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VOL. L.
,.a . H-i. ;
CHARLOTTE, N. C„ THURSDAY, JULV
[jkflfM. ri
NEW TASKS FOR NEW HEROES v
(Address delivered before the High School Graduating Class of
Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, N. C., June 1, 1928).
By Rev. H. C. Miller
Mr. President, Faculty, mem
bers of the graduating class of
the High School, ladies and gen
tlemen :
This generation has witnessed
the most wonderful progress in
the annals of the world. So
numerous and frequent are the
triumphs,' so rapid the discov
eries and inventions, that each
morning we expect something
new.
God has certainly led Hia
children across vast stretches.
The partition between the vis
ible and invisible, the tangible
and the intangible seems about
to crack.
Of the three international
scourges, famine, pestilence and
war, the first has been overcome
ty commerce, whose ships and
nioney and transportation facili
ties have made it almost impos
sible for people of vast areas to
die of starvation.
The second, pestilence, has
been almost conquered by sci
ence. With her antitoxins she
has strangled the baccilli and a
dozen pestilences lie dead at her
feet.
War, the third, is even now
in the throes of death, dying by
her own frightful hands.
The ocean has not only been
spanned by cable and wireless,
but the intrepid airmen have
defied its terrors and laughed in
the face of old Neptune.
Inventive genius has multi
plied one man by fifty or more,
releasing thousands from form
er occupations. We rhave bil
lionaires and billion-dollar cor
porations. In short, seemingly
all great dreams have already
been realized. Almost every
conceivable subject has been
treated, and mounting on the
wings of imagination all worth
while songs have been sung by
poets, from “Paradise Lost” to
‘The Flowers of Flanders’
Field.”
As we stand today bewildered
by these marvellous achieve
ments, the present generation
may be inclined to ask: “What
is there to be accomplished;
what worthwhile thing may one
find to.do In the world?” Hence
we invite your attention to:
New Tasks for New Heroes.
The cry and craze of the
world today are for success,
greatness or fame of some sort.
These are no doubt worthy
aims. Yet there is danger—
grave danger—in overlooking
the truth—“The good may often
become enemy of the best.”
There is grave danger in
mistaking the false for the real,
the shadow for the substance.
To teach the present genera
tion that unless its principles
and plans are standing upon the
reaT, they will not remain stand
ing; to teach the present gen
eration that success and great
ness must not be measured by
wealth acquired, by political
genius nor yet intellectual pow
er, but real success and great
ness must be determined not by
what one gets out of life, but by
what one puts into life, is one
of the tasks for new heroes.
Never in the history of the
world has a country been as
prosperous as ours. Possessing
a huge surplus of all the neces
sities of life, our farms continue
to produce billion-dollar crops;
our banks are bulging with cash
and gilt-edge securities; our
loans abroad run into millions of
dollars, hundreds of millions of
dollars, billions of dollars. In
the face of this unheard of
wealth, we have from four to
eight million men out of work;
men and women hitting the
bread line and sleeping in char
ity beds. What a tremendous
task for heroes?
This is an age of mass-produc
tion and combinations. Science
has made possible such an era,
yet at the same time thousands
have been thrown out of gainful
employments.
The farmer with a hundred
acres years ago needed scores
of men to tend his crop. Today
a few men plow, harrow and sow
thejfield. A few years ago the
great wheat belt called for hun
dreds of men to gather the har
vest and prepare it for the mar
kets of the world. Today less
than half that ntfmber is need
ed. Machines beginning at one
end of the field," cut the wheat,
bind it into bundles, beat out
the grain and deliver- it at the
other end ready for the mar
kets. • - <•
Not long ago, coaling stations,
such as Lambert’s Point, Nor
folk, Va.,-required hundreds of
longshoremen to unload cars
and with barrows carry this coal
to the ship. Today, by reason
of scientific devices, a car load
of coal'is dumped with greater
ease and facility than a wheel
barrow was dumped years ago.
To fit these thousands of
men, made idle, into the econom
ic life of the nation and at the
same time preserve mass pro
duction and stimulate the spirit
of invention is a huge task for
new heroes.
It appears that with meet geod
evil is associated. With our
rapid development have grown
up giant evils; chief among
these^ts erdme; lff«P^nesir"No
doubt, one of the most serious
problems of our age is how to
deaf with crime, lawlessness. A
fact that adds to the serious
ness of the' situation is, erime
is not confined, as was once
thought, to ignorance or a par
ticular group. It is prevalent
among the educated and is com
mon to every group and all rac
es.
