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AND YE SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE.- John viii :82.
CHARLOTTE* N. C., THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 1935,
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DOING THE COMMON IMS OF UFE
IN AN UNCOMMON WAY
By Mrs. H. W. McNair, Ingleside Seminary *
(A paper read at the Workers’ Conference held in the
University Church at Johnson C. Smith University, Feb. 6-8.)
It was the wisest man who
said, “There is nothing new un
der the sun.” Although there
may be nothing new under the
sun, what makes life worth
while and keeps life from fall
ing into a rut is doing the com
mon things of life in such a
way that they will appear new.
Were I asked the difference
between the worth of men, ^my
answer would be, One does the
common things of life in an un
common way, while the other
continues to do the common
things of life in the same old
common way.
Never before has competition
been so groat as it is today
This applies to all phases of hu
man existence, from the hum
ble farpna hand to that pf the
President’s chair in the white
House. Several factors are the
cause of this ever growing,
keen competition. The advent
of the machine, taking the place
of man power, has played no
small part. The bringing to the
fore of machinery, taking the
place of man power, has thrown
thousands of men but of em
ployment. Those let out have
been those less prepared to cope
with the situation. The great
money powers and corporations
are not moved by sympathy
but by efficiency.
Also, the spirit of consolida
tion has played its part . The
last decadd lhajs ijpeya. frajught
smaller concerns tawebeen
brought, together to form larg
er concerns. Even the school
and the church have caught the
spirit and followed in the wake.
In every case where consolida
tion has taken place somebody
has been thrown out of em
ployment. Again we find the
less prepared being the losers.
We are facing a rising sun.
More will be expected of you
and me in the future than has
been in the past More and
more the world is swinging to
ward /efficiency. -The advance
ment in education, the scientific
and machine age in which we
live, and untold competition
have brought this about.
As we face the future, we
hear the command, Workers,
get out of the rut; get up and
go! I am sure you see with me
the handwriting on the wall.
See to it that your work is done
so well that, no one can do it
better.
Owing to the many changes
that confront us> we find a
great mass of humanity striv
ing for existence, terminating in
the survival of the fittest. Men
who are striving for the ascen
dancy must not only do things
but must do them in a different
way and diffierei$tly from the
ordinary individual, if the as
cendancy they would reach. It
is not so much what we do that
counts, but how we do it.
In one of the mountain coun
ties in the State of Kentucky,
eighteen miles from the rail
road, there was a little, one
roqm school-house, very much
dilapidated, almost ready to fall
to the ground. This little school
paid the teacher forty dollars
per month. A young woman ap
plied for the place. The school
board told her the place was
hers, hut informed her that
♦hey were sorry, but the teach
ers before her had given, such
poor service that the board fel
it necessary to reduce the sal
ary from forty dollars per
month to thirty-five dollars per
month. Without a single word
she took the position and went to
work. She cleaned up the yard,
whitewashed the trees, cleaned
out the spring, made curtains
for the few windows, had th'
children make hangers for hats
and coats, polished the little
wood-burning heater and in
duced each child to provide an
individual drinking cup.
The board watched her woifk
| for thirty days and wrote her
the following letter: “Of the
thirty years the school has run,
and of the twenty teachers be
fore you, you have not only ex
celled them, but there is no
comparison. The school board
has not only voted to reduce
your salary from forty dollars
to thirty-five dollars, but has
voted to increase your salary
from forty dollars to fifty-five
dollars per month., Also they
have voted tx> erect? for you a
neat, two-room schbol building
within the next .sixty , days.
This young Woman was a pro
duct of Fee Memorial institute,
in Kentucky. This came about
by doing the common, things in
an uncommon way.
Our youth should learn this
one leson: Improve. Their
whole being should be bent in
the direction of improvement.
They should endeavor to do it
better than it has eveir been
done before." j
A firm needed a man to fill
an important position.The head
of the firm sent for four men
who had been recommended. All
appeared at the same time. He
took them in a body through
the establishment, giving them
at work. He brought them back
to the office, asking each this
question: “What, would be your
first effort if given the pos.
tion?” The first replied, that
he would do the work just like
the firm wanted it done; he
would strive to please the firm.
The second replied likewise. The
third replied that he would do
the work just as he saw it be
ing done by the other men. The
fourth replied that he would
endeavor to improve on what
he saw. He stated that he no
ticed that ten men were doing
a piece of work, whereas he
could take five men and do the
work and do it more efficiently.
