The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1908-01-23
they1acould NOT be more 5seticitous 10
our welfare. Y : x" 4 Y #>E:'

Tour welfare. Nra X - f&FES TX x ~
I Some PERSONAL Experience. = - 4
- passed not p few of MY boyhood
days upon a plantation tnSTennessee-
! ~ point of2fact upon twosplantations
! In, n,v' TENNESSEE where slavery existed
in Its complete but also under: it's mild
err aspects and coQditions From the
earliest daynings of2%z3iagtelligence
which Il can remember, the Aystenl
seemed to me monstrous. ff. slavery
! isS not wrong" said Lincoln, s...nothlna
~ wrongi' So thought alid so
think Thodsands ,of men Fought ant
ffell onsthe Confederate side of the wal
tof sections, who believed In the same
j thing; as did Washington and, Jefrer
fson, and. the sentlemengof Virginia
who made the first American revolu
| ton. '. ;.s f..,E
When the second American reyolu
J tionl came to pass liberating, as by g
/. stroke Of the sword, nearly 900, ,OOt
slaves From bondage, my sentiment OF
freedom was in excess of my SENSE OF
the magnitude and the complexities
or the event 4 accepted the situation
| The three last amendments; to the con,
stitutioR; declared to be- the actual
and fnal treaty OF peace between the
| north and the south. 1t was my 6pin.
| ion based Oh. feeling and not on
knowledge or >judgpent--that Invested
with full citizenship the rnewly-libera-
l'ted slave would be able to work out
his own destiny. During the ten years
Of. reconstruction that followed, / de-
voted my energies toward the habilita-
tion Of the black man of the south as
essential to the paeification of the
white men of the north and south.
There are plenty Of black: people liv-
ing in \Kentucky who remember well
the contest, we had with the elements
OF disorder massuerading as the Ku-
klux Klan long after the dIsbandmant
OF that dread / organization in the
stateg south Of : us. the struggle for
the admission Of Negro testimony to
our-courts of lawn point of fact, the
stubborn fight for, the expurgation OF
the old black laws from the statute
books of the commonwealth-nar
Ing Itself down. even to the light Of
the Negro to"ride upon the street cars.
Happily, Kentucky escaped the many
evils and dangers Which would surely
have ,ensued, If the extremism of those
dark days had prevailed. AZ. -. -.
Because itf.did mot. We have: hid no
race swarxor serious racial c0nfffet8 IN
jKanuchy The febdfg Aafs the Il tess fs1SSna
tatns,' the night Eriders' OF; tie toggcco
belt. arc all whites, not blacks: Rea-
sonable white people and reasonable
black people And it easy to get along
much as If there existed no color line.
Each Is inspired by aTsense Of duty to
the other, which under, the benign IN
hnence Of religion and humanity, may
yet blossom into the old domestic rela=
tions Of confidence and affection, the
manownership clause succeeded by a
manhood clause, at once self-respect-
ing and reciprocally respected.
What Shall We DO About 1t?
Unfortunately, there are bad white
men as there are bad black men, there
are foolish black men as there are
foolish white men, and they constitute
the real menace and danger
| am bound to tell you, after forty
years Of experience and observation
and reflection, that | think we began
wrong. We put the cart before the
horse Four millions of poor black
people, with some centuries Of abject
slavery and many ages Of barbaric
night behind them, were not equal to
using the freedom that came to them
so suddenly, and especially the ballot,
with prudence or Intelligence, How
could they? don't blame them in the
least. On the contrary, ] sometimes
wonder at their, self-restraint. AS,
during the sectional war, they were
faithful servants, remaining at home
and tilling the fields \and taking care
Of the women and children, so, since
the war, according to their lights, they
haze tried to be good citizens. glory
! in every step Of progress they have
made-and they have made many
strides~from that day to this. TEN
peramentally ever for the under dog
q crank about personal liberty if am
crank about anything-my heart
! goes out to the black man wherever /
see him honestly struggling to raise
his children>t GA condition better than
his own. Hence, let me repeat that
am glad to be here tonight. to witness
what | see before me and around me,
to bear this testimony, and to ask you
to fall behind, not to seek to march
| before, Booker Washington and his
great work. ~. l"'
Every Man TO HIS Vocation.
The race question Is mystery. For
| the matter Of that, life is q mystery
Whence we came, whittier We are go
| ing, we know not. The Ethiopian is
thought to be especially initiative. Ali
| of. us are more or less imitative-par-