ORGAN OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL ZION CHURCH IN AMERICA.
BISHOP’S address:
The Negro Leave* God—God
Leaves The Negro.
BISHOP C. R. HARR [S’ VIEWS.
Dear Brethren: We stand in
the gloomy shadows (>f a great po
litical defeat. I speak not as a
churchman but as a Negro and as
a Republican, for in the last elec
tion, unfortunately for the Negro,
the two terms were synonymous.
What adds bitterness to our cup
of sfoe is the sad fact that we
brought it on ourselves. As a pol
itician if not as a people, during
the last three decades, the Negro
has been departing from God;
now God has departed from the
Negro, and left him at the mercy
of ah exultant, determined, but a*
I trust he will prove, a generous
victor, as well as just. Still the
doleful lamentation of Cardinal
Wolsey as interpreted by the poet
comes forcibly and distinctly to
my ear, in words running some
how thus: “O Cromwell, Crom
well ! had I but served my God as
I have served the king, He would
not now have left me penniless.”
So may the Negro now cry, [“0?
preacher, preacher! ftiad I but
served my God as I have served
my party, He would not now have
left me prostrate and bleeding.
Oh | may he also, with the Psalmist
say in the near future, “Before
I, w^s afflicted I wen b astray, but
no\f I observe thy word.”
But the party—the mere politi
ean—-may demand of me, where
in have we gone astray ? Let the
political history of the Negro Re
publican party in the State and of
the South answer. Thirty years
agoj or more God was for the Negro
and the Republican party. Soon
the party lash was applied so
vigorously by Democrats that the
Negro~could not find enough good
Republicans to fill the offices at
his disposal so he filled out his
ticket with bad Democrats and un
principled men of any party or of
no party. In vain did good Ne
groes protest. He was told you
must vote for your party, regard
less of the moral prnciple of the
men—measures, not; men, is the
true political maxim. Still we
protested, and the cry is heard as
it has been on the other side, Os
tracise him, abuse him if he does
not or won’t vote the straight tick
et, and he too drew the fatal color
line. Fools that W3 were, we for
gojt the white Democrats could af
ford to adopt that rallying cry
for there are two whites to one
black; and with eve ry race “blood
is thicker than water,” except Ne
gro blood—that makes up in color
what it lacks in thickness.
Rut as with Israel in the days
of old, God did ne t suffer us to
desert Him without a Prophet to
warn and persuade us. He saw
the Negro had just emerged from
the black night of slavery; he can
not easily discriminate between
right and wrong in party politics*
I will try him wi h a moral is
sue. So in 1881 He sends upon
the political arena a prophet like
Isaiah and Jeremiah, who like
them, entered into politics; not
however, as a partisan. God even
here “tempered the wind to the
shorn lamb. ” He separated it
from the the word “Party” and
named it “Bill”—Prohibition Bill.
In the contest that ensued God,
with His preachers, white and
black, were found upon one side,
allied with the best people of the
State, Republicans as well a9
Democrats. Then came the tide
which, taken at the flood by the
North Carolina Negroes, would
lead to victory, and the color line
would forever be abolished. But
no, they let that tide pass, and its
ebb drug back the Negro into
well nigh irretrievable defeat,
“because he knew not the day of
his visitation. ” What was the re
sult ? Righteousness ^vas defeat
ed without regard to color or
party, and corruption has imled
politics since.
1 he preacher as a potent factor
in politics is unknown; God has
deserted the party. Under like
circumstances the Negro has
not only been defeated, but one
by one in several states he has
been disfranchised, on account of
dais color. But, thank God, North
Carolina is a better State than
Mississippi. The colored people
are too intelligent and the white
people too fair, too just, to allow
or demand disfranchisement of
the Negro as a Negro. Indeed,
the “White Supremacy Party” in
the last campaign repeatedly de
nied any such intention. Let us
for once give them the credit of
sincerity.
