Canaanites. On the same text Dr. Abbott says: "The term Canaan was the older title of the country and the inhabitants were successively termed Canaanites and Phoenicians; as the inhabitants of England were successively called Britons or Englishmen."

Of Carthage we may remark that through all the hundreds of years of its existence as an independent government, it remained a republic. Rollin, speaking of the government, says: "The government of Carthage was founded upon principles of most consummate wisdom; and it is with reason that Aristotle ranks this republic in the number of those that were held in the greatest esteem by the ancients, and which were fit to serve as a model for others. He grounds his opinion on a reflection which does great honor to Carthage, by remarking that from the foundation to his time (that is, upward of five hundred years) no considerable sedition had disturbed the peace, nor any tyrant oppressed the liberty of the state. Indeed, mixed governments such as that of Carthage, where the power was divided betwixt the nobles and the people, are subject to the inconveniences either of degenerating into an abuse of liberty by the seditions of the populace, as frequently happened in Athens, and in all the Grecian republics, or in the oppression of the public liberty by the tyranny of the nobles; as in Athens, Syracuse, Corinth, Thebes, and Rome itself, under Sylla and Caesar. It is, therefore, giving Carthage the highest praise to observe that it had found out the art by the wisdom of its laws, and the harmony of the different parts of its government, to shun during so long a series of years, two rocks that are so dangerous, and on which others so often split. It were to be wished that some ancient author had left us an accurate and regular description of the customs and laws of the famous republic."

While we agree with Rollin in his lament of the want of a more complete history of that ancient Negro republic, yet, if those Caucasians who are wont to arrogate to themselves all the excellencies of the world, and deny that the Negro ever has been great, or ever can be, would take time to read what has been written with sufficient care to understand it, they would lose some of their self-conceit and add much to their store of knowledge.

That the ancient Egyptians were black, both the Holy Scriptures and the discoveries of science, as also the most ancient histories, most fully attest. But as some profess to have doubts on this point, we shall take some testimony, which, we think, no fair minded man will attempt to dispute.

The Psalmist calls to memory the wonders which God wrought for his people, and celebrates in song his dealings with Israel in Egypt, and frequently calls Egypt the land of Ham. How can this be accounted for if Egypt was not peopled by the posterity of Ham? But he goes further than this; he calls their dwellings the tabernacles of Ham. "He smote the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham." Psalm lxvii, 51: "Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham." Psalm cv, 23: "He sent Moses, his servant and Aaron whom he had chosen. They set among them his signs and wonders in the land of Ham." Psalm cv, 26:27: "They forget their God their Savior which had done great things in Egypt; wondrous things in the land of Ham." (Psalm xvi, 21:22.)

The man who, after reading these passages, can doubt that the Egyptians to whom Israel was in bondage were the descendants of Ham, is beyond the reach of reason. The repetition seems designed to settle this fact beyond question. We might add, if it were necessary, that the Book of Canticles is an allegory, based upon Solomon's affection for his beautiful black wife, the daughter of Pharaoh, King of Egypt.

In the sixty-eighth Psalm we have a prophecy which connects Egypt with Ethiopia, as follows: "Princes shall come out of Egypt. Ethiopia shall soon stretch forth her hands unto God."

Rollin, in speaking of the fact, that all callings in Egypt were honorable, gives this as a probable reason: "That as they all descended from Ham, their common father, the memory of their still recent origin, occurring to the minds of all in those first ages, established among them a kind of equality, and stamped in their opinion a nobility on every person descended from the common stock."

Again, treating of the history of the Kings of Egypt, Rollin says: "The ancient history of Egypt comprises two thousand one hundred and fifty-eight years; and is naturally divided into three periods. The first begins with the establishment of the Egyptian monarchy by Menes or Mizraim the son of Ham, in the year of the world 1816." On the next page he says of Ham: "He had four children, Cush, Mizraim, Phut and Canaan." After speaking of the settlements of the other sons he returns to Mizraim and says: "He is allowed to be the same as Menes, whom all historians declare to be the first king of Egypt."

In speaking of the sons of Ham, Rollin says: "Cush settled in Ethiopia, Mizraim in Egypt, which generally is called in Scripture after his name, and by that of Cham (Ham) his father."

That ancient Egypt was the seat of the arts and sciences, there can be no doubt; the evidences of this still remain. The cities built by the early kings of Egypt have been the wonder of all succeeding ages.

