The Denver star., 1915-09-25
THE WIZARD OF CONCORD.

THE WIZARD OF CONCORD.
Professor Frank sanborn Values Free.
dom Moro Highly Than Wealth.
Boston. = Professor Frank SanbOrn
Of Concord, Mass, noted abolitionist
and possibly the last OF the men who
became famous on accOunt Of the part
they took against the slave trade In
America. made a most timely speech
to the delegates present at the recent
session of the National Negro Business
league held in this city. Mr.. SanbOrn
received q most wonderful ovation
when he arose to speak. for he is hon
ored and revered by the colored citizens
of Boston in a very marked degree.
Mr.. Sanborn said: 1T has given me
the greatest pleasure to hear these re-
ports Of the progress your people have
made in the past fifteen years. But
the feeling came over me as ! sat
Oh this platform as your guest that
this Is the time when perchance you
may have use for advice from a very
old man like me.
1T has occurred to me that. as l
heard to how great an extent some
of you have progressed in getting ma
terial possessions. you should be
warned that an accumulation Of capi-
tnl is as likely to be a vehicle for un-
Righteousness a. it is for Righteousness.
! have in mind the coming to our city
OF Boston some months ago a moving
picture exhibition whose exhibit was
offensive and indecent in the eyes of
all good people. l suppose more than
&l.OOO.OOO was behind its being made
and exploited before the public. Ii
was just such an accumulation Of capi-
tai for unrighteousness as l before
warned you of. So much money was
represented and Of course that much
power. that Of the free press Of Bos-
ton. which should have stood on the
side OF correcting such an ofYense
against citizenship. There were but two
lis continued exhibition.
Il have been interested to hear what
some OF your men snid who had profit
ably and shire wdly made money in real
estate and chiefly in the rise of real es-
tate values. Real estate does many
times increase in value. but invariably
II is because the city In which 1t Is
located has grown. And. as you come
to think OF II. you must realize that 1t
is you yourselves. In your own town.
who produce the very thing that in
creases your real estate values. for the
nicer your town and the more upright
It Is the more people will want to come
to that town and make 1t their home.
Il desire to bring to your attention
report Of a conversation which took
place between Abraham Lincoln and a
friend OF his named Gillespie. from
Kentucky. which believe has never
appeared In print. The two friends met
some sixty years ago. and the talk nat
uraIly fell upon the subject OF slavery.
Mr.. Lincoln said to his friend. i am
terribly afraid this slavery will spread
TO my state OF Illinois and from there
nil through the north. I will tell you
what think causes the spread OF slav.
cry more than anything else. II a man
of means has his property In the form
OF securities and bank deposits perhaps
nothing much OF his fortune will he
known. II. on the other hand. man
has two or three slaves to follow him
about the young men are apt to be i'm.
pressed by the evidence Of his wealth
and by the fact that what he wants he
gets. II may be only his slaves who are
doing the work. and It is from their
ownership and their labors that he has
come 10 have means.
Your race. you remember. was treat
ed merely As representing only prop
crty. Your race was indebted to the
imfnorfnl Lincoln and in some part to
those persons with whom l was asso-
cia,ed all my life. It was due to these
things that the time came when you
were no longer considered to be prop
erty. but as a race whose men were
Just as much men and should be Just as
free rs any other race Of men,"