The Denver star., 1914-08-29

.,x .ue weakness or rne enemy ur .ns
unjust assaults or tactics of the enemy
is not the general who wins many bat
ties. So it is in business OF every
kind.
"For example. the merchant who
merely contents himself with holding
his present trade without covering
new ground in the way Of increased
patronage and trading in new territory
is not the merchant who gets much OF
a rating for success in the business
world. The merchant. again. who
spends his time pointing out the weak
ness Of another's business Is not get
ting very far on the road to business
success. All the energy you have to
"knock" With, all the energy You have
to voice complaints. coin that energy
into improved methods Of handling
your own merchandise.
In few other parts Of the world is
there a greater chance for the Negro
to get OF the defensive through pro-
lection from the soil than is true In
this section. AS 1 have stated, in no
other part of the United States is
there greater opportunity for the Ne
gro than in the six states adjacent to
Muskogee- Kansas. Missouri.
Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and Okla
hOma. These six states comprise the
greatest live stock and poultry section
Of the Unitea States. About one
fourth of all the live stock in the cOun-
try is in this section. This section Is
also great for poultry raising. The
poultry owned in these six states Is
worth over $s1.OOO.OOO and is one-fifth
the value of all the poultry in the
country.
my own observation and statistics
indicate that this is also one Of the
greatest farming districts in the Unit
ed States. Almost 40 per cent Of all
the cotton raised in the country Is pro
! duced in these states. and great
amount Of corn, oats. wheat and po-
tatoes is also raised. Here are. In
deed, great opportunities for the Ne
gro farmer. There are in the six
states adjacent to this city 1sS.OOOOO
acres of unimproved Land. This Il an
area Of over 100000 square miles. 1t
b equal to the area Of all the New
England states, New York. New Jer-
sey, Delaware. Pennsylvania and Ohio
| together.
ain this great tract Of uniupsoveA
land Negroes have the opportunity to
settle and to bring up out Of the soil.
which is full of riches, cotton. corn.
oats, wheat. poultry, horses. mules.
cattle and hogs These six states have
a Negro population of 100000. These
Negroes have under their control as
owners and renters about $500, 600. 900
worth Of farm property. They own
about 10000 farms containing about
5000. 900 acres Of land. The total value
of the farm property, land. live stock.
farming implements, etc, owned BY
the Negroes of these states Is about
5000, 900 900 There is room, however.
for Improvement along all lines. For
every Negro that owns an acre Of land
there are thirty-three who are land
less. These thirty-three ought to get
some Of the millions Of acres of unim-
proved land which are for sale. Let
US get OF the defensive. Let us stop
the world from talking about the land
we do not own. but about the land we
do own Get on the defensive by put
ting the world to talking about the
thirty-three that do own land and not
about the ones that do not own land
LET your success thoroughly eclipse
your shortcomings. We must give the
world so much to think and talk about
that relates to our constructive work
in the direction of progress that peo-
pie will forget and overlook our fail
ures and shortcomings. Instead OF
giving people opportunity to explain
why we failed to build house let us
build so many houses that the world
will forget about the house that we
failed to build. One big. definite fact
in the direction of achievement and
construction will go further In secur-
ing rights and removing prejudice than
many printed pages Of defense and ex-
PLANTATION.
ut is not we'll for US or our children
that we should dwell SO much on the
defensive, with the negative side OF
life instead of the positive side. 1t ts
not well that our minds should be so
continually centered upon our miseries
or upon those who mistreat US. In the
future let us emphasize our opportuni-
ties more and our difficulties less. Let
us talk more about our white friends.
and about our white enemies less. We
do our children a lasting injustice
when we feed them constantly upon
the miseries OF the race.
LET us talk about the man who has
got job and less about the man with
out job. Let our fraternal and secret
sociatias talk less about SiCkne0g and
death and more about health and life.
Let our societies spend less money In
taking care Of the sick and much more