The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-26
BISHOP M'COY AT
 NEGRO COLLEGE The Miles Memorial Has Its
 Commencement EDUCATORS PRESENT Belton Gilreath, Dr. Parker and Dr. Phillips Make Talks-Two Get
 Diplomas for Complet-
 ing Course
EDUCATORS PRESENT

| Declaring that the moral and in- | tellectual forces of an individual were | the surest guarantors of progress and prosperity, and holding up the life of Christ as the highest ideal for minister and teacher, Bishop J. H. Mccoy of the Methodist Episcopal church. south, yes | terday morning delivered a forceful | and eloquent address to the graduating class of Miles Memorial college, the local institution for negroes. main tained by the Colored Methodist Epis- copal church.
 On the rostrum besides the graduates sat some of the most prominent men of the community, among them being Bishop Mccoy Belton Gilreath, Super intendent of Schools J. H. Phillips, Dr. John L. Parker, president of the Board of Education; pr. L. c. Branscomb, pastor of the First Methodist church; Rev. Harris of Pratt City, Rev. Barnes of Ensley, Bishop G. W. Stewart of the Clored Methodist church and others In beginning the exercises pr. Bray called attention to the fact that the negroes of the better sort were daily making progress that the country as
 
 the gentlemen of the white race who came out to the exercises, thus en- | couraging the effort made at Miles Memorial college.
 | Bishop Mccoy was introduced by | Belton Gilreath, and in his remarks touched feelingly upon the relations that existed between the master class and the slave class in Christian work, and the motives that prompted the Methodist Episcopal church, south, to set up as a separate body the Colored Methodist church, out of its former col ored members. Bishop Mccoy said in part:
 Peculiar Peril
 "The location of convict mines near Birmingham places great responsibility upon its religious workers. When these convicts are released, they very rarely leave Birmingham. There Is peculiar peril to your people in this condition, In the fact that any large number of your people are congregated where certain moral influences are denied them. There is peril that has It's solution only in the school book and the Bible.
 T congratulate you upon the estab- lishment of an institution like this, for they are social organizations, capable of creating, maintaining, perpetuating certain influences and certain forms of | wealth, and handing it to the people of coming generations. The bee gets noth- ing from its ancestry. The bird that built it's nest in that tree this spring
 
 nest that was built in the Garden of Eden. You and I, however, are the products of all that has gone on, and of all the forces that have been at work before us.
 "The institutions of our country are but the perpetuated ideas of the men who put force into them. No one can think of militant Methodism without thinking of Wesley; no one can think of Presbyterianism without associationg with it Calvin and Knox; no one can mention the great Baptist church with out bringing to mind the great men who put force into the organization and who yet live with it.
 Schools and Churches You colored people must stand by your | schools and your churches. l would not | for one moment derogate by one word from the great work of Booker Washing | ton is doing in giving to the negro youth industrial education I wish Dr. Bray had money enough to add those features here; but the making of history is on a high plane from that. Your industrial development is not worth rap unless it is given value by ideals of morals and intelligence What makes land worth more in Birmingham than in Africa? It is the morals and intelligence put into the land.
 "Wherever the negro is giving thought to making for human enfranchisement and human ability, there Gods footprints will be found. The more I know and the longer I live,- the more thoroughly I am convinced that the destiny of any race rests upon a moral plane. The des- tiny of any country rests not upon in- tellectual tttainment nor industrial eff ciency, but upon an attainment of stern and high righteousness that God incul- cates.
 Ethical Element Needed What the religion of the negro needs most today is a strong ethical element
 in conjunction with your emotional de- velopment. It is a good thing to shout, to feel good over particular sermon. but you are not going to York out the salvation of your race without getting hold of and living out. the cardinal prin- l ciples of the decalogue.
 "I love to see the negro handling ma I I,.S venting labor-saving devices that~ your white brother seems to have been suc- cessful in. but they are mere inciden- tals to civilization. Build school houses, | educate your boys and girls, and let