The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-01-27

Sa-tAd for TIE P~RoeREssTvB FARAER.l
DIV Thomas Dixon, Jr., pastor of
Twenty-third Street Baptist
ts h preceded the second of his
On -. If sermons on "The Churchless
sG1I;ons " this morning at Association
MI by the following review of cur
rSI IT, ;s not without pain that l feel it
dntv to devote again a few min.
70 the review of the Lodge Bill,
l IN nending in Congress. l do it be-
..nsa overwhelmed with the convic-
gu that such a law enacted at this
.i"os can only result in misery, sec
.;.naJ hatred, crime and failure. l
w sorry to disturb again the minds
- those who disagree with me. When
y srst touched upon this matter some
nontbs ago certain gentlemen, out
u;da Of this church and organization,
~oTa 40 outraged that an appeal was
Id to the trus ees of this church to
Inst the pastor for daring to think
~cb heresy. Failing in this, an ap
"osI was then taken to the managers
r this hall, asking that the congrega
tion should be turned out to punish
tho pastor for such sacrilege Let
no assure these gentlemen of my
Eindliest feelings toward them. I am
.orrv that a sense of duty forces me
sgsin to this issue. I do not desire
bsttle. | wish simply to speak the
truth in love. And | feel that voc is
me if do not speak it.
have heard it said that the negro
"a q Ward of the Nation" To the
mind of a man who now knows the
negro is a slave, this is simple non
sense. 1t has an ancient accent. 1t
smells of dust and rubbish. 1t is
nothing more or less than a traditional
mpersrition. And yet it has been
erected into a dogma, and made the
test of patriotic orthodoxy-the very
password to honor by a certain class
Of fanatics. The negro is a ward of
the nation, but IN no special sense.
He is a man. He lisa citizen, entitled
only to what every other citizen en-
lows. He is entitled to all this; moth
ing more, nothing less. The political
questions that affect him are the ques
tons that affect US all, and they are
profoundly religious as well as social
and political.
To enac5 such a law as the Federal
Election Bulnow pen ling seems to me
the supremest folly.
l. Because the whole thing is out
Of date. II is some quarter of a cen
fury out of date. Such political and
legislative reconstruction for the
South has long ago been demonstra led
to be the erranG of a fool. A repre-
sentative negro journal published at
the Hampton Institute, Va, rejoicing
in the probable defeat of this bill, says:
aLet US alone. Give US a chance to
make men Of ourselves. There is q
social and educational and moral re-
obstruction Of the South needed, that
viii never come from any Legislative
halls, State or National. It must be
the growth of time and education and
Christianity" These are manly
words. They have the true ring.
Suca aw-tinkering might be toll,
Grated twenty five years ago as an ex,
pertinent. But the tears that are be
ng wept today over the political
tOrtunos of the negro may be traced
% two sources. They are either the
sars that flow from the weakening
eyes of old men who mean well but
Who simply cannot see we'll, or they
ne the crocodile tears of younger
asmagogues who hope to move the
populace by their brine. The trouble
Z the whole thing is inspired by
memory, not by fact.
2. The negro race did not ask for
aS measure. Earn 9st and intelligent
aegroes-such men as President J. @.
frce, of North Carolina-oot only
10 not ask for it, but they condemn it
aa deIusion or q humbug. IF the
negro race had risen and demanded
%en a measure with any emphasis,
aere might have been some excuse.
Out they did not ask for it They
AVE not rallied to its support with
Wy unanimity enthusiasm. They
Saly' have no faith or hope in it.
1lslf oest mel know it will prove a
eulslon anl a snare. 1t was not born
= me South at which it is aimed. 1t
ss born in Massachusetts,, grand old
commonwealth Ia is, the fertile
~o.ner OF nearly every ism that has
satSed or blessed this continent. Tn g
~SSnt child Is really the offspring of a
n'aln narrow New England fanati-
n maj yet lives, welded to a
%Onic sect.onalism. Mr.. Lodge
Sos rs seat in Congress to the fact
Fas IN Massachusetts the very class
SO'ers Is disfranchised whom he
sTas 70 puch to the polls, between
3OIeVs at the South.
~ can result univ in harm IN tho