New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1874-07-30

beneiactors and winning laurels for them
selves. But it appears that they believed
that all the negro needed were education and
religion and tbs idea Of religion has NOT
yet been eradicated.fo am told that IN the
South today oyer TIVE hundred thousand
dollars are annually. spent in Bibles, hymn
DOCKS, and tracts. do not altogether con-
denim the distribution of these religious doc
uments, for, in many cases, these things help
to develop the moral character of the freed
man. But the negro to-day will tell you
how in the aHe-6eRun times when the chains
OF bondage were about his neck, and when
the drivers lash laid bare his back he found
consolation in his religion-a religious enthu-
siasm, bordering upon fanaticism. And we
need not go to the sugar plantation Of Lou
isiana, the cotton fields Of Georgia, the rice
fields of South Carolina, or the tobacco plan
tation Of Virginia to find this apparently
religious fanatlcism: for here, in the nations
Capital, the centre Of intellectual and artistic
refinement, we can behold the same thing.
Then what they do need is not Bibles, hymn
books, &C.. but persons to properly instruct
them in church government, and correct
understanding of the Scriptures.
Passing from this subject, we desire to say
something about the pecuniary advancement
of the colored man. i,s E1 aHg 90
1t is noticeable fact that all men in all
ages have desired and striven to get money
IN their purse. "IIe who steals nv purse.
steals trash," says Shakespeare, but men
don't believe that now. They prefer the
counsel of Iago: SECT money in thy purse"
The colored man has always followed this
advice. In the dark days of American
slavery, the negro, slave as he was, without
any say in his future condition without hope
Of freedom, surrounded by difficulties on
every hand--saved.
During the hours given him for rest, he
would save penny in this stocking. dime
in this nook, until his accumulations became
cumbersome. Z
Upon the close of the war, they were
found with this money. Some spent it fool
ishly; others, like Mr.. McCawber, waited for
something to turn up.
Political demagogues, who foated into the
South, never gave them counsel the South
ern whites were bitter in their feelings and
anlmosites; in word, they could trust no
Southern bank. There was but one alterna-
tive-the "Freedman's Bank" They were
told that the United States would be directly
responsible for all the deficiencies that might
occur. This idea was still held by many of
the more Intelligent Of the race all over the
South until the closing of this bank, proved
to them that the Freedman's Banks, like
others, was fallible.
Now, since this bank has closed, and since
the unceremonious closing of other Southern
banks, the people know not what to do.
Yet they should not stand here in this pre-
dicament. They are members of the body
polite. They are to take position that will
demand for them the respect which is to-day
denied. They may procure the passage of
one hundred "civil rights" bills, but, to
break down the prejudice which that bill
aims at, and to force the recognition of our
rights by moral force, and not by political
compulsion, we must do so by the position
we take, intellectual as well as pecuniary,
In order to take this position that surplus
money must be converted into realty. For
he who owns soil, will ALWAYS possess greater
influence upon the moral and political senti-
ment Of that community than he who does
not. They need to devote less time to poll
tics and more to their financial requirements.
There was time in the history Of this great
Republic when great political talent held
its sway, influencing everything and govern
ing the thoughts and shaping the opinions of
everybody. But, apparently, that day has
passed. "The world moves" for good or for
evil. Though elevation to any political
position by means Of money is bringing dis
grace upon many sections of this country.
Yet after all said and done, money and
pecuniary requirements of every kind do lead,
and are destined to lead, in this country.
However, every man should be politician
in the true sense of the word; for, upon the
votes of the patriotic and good, do the per-
petuity and prosperity of the country depend.
Besides becoming part owners of the soil,
colored men should seek to become engi-
neers, mechanics, artists, and artisans.
Money not deposited IN banks or laid out in
real estate, should 60 toward forming build
ing associations, corporations of every kind.
This is when some of the thousands spent
for the religious advancement of the colored
man could be spent TO better advantage to
himself, and shed more lustre upon his kind
benefactors. They also need newspapers,
in the full sense Of the term-nOt papers
devoted to the interests Of the negro alone,
but to the interests of the country of which
they are citizens. And should such corpo-
rations, building associations, or newspapers
be established, they should not be confined
to the negro alone, but for any not disquali-
fed by any section of the charter. The
South particularly may talk of immigration,
and the total impossibility Of digesting the
negro element; but 1 believe that the negro
must in the future, as in the past, live, and
be buried in the South. The sugar, the rice,
the cotton, and tobacco, must all be cult
waited by him. Not only must he be engaged
in this work, but also in the higher pursuits
of life-thus making himself the bone and
sinew of the land, and at the same time the
head, the felt, and appreciated in the legls-
lative halls of his country.
1t may be we'll to add here that the sooner
the Southern whites appreciate this fact, the
sooner will the evils now existing under