f*vy
THE OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE AFRICAN METHODS T EPISCOPAL ZION1
■EIGHT
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1924
NUMBER
VOLUME PORTY-EIOHT
MODERNIZING THE <
BIBLE.
“A new translation o£ the Old Tes
tament in modern English will be
published soon. It is the work of
Dr. Moffatt, of Glasgow, who has
translated it from the original entire
ly unaided.**
We suppose there is no reason
why this should not be done, but
we ega hardy contemplate it without
« shudder. The conscientious repro
duction of, the Revised Version is bad
enough, but a modem—Vhich is vir
tually to say a colloquial—rendition
seems a hideous travesty. Whatever
be the etymological inaccuracies of
the Westminister scholars, they gave
to the English speaking world in the
King James edition a. version of sur
passing beauty.
With all the vaulted fidelity of
the Revised Version, there, is prac
tically nothing in it that is new. It
substitutes, in certain casest words
which express the Greek more pre
cisely; its annotations are copious
and generally excellent. But the
distortion of speech' the bungling of
sentence, the dangling, of verb, all
for the sake of a shadfe more of ex
rctitude, and hair-raising •
The scholastics of the seventeenth
century knew what they were about.
They had access to- Hebrew, Latin
and Greek no less easily than their
successors two hundred years later.
When they chose a word f they did
eo deliberately, after much rejection.
Not in a single case did they depart
from the meaning of the classic text. )
They did give to their translation
.something of the majestic style which
had been handed down through the
centuries. The result was that when
they had finished their task, they
had preserved in their version both
the spirit and the beauty of the .au
thors.
If any one doubt that this atmos
phere is essential, let him’consider
just how easily he can get down a
dose of twentieth century colloquial
ism. Let us try the second chapter
of Saint Matthew- .* s
“At the birth of Jesus, which oc
curred in Bethlehem Judaea during
the reign of King Herod, a number
of philosophers from the East arrived
in Jerusalem. They immediately in
quired, ‘where can we find the person
that was born, we have heard, King
ol the Jews? We saw the star which
indicated the event in the East,, and
consequently have come here to sa
t lute him. ’ ,
“When word of all this reached King
Herod he Was perplexed and not >
little angry, and a large portion of
the citizens felt the same way. How
ever, he sent for the chief ecclesias
tics and those who were versed in
Church history and ^demanded to
know where* it had been predicted
that the ‘Christ’ should be born.
“They informed him that is was
supposed to be in Bethlehem, in the
province of Judaea, and to support
their statement they * quoted the
prophet,” etc -
(Continued to page 8)
DUBOIS WOULD HOT
BE FISK PRESIDENT.
New York, N. Y., Dec.—(By The
Associated Negro Press.)‘—In a writ.
ten communication to a representa
tive of the Associated Negro Press,
Dr. W- E. B. DuBois, editor of the
Crisis, explain® that there is no per
sonal animus against Dr. Fayette
Avery McKenzie responsible for what
he has had to say in the last feur
months about Fisk University, and
that to say that he fights the present
administration at' the school because
he wants to *T>e president himself is
‘‘too ridiculous to consider-”
“I wouldn’t accept it under any
possible circumtsances,” he writes
The charge Is now being made that
seven students- majoring in English
at Fisk are being required to write
5000 word theses on the subject
“Reasons Why Dr/ McKenzie Should
Be Retained'at Fisk University.’*
; is explained* that none of these
tudents de
be used as propaganda In support of
Dr. McKenzie whom they do not fa
vor On the ether hand, they under
stand that if they do hot write them
strong and convincingly, they can
not graduate.
REPORT SHOWS
HOWARD PROGRESS.
Washington, D. C., Dec.—(By
The Associated Negro- Press.)—
Howard University passed the* 2;OO0
mark in heif student registration with
a total enrollment for the' year of
2,164, representing 37 States and 12
foreign countries, according to the
annual report for the fiscal year end
ing June 30, 1924, xqade to tho Sec
retary of the Interior. Two hundred
and seventy-two young men and wo
men received their bachelor degrees,
one his master’s degree, and upon 6
were conferred honorary degrees by
the Board of Trustees.
-The great need of the School of
Medicine is an additional fund to* pro
vide for new buildings end equip
ment. Under present conditions it is
impossible to train classes of over
50; and this is a source of regret to
the faculty and is an injustice to
those students who devote Ipo or
more years their lives to college
work as a preparation for the study
of medicine, only to be refused ad
mission because of lack of room.
Beginning next year .the School of
Law will establish. post-graduate
work followed by the degree of LL.