Many theories have been ad
vanced, many theories tried,—
some very stringent. Extreme
punishment has not solved the
problem. No sooner has death
been flashed along the wire to
one criminal than another takes
his place on the death row. It
sometimes appears that the
toast made by the bootlegger:
“When the eternal bugler shall
sound the last call, it will catch
some fellow sticking the match
to the liquor vat,” may be ap
plied to certain forms of law
lessness.
That mere secular education
has not sufficed may be indicat
ed when in a certain State there
are 800 college men serving pris
on terms. To combat crime,
lawlessness, in this, the most en
lightened age of the world, costs
the huge sum of eight to sixteen
billion dollars each year. How
to check crime, cure the crimi
nal and restore him to society
and usefulness is a mighty task
for the new heroes.
Not many years ago the
scare of the world, at least a cer
tain part of it, was “The Yellow
Peril.” Let us hope this cloud
has drifted by. It is apparent,
however, to the most casual ob
server, that thick gloom is yet in
the sky and there are thunder
clouds all along the way; chief
of these is race hatred, race
prejudice.
Commerce has all but killed
famine. ^Science has strangled
pestilential baccilli, even making
the whole world a neighborhood.
But no force as yet, not even
the religion of Jesus, has been
able to root out of men race ha
tred, race prejudice. It is the
blind Samson between the state
ly pillar's of our civilization, and,
if not removed, will some day
cause to fall the mighty build
ing.; (For example, the eagle and
the jweasel.) Race hatred is the
weasel taken into the talons of
our! nation and the nations oi
fch#jWOflrf, which, if not let go,
will jsurely bring down this mar
vellous civilization from its
dizzy heights.
To cure the world ’and our
own1 country of this malady,
race’ hatred and rade prejudice;
to plucky from the bosom oi
white men, black "men, brown
men and yellow men this mon
ster and substitute the spirit
of brotherhood—the Brother
hood of Man and "the Father
hood of God—is a task that calls
for new heroes.'
There must be supply bases
for an army, if that army is to
make advances into the territo
ry of the enemy, or even hold
its own line. There must be a
power house somewhere, if ci
ties are to be lighted, wheels of
industries turned. Even so, if
new heroes are to emerge, ready,
equipped to win fresh laurels,
there must be bases of supply.
The citadel of opr civilisation
is the schools, the colleges in
which the idealg ©f Jesus are
taught, both by precepts and ex
amples. In other words, the he
roes for the new tasks must be
men and women not only with
an education, '*■ but a Christian
education. •
It is stated that w§ have sev
eral million students in ©ur
high schools and around eight
hundred fifty thousand in col
leges ancTumversities, and that
more than half this number is
in State schools. Formerly
teachers came from church
schools, academies and colleges
where they came in contact
witn ana unaer w§ powercui in
fluences of Christian teachers.
equipment, it is thought there ip
noticeable the absence of that
influence which trained the
heart as well as the head and
hand.
What a splendid task, a great
task, for new heroes! Those who
in the face of overweaning ma
terial ideas and ideals will dare
to teach that an education,
however thorough, will produce
no heroic lives unless shot
through with the spirit of the
Master of men. Heroes whc
will dare to teach that all per
manent success must be found
ed upon a Christian base; that
no man, no set of men is fitted
best to lead this present genera
tion to the heights unless theii
education is Christian and theii
precepts partake of like nature
There will be need of heroes
of our own group and our dear
Alma Mater who will stand
four square and contend thal
with the splendid equipment
and rosy-prospects of Johnson
C. Smith University must be
blended the Christian spirit oi
Sanders’s days, else she will be
come speii-DOuna on tne way
producing no McCroreys, nc
Draytons, no Davises and nc
Martins.
Heroes who will dare to teach
and maintain that all truly
great men, great leaders of men
men and women of heroic spir
it, have recognized and have had
a deep sense of God. Washing
ton, Lincoln and Coolidge all de
clare that God is their keeper
ignoring the silly boast:
“It matters not how straight the
gate, •
How charged with punishmenl
the scroll,
I am the keeper of my fate,
I am the master of my soul.”
