Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-09-25
Speaks to Colored People satur-
day, at Athletic Park.
NO POLITICS IN HIS ADDRESS.
Told OF the Deeds Performed by Mem
bers of Black Race-Spoke of the
possibilities and Duties of the Col
ored Man-Ta!k Appreciated. nam
From MONDAYS Daily.

From Mondays Daily.
Saturday afternoon, at the Athletic
Park, on the occasion of a local cele-
bration of Emancipation day, Major
John f. Lacey addressed an attentive
audience, composed largely of colored
people. His talk was free from poll
tics, and was enjoyed by all his hear
ers He dwelt upon the possibilities
OF the colored race, and proved tina
It's representatives are capable of
much by recounting deeds they have
accomplished in the past. His speech
was necessarily short on account of
the impending rain.
Mr.. Lacey spoke on the good
the colored people have received
from the Emancipation Proclama-
ton, and the way in which
they have shown themselves
worthy of the emancipation they re-
ceived. He said that the proclama-
ton by Abraham Lincoln that the
American system of slavery was no
more, laid the cornerstone for the ulti-
mate freedom of all slaves in every
part of the world. He told of occur
rences during the slavery period, of
fugitive slaves, and other occurrences
which were common in the south just
before and during the Civil war. He
pictured the discouraged and discour-
aging condition of the blacks turnout
the southern states during their slav-
cry, and contrasted with it the comfort
in which they and their descendants
live today. He proclaimed Lincoln the
father of their good fortune, and spoke
of the debt due him from the objects
of his benefactions.
He then took another side of the
matter, and told of the loyalty of the
slaves to their masters during the war,
loyalty as strong when the masters
were fighting against their liberty as
it could have been had they been
fighting for it. This fact was cited as
an indication of most noble trait in
the character of the colored men.
Mention was made of the part, play
ed by the colored soldiers in the war
of the rebellion, when they entirely
dispelled the doubts many of the white
soldiers had relative to their ability
to hold their own as fighters. The
was true not only in the civil war, but
in the Cuban struggle, and at San
udu III pll IlSuldl, WITCH eilS iiSSoi Tvs
forged their way to the top of the hill
amid a sweeping fire, and sang all the
way. Their bravery entities them to
vote, and the fact that they vote
makes them alive to their responsible:
tiles as free citizens.
Major Lacey closed his address with
an exhortation to the colored people to
be economical, sober and Industrious,
and to prove themselves worthy of the
trust imposed in them by Abraham
Lincoln.
Mr.. Lacey left in the evening for his
home in Oskaloosa. He has spoken
at several places thruout the state,and
reports good meetings wherever he
has been. Altho at first not much in
terest was taken in the campaign, re,
Gently change for the better has oc.
Cured, and enthusiastic meetings are
the result The major is confident
that Iowa. including the close
second and sixth districts, will go re
publican by a good majority.