M
The most outstanding success of
the year is the fact that more and
mor^ are universities of the North and
West giving full recognition to the
work of the School of Liberal Art t
and giving itg graduates the same
standing as graduates from the uni
versities of the North and West.
Howard University is the only Negro
- institution' recognized by the State
of North Carolina : as having the
proper requirements for graduate
work.
- >
CALLS AFRICA WHITE
MAN’S COUNTRY.
(By The Associated Negro Press.)
South Africa, land of . Promise,
haunting, mysterious and strangely
compelling is emerging from the
| shrouding mists which have en
wrapped the Dark Continent for
countless centuries, to take its place
in the vanguard Of the world’s pro
gress. This is the message of A. TJ.
Tatlow, white, of the South African
State Railway, who arrived in this
. city Wednesday, and who called the
Dark Continent “their country.’;
“Africa ever has been the enigma
of continents,” he declared .v ‘‘Al
though the first to appear in the his*
tory of mankind, it has been the last
to be known and explored Vast,
strange and incredibly rich, it re
mains a lonely and distracting figure
among the countries of the world
demanding the interest of many by
virtue of its fascinating exoticism
and brooding aloofness.”
While there is stark, primal quali
ty in the Heart of Darkness .whicl?
may at first repel, < he said, there
arises even in the midst of that
repulsion a vivid curiosity whiph soon
expands into a reluctantly admitted
consciousness of some ^undefined,
deep and inexplicable charm.
Despite the fact that 58 per cent
of tha world’s' gold supply comes
from this portion of tho earth, and
95 per cent of all the diamonds, ag
riculture is the chief industry. Corn,
(or maize as it is called there) is
grown in large quantities and much
of it is exported, to Europe. Wool,
cotton, sugar, large amounts of
fruits; ostrich feathers, mohair,
hides and skins constitute the re
mainder of the constantly growing
volume of exports. There is also an
inexhaustible coal supply. ;
Travel is cheap and comfortable in
South Africa, where the railways are
State-owned. Three cents a mile is
the average rate, which includes PulL
FORWARD STRIDE
IN EDUCATION.
The action of the educational lead
ers in North Carolina, in passing a
i evolution urging the State Board of
Education and the General Assembly
to create a standard four-year col
lege to be maintained by the State is
significant and fat-reaching. Carry
ing with it the weight of endorse
ment of State Superintendent cf Ed
ucation, A. T. Aljien^and Prof. N.
C. Newbold, division director of Ne
gro education the resolution at, once
assumes more than ordinary impor
tance and is given a stiihulus far be
yond anything sustained by a merely
formal request. The Negroes of
North Carolina received a high com
pliment from Director Newbold, who
said: /
“The Negro people of North Caro
lina are exceptional. They have ad
vanced beyond the Negroes of other
cities in character, standards of liv
ing and education, and are now pre
pared to meet the same educational
requirements as their white neigh
bors. North Carolina has faith in
il« Negro people. It spends millions
for their education, and x it believes
I there should be one standard for
teachers, not-two.”
That is the most revolutionary and
progressive utterance on the race
question that ever came from a
Southern white man. “North Caroli
na has faith in jts Negro people!”
When all Southern States reach the
place where they have faith in the
Negro people, we will have reached a
common ground upon which all the
intricate problems flowing from the
living together of two races may be
settled, or adjusted with justice to
both. Education is the chief solution.
—Norfolk Journal afid Guide.
A FARMER AND HIS
EGGS. •
The recent meeting of the promot
ers of the National Negro Finance
Corporation, held at Durham, N. C.,
scored a large measure of success,
not only in the amount of subscrip
tions paid in, but in the degree of
confidence demonstrated in the
movement- Nineteen thousand, dol
lars was subscribed and Paid in at
this meeting toward the cash capital
required for the undertaking. As has
been stated in previous articles, the
purpqse of this corporation, which, is
an outgrowth Of the National Negro
Business League, is to finance racial
business enterprises, and thus en
courage such ventures in a subtantial
way.
The character - of .the confidence
that has been inspired, in the organ
ization, largely because it includes
in its promoters such indivduals as
Dr- Moton add Mr.' Spauldng of the
North Carolina Mutual Insurance
Company, may be "Judged by an in
cident that occurred at this meeting.
An old ‘farmer nfimed' Mr. Beverly,
who Owns one of the’ largest farmS
in North Carolina, was present and,
told of his having invested ten thous
and dollars in a cotton gin run-by
white men. He was approached later,
and made another investment of the
same.amount in the same Concern.
