VOLUME FORTY-EIGHT
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA
THURSDAY, JULY 3, 1924.
■ ,r: V ’vi'j V'-'i'/- . ‘ ‘ '■■■ :
DUMBER TWENTY-SIX
ALABAMA WARMLY
RECEIVES BISHOP
B. G. SHAW.
Henry W. Ruffingood
A one. day’s conference of the
Eighth Episcopal District is Closing
a most interesting meeting with
Bishop B. G. Shaw-presiding. The
meeting is well attended with nearly
a hundred pastors and laymen pres
ent- The feature of the conference
is the gala reception given Bishop
Shaw and the pleasing and inspiring
address: of the bishop. 1)1 en shouted,
•they yelled, they Stamped approval
as the bishop mbved about in the
pulpit in his dramatic, manner, talk
ing the possibilities of the Ghurch,
its wonderful strides in human so
ciety* its future possibilities, the
sacrifices made by himself and the
sacrifices of his humble co-workers
in the faith, and his sworn pledge
for the future.
The work of Lomax:Hannon - High
School at Greenville,1 Ala., entertain
ed the conferences no doubt more than'
any other matter affecting the Eighth
Episcopal District. Th$ trustees
were asked to report conditions and
the Principal was also asked to ex
press what he thought was necessary
to be done at this time. They report
ed. Bishop Shaw emphasized the
fact that the institution must take
Siigher ground in Alabama and that
competent men and women must be
found to operate the work at Greep
ville and funds must be jaised to re
- tire certain burdensome debts and a
plan was put on to raise three
thousand dollars within the next
sixty days. The pastors add presid
ing elders accepted the assessments
and pledged themselves to raise the
money within that time. Many
speeches were made by ministers and'
laymen, stimulating the, cause in
Alabama and the Church generally.
Some criticisms were made on the
plan of operation of the school. It
was finally ’ agreed that the wtork
had been kept in tact about as well
as could be expected with the money
in hand for operation. •’ A special
committee headed by Prof. J. R
Wingfield was appointed to investi
gate certain expenditures and some
negotiations that did not $eem cleiar
cr profitable to the conference. The
conference voted to increase the
Trustee Board, perhaps doubling the
charter number. Persons were nom
inated from every conference in, the
Eighth Episcopal District and their
election is to be confirmed at the
regular Trustee Board in August.
Bishop B. G. Shaw Delivers Address.
In his opening address Bishop B.
G. Shaw spoke fervently and plainly
about the work of the Eighth Epis
copal District and hie rllatton to the
church, members and ministers. '
“I am glad, to meet you, my breth-*
ren,1' he said.v ‘*1 a mhappy because
of faithful Alabama and became I.
believe that God'S plans are lastly
ripening. He met ud at the General
Conference He is. with up here,"' He
will remain with us ifWe keep the
faith,, trust Him, serve Him and fol
low His plans, rknpw we are going
to have a wonderful success in Ala
bama. I am an Alabamian now. * I
am a. citizen of this state/ I .have,
bought property in this State.: The
bead of the Episcopal .district for this
quadrenniujn will be hi Birminghan^H
I have bought my home there ana
when I leave the conference I will
go straight to Washington,to pack my
things, ship them to Birmingham and.
on the Fourth Oar of July , 1924, any*
brother who desires n£ay meet me
and take dinner with me at 700
Eighth Avenue, Birmingham, Ala.
(Long and continuous applause.)
"There wiir be no graft in Alaba
ma* the BiShop lont^nued. ‘T am
going to preside over. the meetings,
interesting myself in, protecting (he
Church. *1 will collect no money. I
will handle no money; I will not g
• on the
be done, If I
tempt me. Let.me be God’s man. We
are going ^to be friends and breth
ren a# long as the cause of Christ
and the Church are protected. I be
lieve that my ^ming to this honor
and this high station in God’s- grmy
was of divine origin. We kre going
to play fair now. Everythin^tnust be
done on a clean sheet and I will be
able to report my conduct to the
Church and that without flinching or
remorse of conscience.