The Negro ought never to have
been a partisan. A Democratic
Negro is as good as a Republican
Negro, if, as Henry Ward Beech
er said of the white man and the
black man, “he is as good.” It is
a question of morals and not of
party. Now I never have voted
a Democratic ticket in whole or
in part, but I have never been a
mere partisan. First I was a
straight-out Republican, then an
Independent or Prohibition-Re
publican. Now, thanks to the
mooted White Man’s Republican
party, 1 am simply an Independ
ent—at least until some new party
shall arise which will utterly ig
nore the color line and will be a
Moral Reform party.
While we are properly anxious
about our rights as American citi
zens, it is equally important that
we perform our duties correspond
ing to these rights. Among these
is that of paying our taxes. These
are the price )ve pay the govern
ment, whether National, State,
county or municipal, for the pro
tection afforded us as to life and
property and the pursuit of happi
ness in our several vocations.
The poll tax may be looked up as
the price for the privilege of vot
ing. Hence every voter should
at least pay his poll tas. If
[continued on fifth page.]
THJE OUTLOOK GLOOMY
“What Must We Do to Be Saved”
f —Our Rights Asked For.
BY BISHOP A. WALTERS, D. D.
It is the concensus of opinion
among the leaders of Our race
that the outlook just now for the
Negro in America is gloomy.
President McKinley,in obedience
to a command 1:rom the South, has
seen fit in his lengthy message to
Congress to remain silent on the
outrages in Illinois and North and
South Carolina; recent events in
the South have revealed his real
motive for doing so. v
The Governor of ^Illinois is
ready to blow to pieces with Gat
ling guns any Negroes who dare
enter his domain to t^ke the places
of white men who have refused to
work.
The officials of the States. ..of
North and South Carolina"claim
that they are powerless to protect
us in our rights.
Ihe city omcials of Wilming
ton, K*. C., were the leaders of
the mob that ruthless^ murdered
niore than^a tlozen Afro-Ameri
cans on the 10th of lastNovember.
South Carolina, Louisiana and
Mississippi bv statutory enact
ments have practically disfran
chised their Negro population.
The Southern; puipit and press,
aided by a number of Northern
pulpits and not a few daily news
papers and weekly magazines, are
doing all in iheir power to mold
public sentiment against us.
Truly, the outlook is gloomy.
But we- have seen gloomier times
than the present (a short while
before the war, when the fugitive
slave law was passed) and were
brought triumphantly through by
the God of battles.
The most astonishing thing to
me is that in the face of these
discouragements, there are a num
ber of so-called leaders of the race
who are opposed to our uniting
for self-protection. They advise
us to be silent and let the white
man have his own way; burn,
hang, rob, insult and discriminate
against us in every way, and we
are to kiss the hand that smites
us. Nay, nay, my brethren, the
time has come when the Negroes
must unite. The President of the
United States, whose duty it is to
see that the citizens are projected,
has abandoned us to our fate. The
only sources fo which we can turn
for help in this dark hour are,
(1st) to our heavenly Father, who
ha3 fought our battles in the past;
(2nd) to Our loyal white friends
who have evejr been for fair play
and equal justice; and lastly, to
ourselves. The crisis is upon us;
yfe must face it like men. If we
remain silent and surrender all
that has been given us as citizens,
we shall prov'e ourselves unworthy
of the name of Freemen.
Let Afro-American men and
women from all parts of the
United States who are interested
in the future welfare of their race,
gather at Washington on the 29th
of December, not as an angry
mob, btifc as sober, loyal and
thoughtful citizens, and consult
together as to what is best to do
in this crisis, 'the effect of^such a
meeting cannot be otherwise than
helpful to us. It will show to the
world that since the President and
the Governors mentioned above
have abandoned us, we (10,000,000
Afro-Americans) have decided by
the*ai£btance of God to help our
selves. *
We.have in our possession sav
ing agencies, such as character,
industry, intelligence and a firm
trust in God; what we need to do
is to get together and agree among
ourselves as to the best way to
utilize these agencies. Now is the
time to mold sentiment jq our
favor, since the South is doiqg
everything in its power to create
sentiment against us. Our cause
is just, for we simply ask for our
rights, which have been guaran
teed to us by the Constitution of
our country; therefore we are sure
that uod is on our side.
