The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1910-06-02
(HOrace D. Slater }


church South, in it's recent session
in Ashville, N. c., Rev. C. l.. Bon
her,- ID. D., Of Toccoa, Ga, made a
noteworthy speech in which he point
ed out some Of the grievous errors
made in tho attempt Of the, South
to adjust it's racial differences.
Dr. Bonner was careful to give
due credit to the best sentiment Of
the white South which sought to
render aid to the Negro in all his
endeaVors. and yet did not fail to
speak straight from the shoulder in
an effort to make his white audience
see the real position Of the Negro
in Southern life. Altogether his ad
dress was diplomatic one, and be-
cause Of it, he has received MANY
complimentary references in the Sou
-thern press s--.--------..~.---.- m
Among other things DR.. Bonner
said:
Il come to bring you greetings
Hllal rather than greetings fraternal.
Forty years ago, by mutual consent,
we were set apart by you, to do bust
ness in the Negro race for the Lord
At each succeeding general con-
terence, we have) appeared by rep
resentatlve ITO acknowledge our con-
tlnued love and obligation to you;
ITO represent our earnest achieve
ments, and to invoke your future
regards For this quadrennium. I
nave been selected to bear you the
message OF love and respect. Be-
heVe me when I say that we as a
church have watched with a greA
deal Of tilial love and interest your
dolngs in the last four years We
have rejoiced with you in all your
great doings, and have with bowed
heads and aching hearts, heaving
breasts and tear dimmed eyes stood
over the open graves Of the learned
Ilgert, the eloquent Smith, the
venerable Duncan, the sainted Ward
and the Matchless Galloway. !, In
faet5 your success has been the sfgg-
nal for our rejoicing and your tears
have inspired in us grief.
AS an organization, we have been
called by others Of color cringing
sycophants, men who were willing
to didi "crook the pregnant hinges
OF the knee that thrift. might fol-
low faWning.' The allegations were
brought forward because Of the DO
sltion or the lack Of position we
took in politics. 1t has been the
deslre or us as an organization to
put ourselves in the position to
serve the country, the South, the race
rather than to rule them. For, we
believe that the road to God and,
is one Of humility and
altrulstic service, and not one Of
personal greed and ambition. And,
as we have Travelled this altruistic
path, we have been inspired by the
shades and examples of WASHINGTON
rather than Napoleon; Of Lincoln
rather than -Alexander; of Charlie
magne, rather than Henry VIII; of
Jefferson rather than Alex
ander Hamilton; Of Booker Wash
ington rather than Frederick Doug
lass; Of l.. Il, Holsey rather than H.
NJ. Turner; Of Francis Ausbury
rather than George VII; of Jesus
Christ rather than Mohammit.
"lncited by such lofty sentiment
and inspiring examples, we have
been the most self sacrificing in our
labor of any organization of color in
the universe, operating five colleges
and as many Normal Schools, and an
system in Georgia, both
unique and beneficent; hence, as
poor as we are, we have placed upon
the educational altar alone, over
100000 in the last four years, the
greatest amount for education
Cthough we are the smallest Of any
organization Of the Negro race in
the same length Of time One Of
the chief reasons why my church has
rendered such beneficent service is
our close proximity to you, and 1t
VIII continue so long as you have
such men as DR.. George VIM. Walker
and j. D. Hammond laboring for the
uplift and training Of the young
Negro.
'The absolute segregation Of the
races IS responsible to some extent
for the race problem. hope not to
be misunderstood. ! am not in SYM
Dathy with social intermingling. No
intelligent Negro wants social equal
ity. We want no social equality, by
Gay nor do We want it by night, but
| do think the races ought to be in
distance Of each other. Let
us see you, and see your real size
and worth. Then we can realize our
actual size and worth. Why the
LilliDutians thought themselves
giants until Gulliver appeared.
Hence he will have false opinions Of
each other until we get closer to-
gether.
$50 7 appeal to the white race
through you to come in studying
distance Of the black man. Come
where you can hear the sympathetic