Sesostris stands at the head of the list of the great Egyptian warriors. Rollin says: "His father, whether by inspiration, caprice, or, as the Egyptians say, by the authority of an oracle, formed the design of making his son a conqueror. * * * " (See Rollin, Vol. I, p. 161.)

The record given by Rollin indicates that Sesostris was among the wisest, as well as among the most powerful monarchs of the earth. Napoleon was a great warrior, but he died in exile, a prisoner of war. Alexander was a great general, but he made a foolish march across a desert country almost to the destruction of his army, for the foolish purpose of worshipping at the shrine, and being called the son of Jupiter Ammon. This so discouraged his forces that he never accomplished the object of his ambition.

Sesostris made no such blunders in his campaigns. He went forth conquering until he met a providential interposition; his climax of wisdom was displayed in his turning back when he discovered that not merely mortal beings, but the Great Immortal, opposed his further conquest.

He returned to his own country to enjoy in peace and prosperity the fruits of his unparalleled victories. His conduct toward those cities which resisted in attacks most stubbornly was in striking contrast to that of Alexander. As Alexander advanced to invade Egypt, he found at Gaza a garrison so strong that he was obliged to besiege it. It held out a long time, during which he received two wounds; this provoked him to such a degree that when he had captured the place he treated the soldiers and inhabitants most cruelly.

Sesostris, on the other hand, was pleased with those who defended their possessions most bravely; the degree of resistance which he had to overcome was denoted by him in hieroglyphical figures on monuments. The more stubborn the resistance, the greater the achievement; and the more worthy the people to become his subjects.

If the descendants of the accursed son of Ham could establish and maintain for five hundred years a republic which was never disturbed by sedition nor tyranny, and enjoyed a civilization in some respects better than the boasted American civilization, there is no reason why any other branch of Ham's family may not attain to the highest and best civilization.

Our opinion is, that within two hundred and fifty years the American Negro will reach that Christian civilization taught by the Son of God to a degree equal to any race on the face of the globe. He has in him the elements for such a civilization to a degree not possessed by some other races.

But the limit allowed this article has been reached.

TOPIC III.

HOW CAN THE FRIENDLY RELATIONS NOW EXISTING BETWEEN THE TWO RACES IN THE SOUTH BE STRENGTHENED AND MAINTAINED?

BY HON. H. P. CHEATHAM.

HENRY PLUMMER CHEATHAM.

Men who attain to real leadership and those who lift as they
climb; broad in mental resource, generous, and strong in
manly impulse, they forget self and become the embodiment of
principles that make genuine progress and win the hearts of
their comrades by the compelling force of character and
personal magnetism. Promoting the well-being of a race,
multiplying the happiness of the individual, these captains
of moral thought practically accept the duty marked out by
the Great Teacher and "cause two blades of grass to grow
where but one grew before."

Such a man as pictured above is Henry Plummer Cheatham, one
of the most successful forces in the public life of the
twentieth century Negro. His career has been visited by
success because he has richly deserved it. Mr. Cheatham was
born in Henderson, N. C., some forty-odd years ago. He was
educated in the public schools of his county and at Shaw
University, of his native state. He was a promising lad, and
with prophetic spirit laid deep the foundation upon which a
brilliant character was to be built. His first public office
was that of registrar of deeds in his native county. So
conspicuous was his work and so worthily did he impress
himself upon the judgment of the people, Mr. Cheatham was
nominated and elected to the Fifty-first Congress, and was
again chosen to sit in the Fifty-second Congress. When
President McKinley reached the White House, one of his
earliest appointments was that of Mr. Cheatham to be
Recorder of Deeds for the District of Columbia, a post which
has come to be regarded as carrying the insignia of
leadership in the political councils of the race. That he
has performed his duties capably and zealously, goes without
saying. He is an ardent adherent of the merit system, and in
both appointments and promotions the merit system has been
his invariable guide, declining to be influenced by
considerations of person, politics, religion or color. He
has been instrumental in enrolling more Afro-Americans upon
the governmental roster than any other Negro living.

Mr. Cheatham is a positive race man and is a foremost
champion of the idea that the Negro's best development must
come along natural lines, and that material progress is as
much the result of sensible and persistent individual effort
as of legislation and adventitious aid. He believes in
practical education for the masses, technical education for
the captains of professional thought and industrial
leadership. He is unusually effective upon the "stump," and
has been heard with pleasure and profit in many states
during national campaigns.