“The Church has provided for me
and I will not make criminals of my
ministers, my good laymen, nor a
thief and criminal of myself.. We
ought to be able to tell about every
dollar of‘the money we raise, whkt
we have done with it, and we should
not stand for its use for anything
save for the purpose for which is
raised. I am talking much today and j
. (Continued to page 5)
AN OPEN LETTER
' TO BISHOP J._W.
WOOD, D.D.
Bishop J. W, Wood, D. D.
Indianapolis, Ind. \
My Dear Bishop Wood:
In fairness to yourself and, your
good reputation and for the general
welfare and progress of the A. M.
E. Zion Church especially in the
Seventh Episcopal District over
which you presided,. I am ashing for
following information:
1. What have you done with the
money collected: for delegates’ ex
penses to the General Conference
for the past three years? As a mat
ter of facLyou know that the dele
gatee of the Alabama Conference,
South Alabama, South East Alaba
ma, Central Alabama, and -the Cab&■
ba Alabama Conference were given
nothing for their traveling expenses
to the General Conference epccept in
two of these conferences where
they received about $3.50 each from
what little funds you tried to collect
in your mid-year' conferences.
These men- as you know had to pay
their own way to the General Con- J
ference and back out of their own ■
pockets to work for the Church after
they had collected' this money from
year to year for this purpose.
2. Your reported, it wouldrbe mis
leading to call it a report, but stated I
op a piece of paper that you had J
raised $9000 Tercentenary money j
and sent $4000 to the Central Com-1
mittee and left $5000 in the con- J
ferences. We are anxious to know
what conferences you left this Ter
centenary money and to whom it
was give® and for what purpose? The
.General Church should know why
Alabama fell so far behind in the
collection of .this much needed
funds. There te a psychological reas
on for this; failure.
3 . When I went to you like a man
and a friend a.nd'told you what was
being circulated*- about you taking
away all of the General Conference
delegates’ expenses moqhy, and that
the men . were not iniftined . to
turn any mare over to-you/ did
you not get up in the mid-year- con
ference in the Old Ship church hi
the city of Montgomery and state
that you hetd put the General Con
ference delegate" expense funds in
the hopper With the Tercentenary
money as it was bo small and sent
it all into the Central Committee?
But in making your final report at
the: General Conference at Indianap- (
oils, Ind., you contradict this state
ment by saying you have left Five
thousand dollars in the home con
ferences. Please explain these In-,
harmonious statements.'
Youu presiding elders and minis
ters of this. Distrio^are questioning
the correctness of your statement
,and therefore It is hoped that you
will clear up th* sithatton;.. other
wise the record* you. established in
Alabama will forever stand against
you,' '. - - • * . -
Youj'f Jor truth, honesty and the
maintemancet of *' the' fundamental
principles of Zibn Methodism,
!w
m
m
j c-' k-T X :
1. R; Wlng#el4.
‘■-Xi
BISHOP JOHN W.
WOOD REPLIES TO
OPEN LETTER.
Dr. J. R.
| In reply to your open letter in
the Birmingham Reporter, will say
I that there is nothing which . gives
me more pleasure than to answer
the questions that you fyave asked.,
In reply to your; first question
(What have you done, with the mon
ey collected, tor Delegates’ expenses
to the General Conference for three
years?) Before making* any attempt
to answer this question I have turn
ed to the Bishop’s blanks to see just
what was done. • In giving out' this
statement, it is my purpose to be as
accurate as I possibly can, because
I am anxious that every man in Ala
bama who served under my admin
istration should be, treated fair and
giyen credit for the fall amount of
money that he has Collected fo# ev
ery purpose in the Cbuych.
In summing up the amount of
money collected for three years I'had
in my hands last November- $214.25.
This is the Jtotal amount collected
for delegates? traveling expenses to
the Genearl Conference. At our
Connections! Council, which was held
in Cincinnati last year, there was ap
propriated to the Mt1;' Zion church
W. 000.00. Dr. Bascom received a
check for $500.00 and I was to fdr
! nish the other $500,60. On tgping to
1 Montgomery, I arranged at oyfe of
I the banksS there with Dr. Bascom
and Mr.'J, ®. Johnson for the other
$500-00, which made the $1,000.00
given'to Mt. Zion, from the General
Church. In Nbvem1--- 1-~1 -
this note ‘be^
to wr 1 trreff to collect eno
Tercentenary money to\ pay itj but
failed. Therefore,, with what little
money I had collected a^ Tercente
nary money I put it with the money
T had collected for General Confer
ence Delegates’ expenses and
paid off the note of $514.00. I hold
the cancelled note and if you would
like to see it, I will send it to you.
