Columbus standard., 1901-07-27
main among those who introduce
ed it in there public. dallas Ex-
press.
Use the Weapon i'm Hand.

The good which the public lect-
urer the pulpit and the press are
doing cannot be over estimated
but it is a lamentable fact
that the large majority of the
members of the race who most
need advice and counsel cannot
be reached by either of the agen-
cies above referred to. The lee
turer who assays to address col
ored audiences if he will take the
time to investigate will find that
for the most part the men and
women who make up his audience
are those who are already living
by the advice which he is giving
while the thousands in the COM
munity who are crowding all she
paths of crime and by-roads to
degradation are absent notwith
standing they know that the lec-
|turer is to occupy the boards on
the particular evening he appears
The same condition oOnfronts
and minimizes the influence of
the pulpit. The minister for the
most part delivers his discourses
to men and women who are
trying as best they can to walk
in the footsteps of the man of
Nazareth while those in the "'gall
of bitterness and the bonds of
iniquity" deliberately refuse to
turn and live"
In the field of colored journa-
lism it is the same old story. The
average man and woman are not
constant readers. The Dallas
Express has tried to remedy this
malady and doubtless has made
some headway. Our method has
been to print matter which pecu-
liarly appealed to the working
classes and withal being careful
to mention their names when
ever it could be done and make
sense. In this way we have been
able to establish a paper sale of
somthing like 500 copies per week
One of the great drowbacks to
the permanent and constant t
enlistment of the sympathy and
assistance of our colored masses
for race undertakings is the half
handed mechanical way in which
the so called leaders endorse
zach other. 1t is a rare thing to
find Negroes engaged in lines of
elevated endeavor heartily in
accord with others so engaged
willing to endorse and recon-
mend without equivocation; and
as result public confidence is
often shaken where it might have
been made steadfast. AS an ex-
ample of the peculiar methods
of some Negroes we cite the
following occurrence which actu-
ally happened in this city.
A society had contracted with us
for an amount of advertising
amounting to $500. When the
time came to pay they thought
the price high and in talking it
over with another colored news
paper man they received the
information from him that the
charges we're outrageous and that
they ought not pay it. Upon an
other occasion another Negro
newspaper man was over heard
to say that the Express has gotten
so it charges for everything it
prints. Go into a new town and
ask the average Negro leaders
about any other PERSONS efforts
and he will in a hesitating way
half inform you that the man in
quired after is engaged In run
ming ''little store" or "shop''
as the case may be acting and
speaking all the time in way not
calculated to increase your desire
to meet him nor to endorse his
efforts after the meeting.
Unquestionably the colored
man has it in his power to great
ly change his surroundings for
the better but the work must be
begun in a practical common
sense way and pushed until some
@h:rr:boo hoop dana fn convince