San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1886-09-08
COLORED CONVENTION.
HELD AT BRENNAN, TEXAS, TO-DAY.

Large Attendance of Leading Colore,
Men-Address OF Prof T. J. Harris.
Special to the LIGHT.
BRENNAN, Texas, August 3, 1856.
The Hon. Judge l.. Kirk was In read
mess TO welcome the delegates, but ow
ing to indispositiOR from the effects Of al
operation he underwent several dAyi
ago, he was unable to make p very Ions
speech. The judge, however, mad,
some very appropriate remarks, con
graduating the delegates upon theil
fine, respectable aud intelligent appear
ance, the progress of the oolored rae,
since the war, etc, and concluded by
welcoming the delegates TO the city o
BRENNAN and sincerely hoping that the
convention would accomplish success
fully the object for which il WAS called
Professor I. J. Harris (colored) was
then introduced, who spoke as follows
Mr.. Chairman, Gentlemen of the Con-
vention and Fellow CitiZens-I have
been requested TO welcome you to the
privileges Of our magnificent CITY,
| Twenty-one years OF freedom brings us
to period in which we apprehend the
old evolving itself into the new. We
are passing from the dead works OF the
past to the living issues Of The present
and future. The smoke of the battle
has cleared away, the dead are laid to
rest, the grOans of the wounded have
died away in the distance, and Maine
and Texas are Clasping warm hands af-
ter the lapse of many years.
We are passing from the Ignorance
and superstition brought on and fOstered
by years of thralldOm to the intelligence
which freedom predicates, from the im-
morality OF 30 years to that higher
standard OF morality which ever char
acterizes the daily life OF the highest
social and scholastic circles; from the
muscle and sinew power of the past to
the multitudinous appliances OF the i'm
proved machinery of the present. We
are passing rapidly from the blind tools
Of the past, accelerated by the provi-
sions Of national franchise, to the intel
| ligent voter of the present. We are liv-
| ing in grand and awful time. We are
measured, not by the number of pounds
which we are able to lift from the earth,
but by that other power which Is re-
| quired to move the world. Mans i'm
portance has been most beautifully de-
lineated by DR.. Watts, who says:
Were | so tall TO reach the pole,
Or mcte the ocean with my span,
must be measured by my soul,
The minds the standard of the man.
This being true, let us go on to nobler
works and holder theories and remem-
Der the higher we fix our standard the
great will be the measure of our at
tanments.
Reach Highland in the language OF
the great lngersoll, Ere long we will
be able to fly out like an eagle in the
great dome OF thought and question the
stars for ourselves"
And now fellow citizens In an age like
this, so fraught with imminent danger
when the expressions of the statesmen
| and the implements of war are kept in
vigilance to preserve the life and rights
| of the Indigenous citizen against the I'M
warranted incursiOns Of foreign imposi-
tiOns, when men of brains and influence
| stand Numerically in contra position TO
each other 1t is right, it is benefitting, il
| is eXpedient that we, as cOlored citizens
experimenting our significance as potent
factors in this the greatest of republics
should inform not Washington county,
not Texas only, but the world how glori-
Ously our reception has been and is.
Therefore in the beginning of our de-
alterations let us council wisdom and jus
tice, II you intend laying a platform let it
be upon declaration Ofprlnciples.
Let us discard the meaningless words
and sentences of various Interpretation
Let there be displayed in IL more of
thought and less of education, il there
fore we believe that the free school sys-
TEN is the best under existing circum-
stances, that the state has right to ap-
| propiate such a part of revenues arising
| from the renting of the lands to the sup
| port of the free schools, that by thrift
| and economy we will be able to extricate
| ourselves from the almost relentless
grasp Of practical servility, that the re-
suit of intoxicating liquors is damnable
to our moral, intellectual and financial
| welfare, IL is for you to say so, in no
measured terms and with no uncertain
sound.
Standing as we are to-day on the mar
| gin Of the cotton growing and grazing
| sections of the state, it would be idle fol-
ly, yes mockery to attempt to convey to
your minds the inexpressible advantages
| of this great state.
Gathered as you are from the Rio
Grande to the western boundaries of Ar
| kansas and Louisiana, from the gulf to
the territories what may 1 expect to be
able to inform you In respect to the con-
dition OF her people?
| NOluliR. AlulObt every NATIONALITY IL
| represented within her domain and each
one generally speaking enjoys the re-
| spect which the respect in himself mer-
| its.
Texas is great and wonderful in size,
and cosmopolitan in ideas, is justly
styled the Empire State of the West,'
and the mammoth state of the republic.
Born amid the din OF battle she still
remains a monument of true and unfad-
ing glory to the memory of General Sam
| Houston, the noblest Texan of them all
| Therefore forsooth as the shedding oil
blood was necessary to her liberty; let
us contribute to her preservation by our
Intelligence and good will toward all
men.
And now gentlemen of magnificent
distances, we welcome you to the City
| of Brennan, take charge of it, tits
| yours in all save the girls, min.
| gle freely in the deliberations oil
this hope) ever memorable convention
| which shall be prated on the lips of the
child Of to-day, whose head, though
| grown grey In after years with age In
the service of manhood, life's duties
shall impress 1t more indellibly upon the
mind of his child as the days and years
go by.
We welcome you in the name OF the
citizens of Brennan, whose hands are
ever ready to protect, and whose hearts
beat in response TO natures slightest