Upon being asked for a! third sub
scription, he refused. He explained
his refusal by saying: “Don’t like to
put all my eggs under one hen where
I cafa’t look in.”,He then subscribed
ten thousand do’lars to the working
capital of the finance corporation
This illustrated the widespread
confidence felt in the new organiza
tion and its promoters. It is under
stood by these investors that, the
primal purpose of the organization is.
not to make money, although the
subscribers will undoubtedly'receive
a return on their investment, but
the main idea i\ to render service
to the business men of the race and
to help them to start and establish
permanent business enterprises.
country” in'order, he says, that &ey
may carry back with‘them “our” in
vitation to others ixJ
■ These enterprises are expected not
enly to benefit the promoters of them
by affording them a profit, but to
prove of general benefit to the com
munities in which they are estate
fished. They will furnish employment
to members of the race and supply
material wants as they are developed.
The Age has no hesitation in en
dorsing this movement started by the
National Negro Finance Corporation
and we have no doubt but that it
will mee^ with the success that it
deserves-—New York Age.
• -15 ■ Vi i ■" ’ - » .T
HOW I SELL THE j
ADVOCATE. i
* 11 • .. •
By Rev. Clarence 0. Kimftall,
D. D.
Having been reared in a home
where the church papers were a part
of the household furniture. I entered
upon my ministry with a nominal be.
lief in their importance, hut in the
course of my work I received a eeo- •
ong th^ torm^of a mighty
N P. W!
V
COOLIDGE AND MEL
LON take HOLD OF
JIM CROW.
Washington D. C., Dec.-«-(By The
Associated NOgro Press)—As soon as
it became known that on Armistice
Day the name® of Negro and white
employees of the office of the registrar
of ,the treasury who had given their
lives in the war were to be memori
alized on separate, Jim Crow tablets,
Jhmes E. .Walker post of the Ameri
can Legion, West A- Hamilton, com
mander proceeded to get in touch
with President Coolidge concerning
the matter. /
/ •/
Tlie President was .reminded that
“this drawing Of thp color line in
death constitutes an insult to the
four hundred thousand loyal Ameri
can soldiers qf our racial group who
served our country during the world
war.”' “ ” " ’'"
p ' f .
President COolidge immediately
tcoki, the matter id handwith the re
sult that Secretary Mellon saw that
the proposed attempt at discrimina
tion was nipped in the bud.
In a letter to the American region
post Secretary Mellon writes: “The'
employees (of the register’s office)/
have arranged for the substituting of
a framed scroll upon which will be
inscribed . in ' alphabetical arrange
ment, the fiiames of the five deceased
employee®, both white and colored,
who served in the 'world war.”
METHUSELAH WAS
ONLY EIGHTY.
Berkley, Calif., Dec.—(By The As.
sociated Negro Press.)—According
to Prof. R- T. Crawford, of the 'as
tronomy department of the Univer
sity of California, years in the old
days were measured in terms^of* cy
cles, probably lunar cycles, which
average about a month in length and
after all, the 969 years attributed to
conviction, born of observation and
experience, that readers of the offi
cial organs are usually the best sup.
porters of all the enterprises of the
church* Knowledge of what the
whole Church is doing saves one^
from specialization in interests. My
methods have grown up with my ,min_
istry. So far as 1 am able to analyze
them, they seem to center in ,two
ideas; naively, creating an atmos
phere of appreciation of the church
papfer and my own personal effort in
extending its circulation and~inllu,
ence* .. . '
As to the first, its success (lep.gpds
mainly upon its contancy. I read the * ,
paper myself, first of all f so tOj be
familiar with its contents;and policies '
and to be able to deal with cpm
ments, criticisms, and objections; of
subscribers. Such information as ^an
(Continued to page .8). j
GIVIS HAMPTON
TUSKEGEE $250,000.
New York N,-Ys, (Dec-—(By The
Associated Negro Press)—^Announce
ment has just been made by Clar
ence H. Kelsey, an official of the'
Hampton-Tuiskegee Endowment'Fund
committee, of* a gift of $250,000 to
the fund for the two schools by V New"
York Banker who asked that bis
name be withheld, A .
“This $250,000 donation," explains
Mr .* Kelsey,, “is symptomatic of the
increasing interest men of large af
fairs arg taking in Negro education.
Bankers, business and professional
men and other leaders in public and
industrial life have come to a reali
zation that the Negro problem***®
be solved only through education
The type of education fostered by
Hampton and Tuskegee makes a spe
cial appeal to these men. The two
schools train Negro ycung men and
women to be real producers and at
the same time to be leaders and,
teachers of their race.”
The General Education Board of
the Rockefeller
pledged $1,000,0