And again, my records show that
there was very little General Confer
ence Delegates’ money collected and
what little was collected, I would
give the pastors credit for it on
their benevolences. My record will
also show that more than 80% of all
the pastors who served under me in
Alabama V6re behind on their be
nevolences. Bo when a man was be
hind, I would use everything in sight
to help him get out on.his claims • ;
And idt that, invariably they were,
behind, and my records will show
that what I aid saying to you is the
truth and nothing else but the truth,
so help me God.
Question Numbeir two. “You stat
ed on a piece of paper that you rais
ed $9,000 Ter-Centenary' money, -sent
$4,000 to the central coipmittee and
left $6,000 in the conferences, ^e
are anxious to know which confer
ence? _ you left this Tercentenary
money - and to whom it * was given
and for what purpose?’’ V did not
make my report on a piece of. paper,
my Quadrennial report is printed in
pamphlet,form. I ami sorry that you
did nOt get one. rf you should hap
pen tosget ^old of one,1 please turn
toCqagd 36 and you will find-my re
port. .1 reported the money in., bulk
as I . collected it * I regret very much
that in that Report, I did', not giye
, the annual, conferences credits for
the > amounts raised, but at any rate
. here is the report. »x
$548.25
! 830.00
1.040.00
1.360.00
Making a grand total of
%
You will note that $612 . SO wae not
printed in my report bntr" only ®epo|t
ed to the Central Committee. I want
yon and the entire Church to know
the K th* matter, of handling
see from the above figures that i
.urued into tbs' Central Cbmmittee,
$6,469.19. Double this amount; and
we, haVe *$11,938.38. I hbpe this
statement is clear eo far as it goes.
The next thing you -want to know is
what became of the $5,469.19? fn
the) first place the Seventh Episcopal
District did not raise $11,938.38. .1
gave them credit for what they did
not do and in justice to myself and in
all fairness to my brethren, they will
testify that this amount of money
as report was not raised. I gave
the District credit "lor having raised
as much mone^ as we 'fcent in,vbut
p.ll of the brethren know who attend
ed the Mid-Year Conferences, that
we did not rai^e the money in the
sum as I have reported. Let’s he
fair to ourselves, l$t’s be fair to all
of pur men with whom we have la
bored and struggled for the last four
years. They konw that our reports
were so shameful and so little money
raised, until they all agreed to turn
‘over to the bishop the major, part of
rthe collection and gave to themselves
‘the djrelit of raising ap equal amount
handed over to the. Bishop for the
Central Committee. And the breth
ren themselves know they handled
all of the Tercentenary money. I
d’d not handle it. In giving out this
statement, I want this fact known,
that had it not been.for the strong
support that I, received from the ,
West Alabama Conference and the
South Mississippi Conference, our
report on the Tercentenary . money1
would have* been,the most disgrace-1
ful exhibition before the General
Conference. If the men of Alabama
can show by actual record that I have
misappropriated one dime of their
, I will sen<| them a cashier’s
max-Hannon Industrial College. Of
course we helped many of our
churches in the ^*ural district with
the Tercentenary money that re
mained in the annual conferences.
All money left in the mid-year con
ferences was placed in the hands of
the presiding elder® to be appropri
ated to the most needful churches
on the districts. I hope, Brother
Wingfield, that this is clear.