Prosperity to a nation is most secure when all elements and classes of that nation are at peace, one with the other. Christianity reaches the height of its sacred mission when the spirit of co-operation and brotherly love is most conspicuously in evidence. National prestige and the influence of a people in the councils of the world are invincible when the contributing forces of the land are happy and united. The problems of civilization are solved when wars are silenced and "rumors of wars" are heard no more.

America, as we have come to call the land of our birth, has not grown to her present proud proportions upon "flowery beds of ease." Her strong place among the powers of the earth has not been gained without resort to martial strife. But, it is a gratifying fact, that up to this hour every struggle against outside foes has made American people stronger from within, and every victory, in our long, unbroken line of successful campaigns, has bred a warmer spirit of homogeneity and knit us together in closer bonds as a national unit. Foreign foes offer our country no danger to-day. Our army and navy are without peers upon the globe, and, despite our marvelous sketch of coast line, we have nothing to fear from foreign invasion.

The disease that threatens us _most_ is from within. If salvation be needed, we must pray to be "saved from ourselves." To "make clean our hearts"--to face in proper spirit the duty that lies before us--should be the earnest supplication of every true American citizen. A spirit of unity is our urgent need at the opening of the 20th century.

Thanks to the wise economic policies of those intrusted with the reins of legislation and government, our country is enjoying a period of unexampled commercial prosperity. Business is booming, money is easy, crops are abundant and labor is receiving a fair return for energy expended. But, in our mad rush for the material things of life are we not forgetting the spiritual wants of the citizen, are we not neglecting the moral qualities that make nations enduring and the principles that must live when cities decay and dynasties cease to be? In fine are we not veering too far from the altruism of our fathers, in the apparent subordination of human rights to the acquisition of power and of wealth? This dangerous ambition breeds in our midst socialism and industrial unrest, exemplified in strikes and lockouts. It fosters anarchy--a spirit of lawlessness, from which but a few weeks ago the nation suffered the loss of a beloved chief magistrate. It stirs up racial antagonisms, and defies the ameliorating influences of Christian brotherhood. All difficulties surrounding our labor problems, however, are easy of solution, for while capital and mechanical industry may be frequently at war for one reason or another, the outbreaks are merely sporadic and short lived. They are invariably adjusted, from time to time, either through arbitration or equitable concessions. Capital and industry are of one color, and the complications are purely superficial. The one contention, that "passeth all understanding" and which defies the skill of the ethnologist, the psychologist, and all who deal with the ancestral or philosophical aspects of mankind, is the "race-problem."

I say "race problem" advisedly, because sociologists, in analyzing the issues growing out of the relations between the white American and the colored American, have eliminated from the discussion all difficulties surrounding their settlement--save the impossible effacement of race or color. All have admitted that the bronzed American may have character, intellect, capacity, wealth, industry and comeliness--yet he is a social "Pariah" because of his social identification. A problem that otherwise would be simple is thus converted into a perpetual issue by reason of race, and hence we have a "race problem." The race issue is particularly acute at the South--not because the Southern Negro differs materially from his Northern brother in character or attainments--but because in the Southern states the Negro abounds in the greatest numbers, and because upon her fertile soil he was once held in bondage. As a slave, the Negro came to be regarded as one whose inferiority must continue from generation to generation. The Civil War brought freedom in its wake, and one of its results was to clothe the emancipated servitor with the full vestments of citizenship. By proclamation and legislation, the ex-slave was made the political equal of his white master, and if numbers are to be counted the slave class became the superior force in the reconstructed Southland. That the new Negro citizen was honest and well-meaning, no one doubts. It must be confessed, however, that the masses were ignorant of the high responsibilities charged to them, and it is but natural that many mistakes were unwittingly made. Indeed, the wonder is not that many errors could be laid at the door of the amateur "statesman," lawmakers and suffragists, but that more grievous blunders were not made. The result, all things considered, is highly creditable to the heads and hearts of the leaders of that trying epoch. The masters did not take kindly to the seeming domination of their former bondmen. The anomalous situation was made infinitely worse by the gross frauds and maladministration of Northern white carpet-baggers, who misled the trusting Negro into false channels and bred in the minds of the landowners and former slave-magnates a bitter hatred for all that savored of the Negro and the party that they held responsible for their humiliation. Readers of history are familiar with the stirring scenes that went abreast with the efforts of the whites to free themselves from the consequences of the war. With the accession of President Hayes came the restoration of the democracy to local control in the Southern states. All are acquainted with the "reign of terror" and the depredations of red-shirted adventurers and night-riders. The instinct of white supremacy solidified that section, and later came the era of lynchings. General disorder prevailed wherever the racial problem was brought actively to the fore.

