The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1907-09-18

| than any other section of the country
1t is the race question as applicable
to the LIQUOR problem The race prob
lem is acknowledged to be the tremen-
dous overshadowing problem OF the
south today. Now listen. You can put
a negro church and white church
near each other on a hill. Everything
will go along tremendously enough,
and nothing but peace and harmony
will reign as long as the two churches
are there. Now let these two
churches be replaced with two saloons
and see what you have. A race riot
probably, or at least Quarreling, fight
| ing, murder and other evidences of
crime. And yet in the cities you have
your white and colored barrooms close
together and wonder why trouble fol-
lows. 1t is truly frightful and dan
gerous problem of the day.
After all, what are we doing for
| the negro? Are we treating him right?
All the sympathy and pity of my heart
goes out to the poor negro in your
dirty liquor shops. Even the most
| his slaves better than do some of the
white people today in regard to the
| negroes and the liquor question.
Vagraney.
Il was surprised and not a little
amused to Tote in your evening paper
| today an article in regard to the city
council appointing a special yagrancy
officer. Now, the average city council
reminds me of Bill Nye's 'Hathen
Chinee' for ways that are dark and
deeds that are yelled Really, broth
ers, you are developing. You have in
vented a brand new official-a va
grancy officer. The very first hour he
worked he got four Migrants, all ne
groes. l suppose you have many dirty,
lazy, drunken, lousy negroes and you
want to make them work All towns
are built by labor. Your city was built
and founded by labor. Now drunken
ness does not produce good laboring
men. Muscles are deadened and
minds are ruined, and the Industrious
workman is made unfit for the capa-
cities of manhood in any direction.
What brought prohibition in Geor-
gia? The screams of a white woman
in the drunken lustful embrace of ne
groes and drunken white men. No
sober, industrious negro ever com
mitted such a crime, and the negroes
are made drunk on white mems
liquor. My sympathy goes out to
this child race. Do you men think
more of liquor shop and a few paltry
dollars which it brings to your treas
ury than you do of the virtue of the
white women of the south?
Must Be Solved
This race question is continually
with us in the south. 1t is up to us
to devise means to solve it. To the
negro men who are here tonight I
want to ask how an intelligent negro
can vote for these things that mean
his downfall and ruin, as well as a
bar to the preservation of his race?
plead to you as a friend that in the
name of your friends and your church,
don't allow a black man to vote
against this crusade. Stand with
those who are your friends. In case
of riot, who would you go to? To
the saloons? No, to the respectable
white men of the community, and it
is these same white men who now ask
you to vote for the abolition of the
evil which is most liable to bring
about trouble. Die before you'll vote
to keep a thing here which means
damnation to your race,
Record in Rome.
Seven years ago my beautiful lit
tie town of Rome, Ga, was infested
with saloons. L became a member of
the legislature and fought the demon
and succeeded in abolishing the sew
enteen saloons in Rome, and had
dispensary established in their stead. |
l then had an opportunity of studying
conditions carefully. l found that 80 |
per cent. of those who crank liquor
were laboring men, and unable to buy
it. The money they spent for liquor |
ought to have been spent for SaHie |
and the baby. l thought the dispen-
sary was going to solve the liquor
problem in Rome, but when l had !
watched 1t for six years l decided the |
time had come to drive it out COM |
pletely, and 1 finally succeeded.
1T makes me really proud of my !
home city when I think of the pos |
sibilitieS in store for her now that |
liquor has been driven out, and l pray |
that you may have the same spirit in |
your own beautiful city Clean it, |
and you will have clean men and |
women, and sober men and women.
And now, in conclusion, l want to |
ask you to go home and think of this |
subject carefully. 1 plead with you |
to take a broad, general view of the !
fight hard with your broth |
ers and redeem your fair city from |
the disgrace into which she has |
fallen"
The Meeting Tonight.
At o'clock tonight Mr. Wright |
will again address the citizens of /
Pensacola. this time to the men only, |
and he promises to tell some truths |
which will astOnish those who are |
interested in the liquor question. Mr..
Wright requests that all laboring men I
in all walks of life, and all races, be
present, and there will be plenty of
seats for all. A band to furnish mu-
sic will probably be provided, and eff