If any of our group are in
dined to overlook this truth, ii
their rapid flight and splendic
outlook, may I ask:
If these men who trace theii
lineage back to the Mayflower
tback to William the Conqueror
>if these men whose ancestor:
started in the march of civiliza
tion a thousand years befori
Jesus Christ died on .Calvary
if they needed God in their lives
how much more the sons of
those who not a century re
moved front Servitude?
And: noWj;4;
you have
young friends,
the middle of
the hiU. Xf> you hope to come
forth into th^_ life heroic, the
sunrise upon frour crests; if you
heroes worthy of
may we now sug
itials?
hope to provi
the new
gest a few
The new
Vision
ion.
‘being able
must have vis
been defined as
see what the oth
er fellow does not see; to see
quicker and further than the
other fellow.’*
All those wjho have wrought
well in the wcrf;ld have been men
of vision. Eve| from the bloody
days of Tours,: when the Frank
hammer beat hack the power of
Islam; from the long endurance
at Waterloo, > to the muddy,
hlood-stained benches of Flan
ders Field, they have emerged
victorious because they were in
spired by a . vision,
Another ess« ntial la purpose,
aim in lifer put on the ocean
behold that s&ip,' complete in
every sense. T^he best steel has
gone into her)s frame; master
builders have fnade secure the
hundreds of rivets;*the engine
is perfect in every line, and yet
the ship is being tossed hither
and yon before the gale.
What is the matter with that
noble ship? Why., does she not
breast the waves and laugh at
the Storm? Why, the /Ship is
without a rudder. Even so;
whatever your equipment, the
man without a purpose, a noble
purpose, is like t|at ship with
out a rudder,
separable, faith and belief; faith
in yourself, in your fellowmen,
and above all, faith in the God
of Armies, the God of Battles.
If you do not possess these, you
have already lost the fight hero
ic.
If you are to prove worthy
heroes for these new tasks you
must believe you can accomplish
your part of the long row. ’
Then, too, courage arfd pa
tience. Like faith and belief
these are tied together. The
new hero must be a man cf
courage and patience. One of
the great things in life is not to
become discouraged because of
the many reverses, the hard
knocks; but to toil on patiently
through the long day with seem
ingly no appreciation.
Courage is superior to brav
ery. Bravery runs in either di
rection quicker than courage. To
play the new heroes for the new
tasks will revolve in its final
analysis, not on how much you
can do, but on how much you
can endure.1
Finally, love, good will to all
men. These new tasks will not
be wrought out without this es
sential—love, good will. It is
love of our fellowmen of all
races and tribes that will ena
ble us to leave footprints on the
sands of time.
Go on to the heights, ye
mountain climbers, ye guides,
remembering that you can not
go alone. Except you carry
your brother with you, you will
not arrive.
SABBATH SCHOOL CONVEN
TION.
The Western District Sabbath
School Convention of Southern
. Virginia Presbytery convenes
l Wednesday, July 25th, at 9:30
[ o'clock, with the Oak Grove
Presbyterian church at Mann
. boro, Va. .
Rev. D. A. Henry is the pas
! tor of this church.
\ We hope sincerely and most
. cordially ask that all schools in
» the district will be represented.
- MRS. SARAH V. THOMPKINS,
, * President.
BY NEGRO DISFRANCHISE
MENT.
Los Angeles,— Disfranchise
ment of the Negro in Southern
States has brought about such
iistortion of political power in
the United States that a small
white oligarchy in the South is
the dictator of the nation, de
clared Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois, Ed
itor of The Crisis Magazine, in
the keynote address last night
which opened the 19th Annual
Conference of the National As
sociation for the Advancement
rf Colored People.
Dr. Du Bois pointed out that
the barring of Negro citizens
from the polls in Southern cities
had transferred political power
into the hands of a small group
5f Whites, as many as from 80
to 90 per cent of voters in far
Southern States refraining from
voting in the election of 1920.
Among the States where this ab
stention from the use of the bal
lot ,was most pronounced J)r.
Du BoDs cited the following
States and their percentage of
non-voters:
South Carolina-92 per cent
Mississippi —_—91 “ “
Georiga : ~_ 89 “ “
Louisiana i..-86 “ “
rexas_82 “ “
Arkansas —-_79 “ “
Alabama _ 79 - “ “
Florida__ _L_72 “ *
The consequence in political
distortion, continued Dr. Du
Bois, was that whereas it took
35,759 votes to elect a Represen
tative in Co
in some cases ten times as much
political power as citizens in the
North, as follows:
South:
Votes per Repre
State sentative
South Carolina- 9,449
Mississippi_,- 10,312
Georgia ___— - 12,394
Louisiana _— 15,733
Texas _ 22,973
Virginia - 23,100
Alabama - 24,107
State
Indiana
New York ~
Kansas 4—
New Jersey
Illinois
North:
Votes per Repre
sentative
_ 97,108
_1_ 67,338
_ 71,278
..._ 75,333
_...._ 77,425
“The barring of Negroes from
the polls in the South,” said Dr.
