The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-02-16

times large for a poor man TO get together
woman present said that negroes fire.
quently lost their property for taxes be-
cause they could not read, and failed TO
find out and remember when taxes were
due. Her mothers house In Atlanta had
been sold for taxes six times. She thought
the teachers and preachers ought TO make
il a part of their work TO keep those Of
their parishioners who were uneducated
informed of such things, suggestion which
commended itself favorably to the audi
ence.
One woman present wanted to know why
colored girls could not be taught to mend
children's and women's shoes. 1t was light
work and something which was always
being needed. This elected the information
that graduate of the Tuskegee Institute
girls to do just this work at the Schofeld
Institute, Aiken, S. c.
When the question of morals was taken
up one colored man present said that the
negro as a general thing had only very
recently reached a point where he realized
that the word morality had any reference
to anything but illicit sex relations. Now
he was beginning TO see that stealing and
lying were immoral and that if a man
signed note or gave his word, it was
wrong for him not TO live up TO the agree
ment.
HE BELLED THE CAT.
a colored minister present told how hard
it was TO turn a man out of the church for
drunkenness, when he began work in his
present parish. ten years ago. Said he:
1.-THE members of the church were all
agreed, and told me so, that drinking was
a mighty bad thing. and a man who drank
ought to be turned out, but, like the rats,
no one wanted to take the job of putting a
bell the cat Finally 1 called a church
meeting. over a particularly bad case. and
after the matter had been discussed, I.
as moderator, said I wait for a notion
Not "a man made a sound. We'll I said.
a. none of you will make a motion, I will.
L move that Brother - be expelled from
TINS church for the sin of drinking Not
a word from any of them. VIII some one
second the notion i asked but got
no reply. Very WELL said /. 4 second the
motion And now, 1 said. the motion hav-
ing been properly made and seconded, /
vote that Brother - be expelled from
| this church, and he is expelled And he
was, although there wasn't a man who had
said anything but myself. But it taught
them the lesson. We haven't had to expel
only one or two more for drinking in all
these ten years. And they've got so they
don't dare to have me see them going into
a saloon now even if they don't have any
thing more suspicious looking than a kero-
sene can with them, for some of them l
found out got so they even took a kero-
! sene can to get beer in"
DIR. Boyd, of Nashville, said that it was
too apt to be the case that if a negro tried
TO go to a first-class lecture or concert or
tertainment-sometimes even to church
where all the surroundings would be ele-
waiting, he was asked by some usher, what
| you here fOr?" and too often turned away.
The dives and saloons, on the other hand
were not only open to him, but put out
agents to entice him in. The natural in
stinct of the negro, he said, is to initiate
the white man. InvOluntarily he seeks to
do this. Since this is so he thought it a
pity that he Qhe colored NAM could not
have the advantage of the best examples.
MAX BENNETT THRASHER.