The Colorado statesman., 1912-06-01
NEGRO BANKS
NO CAUSE FOR GENERAL FEEL.
ING OF ALARM BECAUSE SEW
ERAl COLORED BANKING IN.
STITUTIoNS HAVE FAILED RE.
GENTLY.

GENTLY.
By reason of the failure within the
past three months of three negro
banks, the prophets of i'll omen are
having their inning, and are voicing
their pleasure in the saying: 81 told
you sol"
However, there is no cause for
alarm. Failure, like death, has al
ways been in the world, but despite
that fact, men are still brave enough
to live.
There is nothing miraculous about
the failure of negro bank. 1t would
be a miracle, however. II none OF
them failed. The negro is handicap
ped by lack of experience in a bust
ness way. This experience can not
be impaired by the schools. nor de-
rived from books alone. 1t must be
acquired at first hand. We've got to
get in the game just as the other
folks have had to do, and II we blum
der while trying to effect an entrance
1t ought not to cause surprise. 1t is
told of DIR. Boyd that on one occasion
philanthropist for business venture,
The philanthropist offered to advance
$4,000 on condition that a white man
be placed at the head of the concern.
DR.. Boyd refused the offer. saying
that he preferred to take a much
smaller sum to be handled by ne
groes.
Let US have what you can" he
said, and we'll take 1t and waste 1t,
and in the process we'll learn how to
use it. just like you all had to do"
The colored banker has to pilot his
way through reefs and rocks, and
many of which are often hidden. He
is sympathetic-a quality fatal in
business. He finds it hard to turn
man down who puts up a good front
and thinks he will be able to make
good when the notes fall due.
The colored banker has not yet de-
veloped into the bloodless business
man who is equally concerned and In.
different as to whether you lost a day
from work or lost your entire family
by death. Further, the colored bank.
er has only a narrow margin on which
to do business.
Fifty per cent of the people to
whom he has to look for support have
no money, and among the other fifty
per cent there are boss knockers"
"croakers," 'fuence men," and 9th.
ers who know not Joseph If the lat.
ter happen to be black. However. the
march upward is a necessity; 1t may
be checked temporarily by a passing
failure, or a business error, but It
must move on. There is no other
way out. We are surrounded by big
business; we are living in the dawn
of a new era. There is only one way
for us to be a factor in this great in.
dustrial awakening and that is to
mass our means. We have got to cor
ner some of the dollars in a way that
they will be forced to abide awhile
among negroes. We recently heard
lecturer give this striking illustra.
tion of the cumulative force of dol.
lar at work. An old colored woman
works week and at the end she
takes what she can spare of her
money-say a dollar-and deposits II
III WHlle Dduh. w ME she is ledV-
ing Dago. or Jew. comes in and Dor.
rows that dollar. He buys groceries
with it for his store and next week
sells those groceries to the old lady
who had deposited the dollar, and
makes a profit. The man from whom
he bought the groceries takes the
same dollar and buys coal-from a
white man-and this latter makes a |
profit. The coal man needs dry goods |
for his wife and takes this dollar and
spends it with white merchant, who. |
of course, makes a profit; the white |
merchant needs medicine and goes to |
a white druggist. buys 1t and this lat. |
ter makes profit The druggist |
takes the dollar to a butcher-white,
of course-and he makes a profit The
butcher needs some circulars printed |
to advertise his business. He takes |
the dollar to a white print shop |
whose proprietor does the work. and |
makes profit. The dollar continues
in this charmed circle. yielding a |
profit for everybody except the negro |
The old lady does not share in the |
profits. but she gets a big dividend OF |
at the thought of having
money in "de white folks bank"
We've got to break into that finan.
cial circle, not as an offense against
the white man. but as a defense for