Of late we have heard much of "constitutional conventions," and the press has been filled with arguments pro and con as to the necessity for eliminating the Negro from politics or abridging his right to vote. There has been going on for years a seething cauldron, with the Negro as the burning impulse; but evidence is gradually accumulating to warrant the belief that a healthier atmosphere is coming out of the storm. Passions cool after full vent is given, and the sober second thought of races and nations invariably makes for peace, for law and for justice. Upon this established principle of metaphysics the Negro must base his hope for happier results in the near future. The South has awakened to its vast opportunities, and there seems to be a well-defined and determined effort on the part of the intelligence, the culture, and the wealth of that section to make the most of its bountiful resources. The commercial era opening in the South, gradually bringing into control the conservers of Christianity, of peace and of civil equity, will develop better conditions for the Negro; for among the aristocracy--among the landowners and moneyed classes--the black man has always found his best friends and most ardent sympathizers. They understand the Negro more thoroughly than many Negroes understand themselves, and the facts will bear me out in saying that when our people have needed advice, or have appealed for aid for churches, schools and for industrial opportunities, the high-grade white classes of the South have never turned a deaf ear. They have never been wanting in their approval of the self-respecting, thrifty and law-abiding Negro, and have always been ready to encourage him in the acquirement of a home, a farm or other real property--frequently lending the money for the first large payment. Many times they have exerted their influence to guarantee fair play for such Negroes in the courts--even when their causes were laid against a white man, or where white men had accused them of crime. It cannot be denied that injustice has been practiced against us in all sections of the South, and it is also true that the Negro's ignorance and credulity have made him an easy prey to the unscrupulous; but ignorant whites have suffered likewise, for he that knoweth little, no matter what his race, is the natural victim of the sharper. With the keenest of sleuths in our detective departments of the North, and with courts and juries of unimpeachable integrity, crime stalks boldly in its greatest cities, and arrogant corruption goes unwhipt of justice. So, in the Southland, there are crimes and criminals and the law will be powerless to bring them to book until a nobler sentiment is created by the supremacy of the better classes, and the relegation of the riotous element, through the vigorous and constant efforts of the rightful rulers of the South--the educated and peace-loving citizenry. In no case has any outrage against Negroes been given the approval of any responsible officer of the law. Violations of the letter and spirit of the statutes are committed over the protest of the authorities, and those who desire the aggressive execution of all the laws in the future must exercise more care in the selection of men intrusted with the power of administration. More attention must be paid to the character and personal fitness of candidates standing for office. The Negro can and will help to do this. The regeneration of existing conditions among the whites must come from an enlightened public spirit and a broader culture, such as are being bred through the public schools and through the introduction of improved methods in business and social life. First-class white men must take hold of the reins of government throughout the Southland. The Negro is an imitative creature, and he takes on the color of his environment. If it be charged that he is frequently immoral, dishonest and shiftless, the dissolute whites with whom he has been closely identified have furnished a model that he has copied only too faithfully. Let the Christian element become a more prominent factor in state affairs, and the Negro will at once grow in character and address by virtue of the inspiring example thus set for him.

This phase of the "Negro problem" carried to its logical conclusion becomes the "white man's problem." Will the Southern American rise in his majesty, dismiss his prejudice and prove equal to the lofty duty allotted to him? Will he give the Negro a man's chance in the battle of life, and depend upon his own natural gifts of mind and heart for his supremacy?

The political phase of the race problem I shall touch but briefly. There is no call for the Negro "to get _out of politics_;" as the term is popularly used. The fact is the Negro should begin "to _get into politics_" in the truest sense of the word--that is, to begin at the a b c of political power and come up by the usual processes of individual development. The suffrage is a privilege conferred by the state. States make certain restrictions for their own protection as sovereign commonwealths. Although it is unfortunately a fact that the restrictions are enforced more rigidly against black illiterates and black non-property-holders than against the whites, of similar deficiencies, the conditions are there and can only be fought down by intelligently meeting the requirements, whatever they may be. No educated Negro is refused the right of suffrage by any constitutional enactment. No property-owner is made to feel himself outlawed by virtue of suffrage restrictions.