He also stated that as men
were making trips, carrying
loads and returning with noth
ing, he would have them bring
material back as they returned,
rhus saving the firm both time
and money. The head of the firm
cold him to be on the job next,
morning. He also stated to him
that the men who owiied the
concern were not versed* in the
affairs of the establishment.
He stated he knew something
was wrong but could not find
the cause, and he had been sent
out to find a man who would
not simply do what the firm
wanted but a man who would
discover the cause and remedy
it. Do the common things of life
in an uncommon way and you
will be the first to be selected
and the last to be dropped.
we see men ana women arop
ping out of the picture simply
because they continue to do
the common things of life in
a common way. The surest
way to the topmost round is
not through petition, not
through sympathy, not through
pull, but by doing your work.
No foundation is so substan
tial as that of well done work.
Recommendation is good, but, ef
ficiency is better. All recom
mendations must be lived up to;
efficiency is its own reward.
Nothing is good enough that
can be done better. (
May we conclude with these
words:
“I aim only one,*but I am one.
I can not do everything, but
(Continued* on page”4)
STRIFE AND
Ever since the withdrawal
of the original philanthropists
and founders of Negro colleges
and universities, there has been
all but universal strife and con
fusion among them. Institutions
founded by alien benefactions
and supported altruistically by
those who have no immediate
personal interest in them, ought
tjo command the unstinted grat
itude of the beneficiaries. Such,
indeed, was the case as long as
the original founders presided
over the fortunes of these insti
tutions,., Who ever* heard of a
student strike in Atlanta under
Ware, or at Shaw under Tup
per, or at Fisk under Gravath,
or at Lincoln under Rendall,
or at Howard under Howard?
But as soon as the fathers and
founders began to fall away,
the faith and confidence of the
benefited people began to wane;
and we look for bickering, com
motion, strife and strikes in
Negro colleges, atmost as the
natural order of things.
If we analyze the situation
carefully we shall find that the
frequency of outbreaks is apt'
to occur in those institutions
which dxercise the least care
in filling tile presidency. Lin*
coin University. has had only
three Presidents during its his
tory. These were, ail, as one
would say, to the manner bom,
and represented the full meas-.
ure of the spirit and genius of
tfce founders. They aH had
gained academic experience in
which they were called to pre
side. The same thing might be
said ..of Morehouse College, lat
er expanded into Atlanta Uni
versity. There has not been a
serious outbreak in its history.
^ohnsonC. Slmith‘University has
had only two Negro Presidents,
both of whom had acquired long
educational experience before
they were promoted to the head
ship. The sustained order and
discipline of this institution is
well known. Tuskegee has had
two Presidents both of whom
were schooled and disciplined
for the part. These schools
have, in the main, been well or
dered and have commanded the
continued loyalty of the student
body and the public.
On the other hand, Fisk
University, after Gravath, be
gan to experiment with a series
of Presidents who were not pre
pared or fitted for the Tole they
were called to play. They jvere
ministers of the gospel of good
meaning and intention but with
out academic experience in the
college world. The same is true
of Howard University which
has become the scandal of the
educational world. After Pat
ton this capstone of Negro ed
ucation called to its head a se
ries -of preachers who were well
meaning but poorly fitted for
the pedagogical function which
devolved upon them. Repeated
failure and frustration has been
the result.
Since the ascendency of Dr.
Hope to the presidency of At
lanta University, peace and
good order have prevailed. He
was schooled, trained and dis
ciplined in the specific work
which he was called upon to
command. These instances
should be sufficient to establish
the general principle that cpi
lejge presidents should be de
tected with reference to specific
qualifications, as a bank, a rail
road, or a factory would select
its head.
The color of the president, as
experience shows, has little or
.nothing to do with the outcome.
