St. Paul daily globe., 1892-05-26
TIRED OF RESOLVING.
Afro-Americans Opposed to
Passing More Resolu-
tiOnS.
1t Is Argued That There Has
Been Too Much Paper
Talk.
Cash Declared by Mr.. McGhee
to Be the Only Thing
That Counts.
But the Convention Had to
Pass One Little Mo-
tion.

BuC Ln6 COnV6nCIOu Hdu u
Pass One Little Mo-
tion.
A handful of cOlored men assembled
In the senate chamber at the capitol yes
terday, and. in the name of the Afro
American State league, talked and
wrangled, resolved and elected officers
Every man seemed to have his little
hobby on the "cull'd" question, the air
ing of which was his ostensible purpose
in attending this so-called convention
Beyond the election of officers there
was no defined programme. An early
start was therefore made, the delegates
being called to order shortly after II
o'clock by President Morris, of Mime
apolis. The following delegates were
found to be present from Ramsey and
Hennepin counties:
st. Peter Claver's Sodality-Robert E. An
derson. Joseph Banks j. Ii. Loomis;
Citizens Union-Samuel +. Hardy, +. ID
Parker. j. II. CUNNINGHAM. P. L. Reed, j. G.
COX, Link Overhaul, Wade HAMPTON, Solo
mon Hall, John Luca, George Allen.
Afro-American League No. Id. IL. Saun
ders, Z. z. Wade. j. q. Adams, I. ii. Lyles
Revs L. H. Reynolds, L. c. Scheafe, j. c.
Anderson.
Ramsey County Republican Club-Harry
Howard, ". s. Moffett, Charles E. james, O.
D. Howard. Frederick L. McGhee. John Co
Guire.
Elder Scheafe invoked divine bless
ing on the work of the convention, and
H. L Wodn rf St
Paul, Gov. Merriam'S man Friday. cor
rallied the presidents eye and moved
the appointment Of committee OIL
resolutions. A gathering of the colored
fraternity without committee on reSo-
lutiOns would be somewhat akin to the
play OF Hamlet" without the Prince Ut
Denmark in the title role. So the resO
luton went through with rush, and
the following were dignified with pO
sitions on the committee: E. p. Wade,
X. Z. Anderson. J.. G. Sheafe, w. ID.
Mitchell, F. l.. McGhee.
There was no lack of material sent
into the committee to draw inspiration
from. and it was agreed to adjourn until
l o'clock to allow time to thoroughly
digest it. The cOlOred man, like his
white political brother, is rarely prompt
in keeping an appointment, and so il
was after o'clock before the cOnven-
ton was again under full head OF
steam. The committee on resolutions
was still digesting the materials for its
report, and so the opportunity was i'm
proved by the delivery of the presidents
address.
Morris Hot Shot.
Mr.. Morris is the well-known colored
attorney of Minneapolis, and man of
acknowledged ability. He said:
The Minnesota State Afro-American league
has now been i'll existence about one year
and ought 10 give an account of itself. While
it is a deplorable fact that there is good cause
for the existence of this league, it is never
the less true Iwould to God that the patriot
ism of this country were SO pure and the
sense of Justice and fairness SO intense thai
all people of whatever name or color could
enjoy without restriction all the rights. priyi-
leges and immunities guaranteed by the
supreme law OF the land. 1t is one of the OBJ
jects of the league to create public sentl
ment opposed to every form of oppression.
In this line the efforts of the league have moi
been wholly in vain, for 1t has accomplished
in this way more than many of us are aware
President Morris claimed that the
league has shown the people of this
state the capabilities and power of the
race and their desire for Improvement.
The alleged ill-treatment of the race IN
the South was denounced, ana the prom
ise made of continued agitation until
the cOlored men are given full recOgnl
ton in all walks of life. The race
problem was declared to be a most in
tricate one, which wise statesmen have
acknowledged their inability to solve.
He continued:
We claim, and rightly too that all the
rights and privileges belonging to us as
American citizen are not fully accorded us
and this being true, we have a right and it is
our duty as men to assist upon having every
thing that rightly belongs to us. That oul
brethren are oppressed. insu1ted, outraged
abused. misused. cheated, detrauded, de-
priyed of the right of suffrage, .mObbed,
lyuched, slandered, Hbelled, slaughtered d
butchered, murdered and burned at the
stake in parts of this country is so well
known. ana the occurrence so common, that
the reports of them hardly excite passing
notice. much less any attempt on the part OF
those in power to put stop TO them.
Leciured by Reynolds.
There was a hearty concurrence on
the part of the delegates with the senti-
ment expressed by the president, and
recommendation he had made was at
once taken up and acted upon. 1t was
the amalgamation of the league with the
Minnesota Civil Rights associationy
Some difference of opinion was eX-
pressed at the outset, but the eloquence
of the promoters of the scheme SmoOthed
down all opposition, and resolution
was ultimately agreed upon commehd-
ing this course to the members OF the
civil rights association. There had
been great deal of talk, foolish, trivial
talk, and, as the committee on resolu-
tions was still cogitating, Rev. l.. E.
REYNOLDS received a call for q
speech. He responded. and asked
TO be excused if he admins
tered a lecture to the delegates. The
present was critical time in the his
tory of their race, and he thought it out
of place for delegates to waste so much
time on trivialities. They were. moi
schoolboys, but should bring thought
fulness and intelligence to the consid
Grafton of the subject Gnder discussion
If they did not do this, how could they
expect to command the respect of theil
white brethren? There were times fol
childishness, but this was not one Oi
them.
The reverend gentleman's admoniti0n
had its effect upon the delegates tor a
time, but only for time, for the same
old racket was again resumed.
The delegates declared that they coulo
not wait longer for the committee or
resolutions, and so E. p. Wade at las
emerged from the committee room anC
presented the report or reports. The
majority report was the following
Unique Epistle:
That in view Of the fact times in the pas