The Saint Paul globe., 1897-10-26
THE NEsoTAaCoNGREGATIoNAL
CLUB DISCUSSES THE SOUTH
ERN RACE PROBLEM
FROM RIVAL sTANDPoINTS.
DESCENDANTS soF ETHIOPIAN
STOCK CONFRONT THE SELF
SATISFIED sbUTHERNER.
SOME 1NrEREsTtNG ADDRESSES
Characterize the First Meeting
Here Since the vacation of
the Summer.

Ihe hrSt meeting of the Minnesota
Congregational club held in st. Paul
since the summer vacation took place
in the parlors of the Plymouth Congre-
gational church last evening. There
was a good attendance, which included
a. number of members from Mime
apolis.
AS is customary with the gatherings
of the Congregational club, the mem
bers first refreshed themselves with
a supper, which was served at $50
p. m.
The evening was devoted to a discus
sion of the race problem in this coun-
try. 1t was led by W.. r. Morris, the
colored lawyer, of Minneapolis. The
title of the paper read by Mr.. Morris
was "The Social Future of the South"
''That the entire human family
srrang from a single pair said Mr..
Morris, sis generally conceded, al
though an inspection of the different
types and races of men of the present
day, and careful examination of their
mental, moral and physical conditions,
their difference in language, stature,
methods of living, color, intelligence
and energy, might, indeed, cause even
sound and right thinking person upon
first blush to seriously. question the
absolute truth of the concession"
Mr.. Morris pointed. .sout the fact that
in spite of the closest possible contact
and the most intimate relations, some
races never adept 1.-THE customs and
habits of othersy clinging with an in
III TIl(
negros introduction ITO civilization and
ChristianiZationf twas most unfavorable
as well as unfortunate: the natural
manliness of spirit .a4ad nobility of char
acter were crushedLiout of him in or
der to make room for an artificial,
Inundated and "a debased manhood.
Through the blackest and basest slav-
cry he came in contact with Chris
tianity and culture For 200 years he
toiled and another reaped. He had no
property rights, no title to the product
of his own labor-no title even to him
self He could not be provident when
he had nothing, and nobody to provide
for. The form of a man, the curtailed
rights of lower animal, for the lower
animal enjoyed rights denied to him.
change came without preparation,
without fitness, without qualification,
and suddenly he was restored to free
dom, property rights and social privi-
leges, with but small capacity to en-
joy any one of them. 1t is no Won
der that he started on the wrong track
and expected to gain at a single bound
culture, wealth, social standing, bust
ness tact, leisure and everything else
, that goes to make, life enjoyable. He
cannot be rightly blamed for losing
. his way, Fin the ejey and ecstacy of a
. neW-found freedom
Mr.. Morris declared that no race
ever rose to distinction without the
aid of leaders from its own people.
No race could gain eminence without
them The leaders must be of the
race they lead Mr. Morris predicted
that the South would witness the high
est cultivation of the negro race. The
South was their natural home. It had
witnessed their deepest degradation
and it would likewise behold their cul-
tivation in the arts of civilation.
After discussing the question of edu-
eating the negro and outlining the ar
guments advanced in favor of a clas-
steal education in reference to an in
dustrial and vice versa, Mr.. Morris
said in conclusion:
""The South as whole is learning
a new era is in the morning of the
second day; that, if it is to keep pace
with the other portions of this coun-
try, it must be up and doing; that it's
people-all of them, both black and
white-must be taught to think and TO
labor; that its vast natural resources
must be developed; that manufactures
must be built; that the methods of la
bor and culture must be changed, and
that more enterprise, push and energy
must be put into their business; that
schools of liberal and Industrial edu-
cation for all it's people must be sup
ported and encouraged; that the negro
and the white man must rise and fall
together; that lawlessness and lynch
ing must be throttled; in short that
there must be a new South. No coun-
try or portion of. country in the
world has the prospect of a brighter
or more glorious future It is destined
to be the paradise of America"
Rev. Dr. S. G. Smith, the president of
the club. then announced that David
F. PEBBLES would follow with a dis
cussion of the race problem from ga
Southerner's Point of View"
The question before us, said Mr..
PEBBLES, is the social future of the
South or in other words, the race prob
lem of that section. The greatest diff
Guilty in the way of a proper solution
of the question, has been it's misun-
derstanding by the people of the North.
They look upon it to be a so-called
political question, while the Southern
people, who, in my opinion, are the
best judges, because of their long as
sociation with it, say that where 7,Oe0,-
600 of people of one color with certain
kind of history. live in contact with
100000 of people of another color,
with an entirely different history, it
is not a political question so-ealled, but
a race problem, and cite history to
show that in no cline or time have
two such distinct races lived peace
ably and happily together. That it
may be solved in the proper and
quickest manner. the people of the
South should have the support and
sympathy of North, for if that sup