The Colorado statesman., 1912-03-16
WHITE JUDGE TOURS NORTH
ERN STATES IN INTEREST
OF NEGRO SCHOOLS
JUDGE PETER C. PRITcHARD OF
ASHEvILLE, N. c., WORKING FOR
NATIONAL RELIGIOUS TRAIN
ING SCHOOL.
BY GEORGE FRANCIS KING.

BY GEORGE FRANCIS KING.
Springfield. Mass.-Judge Peter c..
Pritchard of Asheville. N. c., who was
United States senator for eight years;
for number of years served as assist
ant Supreme court Judge Of the Dis
trict Of Columbia and was later ap-
pointed by President Roosevelt United
States circuit Judge for the Fourth ju-
dicial district, Is making a tour OF this
section of the country in the interest
OF the National Religious Training
school. Durham. He does not oonf1ne
himself to speaking about the school,
but also emphasizes the economic and
social conditions in the south and ss-
pecially his state. After speaking
about the enobling scope OF the school
and the effective plans that have made
the chautauqua and summer school a
potent force for good and showing the
need Of the great conference Of negro
ministers to be held at this institution
for one week beginning July 9, 1912,
the entertainment being free Of
charge, he in part said The Ameri-
can people by no means appreciate the
Importance Of the conservation Of
manhood, After the Civil war we in
the south were in very bad condi-
ton. We had lost everything and had
almost lost our ambition. The more
earnest among US, though, went to
work Immediately to build up condi
tions, and we have succeeded in bet
tering the country remarkably. Right
here l want to correct false impress
sion that seems to be very widespread
In all section Of the country. The
whites and the colored people in North
Carolina are far from being at swords
points. On the contrary, l feel safe
in saying that there Is as good feel
ing between races in North Carolina
as in any state In the Union.
There is more racial prejudice In
the north than in the south, and this
can be attributed largely to the fact
many OF the negroes who come north
are ignorant adventurers who think
that they can better themselves in
this section of the country without
working. There has never been a time
in the south when the white people
were not willing to help the negroes,
and that is especially true today. The
school which Doctor Shepard has
founded is not a denominational one
in any sense of the word His idea has
been that the people can best be
reached through the ministers of their
own race. l am firm believer In for
eign missions, but l don't think that
they are as important as converting
the Americans at home to the Chris
tian religion" ST.
In touching upon the qualification
for citizenship, as he did in the begin
ming of his address, he aroused pro-
nounced enthusiasm. He said: The
negro can make a first-class citizen
and a patriotic citizen. He Is as thor
oughly American as anyone. l am not
pessimist or an alarmist. But / am
afraid that IL we don't do something
to alleviate our citizenship. the gov
ernment will be in grave danger. The
man who loves his God loves his coun-
try, and 1t is pretty we'll proved that
the negro loves his God. 1t is well
known that even the best educated
people in the south at one time want
ed to keep the negro in slavery, and
my purpose in coming north is to let
the people here know that the south
realizes that 1t is important to educate
the negro and to make a good citizen
out of him. There are many undesir-
able negroes in North Carolina, but we
believe that we can make good citi-
zens out of them and we are going to
do 1t. The problem that we have to
%. A. L.
have to face in this state. There was
a time when people in the south felt
that their interests were entirely sepa-
rate from the interests of the people
in any other section of the country,
but now we all feel that 1t is just as
important to the people of Massachu-
sets to have good citizenship in North
Carolina as 1t is to the peope of that
state, and that 1t is as important to
the people of North Carolina to have
good citizenship in Massachusetts, as
1t is to the people here. The flood of
foreign immigration that is pouring
into the country is good thing, but
we must always keep the people who
know and can sympathize with our
government in as good condition as
possible and that is why the training
school at Durham has been founded.
We must see to 1t that the homes are
in good condition. When | was on the
bench l had names on the criminal
docket of every race except one and
that was the Jew. | attribute this to
the fact that the Jews are more care
full In home life and they are more
particular in the training of their boys
and girls at home. In North Carolina
we are doing everything we can now
to atone for any neglect we may
have shown in the past. firmly be-
lieve that we have made more ad-
vancement in legislation for education