The moral is plain. Get education. Be thrifty and economical. Get lands and money. Get character and personal culture. These qualities, united, pass as good coin in any state North or South. They go far to minimize the disadvantages of color everywhere. Without them no race is strong anywhere. They are potent in allaying the race feeling aggravated by too many of us, through voting under the leadership of scheming politicians who are opposed to the best interests of the masters of the Southern soil, and who have no use for black men except on election day. In the matter of suffrage, I would suggest that the black voter place himself in touch with his white neighbors. The interests of each are identical. It is of far greater importance to the Negro to have the friendship, respect and confidence of his next-door neighbor than who shall be President of the United States. It is of more moment to him who shall be sheriff or member of the state legislature and city council than who shall go to Congress. This suggests that the Negro use clear judgment in casting his ballot, and that he use that instrument to identify himself with the law-abiding and progressive forces about him. The Negro's natural home will ever be in the South. The careful exercise of suffrage in promoting the interests of that section, eliminating partisan bitterness and vengeful spirit, will be one of the most powerful agencies in maintaining and strengthening friendly relations between the races there.

Further, let the Negro make for himself a place in the business world. Let him develop hotels, groceries, stores and shops of all kinds, thus affording employment to our competent young men and women. Let him perfect himself in the useful arts; till the soil, and become an indispensable factor in the uplift of the community which he calls home. The farmer, the artisan, and industrious wage-earner form the backbone of racial progress, for they support the church, are patrons of the schools, and are steady conservers of public morals. From this firm center, a lever is furnished which holds up the house of the minister, the editor, the teacher, physician, the artist, the lawyer, and all of the so-called "polite" professions. Let the Negro build up his own social circle, and strive to perfect it through an exemplary home life. While a part of the general social system the Negro people can be to the Whites, as Booker T. Washington so well puts it, "separate as the fingers" in social contact, but "one as the hand" in all that tends to sustain and improve the State and Nation.

In short, let the white man be just, if he cannot be generous. Let him give the Negro what is due him. Weigh him honestly as to character and manly worth. Let the Negro be patient, persevering, philosophical, thrifty, self-respecting and far-seeing. Brains and energy will eventually win their legitimate place in the equation of civic virtue, and the forces of right will gravitate, the one towards the other, just as the flowering plant turns to the sunlight. In peaceful conditions, nurtured by mutual sympathy, mutual suffering and mutual triumphs, will be forged a bond that shall in due season draw the best in each of the great races of the South in closer and more friendly communion. Our beloved America shall throw off the shameful shackles of racial prejudice. Progress towards a sweeter civilization will be the watchword for all. Then, there shall be, indeed and in truth, for every class, color, condition and section in this land, "One God, one country, and one flag." There is hope ahead.

SECOND PAPER.

HOW CAN THE FRIENDLY RELATIONS NOW EXISTING BETWEEN THE TWO RACES IN THE SOUTH BE STRENGTHENED AND MAINTAINED?

BY REV. W. D. CHAPPELLE, D. D.

WILLIAM D. CHAPPELLE.

Rev. William D. Chappelle was born in Fairfield County,
South Carolina, November 16, 1857. At twelve years of age,
he was sent to the common schools of Winnsboro, S. C., to
Northern teachers. So eager was he to learn that he cut
light wood up at night and carried it to town on his head,
using the money thus obtained to buy his first book. After
finishing the common schools, he entered Fairfield Normal
Institute, and there prepared himself for a teacher, which
vocation he pursued for several years. After his conversion
he felt called to the ministry. Accordingly, he joined the
Columbia Annual Conference in 1881, and feeling his
inability to effectually preach the Gospel of Christ, he
entered Allen University, there taking a collegiate course,
at the same time serving missions near Columbia.

With a wife and one child, he found that the mission work
was inadequate for his support, having very often to cease
his studies in school and go out and teach for two or three
months to relieve the wants of his family. This was very
discouraging to him, but he courageously worked on until
Bishop Dickerson relieved him of some of his
responsibilities by giving him a room in his back yard. This
he gladly accepted that he might earn some money with which
to buy books and thus sustain himself in his struggle for an
education.

I know of my own personal knowledge that he had very often
to walk sixteen miles on Sundays and preach twice, getting
back home at 11 or 12 o'clock at night to be enabled to make
recitations on Monday. Nevertheless, he struggled on and
graduated at the head of his class in 1887.

