Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-11-23

lieves with st. Paul: 'If there be any
virtue, and if there be any praise, think
on these things
Leaders among our people put too
tions which, at the present time, sur
round US" said Prof. Davis the other
day. Too much of this produces NOR
bid and dissatisfied condition. God can
not use discouraged people. The negro
is better situated here than in any other
part Of the globe. 1t is better for us to
urge the use of every opportunity for i'm
provement rather than discuss and worry
about the disadvantages under which we
suffer And better than all. we should
urge our people to do all they can to re-
move every ground for Just criticism.
There is much to encourage us in the
census statistics, in the reports of edu-
cational ofictals, as well as in our moral
advancement. The cities of the south are
standing monuments to the mechanical
skill OF the negro. Let it be said with
credit to the south that in all our cities
negroes can obtain employment and ex-
cellent wages as mechanics in every line
of industry. They have erected our
largest buildings and are evidently giving
satisfaction to their employers. These
privileges are denied the negroes of the
north, who are shut out of honest en-
ployment by white competition. Every
shoemakers. carpenters. blacksmiths,
br1ckmasons and other mechanics, and
colored milliners, dressmakers and
nurses. They are all doing we'll and some
OF them are saving money. The negro's
note is good at the white mans bank:
more than 6OO, 900 farms, valued at $780,
100000, are owned by the negroes of the
south. and they have personal property
valued at $4,000, 900. These were the
figures Of the last census. which was
been an enormous Improvement since.
Handicap on the Race.
Much of this progress has been due
the tolerance. friendship and interest of
the most respected business men of the
white race, who appreciate the value and
recognize the rights of their black neigh
bors as citizens. I sometimes fear that
the greatest danger to which we are ex-
posed is internal rather than external.
The conduct of some of our people in pub
lie places is far from what it should be.
The refined and respectable members of
our race are too often Inundated and
dtsgraced by lawless ruffians, who act
Just as badly as white ruffians and some
times worse. l have seen many of this
class around railway stations, and they
crowd themselves into the railway cars
set aside for colored people. 1t is wrong
for the state to allow respectable and law
daughters to be compelled to ride in the
same cars with such people. We are
ashamed of them. but we are helpless
The best way to get rid of the Jim Crow
car is to get rid of the Jim Crow negro,
and it would be a great relief to respecta
BILE colored people If our law and order
leagues could get hold Of and eliminate
the thousands of unwashed, filthy men
that disgrace our race.
by tact and courtesy, by the judicious
avoidance Of topics which cause useless
contentious, by quietly developing along
those lines where there is no conflict, by
the acquisition of wealth and education,
by patient industry, by the observance of
the laws and the rights of others, the
negro can make himself respected and ex-
ercise an influence even among the whites
There are too many of us who want to
pose as leaders and not enough who are
willing to labor faithfully as individuals
in limited sphere.
Value of Contented Labor.
There can be no doubt that the white
people Of this section of the south are
deeply interested in the adjustment of
proper relations of the races continued
Prof. Davis. 1T would be wise, therefore.
for them to encourage the intelligent and
progressive negroes to discuss freely and
without restraint their convictions upon
those relations. Something is due to the
negro in view Of the service he has rem
dered and still is rendering in the indus
trial development of the south.
THE progress of this section is largely
due to black brawny arms. 1t is the negro
who produces the wealth of this section
and he Is absolutely necessary to its
progress and prosperity. The causes
which hold him here are stronger than
the bonds of slavery. They are not
social or political; they are economic
and climatic. When the white man can
change this climate he may then dis
cuss the possibility of getting along
without negro labor. Nowhere on the
globe can a white man work in fields
upon which the snow never falls. A
vertical sunbeam renders white man
physically inert. Therefore, conceding
that they cannot do without the negro,
our white friends should remember that
the best results, can be obtained only
when the laborer is contented and hap
py. 1t is an unalterable law of the
physical world that energy is wasted
by worry. This is equally true when
human beings are segregated into classes
The efficiency and usefulness of the black
nf ho will 1vua he in,