The semi-weekly messenger., 1903-04-03

uted sense and of editorial nonsense
in The Presbyterian Banner of March
9TH. The Rev. c. Humble writes an ar
tlcle on the colored problem in the
presbyterian church and one of the
EDITORS writes on the color line in the
presbyterian church. By, the Presby-
terlan church is meant the largest
Presbyterian body in America, though
not the only one. 1t is commonly
konwn as the Northern Presbyterian
church. And the colored problem is
right inside Of it, men and brethren.
And there is danger, as the Banner
editor thinks, of the color-line being
drawn right through it. Just to
think,
There have been some mutterings
Of the coming storm, and The Stand
ard has duly tried to interpret the nu:-
terings to it's disinterested but not un-
interested constituency. There Was
formed a white Presbytery in North
Carolina, of some most excellent
brethren whom we love and honor, and
they went across the Great Smoky
mountains into Tennessee to fn1n
their synodical conection with tn
white Synod of Tennessee instead of
staying in North Carolina with the
black synod of Catawba already here
and we wish it understood that from
a personal visit we have learned to re-
Spect the synod of Catawba for its or
thodOxy, its Presbyterian decency and
order and its preservation OF all the
traditions of the elders And then
there was Maryville college, with an
endowment that called for a mixed
college with white pupils and black,
and that kept a few unhappy negro
boys there to hold on to the endow-
ment, whose pupils were somehow
ashamed to boast of their alma mater
or to show a diploma from the inStitu-
ton. And then keen old DR.. Gray Of
the interior visited Maryville and told
the whole truth about it, and then the
Tennessee legislature providentally
passed a bill forbidding such mixed
schools, and Maryville has been she'd
ing tears of joy ever since, there being
more than a suspicion that 1t asserted
Providence in the outcome.
"And all this time they were gerry
Wandering Synods and PresbyterieS as
shamelessly as the democrats did Will
liam McKinley's old congressional dis
trict in Ohio when they kept him out
OF congress and thereby helDed to land
him In the White house. The problem
of drawing a line that should put all
the negro churches in one preSbytery
and all the white churches in another
without any overlapping was very
difficult problem when one had to keep
his face straight at the same time and
preserve a proper ecclesiastical dignity.
And finally the bold proposition was
made to map out two presbyteries, in
the synod of Tennessee, one white and
one black, and covering the same ter
ritory. 1t is this that has brought the
issue UP squarely before the church.
The Interior misses DR.. Gray more
than It knows when it insists that this
shall not be countenanced by the gen
eral assembly. The Banner shows its
need of somebody to wave 1t with more
sense and less hypocrisy when 1t op-
pose the proposition made by the Rev.
c. Humble. For Mr.. Humble has been
on the ground for twenty years. II
we are not mistaken in our man, he
is q Canadian who came south with no
particular prejudices against either
north or south and with the British
open-mindedness toward the inferior
races. He has been a Sunday school
missionary of the Northern church.
And Mr. Humble is just telling the
straight truth when he says: The
PRESBYTERIAN church is a social organ
ization and f1ourishes as a fervent so
cial spirit prevails; and because of this
we are now in the south facing a con-
dition that unless wisely met will be-
come a conflict If the Northern
church does not want the secession OF
the white churches in the south that 1T
has built up with so much care ana
at so much expense it had better heed
the remarks of the Rev. c. Humble,
even if the process is what we in the
south call eating humble pie.