LPt hs meet together and agree
upon a day of prayer to Almighty
God fcr help. Let us me/et
togethe: ami organize a permanent
council that will have the following
(or something better that may be
suggested at the coming meeting)
as its objects:
1st. To create a healthy public
sentiment in favor^of fair play to
wards the Negro.
2nd. To urge that a fair repre
sentation be given to Afro-Ameri
cans in the government of the
country, both State and national.
3rd. To devise ways and means
to raise funds to prosecute all per
petrators of lynchings and other
outrages, and to test the constitu
tionality of laws enacted by some
of the Southern States, which
have for their object the disfran
chisement of the Negro, and
which are contrary to the letter
and spirit of the Fourteenth
Amendment of the Constitution of
the Un ited States.
4th. To resist to the utmost the
tyrannical usages of railroads,
steamboats and other corporations
that discriminate against us. j
5th. To labor for the reforma
tion of our penal. institutions,
where barbarous, cruel and un
Christian treatmeht of our con
victs is practiced.
6th. To urge that moneys be
appropriated by the Federal gov
ernment (which should have been
done at the time of our emancipa
tion) to supplement the school
funds of the Southern States, in
order to make intelligent the
great mass of ignorant colored
voters in that section.
7th. To recommend a healthy
emigration from terror-ridden
section s of our land to more law
abiding sections.
8th. To encourage both indus
trial and higher education.
■ 9th. To promote all kinds of
business enterprises.' •
/ [continued on fifth page.]
UTILIZE OUR GIFTS.
The Text Will Apply to Every
Department cf Life.
BY REV. J. H. MCMULLEN.
Neglect not the gift that is in
thee.—I. Tim. 4:14.
Paul gave this advice to Timothy
the young preacher, because it
was much needed. We all have
numerous possibilities that lie
dormant, only a few of which will
germinate and bear fruit.
The advice, “Know thyself,” is
a good one, and yet few, if any,
have ever solved the problem.
We do not understand ourselves
well enough to know what trials
we can endure, how easily we can
be'tempted, or how little strength
we actually have.
lhe text enjoins upon us to
make the best use of the gift that
is in us, doing everything possi
ble within our means with a firm
trust in God, and life will be worth
living. There mus t be a develop
ment of the gifts. We cannot af
ford to be passive and at rest.
Everything, animate and inani
mate, moves, works, changes.
There is no department of life
to whieh the advice of Paul may
not apply. There are unde
veloped Edisons, Beethovens; Her
shalls, Franklins, Canon Farrars,
Beechers and Hoods everywhere^
the cultivation of whose gifts will
reveal them. ' |
Paul had in mind possibly the
religious work when he wrote to
Timothy, and I cannot lose sight
of that thought. The child is en
titled to a religious education and
training. No matter bow perfect
the germ is in the seed, no crop
comes without cultivation. The
gift must be recognized and not
neglected. Carlyk has well saicfV4
“Every new opinion at its start
ing is precisely a majority of one.
In one man’s head alone there it.
dwells as yet. One man alone in,
the whole world believes it.” Em
erson says, “Every man is a divin
ity in disguise, a god playing the
fool. It seems as if heaven had
sent its insane angels into our
world as to an asylum, and here
they will break out into their na
tive laausic and utter at intervals
the words they have heard in
heaven.”
There is a gift in us all not taken
cognizance of by our senses. We
know it is there. The light which
lighteth every man that cometh
into the world illumines the cham
ber where his soul lives. Nature
without and nature within are one,
and as Pope has well told the
story:
“All are but parts of one stu
pendous whole
Whose body nature is, and
God the soul.”
“In this dual,” Carlyle says,
“Nature herself is the umpire,
and can do no wh>ng; the thing
which is deepest rooted in nature,
what we call truest, that thing
and not the other will be found
[continued on fifth page.]