The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1911-04-11
WHO IS NY NE|GHDOR ?
stone Fessenden, sunday, May 9th.


stone Fe.~enden, sunday, May 9th.
| Some two thousand years ago the in
quiry was made and who is my
neighbour The answer teaches a les
son that il is we'll We should all learn.
Then as now. conscious Of the fact that
/ the greatest command is to love the
Lord thy God with all of thy heart,
with all of thy strength and with all
| of thy power, and the second is like
unto it, love thy neighbor as thyseIf."
We seek now as they did then to draw
/ the line of duty too sharply, by limit
| ing the classification of ''neighbor."
Applying the truths taught in this an
swer. our duty as white men TO the
negro is clearly settled. Nor is the
white man so fortunately circumstance
| ed as the passers by to the Samaritan
traveller were We cannot play the role
Of the priest, when we see this prob
lem of the negro question staring US
in the face and pass on the other
side; nor can We act the part of the
Levite who merely looked upon the
scene and passed on the other side"
There is no other side upon which we
can travel. This negro problem lies
across the path of progress of this ma
/ tion and it is the white mans burden
and he might as well shoulder and
| discharge his duty to his god and to
his fellow man. 1t rests most heavily
| on the people of the South, because
| this is the home of the negro and we
are his people. Be il so, but through
| the grace of God the strength and
wisdom of the Christian men and wo-
men of the South has been and will be
faJ iafa
! this herculean task and that too in
the very teeth of outside interference
| and many hindering obstacles. The
conditian has been most beautifully
described by presenting two utterly
dissimilar races on the same soil, with,
equal political and civil rights-almost
equal in numbers but terribly unequal
! in Intelligence and responsibility, each
pledged against fusion-one for a cen
| tury in service to the other
We are face to face with this pecul-
lar condition and it brings US to
realization of our duty and obligation
to this dependent and most unfortu-
nate race of people and while a prob
lem without PRECEDENT or parallel" the
patriotism of the people of this land is
dealing most satisfactorily with this
great problem, the evidences of which
we witness on this occasion in the most
satisfying manner.
| My white friends, God in his infinite
wisdom has cast this burden on the
ICAristian men and women of this land
and I'VE are to carry these two races
| in peace and honor to the end"
| To the white men of the South whose
every vital energy has been employed
! in the solution of~thFs great race prob
Ily h&yi
requires a great deal of fortitude and
| Christian patience, to listen with any
degree of liberation, to the wild vagar-
| les of men who have been honored
with a seat amongst the greatest coun-
| Gil of this nation, when in this twen-
! tieth century, this era of intelligence
and information, they actually propose
measures to reduce the South's repre-
sentation in that council for its unfair
| treatment of the negro. The task is
dlfhcult, is hard enough without being
rendered worse by such unwise, indis-
| Greet utterances of uniformed men.
! far removed from the scene of action,
| but usually prompted by the trick of
| the demagogue. They are stumbling
| blocks in the path of progress of the
negro and weights that drag him
down. Be it said to the praise and
honor of the negro that he is the fac
tor that is doing more to close the
mouth of the ignorant and brush away
the cobwebs, than any other one force
employed in this great work
We, the white men of the South, can
not stand like fattened oxen waiting
for the butchers knife The situation
confronts us. The negro is here, he is
here to stay. He is factor in our
/ ri nEhi hot
neglect, for the one would be as dan
generous as the other threatening. We
are unfaithful to ourselves, our wives
and our children, our government
when We omit our duty in this behalf.
| While we cannot hope to see the ken
! OF human intelligence so comprehens-
i've as to offer an immediate, well de-
hned and reasonably satisfactory solu-
tlon or the matter We cannot shrink
from its consideration We must not
only consider but We must act.
| There are certain conditions that We
| do know Will conduce TO good results,
and we must prudently seek out those
conditions and apply them and keep
guard on the watch tower at all times
Even in the short period of time, GER
tainly the most trying of any, we can
with great satisfaction report progress
ana ask patient Indulgence" in the
performance of this great task We
are not ashamed of the progress of the
negro. Under the trying conditions it
has been satisfactory and most en-
Ecouraging, and this God-fearing.
IChristianizing mission spirit Caucasian
race are fit implements in the hand of
God for the accomplishment of his good
will toward them.
The progress We have made has only
been possible from the fact that the
Christian denominations of the South
have from the first recognized an OBJ
legation upon them TO give the gospel
of Christ to the black people among
them. The Christian white men of
the South are realizing that the race
question is one OF religion rather than
politics and its solution depends upon
exercising helpfulness, justice and
christian sympathy" The negro must
be educated. He must be made intel
Hgent to be III associate in any ca
pacity. l would rather have an intel
ngent servant than an ignorant one
/ would rather have an intelligent ami
NAL than an ignorant one. Our duty
commands us to provide ways and
means for his uplifting. The main
trouble about sitting on a man to hold
him down is that you cannot get up 10
do anything yourself while you are
must admit that his advancement is the