Question 3. This question is an
sweired under question number one*
All delegates’ mohey previously col
lected until I paid , off the note of
$514.00 was designated as funds
placed in the general hopper and i
certainly, I used the money as stated j
^above. I hope also -that; you have
discovered that there was not $5,000
left in the home conferences. But
the home conferences were given
credit for raising that, amount which
was nor raised. I think this is as
clear as'I can make its And if there
is anything else you would like to
know, I would be pleased to have
from you a personal letter and I wi$ I
take pleasure in explaining1 or an-1
ewering any question that you may
ask. ' 'a
I have come from the bottom to i
the top. My platform has been coii- J
structed" with great care and pre
caution. And the reason why that I *
am standing at the top toddy, is be-j
cause 1 have striven at aft times to be
honest and tfttf&fui and I have al
ways stood for justice and equal
rights to all men and for the main
tenance of the fundamental princi
ples of the great Church of which, I
have the honor to represent. If it
can lie proven by your figures or the
figures of any of my., annual - confer
ences that I have , shown the spirit
of graft and made any misappropri
ation of .the Tercentenary money or
any other kind 'of a money, I
willing to hand down a donation to
charities of f500.00 in cash. All I
ask you ^o do is,to produce a record
and show from actual figures that Is
have misappropriated one dime of
your money, and I will make food.
With every good *ish, l am,'
As ever, yours. ' '
’ John W. Wood.
NORTH CAROLINA .
AS SEEN BY
KELLY MILLER.
Dean of Howard University.
> m
For the past* two weeks, I have hsen •
knee-deep in North 'Carolina. The
Department* ot Education was good
enough to invite me to leccure to che
teachers attending the ten summer
schools scattered throughout the |
State. There ate. about four thousand
colored' teacher s in North Carolina.
Over twenty-five hundred are regis
tered in summer schools. It was in.
,deed a pleasure and privilege to cohie
I to close contact with this eager body
of educational co-workers represent
ing every section of the State as well
a s varying levels of attainment and_
.grades of work. The educational au
thorities in North Carolina are put
ting forth a sincere, and determined
effort to bring its teaching staff up,
to the required standard of efficiency.
Every teacher in-the State is encour- •
aged to earn the standard certificate
demanded by the Jrade .sought for.
Those who have followed the*fcistcry
of Negro Education are fully a warn
of the handicaps under .which' our
schools havp labored. At the stark,
there was no provision for the ade
quate preparation of teachers to as
sume the important task of public
instruction. Amy woman who could
read and write and had a little per
sonal influence could secure an ap
pointment a» ^teacher. So that our
public schools throughout the South
were filled with teachers / illy prepar
ed for the function of their office,
s waB necessarily jgjpote
be filled. Qualified candidates _
few. The compensation was so mea
ger as not to prdve . attractive to
those who could secure more remun
erative occupation. As result there
is found in the schools everywhere
large numbers of teachers who still
fall far below the standards of mod
ern requirements. It is mainly to
meet this deficiency that Summer
schools are established throughout
the state.. These facilities are brought
within the reach of every teacher «o
that in the future those who fail to
measure up to the mark will be elim
inated by exclusion.
The state of North Carolina main
tains a department of Negro Educa
tion which is presided ogg^.by $lr.
NeWbold/a white man oi understandi
ng and; sympathy with the educa
tional problems of the Negro citizens
Qf the State. He has acquired what
Dr.^ Frissel used to call' the* instinct
of race relationship. I found that the
colored educators of the State have
the highest confidence in his Integri
ty and. intention to do the best thing
possible xfor the 'important^ branch of
public instruction placed under his
charge. The educational program of
North Carolina for the Negro race is
indeed most hopeful and encourag
ing. The State appropriated a budget
of over a million dollars for Negro
education.. When this -vis compared'
with what many of the other states
have don® and are doing it, sounds
like a miracle of accqmPUshffcent.
Bdt we are told on every ^pnd .that
there is still more to follow. North
Carolina Is a medium Southern
State. It lacks the savage race rancor
oi the far, southern group; an<f yet
it follows the general formula of-race
relation prevailing in the South. We
may expect that her example la the
educational field will be contagious.
T was particularly Impressed with
the provision made for the State Col
lege at Greensboro. ThJe Institution
has a plant valued at over a minion
dollars and is as well equipped for the
. work which it sets up to do *a« any
School within the enttfr^ .circle of
Negro education. President Dudley
assures me that there are still great
er thlngs.in store. The state is reachr
Jhg the point Where It
K
whaUany requested
but nmwiT^