He was ordained deacon in Bethel A. M. E. Church, Columbia,
S. C., March, 1883, by Bishop Dickerson, and ordained elder
by Bishop James A. Shorter at Greenville, S. C., in 1885. He
graduated from Allen University in 1887, in a class with six
other young men--four preachers and two lawyers. In 1887 he
was elected a delegate to the General Conference which met
in Indianapolis, Ind., and he has been elected to each
successive General Conference ever since. He served eight
years as a pastor, holding three appointments, and ten years
as a presiding elder. He was appointed to the Manning
District in 1889, and after serving there four years he was
appointed, by Bishop Salter, to the Orangeburg District, the
largest district in the State, and served there five years.
Bishop A. Grant appointed him to the Sumter District in
1898, which district he served until the General Conference
met in Columbus, Ohio, 1900, where he was elected
Corresponding Secretary and Editor of the Sunday School
periodicals of the A. M. E. Church.

Dr. Chappelle also served two years as President of Allen
University, his alma mater, being elected just ten years
after his graduation from that institution.

He has had a successful career as teacher, as preacher and,
now, as business manager and editor. He ranks, also, as one
of the leaders of his race, as a scholar and writer of no
mean ability. He is an able debater, having few superiors as
an extemporaneous speaker. Acute in thought and incisive in
speech, he is a fluent talker.

Unlike most men of a literary turn of mind, he combines fine
business acumen with his intellectual ability, and has
accumulated property, real and personal, to the amount of
ten thousand dollars, situated in Columbia, S. C., and
Nashville, Tenn.

The subject above assigned me is a momentous one and involves an issue which is not settled, nor will it be settled until the relation which now exists between the two races is based upon that moral "ought" growing out of the ethical rule given by God for the government of man. For it must be conceded that all friendly relations are based upon ethical treatment. A relation upon any other basis is forced, and, therefore, not genuine. The so-called Negro problem which is being agitated by the public press is forced upon us by fictitious sentiment, conceived in prejudice, and watered by opportunity, and a disregard for law, and truthfulness of statements made concerning the Negro as a citizen.

When a relation is fixed by such undue advantages, that relation is NOT, for it is ex-parte, and the party having the public ear creates the sentiment, and thus forces the party which is _not_ heard to terms, whether those terms be satisfactory or not. Then, it can be plainly seen that such relations are not real, for they are not based upon that law under which all men are created and governed.

Now, I lay down the following as a general proposition which I think will stand the test of critics, whether they be of the North or South. It is the rule of international law to have a friendly relation between nations, states and individuals, and that relation is made by representatives of all the parties concerned. The agreement must be mutual and that mutuality must be based upon righteousness--that righteousness which makes sacred the rights of all the contending parties.

If the friendly relationship existing between the two races in the South is mutual, then the development of the Negro will fasten and rivet such a relation. But if it is not mutual, and undue advantages have been taken of him, his development will make it impossible for such relations to be strengthened and maintained.

To perpetuate a relationship, it must first be based upon the principles of right, guaranteed by the force of all competent power, that power being common to all parties concerned. This is the sum maximum of all ethical science and is complete. To add to it, or take from it, would change the rule. Then, the solution to all ills must be measured by that sense of conscience unimpaired, emanating from that innate rule of human duty based upon moral obligation.

Now, there must be a standard of righteousness, not fixed by man, but by a superior power; for it is not man's will which he must obey, but the will of his Maker. This will can be shown in two ways only. First, by revelation, and, second, by example, both of which have been verified and demonstrated in the sacrifice made by Christ for the world of mankind. This relationship can and will be sustained, because Christ sought to know the nature and power of the second party. He enters into a covenant fixing that relationship forever, between the two. Now, if the so-called superior race, with the boasted power of all the heavy centuries of the past, has given to the inferior race in its undeveloped condition, that consideration which is necessary to sustain and maintain the relationship which now exists, then, the relationship is real and the education and development of the Negro along economic and commercial lines will but make this relationship stronger. And the future of the two races in the South, under such conditions, must be bright and glorious.

But, I fear we have been hasty in our conclusions when we measure the relationship which now exists in the South, by constitutional rights and enactments. The Constitution of these United States makes the people a compact, and therefore equals in immunities, privileges and rights, with a common flag as the symbol of our common protection. Every citizen, then, of these United States--let him be of any race variety--owes to that flag its protection, and, in return, that flag is to protect him. So that the relationship of all the citizens of the United States to the flag is the same; being the same to the flag, they are the same to each other from a civic point of view.