The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-04-14
w u king Drug Co

pursued the terrible traffic established
1 by the Dutch and the English. A ia
Vorahle climate and the invention of
the cotton gin made slavery exceed
| ingly profitable in the South, and not
withstanding the opposition and warn
1ngS OF many of her prominent states
men of more than q century ago, the
planters continued to purchase your
ancestors in larger numbers until
slavery was firmly established in many
| of the States. Some Of the statesmen
OF both sections learned the great les
son that no nation could exist hall
slave and half free and it was only
through the providence of God that
| the United States did not deteriorate.
decline and decay as did Rome, for
there was no cause that tended more
! to her destruction than human slaV-
cry 1t is useless at this late day to
deal in elimination and recriminatiOn
and to say that the North is respOn-
| Sible because ii was engaged so largely
| in the slave traffic or to maintain
/ that the South is responsible because
| it purchased the slaves and amassed
great wealth from their labor. AS
well might you say that the manufac-
| turer of Whiskey is worse than the
| seller or that the seller is worse than
the manufactures. Both are guilty in
| the sight Of God. Sectionalism was
wiped out at Appomattox Court
House and any one today, be he black
or white, who would do OF say aught
| to revive it, or create q harsh feeling
ON the part of either section toward
the other is falling little short of
committing a crime. You, young men,
must do your part in solving the
problems and in meeting the obliga-
lions that come upon you in a time
of peace and you must act in harmony
with the laws under which you are
Obliged to live.
That the race has q great destiny
is evident from the achievements of
a single generation. AT the close Of
the Civil War there We're four mil
lions of colored people in the United
States. Today they number not far
from ten millions. Wher the war
closed, these four millions OF l. ~>ed-
men started upon their career WITH |
no property and scarceg any edlca-
ton, but with a very general idea OF
what is understood by the Christian
religion and a Christian civilization.
At the present time, according TO the
census returns, the race has saved
more than $500, 00G0O0.00 worth OF
taxable property. che colored people
own 1882 farms in twelve Southern
States. They have established by tax
alton and personal effort aided by
philanthropy, a large number of pub
lie and private schools, and their
schools are increasing every year
Twenty-eight thousand churches nave
been organized and supported and we
are yet to find any evidence that CRIME |
increases with education. These iactS, !
and they are facts beyond dispute, |
show the great possibilities OF the
race.
Thoughtful men like you and
thoughtful men and women of the
race everywhere ought to be asking
frequently and seriously what parucu- |
lar obligation rests upon yourselves
and themselves, what particular duty
can you and they perform % be pow
erful factors in the onward march OF
the race. 1t Is we'll at q time like
this, to stop and ask ourselves some
fundamental questions. What IS the
real foundation upon which nation
should build. that it may be really !
prosperous? What arr the ideals thatt
should be ever before il as incentives |
to the best efforts? Julia WaJd IoWe, |
the noted philanhropist and author 81
THE Battle Hymn of the Repub-
lie" was asked to give her definition
of the true ideal Of life. Her reply
was, ITO learn, to teach, TO serve,
to enjoy" Citizenship is the founda-
tion of a nation like ours and on the
part of him VINO would learn there
must first be a conscious need of
knowledge. There must be too q rec
ogntion of the superior attainments
OF others and what is no less impOr-
tant. Willingness to accept the judg
ments of those who are ADLER than
ourselves.
Young men and young women are
apt to think in their student life that
the highest aim is scholarship. The
world is greatly in need of scholar
ship, of those who have trained minds.
who are able to see actual conditions
and discover the relation between
cause and effect. 1t is a gem to be
desired, of rare beauty and purity
of power and influence. But if |
were asked to state the two great
needs of any race, and especially of
q race struggling upward from slav
cry on it's way to q high destiny, while
/ would not under-rate scholarship,
/ would place far above it character
and Self-control Each is first and
both are paramount and inseparable
and Indispensable. 1t is character thati
enables the poor man to win the good
name that is more precious than the
ruby. There is no wealth that cam
equal character The man or woman
that is clean of heart, that is pure
in mind. that is righteous in daily
living, that recognizes all of the OBJ
HSdtlOnS Indt come from DelnS MEM
beers of q civil community, that real
ICES that there can be no real progress,
happiness and comfort without truth
fulness, without morality, without
honesty, without integrity, is the no.
blest type of his kind. There is need
ed today the highest degree of self
control. Appetites passions, inclina-
TONS developed by pernicious envi-
ronment and inherited, are drawing
down multjtudes to ruin, to the
judges bench, to the prison cell, to
the hangmans rope. The ability to
rise above the desires of passion, APP
petite and other evil tendencies and
to place self-control and reason on the
throne, this and this alone viii de-
Velop high type of manhood and
womanhood. The meeting Of obliga-
tons, the going to work on time, the
putting in q full days work, for which
there should be received an homes Il
days wages, are bound to develop a
type of manhood that no community
can dispense with.
These words of advice are not so
applicable 10 yourself as to the large
body of the people whom you will
meet and with whom you will asso-
cite and have great influence, for you
have Ip9r.na6 tho i11onnpf1npa of char