Huntsville gazette., 1894-01-13
A2EP 2z.ItAt.Tl d1It ING
OF the Coiored Men of Huntsville
Last Thursday Night.
The Full Text OF the Speech Deliver
ed by Prof. w. H. Council.

4
At meeting Of the representative col.
ored men Of this section, held at Lake
side A M. E. Church last Thursday
night, R. D. Dawson was elected chairman,
and G. R. Donegan, secretary. The pur>
pose of the meetings. stated by the Pres.
ident, was thesimprovement Of the col
ored race, mentally, morally .and finan-
cially.
Prof. w. II. Council, one of the pro
moters of the meeting, made the opening
speech and among other things said:
Kind friends:
This is the first business meeting of
this character ever held by the negroes
! OF this commugity. / hope it will be the
most important, both as to the nature of
| questions presented and discussed and
good results.
In order for people to be successful
it must build on all lines of essential pro-
gress, taking advantage of the expert
ence of mankind, drawing usful lessons
from the operations of those who are in
the lead. Too long has the negro found
supreme contentment in that blessed
old plantation song:
Its all do want,
Its all do want
g. Its all do want, r
Its little more faith in Jesus"
There ARE things which he needs,
whether he wants them or not
education morality, wealth, man.
hOOd--I can conceive Of a relig
ious people devoid of these ingre>
deDts 10 human character, but it would be
impossible TO find civilized and progress
sive people without them.
People succeed here only as they make
most Of what lies around them-only as
they develop the God that Is in every
man and everything in nature. Indesd |
think that our happiness hereafter is
measured by what we do for mankind
here spiritually and materially. Angus
tus said; II found Rome brick-I leave
it marble"
The negro race, civilized and uncivi-
lized, leads the world in spiritual fervor,
in spiritual nature. She Semitic race
especially tie Jewish branch (God bless
the JewsD has given to the world every
great religious thought and religious sys
tenn. Deism, Christianity, Buddhism,
ZoroAsterism, Confuscianism, and Islam
are all the products of Shem's brain and
heart. These are the religions which have
swayed mankind and rule the world today,
and yet the Semites have amassed wealth,
they have reached out their arms. for
material nature. Japheth, including the
Anglo Saxon has never given to man a
religious idea or system, but in intellec-
tual vigor, art, invention, conquest, tri-
umph, he leads all. Victory comes
wherever he casts his blue eyes or hoists
his banner. He stands upon a throne
built of slain nations. He bows before
his God with the blood of all races drip
ping from his victorious sword He
would not have God that he could not
make draw his water and Lew his wood
that he cannot convert into electricity
| and steam-that he cannot mould into
dollars. Oliver Cromwell, upon seeing
silver statuettes of the twelve apostles,
said that they ought to be nodded into
dollars and sent about doing good But
hsre in the South, where we hsve the
spiritual nature of the negro, the reli-
gion making Semitic, the all.conquering
intellectually of the Anglo-Saxon Japh>
eth, notwithstanding drawing
upon each other if all do their parts new
thoughts. new energies, high manhood
and universal religion will be born to
| bless the future.
Pardon me fer this seeming depression.
We want to come to things nearer home
| Just now. We want to see if we cannot
DO something to-:
| / Lift up the masses of the negro pop
ulation in our midst in their home life.
| g. To encourage better system of farm>
ing among our people.
8 To encourage thrift and frugality
among US.
A. To arouse deeper interest in edu-
cation.
5 TO encourage colored men in busi,
ness anu the professions.
| 6 To seek to bring back and cultie
vate the love of the white man for the
black man. Forit is a lamentable fact
that the white mans heart has been go
ing away from the black man for many
years. and the alleged outrages commit
ted by black men upon white women
has kindiei fire against the negroes
which il not speedily counteracted will
grow in intensity and destructiVeness
along many lines.
;. z. To improve our labor in compe
tency and reliability, for the near future
will see the inauguration of conflict
more terrible and widespread than the
mob on 'jim crow car lines" battle
between the laboring blacks and whites
ovsr the loaf. Skill. honesty will win
, the day at least for season. Colore6
men cannot afford to quarrel amors
themselves. but each must do bis bes
' to bring forth plans and schemes for the
, greatest good to the greatest number
Personal interest must be subordinatet
to the general good of the race.