Evening star., 1898-12-31
Afro-American Delegates Anxious to
Go on Record.
DISORDERLY SCENES In CONVENTION
Address Adopted for Presentation
to President Mckinley.
L E XT OF THE PER


comparative quiet prevailing in the crowd
| ed auditorium of the Metropolitan Baptist
| Church. This calmness was maintained but
| a short time, however. for Immediately fol-
lowing the rap of the presidents gavel.
| there was clamor from dozen delegates
| for recognition from the chair.
| Mr. Chairman. l.
Mr.. President, the gentleman is out of
order"
Il rise to point of order"
| Ny. Chairman, as a matter of personal
| privilege
After hearing these exclamations for full
| ly ten minutes and calling loudly for quiet.
| Bishop Walters, the presiding officer, de
clared in huge voice, which fairly shook
| the big building:
| You are all out of order Take your
| seats
| Wild cheering greeted the remarks from
| delegates and others in the large audience.
! Sit down, sit down." repeated a dozen
| members. But the delegates would not sit
| down." and just kept on clamoring for rec
| ognition until Bishop Walter was fairly ex-
aSperated. He was also growing rapidly
hoarSe from the strain upon his voice dur
| ing the last two days, when he has endeav-
| ored assiduous!y to quiet the delegates.
Blshop Walter Pleaded with his brethren
to let the regular order of business proceed
| This regular order of business was the re-
| cepuon from the executive committee of an
| address prepared by a special committee
| and revised by the members of the execu-
| tive body. This address is the consumma-
| ton of the labors of the convention, and
was the only thing accomplished during the
| two days of talk preceding its adoption.
Inc temper or the delegates against
receiving the report at that time however.
| for they continued TO clamor and talk of
| parliamentary practice which, by the way,
was sadly lacking. 1t would have required
| several czars of the presiding chair, how
| ever, to have controlled the convention.
Resort to Subterfuges
| Under the subterfuge of a point of order
or matter of privilege a delegate would gain
| the floor only to talk on some foreign mat
| ter To seat the speaker would often re-
| quire fully fifteen minutes, the confusion
being followed by another outbreak of the
| same character.
Just what the various de! gates Who
sought the floor last night wished to speak
of will never be known by any one other
than themselves, for their remarks were
lost in the general hub-bub. As at the
morning session, the original program was
allowed to go by without thought and
Paul Lawrence Dunbar, the poet, who had
been invited to read poem evidently be
came weary of waiting, for he left early in
the evening after seeing the course matters
We're taking AS filibusters and obstruc-
uonlsts, the delegates to the Afro-Ameri-
can council could give the leaders in Con-
gress many points
From the incoherent remarks heard above
the noise and din of chaotic confusion, it
was evident there was discussion among
the delegates over the aims and objects of
the council and the propriety of charging
- annual fees. No one was allowed to
vote during the convention until he had
paid in his V to the treasurer In cases
where subordinate society or organization
was represented by delegation the So
clety was taxed So and all the delegates
sent by 1t seated. Each organization al
lowed in the convention for this amount
however. was allowed hut one vote and
TINS vote was split, according to the size
OF the delegation, into ffths and eighths as
the case might be. The delegations did not
have the same views on affairs and their
vote was often decidedly mixed Eacn
time ballot was taken therefore the con-
fusion was great indeed. A motion would
pe passed by vote of ''thrty-two and
JWenty-tWenty-hrsts to nineteen and eight
Hlleehths: From the confusion and ef-
Iorts OF delegates to he heard it was evil
dent ell had decided to have a say al the
hnal meeting. Many came TO Washington
with remarks prepared.
Rev. MorseII's Views,
Finally the Rev. Morsell of PHILADELPHIA.
VINO mad endeavored to speak several times
during the meeting of the council. secured
recognition, and in the course of his utter
ances took occasion to denounce the mem
bers of his race in the south who "sidedr
with the white folks He said the decla-
IdllOn ndde by a southern negro The
erect that the negro had been given the
right of suffrage too soon was the
most damnable heresy, and had given the
race the worst setback it had sustained in
years. Morsell said he had no sympathv
with the efforts of the President to conriI-
late the confederate veterans. The speak
er was wildly applauded throughout the
course of his harangue.
After more talk and added confusion
S2,JW was raised looking to the support of
a colored paper to be published in Wash
1ngton. The bishops contributed $1,000 of
this amount, after W. A Pledger of At
lanta, Ga, had criticised them severely for
taking no interest in the project.
Address Adopted.
Then came the long-looked-for address
to the President of the United States and
the people, to prepare which the council
was called. This address had provoked
much discussion during the day and was
disappointment, for when it was pre-
sented it was a rather mild affair and was
adopted without debate. The address con-
graduates the council that the negro race
everywhere has grown stronger and
stronger in all tho elements of Christian
morality, of thrift and intelligence. Con-
siderable attention is devoted to the politi-
cal condition of the negroes in the south,
and the address says that since 1865 there
has been steady and persistent determ-
nation to eliminate them in the politics of
those states. We are not opposed" the
address says, Ito legitimate restriction of
the suffrage, but we insist that restrictions
shall Apply alike to all citizens of AL
states. We willing TO accept an educa-
uonal or property qualification, both.
We insist that neither of these was in
tended or is conserved by the new consti-
tutions of Mississippi, South Carolina or
Louisiana"
The address calls on Congress to reduce
the representation of those states In that
body. 1t says the increase of mob and
lynch law has become a source of reproach |
at home and abroad, and regrets that the |
President saw fit to treat with silence this |
vital matter in his recent message to Con- |
greSs. 1t speaks of the separate law |
as unjust and oppressive, and urges that |
the graduated passenger rate prevailing |
in North Carolina be substituted for the |
Infamous system now in force in most |
of the other southern states In the in |
terest of humanity it requests that the |
penal institutions of the south be reformed. |
The suggestion is made that a part of |
SOME CHILDREN grow very /
slowly; keep thin In flesh; are |
fretful; food does not do them |