The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1901-08-16
THE coLoRED MANS FRIEND.

/ ReN. =. IL. Jones, ITeSluiH8 Elu6l
| for the Paris District of the West
Tennessee Annual Conference Of
the A. VI. E. Church, the Stew
ardess and Mite Missionary Con.
vention convened at Woodland
Mills in st. Johns A. NJ. E.
Church Tuesday, August 6.
The organization was effected
by electing Mrs. Sada Nesbett,
president; Mrs, Catherine Thomas,
vice-president; Mrs. A. +. Draper
and Miss S. Cross, secretaries; Mrs.
Anna Board, treasurer, and j. NJ,
Holt, d. D., reporter to the press.
Many valuable papers were read,
with abundant hints and sugges-
tions to the race and asking the
convention to draft and pass such
resolutions as would serve to i'm
prove the moral, religious and in
tellectual status of the negro. One
paper read before the convention
asks: "What can the negro do to
better his condition in this coun-
try? In answer to this question
the presiding elder, Rev. S. L..
Jones, said" DIR. Holt and | have
been trying to answer this ques-
ton through the Commercial APP
peal, of Memphis, the Daily
American of Nashville, and The
Commercial, of Union City, and
other papers; on account of which
we have been branded by the less
informed as being Democrats, and
so long as our statements are being
backed by actual facts and figures,
as they now are, | will continue to
say on, and let me be whatever
the true statement of facts make
me. If the negro will court the
favor of the Southern white man
in the right way, he will get it.
If the negro would stop his kick
ing so much and listen to sound
advise at the same time, his condi-
ton would soon grow better, but
like Texas pony he kicks, kicks!
most of the time. "(Applause.) The
Presiding Elder at the close of his
remarks read part of the address
of Prof. COUNSEL before a white
convention in the State of Ala
bama, to show that most all of the
educated and refined negroes we're
on the same line.
He was followed by Rev. j. M.
Holt, d. D., who said: ''This
rich, alluvial Southland, the gar
den spot of the Creators handi-
work, is the only hopeful field for
the negro. am not going to
make my home in the North, East
nor West, but in the Sunny South,
where the corn, wheat, cotton and
sugar cane grow. (Applause.) l
am not going to Africa either, but
| am going to stay right here,
among people who know me bet
ter, and if | prove myself worthy,
| am sure they will like me better.
and shouts of "you are
rightly There has not beena time
since emancipation that a worthy
negro could not get all the help he
needs among the Southern white
people. (Applause.) But you
ask what can be done to better our
condition in this countrys Why,
we can do many things that we
have not as yet done. We can re-
deem ourselves through our wo-
men, if we will give them a chance
and provide for and treat them
as men of other races treat theirs.
1t is no wonder to me that we have
so many women among us who are
not as good as they should be,
since many of them are compelled
to feed and clothe the whole family,
pay house rent and buy wood,
while some of us are out looking
for work and praying that we may
not find it. applause from the
ladies and shouts of that's the
truthp0 When a white man has
exhausted all of his means towards
the support of his wife and chill
dren without being able to make
them comfortable, he will take a
gun and relieve his own head of |
its brain before he will hear them
cry for bread (applause), and | do
not know but that | would do the
same thing if ! were compelled to
live under such adverse circum-
stances. But, 0! you say if you
we're to do that you would be lost,
for there is no forgiveness for self
no, and there is but little,