Du Bois, “encourages oligarchy.
It enables cliques to nullify, not
simply the 14th and 15th
Amendments but the 19th, giv
ing the right to vote to women.
And, finally, it entirely vitiates
the normal distribution of voting
power throughout the nation.
“It accomplishes this not sim
ply by disfranchising Negroes.
The population in Southern
States has doubled and by rea
son of woman suffrage the vot
ing population ought to have
quadrupled; but actually, as a
matter of fact, the voting pop
ulation Has increased less than
50 per cent showing that not
only have two million Negroes
been disfranchised but more
than two million whites.”
Dr. Du Bois quoted from an
address of Henry W. Anderson,
a white politician of Virginia,
who asserted that in Southern
States the qualification to vote
is so limited that governors anc
other State officers are “some
times elected by less than ter
per cent of the population o1
voting age.”
“At the event of a presiden
tial election,” continued Dr. Di
Bois, singular compilations ari
made. The Democrats cai
start out assuming the votes o:
11 Southern States with, a
present, 124 of the 531 electors
votes. They need to figh
therefore for only 142 electoral
votes to have the majority of
the electoral college. On the
other hand the Republicans must
leave out of account 142 electo
ral votes at the start and of the
other 407 electoral votes they
can aff&d to lose only 141.
“As sure as fate some day
there is coming in the United
States a political controversy
with social and economic roots
which is going to open suddenly
the question as to why the
South has three times the polit
ical power of the West and why
New England, with its disfran
chised foreign workers, has more
political /voice than the West.
The protest is not coming simply
from Northerners or ‘friends' of
the Negro. It is even coming
from the South itself.
“There is no more question of
parish or section or race. It is
a vast and pressing problem of
democracy and civilization. We
must decide, and decide soon,
what .persons, what public opin
ion in the United States shall
rule. Shall it be the public
opinion of a small select group
of persons of Nordic descent?
Shall it be the public opinion of
college graduates? Shall it be the
public opinion of all adult Amer
icans except Negroes, Asiatics
and Latins? Or shall we try
to make it the public opinion of
all intelligent persons? What
ever public opinion rules in the
United States, it must rule
freely . and clearly without a
system of rotten boroughs and
without discrimination and
cheating. The clearing up and
settling pf this great question is
the vastest problem that faces
America today and we must be
gin its solution now/’
In the recent campaign for
new Sunday scool scholars in Ca
tawba Synod the Cape Fear
PresEytery reported 92 addi
tions. Calvary and her outposts
added 55 of this number.
A church vacation Bible
school was conducted in Fremont
this year for the first time in
the history of the church. The
attendance was far more than
was expected. Interest and en
thusiasm ran high. The school
was junder the supervision of
Miss Theodora Percival.
Fremont is in a thriving com
munity with a most excellent
school system. The people are
fairly good livers. The Presby
terian church has made itself
felt in the community and bids
fair to exert a greater influence
in the near future. The church
there has a boys’ club and a Tux
is Girls’ club. The older mem
bers of the church are anxious
to have this new blood flowing
into" the church. The relation
ship of the young and old is
most cordial.
Rev. C. Shirley, our direc
tor of Religious Education, was
with us the first Sunday in July.
His program was as follows: at
ten o’clock he visited Sunrise
Mission and made a short talk
to the school. At 11 o’clock he
preached a most excellent ser
mon in the Calvary church and
assisted in the Communion ser
vice. Af 2 o’clock he visited
Second Calvary in Nash county,
and made a short talk to the
school. Second Calvary cele
brated Children’s Day on July
1. Rev.' Shirley witnessed a
i part of this exercise.
The church vacation school in
the Calvary church was by far
i the most successful of all the
! ones we have had.
The enrollment this year was
■ limited. This enabled the stu
i dents to have mojte personal su
i pervision and the work was
t more efficiently done. The fac
F ulty consisted of ten members;
each one has had special training
for the work.
b
SCRIBE.