The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-08-28
THE STATE SUMNER LEAGUE
THIRD ANNUAL MEETING HEED AT
 SAYIN ROCK YESTERDAY.

Attended by Two Thousand Colored Peo-
 ple-Addresses by Ex-Councilman J. B.
 Pealser and Rev. A. P. NIiller-Number
 of Leagues in the State to be Increased
 From Nine to Fifteen-o officers Elected.
 The Sumner league of Connecticut held it's third annual meeting at Savin Rock yesterday, the headquarters be- ing at Stewards cafe. The meeting was largely attended, there being pres ent about fifteen hundred colored peo- pie from various parts of the state.
 The meeting, which was held in the pavilion in the park, was called to or der at F o'clock by Rev. MT. Miller of this city, chairman of the executive committee. America" was then sung, after which prayer was offered by Rev. E. o. Parker of New Haven.
 The address of welcome was deliver ed by Master Herbert Harrison of Hartford. Rev. A. P. Miller respond ed, MT. Miller spoke, in part, as fol- lows.
 Gentlemen of the State Sumner League of Connecticut Ladies and Gentlemen-It affords me great pleas ure, in behalf of the executive commit tee, to congratulate you on the sue cessful completion of two years work in our history as an organization whose aim is to promote, in every possible way, the best interests of our race in Connecticut.
 we congratulate ourselves that you have held together so well under the able leadership of our president, ex- Councilman J. P. Peaker, whose self sacrificing efforts to organize colored men in this state for their own mutual improvement have met with encourag- ing and fiattering success.
 You cannot imagine, gentlemen, how gratified am because of the prog ress already made in the direction of organizing Afro Americans in this state, and my labors soon will be in an- other part of the Masters great vine yard. I trust that this we'll begun work will continue until your influence shall be felt all over the commonwealth in
 
 life.
 We are here, like other American citizens, to do our own thinking and to work out our own salvation, and We shall command respect only in so far as we act like other men in the pres ence of duty, whether in society, in business or in matters of religion and politics.
 "Our greatest difficulty as race will be to rise above the low estate in which slavery left us in '63, in our reasoning powers, and in the various states of the Union to master the situation in such a manner as to pave the way for a grander future.
 'I have taken great pride, gentle men, in being one of you in this grand movement, and nothing will give me greater pleasure, when laboring at the capital of the nation, than to hear of your success in carrying forward this work, which should enlist the sympa- thy and cooperation of every Afro American in the state
 '.Let me assure you of one thing, and that is that the future of the league will depend upon your individual and collective efforts. There is a mighty power in united effort in any cause.
 T trust that we still will endeavor to stimulate each other along every pos sible line that would advance us as a race, mentally, materially, morally, re- ligiously and politically.
 t'We must still struggle for homes of our own, to properly train our children, to support our churches, to engage in independent enterprises, to purify the ballot of the state so far as we are con- cerned as class, maintaining that every member of our race has the con- stitutional right-a right inherent in citizenship-to vote as he pleases, and that men who sell their votes are un- worthy of the franchise.
 'I desire also to-day to call your at tention, gentlemen, to our state organ, the Connecticut Banner, which I have published for years at great personal sacrifice in the interest of our people, and I sincerely trust that the Sumner league. and Americans in general, throughout the state, when I am gone to other fields, will see to 1t that the Banner still lives.
 '1 feel, and take this opportunity, to | express my apprec1at1on or the aSS1St- ance given me, not only by colored, but also white friends, from the start, in the publication of the paper, and while I am conscious of having made mis- | takes in my journalistic experience, l can say here to-day that have strived all along the line to serve my race even when they could not formulate reason | for this and that.
 "The Banner has never fallen into i the hands of designing politicians. l May it ever be free as mouthpiece and servant of Afro-Americans in this state, and may it be more generously supported in the future than in the l past.
 q now take pleasure in introducing to you the president of the State Sum- ner league of Connecticut, ex-Council- man J. P. Peaker who from the very l first has labored untiringly for it's sue l cess, and who, if followed, will bring i greater honor and efficiency to the i league as an organization. l At the conclusion of his address MT.