Lincoln University, uiider a se
ries of white presidents, has
sustained good order and disci
pline, as Jdhnson C. Smith has
done under Negroes in com
mand. On the other hand, Fisk
University has suffered disor
ders and unrest almost beyond
tlfe point of endurance. How
University stands somewhat
class by itself in this re
It has had two colored ad
trations; one under John
ton and the other uri
Mordecai W. Johnson. All
other presidents have been
i and yet Howard Univer
nas been and still is the
r College” in the public es
tion. This is not due to the
>r scheme but to the fact
University has never exer
proper thought in filling
presidency.
predict—arid may live to
the prediction fulfilled—
Howard, Fisk, Atlanta,
In and the rest, will arrive
demic calmness and com
ure where the education and
acter building process can
ion without internal arid
external commotion, which ne
cessarily frustrates their peda
gogical aim. This will happen
orily when the trustees exercise
the requisite wisdom and dis
cretion in choosing the chief in
command.
THE RACE RELATIONS DE
PARTMENT OF THE FEDER
AL COUNCIL
Senator
Guffey Against Dis
crimination in Economic Secur
1 ity Bin
JNew York, fytarch 23.—SenaT
vaniai has vn^tferT the Rev;
Marshall L. Shepard, a mem
ber of the Pennsylvania House
of Representatives and pastor
of Mt„ Olivet Baptist Taberna
cle. Philadelphia, that he will
urge upon his fellow members
of the Senate Finance Commit
tee the introduction of a non
discrimination clause in the Ec
onomic Security Bill. “I am in
hearty sympathy with the de
sire of Dr. George E. Haynes
in this matter,” wrote the Sen
ator following the appearance of
Dr. Haynes, Executive Secreta
tary of the Department of Race
Relations, Federal Council of
Churches, 105 E. 22nd Street,
New York, N. Y., before the
Senate Committee to argue the
need of such clauses in the Bill.
Dr. Shepard received this letter
in response to his communica
tion to the Senator urging his
support of the measure.
Repripts of the full argu
ment and statistical data given
by Dr. Haynes before the Com
mittee are procurable at nomi
nal cost from the Department.
Federal' Council Employees
Sign Anti-Lynching Petition
In the campaign on the Costi
gan-Wagner Anti-Lynching Bill
the Department of Race Rela
tions of the Federal Council of
Churches is working actively
to secure signers to the mam
moth petition which is to be
presented to President Roose
velt. As an example to other
organizations the Federal Coun
cil has signed the petition one
hundred per cent, strong, the
name of every employee within
the Council having been affixed.
Petitions have been sent in
quantity to key people in every
section of the country, especially
in the South where outstanding
church women have responded
wholeheartedly in the Council’s
recent effort to have thousands
of letters sent to Senators and
Congressmen urging the pas
sage of the Bill.
Federal Council of Churches
Acts on New York Race Riot
The Department of Race Re
lations through its Executive
Secretary, Dr. George E.
Haynes, has urged upon Mayor
F. H, LaGuardia, of New York
City, the appointment of repre
sentatives of the Harlem church
es and religious organizations to
the Mayor’s Bi-Racial Commit
tee selected to study conditions
in Harlem leading up to the
recent riot. The Department is
working to stimulate a move
ment for a strong interracial
committee representing the ec
onomic, social and religious forc
es both in and outside of Har
lem to study and formulate
plans for the improvement of
the conditions out of which the
riot grew.
Interracial Dramatic Play
Published
In response to a consistent
demand for plays dealing with
social relations, the Department
of Race Relations of the Feder
al Council of Churches has just
published a short interrracial
play entitled, “A Little Leav
en,” "written by Elsie Linewaver
and Mary Reed. The play tellk
a story of a white benefactor of
:t Negro college who preaches
efficiency and preparedness to
the students but has to be con
verted to a belief * in his own
preachment when one of the
graduates applies to his firm
for work. The play is. easy to
produce and is recommended
for church and community or
ganizations, especially those
wrestling with problems of ec
onomic opportunity for Ne
groes. It caii be secured from
the Department at a nominal
cost: ' " ' ?i / j
Federal Council Secretaries
Help Youth Conference
At a, recent Metropolitan
Conference held at Riverside
Church, New York, promoted by
The Greater New York Federal
tion of Churches, Dr. George
E. Haynes, Executive Secretary*
Department of Race Relations,
and Mr. James Myers, Indus
al Secretary of the Federal
Council, were among the direc
tors of the discussion. A report
just received stated that “the
Conference marked a new ep
och in the work of young people
in the Protestant churches of
fhe city and environs.”
TRINITY PRESBYTERIAN
CHURCH, MAYESVILLE,
S. C.
The subject of the sermon
preached by Rev. H. McFadden
m the first Sunday in March
was ‘The Unruly Tongue.” Text,
James 3:8. Our minister
preached this sermon sometime
luring the first of the year,
.nd the few that were out en
joyed it so well that Elder
W. W. Wilson requested it to
ae preached again in March in
order that the congregation at
arge might hear it. Everybody
seemed to enjoy it very much.
We had a number of distin
guished visitors out on this oc
casion.
The Missionary Society had
heir meeting after services,
which was largely attended.
On Sunday evening the Jun
ior Missionary Society rendered
a very interesting program.
On Sunday, March 17th,
Rev. McFadden spoke on the
subject, “Need and Supply.”
(Philippians 4:19.) The speak
er emphasized our world needs,
material and spiritual. He also
said that the supply is two
fold, primarily and fundament
ally, divine. The secondary ipro
vider is man himself. God pro
vides or makes possible tho
physical esesntials, and he pro
vides for the soul, spiritual re
freshment and nourishment
Man must seek and'find and us<
that which God has provideo
for him. The man of God tolc
us vividly why the bodies anc
souls of men starve. This indeeo
was a most striking message
delivered to a packed house.
The church was divided inti
about twenty groups, headei
by the ladies for the purpos<
of raising the Presbytery, del
egates’ and benevolence expens
(Coninued on page 3)
Committee Asks Federal Aid to
Owiprahip of Land—Bill to
Make It Possible Now Pending
in congress
Atlanta, Ga., March 23.—
Government aid to end the evils
of “sharecropping” by enabling
thousands of tenant farmers tx>
become self-supporting land
owners is urged in a report j ust
made public here by a commit'
tee jpoanposed of Dr. Edwin. K.
Embree, President of the Julius
Rosenw&ld Fund Dr. *W. W.
Alexander, Director of the Com
mission on Interracial Cooper
ation, and Dr. Charles S. John
son, of Fisk University.
The report, based on an ex
haustive survey of the South’s
agricultural situation, reveals
that 71 per cent of the South's
cotton farmers are landless,
* hat 58 per cent of its total
farm population is in the same
unhappy condition, that tenan
cy is rapidly increasing, and
that declining exports of cotton
are steadily undercutting the
foundations of the tenant sys
tem. A far-reaching program
of government aid to ownership
is seen as the only remedy. The
report reveals the following
In *1930 of 3,088,111 farms in
the thirteen Southern States,
fifty-eight per cent, or 1,789,000
were cultivated by tenants, of
whom 1,091,000 were white and
698,000 colored. In the case of
cotton farms the prevalence of
tenancy ran to seventy-one per
cent, and in certain black belt
regions to eighty per cent and
upward. Due to the agricultural
depression of the nineteen
twenties, the number of tsaante
increased m -‘en years by 200,
000 through loss of farms and
otherwise
Since 1930, according to the
report, the Federal limitation
('f cotton acreage, the steady
decline of cotton exports, dne
to tariff barriers and the rapid
increase of cotton production
abroad (which in 1935 promis
es to exceed that of the United
States,) have undercut the Iiv
;ng of multitudes of tenant
farmers wholly dependent
upon cotton. Others it has cast
entirely adrift, without access
to the lan^ or other assured
means of support. As a result
millions of people who normally
should be making their living
on the soil have been thrown
on relief.
The report, concludes that the
South is confronted with fthe
necessary choice between con
tinued crop control, with subsi
dies for idle lands and relief for
displaced tenants and laborers,
or a program of government
aid by which multitudes of ten
ants may become self-support
ing landowners, after the ex
ample of Ireland, Denmark and
other countries. It seems obvi
ous to the committee that to
continue the present system of
fers no hope and that the latter
course will be not only far bet
ter, but cheaper in the long
run.
The committee is giving- all
possible support to a bill intro
duced in Congress a few days
ago by Senator Banjkhead, of
Alabama, providing for a vast
government project to restore
tenants to land ownership. This
-vould be done by selling them
land in small tracts or by lend
ing money to buy, on long
time and at low interest rates.
, rhe committee regards this
[ proposal as of the greatest, im
I portance, both for immediate
[ recovery and for rebuilding the
[ crumbling economic and social
, foundations of the nation.
i If the mind of Christ were
I in the controlling persons of our
» world, this would be a very dif
. ferent world in a very little
. while. They would think the
Truth of God and not the falser
hoods of Satan.—Sel.
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